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GEORGIA.. 

LIFE, SPEECHES 
AND  WRITINGS 


CHAS  EDGEWORTH  JONES 
AUGUSTA 

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Senator  Benjamin  H.  Hill 


OF  GEORGIA 


His  Life,  Speeches  and  Writings 


WRITTEN  AND  COMPILED  BY  His  SON 

BENJAMIN  H.  HILL,  Jr. 


Also   Memorial  Addresses  of  Eminent  Citizens  of  Georgia,  Senators  and 

Representatives  in  the  Congress  of  the  United    States.     Tributes 

of  the  Press,  Nortfi.and  South,  and  Exercises  attending  the 

tin  veil  ing  of  the  Statue  to  His  Memory  Erected  in  the 

City  of  Atlanta' by  His  Grateful  Countrymen. 


ILLUSTRATED 


T.  H.  P.  BLOODWORTH 

32  and  33  Fitten  Building,     -    -          Atlanta,  Ga. 

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Copyrighted  by 

BENJAMIN  H.  HILL,  JR. 
1891 


TO 

flatter, 

THIS  BOOK  IS  TENDERLY  AND  LOVINGLY  DEDICATED. 

MY   FATHER    CALLED    HER 
"  THE    MAINSPRING    OF   HIS   LIFE'S    SUCCESS,    AND    HIS   COMFORT  IX    EVERY    SORROW.' 


PREFACE. 


IT  has  been  with  me  a  deeply  cherished  purpose  to  collect  and  publish  in 
permanent  form  the  speeches  and  writings  of  my  father,  witli  a  sketch  of 
his  life  and  career  as  a  private  citizen,  lawyer,  and  statesman.  This  purpose 
has  been  inspired  and  strengthened  by  the  conviction  that  these  speeches 
and  writings  contain  much  that  was  valuable  to  his  countrymen,  and  this  life 

«/ 

was  filled  with  suggestions  of  encouragement  to  pure  and  patriotic  endeavor. 
The  history  of  Georgia  is  rich  in  names  of  great  orators  and  many  are  the 
traditions  of  eloquent  orations,  but  few  of  these  orations  have  been  preserved. 
The  fame  of  William  H.  Crawford  is  proudly  treasured  by  our  people,  and 
Berrien  is  said  to  have  possessed  wonderful  power  as  debater  and  speaker, 
but  no  speech  of  either  has  been  preserved.  Many  now  living  bear  enthusi 
astic  testimony  to  the  marvelous  gifts  of  Howell  and  T.  R.  R.  Cobb,  but 
their  great  speeches  are  lost  to  this  generation.  And  so  with  many  others 
who  illustrated  the  State  in  the  fields  of  oratory  and  statesmanship.  I 
think  it  is  to  be  deeply  regretted  that  more  attention  has  not  been  given  to 
the  collection  and  preservation  of  the  great  thoughts  of  these  rarely  gifted 
men,  and  I  sincerely  hope  that  I  have  done  some  service  in  collecting  the 
speeches  of  one  of  Georgia's  orators  and  placing  them  within  easy  access. 
I  regret  exceedingly  that  the  pressing  duties  of  official  station  have  delayed 
so  long  the  completion  of  my  work,  yet  I  entertain  the  hope  that  I  am  not 
too  late  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  good  intended.  My  father's  public 
life  embraced  the  most  momentous  periods  in  the  history  of  the  country. 

His  career  as  a  public  man  was  an  exceedingly  stormy  one.  Before  the 
war  he  was  the  dauntless  leader  of  patriotic  minorities,  and  after  the  war  he 
was  the  aggressive  leader  of  an  oppressed  and  outraged  people.  His  "  Notes 
on  the  Situation  "  and  his  speeches  made  during  the  Reconstruction  era  con 
tain  severe  and  bitter  invective.  Read  in  the  softening  light  of  time,  they 
seem  harsh,  but  when  uttered,  the  arraignment  of  men  who  were  the 
leaders  of  radical  oppression,  was  not  considered  unwarranted  by  the  pro 
vocation.  Senator  Brown,  by  reason  of  his  course  at  this  period,  came 
in  for  a  full  share  of  this  terrible  invective.  I  think  it  proper  to  say 
that  he  and  my  father  became  warmly  attached  friends  before  the  latter's 
death,  and  my  father's  opinion  of  the  character  of  his  former  antagonist  was 
greatly  changed  by  a  more  intimate  association,  but  this  modification  of 
opinion  did  not  extend  to  an  approval  of  political  conduct  but  was  confined 
to  an  estimate  of  personal  character  and  motives.  The  sketch  of  Senator 
Hill  is  necessarily  of  the  most  general  description.  A  biography,  giving 
the  interesting  details  of  his  public  career,  would  of  itself  require  a  large 
volume,  and  for  the  want  of  space  I  have  limited  this  memoir  to  the  more 
prominent  incidents  of  his  life.  In  estimating  the  value  of  Senator  Hill's 
work,  I  have,  for  obvious  reasons,  given  the  opinions  of  contemporaries, 
rather  than  my  own  deductions.  His  convictions  on  all  political  questions 


iv  PREFACE. 

were  so  positive  and  his  courage  of  expression  so  pronounced,  that  cotempo- 
raneous  criticism  was  prompt  and  abundant. 

If  in  the  selection  I  have  included  only  those  that  were  commendatory,  it 
is  because  these  only  have  stood  the  test  of  time  and  truth  ;  and  if  in 
admiration  of  some  act  of  wisdom  or  patriotism  I  have  occasionally  spoken 
words  of  praise,  I  hope  it  will  be  pardoned  the  son,  and  if  unsupported 
by  the  facts  will  be  attributed  to  filial  affection  and  not  discriminating 
judgment.  In  discussing  some  of  the  great  questions  of  the  past,  I  have 
occasionally  given  my  own  views,  for  which  I  am  solely  responsible.  But 
after  all,  neither  the  opinions  of  contemporaries,  nor  the  pen  of  a  biog 
rapher,  although  guided  by  filial  devotion,  can  give  so  true  and  luminous 
conception  of  the  man  and  the  statesman  as  his  own  utterances.  I  have 
had  great  difficulty  in  collecting  the  speeches,  and  express  in  this  place  my 
obligation  to  T.  H.  Whitaker,  of  Troup  County,  and  John  L.  Culver,  of 
Hancock  County,  for  valuable  assistance  in  this  direction.  My  father  had 
one  remarkable  characteristic.  He  never  preserved  any  of  his  speeches  nor 
any  criticism  on  his  political  course.  His  sole  motive  power  was  to  serve 
his  people.  In  his  public  work  he  lost  sight  of  self.  He  was  not  a  scrap- 
book  statesman.  The  accusation  of  enemies  he  did  not  care  to  remember. 
The  kind  words  of  friends  he  treasured  in  his  heart.  His  fame  he  left  en 
tirely  to  the  future.  Every  speech  of  importance  which  was  published  will 
be  found  in  this  book.  Few  were  revised  or  written  by  the  author,  and  they 
appear  just  as  they  were  reported  at  the  time  they  were  delivered.  Accom 
panying  each  speech  there  is  given  a  brief  narrative  of  the  occasion  of  its 
delivery  and  the  effect  produced  at  the  time.  The  "  Notes  on  the  Situation  " 
are  given  in  full.  They  were  written  to  meet  a  crisis  in  the  South.  The 
liberties  and  honor  of  the  people  were  in  peril.  Constitutional  Government 
was  endangered. ,  The  crisis  was  met,  the  danger  averted,  but  I  believe  the 
"Notes"  will  be  found  of  permanent  value.  They  will  ever  remain  as 
models  of  invective  against  proposed  wrong  and  of  clear  and  powerful  Con 
stitutional  argument.  With  the  earnest  hope  that  the  life  of  the  father  has 
not  lost  anything  of  its  beauty  and  value  by  the  presentation  of  the  son, 
and  trusting  that  the  people  of  the  South,  in  reading  the  works  of  the  one, 
will  be  indulgent  to  the  other,  I  present  this  volume  to  the  public. 

BENJ.  H.  HILL,  JK. 
ATLANTA,  GA.,  January  2,  1891. 


CONTENTS. 


PART  FIRST. 

PAGE 

Biographical  Memoir,  Berg.  H.  Hill,  Jr.,  iii 

CHAPTER  I. 

Ancestry  of  Benjamin  H.  Hill — Of  Irish- Welsh  Stock— Characteristics  of  his  ather 
— His  Mother — Birth  in  Jasper  County,  Georgia — Brothers  and  Sisters — His 
Youth— At  Sixteen  Prepared  for  College— How  He  Appeared  on  Entering 
College — His  Career  in  College — Carried  off  the  Honors  of  his  Class — Studied 
Law  under  William  Dougherty — Admitted  to  the  Bar  in  1844 — Marriage  to  Miss 
Caroline  E.  Holt,  of  Athens,  Ga. — Settled  in  La  Grange,  Ga. — His  Early  Success 
at  the  Bar — His  Methods  of  Study — His  Interest  in  the  Cause  of  Temperance,  -  11 

CHAPTER  n. 

Entrance  into  Politics — Elected  to  the  Lower  House  of  the  General  Assembly  in 
1851 — Position  on  Political  Questions — A  Member  of  the  Whig  Party — Declines 
a  Re-election  to  the  Legislature — Declines  the  Nomination  for  Congress  in 
1853 — Nominated  for  Congress  by  the  American  Party  in  1855 — His  Opponent, 
Hiram  Warner — His  Canvass — How  He  Won  the  Soubriquet  of  "  Our  Ben  " — 
Reduced  the  Democratic  Majority  from  2000  to  24 — Nominated  as  a  Presiden 
tial  Elector  from  the  State  at  Large  for  Fillmore  in  1856 — Canvass  of  the  State — 
Discussion  with  Alexander  H.  Stephens  at  Lexington,  Ga. — Stephens  Challenges 
him  to  Mortal  Combat — He  Declines  the  Challenge — Correspondence  Between 
the  Two — The  People  Sustain  him  in  his  Declination — Nominated  for  Governor 
by  the  American  Party  in  1857 — Joseph  E.  Brown  his  Opponent — Ben  Hill  and 
Joe  Brown — Comparison  of  their  Political  Careers  and  Statesmanship — Defeated 
for  Governor — Elected  to  the  State  Senate  in  1859 — The  Choice  Case — Nomi 
nated  in  1860  for  Presidential  Elector  for  the  State  at  Large  on  the  Bell  and 
Everett  Ticket— Selected  as  a  Delegate  to  the  Secession  Convention — Letter  Ac 
cepting  the  Nomination — Secession  Convention — Mr.  Hill's  Earnest  Fight  for  the 
Union — His  Feeling  of  Sadness  over  Secession, -  17 

CHAPTER  III. 

Selected  as  a  Delegate  to  the  Provisional  Congress  of  the  Confederate  States — Elected 
Confederate  States  Senator — His  Record  as  Confederate  States  Senator — Personal 
Difficulty  in  the  Senate  with  William  L.  Yancey — True  Account  of  this  Un 
fortunate  Affair— Speech  in  1862  in  Milledgeville— Efforts  to  Rally  the  People  to 
Continue  the  War — Great  Speech  in  La  Grange  in  1865 — Confederate  Leaders 
Gather  at  Mr.  Hill's  House  in  La  Grange — Mr.  Hill's  Arrest  and  Imprisonment — 
Letter  to  President  Johnson— His  Release  from  Prison— His  Letter  on  Election 
of  United  States  Senator  in  1866. -  43 


vi  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Mr.  Hill  Resumes  the  Practice  of  Law — His  Success — The  Metcalf  Case — He  Pre 
vents  the  Illegal  Seizure  of  Cotton  of  the  People — Mr.  Hill's  Fight  against  the 
Reconstruction  Measures  of  Congress — His  Davis  Hall  Speech,  July  16,  1866 — 
General  Pope  Advises  his  Banishment  from  the  State — His  Notes  o*n  the  Situa 
tion — Joel  Chandler  Harris  on  this  Part  of  his  Work — Reorganized  the  Demo 
cratic  Party  in  Macon  in  1867 — Bush  Arbor  Speech  in  Atlanta,  July  4,  1868— 
Toombs,  Cobb,  and  Hill — Description  of  their  Speeches  and  Effect  Produced — 
Henry  Grady's  Graphic  Account  of  the  Occasion — Robert  Toombs's;  Tribute — 
Some  Reflections  on  the  Character  of  the  Reconstruction  Measures,  -  50 

CHAPTER  V. 

Address  to  the  People,  December  8,  1870 — The  Effect  of  this  Address — State  Road 
Lease — Delano*  Banquet — Speech  at  the  Banquet — These  Three  Things  Cost  Hill 
his  Popularity  in  the  State — He  was  Misunderstood  and  Greatly  Abused — Ex 
plains  fully  his  Reasons  for  Attending  said  Banquet  to  Mr.  Grady — The  Greeley 
Movement — Advocates  it — Defeated  for  United  States  Senate  in  1873  by  General 
John  B.  Gordon — Cause  of  his  Defeat — Gainesville  Convention  of  1875 — Fails 
to  Make  a  Nomination  for  Congress — Mr.  Hill  Goes  before  the  People — Makes  a 
Canvass  of  the  District — Elected  by  a  Very  Large  Majority — General  Rejoicing 
over  his  Election  Throughout  the  South — Meeting  of  the  Citizens  of  Atlanta  to 
Celebrate  his  Election — His  Speech  on  the  Occasion — Analysis  of  Mr.  Hill's 
Political  Character,  by  F.  H.  Alfriend,  -  -  55 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Takes  his  Seat  as  a  Member  of  the.Forty-fourth  Congress,  December,  1875 — Great 
Debate  with  James  G.  Blaine,  on  the  10th  of  January,  1876,  on  the  Subject  of 
Amnesty — Powerful  Vindication  of  the  South — The  Scene  in  the  House  during 
this  great  Discussion — The  Effect  of  his  Speech — Received  with  Great  Enthusi 
asm  at  the  South — Editorial  of  Henry  W.  Grady  on  the  Speech — Mr.  Hill  is 
Unanimously  Re-elected  to  the  Forty-fifth  Congress — The  Electoral  Commis 
sion — Mr.  Hill  Supports  it — His  Reasons  for  so  Doing — Elected  United  States 
Senator  on  Januarys,  1877 — Great  Enthusiasm  of  the  People  over  his  Triumph — 
His  Career  in  the  United  States  Senate — He  again  Meets  in  Discussion  his  old  An 
tagonist,  Mr.  Blaine — The  Similarity  between  the  Two  Men — Mr.  Hill's  Debate 
with  the  Judiciary  Committee  of  the  Senate  on  the  Pacific  Funding  Bill — Great 
Speech  on  the  10th  of  May,  1879 — Comments  of  a  Northern  Journalist — The 
Spofford-Kellogg  Senatorial  Contest — Argument  against  Kellogg — Discussion 
with  Senators  Butler  and  Hampton  of  South  Carolina — The  Attack  on  William 
Mahone — His  Speecli  on  this  Occasion — Scenes  in  the  Senate  during  its  Delivery — 
His  Letter  in  Reply  to  an  Attack  Made  on  him  by  Dr.  William  H.  Felton,  -  68 

CHAPTER  VII. 

General  Statement  of  Mr.  Hill's  Political  Career — His  Career  as  a  Lawyer — Resolu 
tions  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Georgia — He  made  a  Great  Deal  of  Money  Practic 
ing  Law — His  Experiment  in  Planting  in  Southwest  Georgia — Great  Financial 
Loss — His  Princely  Manner  of  Living — His  Generosit3T — His  Character  as  Hus 
band  and  Father — His  Private  Life — Pure  Domestic  Lives  of  Georgia's  Great 
Men — Mr.  Hill's  Letter  to  his  Wife  from  Richmond,  Va. — Mr.  Grady's  Personal 
Reminiscence  of  Mr.  Hill's  Home  Life — His  Letter  to  his  Son — Advice  about 
Political  Office,  -  -  82 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

His  Sickness — Touching  Account  by  Mr.  Grady — Surgical  Operations — Their 
Effect — Apparently  Restored  to  Health — Third  and  Last  Operation — A  Great 
Mistake — His  Surgeon  Abandons  Hope — Trip  to  Eureka  Springs — Incidents  Con 
nected  with  his  Stay  at  Eureka  Springs — Not  Benefited — Returns  Home — Re 
ception  in  Atlanta — Editorial  by  Mr.  Grady — Incidents  Connected  with  his 
Sickness  in  Atlanta — Wonderful  Patience  and  Heroism — Touching  Evidences  of 
Sympathy  from  the  People — Letter  from  Jefferson  Davis — Letter  from  Paul  H. 
Hayne — Universal  Interest  in  his  Condition — Closing  Scenes—  His  Last  Words — 
His  Death,  August  16,  1882,  -  94 


CONTENTS.  vii 

P.4.QE 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Profound  and  Universal  Grief  throughout  the  Country — Memorial  Meetings — Action 
of  the  Governor — Of  the  Mayor  of  the  City  of  Atlanta — His  Funeral — Scenes  and 
Incidents  in  the  City  the  Day  of  his  Burial — Movement  to  erect  a  Monument  to 
his  Memory — Its  Success — Statue  erected  on  Peachtree  Street  in  the  City  of  At 
lanta — Inscriptions  on  the  Same — Conclusion  of  the  Memoir,  -  -  -  108 


PART  SECOND. 

MEMORIAL  ADDRESSES  : 

Funeral  Sermon  by  Rev.  C.  A.  Evans,  D.D.,               -        -        -        .        -        -  110 
Memorial  by  Dr.  E.  W.  Speer,                          -                                         -120 

MEETING  OF  THE  CITIZENS  OF  ATLANTA  : 

Address  of  Mayor  J.  W.  English,                                  -                -                        -  125 

Address  of  Senator  Joseph  E.  Brown,                               -                        -  126 

Resolutions,                                                                                      .        -                -  127 

Address  by  Benjamin  E.  Crane,  President  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,     -  127 

Address  by  Hon.  N.  J.  Hammond,                               -                                         -  128 

Address  by  Governor  A.  H.  Colquitt,                                       -                -  130 

Address  by  Chief  Justice  James  Jackson,                     -                                         -  131 

MEMORIAL  ADDRESSES  DELIVERED  IN  THE  SENATE  AND  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTA 
TIVES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  CONGRESS  : 

Extract  from  Address  of  Senator  Brown,         -                134 

Address  of  Senator  Ingalls,                                                       134 

Address  of  Senator  Vest,                                             ...               .  136 

Address  of  Senator  Morgan,                  -                138 

Address  of  Senator  Sherman,            -                                 144 

Address  of  Senator  Voorhees,                       __..._..  145 

Address  of  Senator  Edmunds,                                    ...._.  149 

Address  of  Senator  Jones,     -                                 150 

Address  of  Representative  Tucker,                   .......  153 

Address  of  Representative  House,                 ........  155 

Address  of  Representative  Wellborn,                - 159 

Address  of  Representative  Kasson,                164 

Address  of  Representative  Hooker,                   165 

Address  of  Representative  Cox,    ..........  168 

TRIBUTES  OF  THE  PRESS  : 

From  the  Georgia  Press,   -                        ........  175 

From  the  Southern  Press  outside  the  State, •              -  190 

From  the  Northern  Press,                                  195 

POEMS  : 

On  The  Portals,                             -                .    John  W.  Campitt,         -        -        -  200 

Fronting  The  Shadow,     -                                  Paul  H.  Hayne,  202 

The  River,                                                      .    Mary  E.  Hill,                                -  202 

'Almost  Home,"                                       .        Charles  W.  Hubner,  204 

'  Almost  Home,"                                             -     Montgomery  M.  Folsom,        •        -  205 

The  Fallen  Shaft,     -                                           Wallace  Putnam  Reed,  '    -        -  206 

Fallen— Risen,                       -                        -    Paul  Hamilton  Hayne,          •        -  206 

Senator  Hill  of  Georgia,                                    H.,     -  208 

The  Unveiling  of  the  Ben  Hill  Monument,     H.  T.  W., 208 

Immortal,     -                                                 -     Charles  W.  Hubner,    -  209 

EXERCISES  ON  UNVEILING  THE  STATUE  OF  SENATOR  HILL  IN  ATLANTA,  GA.,  ON 
MAY  1,  1886: 

Extract  from  Atlanta  Constitution,  May  2,  1886,          ......  210 

Address  by  Henry  W.  Grady,   -                         210 

Prayer  by  General  Evans      -                         -                 211 

Address  by  R.  D.  Spalding,                        '  212 

Address  by  Governor  H.  D.  McDaniel, -  213 

Address  by  J.  C.  C.  Black,               215 

Address  by  Jefferson  Davis, 227 


viii  CONTENTS. 

PART  THIRD. 

PAGE 

SPEECHES   OF  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL. 

Speech  Delivered  at  Macon,  Ga.,  June  30,  1860  in  favor  of   Bell  and  Everett,     229 
Speech  Delivered  at  Milledgeville,  Ga.,  November  15,  1860,  in  Opposition  to 

Secession,    -  -  237 

Speech  Delivered  before  the  Georgia  Legislature,  December  11,  1862,  in  Sup 
port  of  the  Confederate  Administration,  251 
Speech  Delivered  in  La  Grange,  Ga.,  March  11, 1865,  Urging  the  Continuance  of 

the  Struggle  for  Independence,  273 

Speech  Delivered  in  Atlanta,  Ga.,  July  16,  1867,  against  the  Military  Bills  of 

Congress,  known  as  the  Davis  Hall  Speech, 

Speech  Delivered  at  Atlanta,  Ga. ,  July  23, 1868,  known  as  the  Bush  Arbor  Speech,     308 
Speech  Delivered  in  New  York  City,  October  6,  1868,  before  the  Young  Men's 

Democratic  League,   - 

Speech  Delivered  at  Athens,  Ga.,  July  31,  1871,  before  the  Alumni  Society,    - 
Speech  Delivered  in  Atlanta,  Ga. ,  in  June,  1872,  in  defense  of  Greeley  Movement,     350 
Speech  Delivered  in  United  States  Circuit  Court  in  Atlanta,  Ga.,  March  14, 1873, 

on  Motion  to  Quash  Panel  of  Jurors,    -  -    367 

Speech  Delivered  in  Atlanta,  Ga.,  before  the  General  Assembly,  January  16, 

1873,  on  the  Election  of  United  States  Senator,  378 

Address  before  the  Southern  Historical  Society  in  Atlanta,  Ga. ,  February  18, 1 874,     399 
Speech  Delivered  in  Atlanta,   Ga.,  January  20,  1875,  on  the  Situation  in 

Louisiana,  -  ...  415 

Speech  on  his  Election  to  Congress,  Delivered  in  Atlanta,  Ga.,  May  12,  1875,    432 
Speech  Delivered  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  January  11,  1876,  on  the 

Amnesty  Bill,  in  reply  to  Blaine,  442 

Speech  on  the  Reception  of  a  Flag  from  Citizens  of  Ohio,  Delivered  in  Atlanta, 

Ga.,  September,  1876,    -  461 

Speech  before  the  Legislature  of  Georgia,  January  20,  1877,  on  the  Election  of 

United  States  Senator,  473 

Speech  Delivered  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  on  the  Pacific  Railroad 

Funding  Bill,  March  27,  1878,  -    494 

Speech  in  the  United  States  Senate  on  the  Coinage  of  Silver  Dollars,  Febru 
ary  8,  1878,  530 
Speech  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  on  the  Subject  of  War  Claims,  Janu 
ary  27,  1879,   -                                                                                                   -    551 
"  The  Union  under  the  Constitution  knows  no  Section,  but  does  Know  all  the 

States."    Speech  Delivered  in  the  Senate,  June  11,  1879,  561 

"  The  Untruthful  Charge  of  a  Revolutionary  Purpose "  on  the  Democratic 

Party.     Speech  in  United  States  Senate,  March  24,  1879,     -  -    585 

"  The  Union  and  its  Enemies,"  Speech  Delivered  in  the  Senate,  May  10,  1879,         594 
Speech  Delivered  in  the  United  States  Senate,  May  11  and  12,  1880,  against 

William  Pitt  Kellogg,  635 

Speech  in  Reply  to  Butler  and  Hampton,  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States, 

June  11,  1880,  -    684 

Speech  in  the  United  States  Senate,  March  14,  1881,  known  as  the  "  Mahone 

Speech,"  712 

WRITINGS. 

Letters  to  Alexander  H.  Stephens  in  Reference  to  the  Lexington  Discussion,  1856,      20 

Letter  Declining  Mr.  Stephens's  Challenge  to  Fight,  1856,  25 
Letter  Accepting  his  Election  as  a  Delegate  to  the  Secession  Convention,  1860,      38 

Letter  to  his  Wife,  February  7,  1864,  87 

Letter  to  his  Wife,  February  14,  1864,  90 

Letter  to  President  Johrtson  written  from  Fort  Lafayette,  1865,      -  47 

Letter  in  Reference  to  the  Election  of  United  States  Senator,  1866,    -  48 

Notes  on  the  Situation,  1867-1868,  -         730 

Address  to  the  People  of  Georgia,  December  8,  1870,  55 

Explanation  of  his  Alumni  Address,  332 
Letter  to  his  Son,  written  in  1881, 

Letter  to  his  Daughter-in-law,  1881,  104 

Letter  to  R.  C.  Humber  reviewing  the  Hayes  Administration,  1877,   -  -    812 

Article  in  Reply  to  Dr.  Win.  H.  Felton,  1882,          -        -  817 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


FACING    PAGE 

Portrait  of  Senator  Hill,  {Frontispiece} 

Birthplace  of  Senator  Hill,  12 

Academy  where  Senator  Hill  first  went  to  school,  34 

Senator  Hill's  Residence  in  La  Grange,  Ga.,  46 

Portrait  of  Senator  Hill's  Wife,  90 

Residence  of  Senator  Hill  in  Atlanta,  where  he  died,  108 

Senator  Hill's  Statue,        -                          ....  '-.            210 


PART  FIRST.;. 

*     >    >  >' 


CHAPTER  I. 


3  I 

>         C- 


Ancestry  of  Benjamin  H.  Hill — Of  Irish- Welsh  Stock — Characteristics  of  his  Father — 
His  Mother — Birth  in  Jasper  County,  Georgia — Brothers  and  Sisters — His  Youth — 
At  Sixteen  Prepared  for  College — How  He  Appeared  on  Entering  College — His 
Career  in  College— Carried  off  the  Honors  of  his  Class — Studied  Law  under  William 
Dougherty — Admitted  to  the  Bar  in  1844 — Marriage  to  Miss  Caroline  E.  Holt,  of 
Athens,  Ga. — Settled  in  La  Grange,  Ga. — Early  Success  at  the  Bar — His  Methods 
of  Study — His  Interest  in  the  Cause  of  Temperance. 

IT  is  a  family  tradition  that  the  paternal  ancestors  of  Benjamin  Harvey 
Hill  came  from  Ireland,  and  his  maternal  ancestors  from  Wales — the 
Welsh  name  being  Ingraham.  The  Hill  branch  settled  in  North  Caro 
lina.  The  Ingraham  stock  was  composed  of  three  brothers  who  built  their 
own  boat  in  Wales  and  in  it  crossed  the  Atlantic,  settling  in  Virginia.  In 
Colonial  days  there  was  a  great  orator  in  North  Carolina  named  Benjamin 
Hill ;  whether  he  was  an  ancestor  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch  is  not  known. 
Indeed,  my  father's  family  kept  no  genealogical  tree  nor  family  record,  and 
the  tradition  given  above  rests  upon  no  satisfactory  basis.  The  writer  is 
not  one  of  those  Americans  who  boasts  of  having  no  ancestors.  While  every 
man  is  the  architect  of  his  own  name  and  fortune,  yet  a  spotless  record  from 
generation  to  generation,  is  a  priceless  heritage.  There  is  both  beauty  and 
inspiration  in  heirlooms  and  ancestral  portraits.  A  tree  is  known  by  its 
fruit,  and  a  crystal  stream  must  flow  from  a  crystal  source  ;  and  if  great 
qualities  of  head  and  heart  indicate  pure  and  noble  lineage,  the  forefathers 
and  foremothers  of  Benjamin  Harvey  Hill  were  stainless  men  and  gentle 
women.  In  the  line  of  authentic  history,  his  life  begins  in  the  pure  and 
simple  home  of  an  honest  farmer.  In  the  beginning  of  the  century  his 
iather,  whose  name  was  John  Hill,  came  from  North  Carolina  and  settled  in 
Jasper  County,  Georgia.  He  was  a  farmer  of  very  moderate  means  and  of 
limited  education,  but  he  was  a  man  of  strong  individuality,  extensive  read 
ing,  and  deep  reflection.  He  believed  in  education,  religion,  and  temperance, 
and  he  gathered  around  his  home,  a  school-house,  a  church,  and  a  temperance 
society.  In  the  language  of  his  son  :  "  He  was  the  trustee  of  the  school, 
steward  and  class  leader  in  the  church,  and  the  president  of  the  temperance 
society."  He  was  an  enterprising  citizen  and  the  leader  of  every  movement 
having  for  its  purpose  public  progress  and  improvement.  He  was  beloved 
by  his  neighbors,  and  the  little  town,  that  owed  in  great  part  its  existence  to 
his  energy,  was  named  for  him,  and  to  this  day  is  called  Hillsboro.  These 
characteristics  of  the  father  gave  color  and  substance  to  his  entire  family,  and 
through  all  the  subsequent  years  of  political  strife,  and  the  cares  and  tempta 
tions  of  official  station,  Benjamin  H.  Hill  remained  true  to  the  lessons  of  his 
boyhood  home. 

These  domestic  flowers,  planted  in  his  child's  heart,  bloomed  all  through 
the  years  of  a  stormy  career,  and  blossomed  into  fragrance  and  comfort 

11 


12  SENATOR  B.  H.   HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

when  great  trouble  and  suffering  came.  When  quite  a  young  man,  John 
Hill  married  Miss  Sarah  Parham.  She  was  a  woman  with  a  noble,  tender 
and  loving  heart,  deeply  religious  and  charitable,  and  a  most  excellent  wife 
and  mother.  To  her  loving  and  careful  training  can  be  truthfully  attributed 
all  that  was  best  in  the,  moral  and  religious  character  of  her^son.  In  this 
home,  .'vviiere,  witji ;  tiie  Simplicity  of  perfect  faith,  God  was  honored  and 
love  rei*gned;the  biography  of  Benjamin  Harvey  Hill  begins.  He  was  born 
in  .Tasppi"  iCounty,  Georgia*  September  14,  1823.  He  was  the  fifth  of  six 
sons-  and'the*  "seven £h  -of-  nine  children.  From  an  early  age  he  worked  with 
his  brothers  and  a  few  slaves  on  his  father's  farm.  In  this  respect  no  differ 
ence  was  made  between  the  children  and  the  slaves  ;  they  were  all  made  to 
work  early  and  late.  The  wife  and  daughters  of  the  family  did  the  entire 
household  work,  spun,  wove,  cut,  and  made  all  the  clothing  for  husband, 
children,  and  slaves.  When  his  son  Ben  was  ten  years  old  his  father  moved 
to  Troup  County  and  settled  in  a  little  place  called  Long  Cane.  The  boys 
walked  the  entire  distance,  assisting  in  driving  the  cattle,  and  the  father, 
mother,  and  sisters  rode  in  wagons  containing  the  household  furniture  and 
the  personal  property  of  the  family.  The  farm  in  Troup  was  in  the  woods, 
and  the  boys  at  once  set  to  work  to  clear  the  land,  and  afterward  assisted  in 
cultivating  the  soil.  When  the  crops  were  made,  or  rather  "  laid  by,"  the 
children  all  went  to  school  and  studied  hard  through  the  winter.  So,  with 
alternate  work  and  study,  life  ran  smoothly  along,  and  at  sixteen  years  of 
age  Ben  was  strong  and  robust  physically,  and  mentally  eager  and  ambi 
tious.  So  earnest  was  his  desire  for  an  education,  and  so  rapidly  did  he 
master  his  lessons,  that  his  father  was  induced  to  select  him  from  among 
his  children  for  higher  educational  advantages  than  he  was  able  to  give  all. 
So  at  sixteen  he  was  taken  from  the  farm  and  placed  at  school  for  the  pur 
pose  of  preparing  to  enter  college.  It  is  proper  to  say  in  this  place  that  one 
other  son,  William  Pinckney,  also  received  from  his  father  the  advantages 
of  a  collegiate  education.  But  he  did  not  graduate,  leaving  college  before 
his  course  was  completed  and  going  to  Texas  to  fight  Indians  and  Mexicans.  , 
While  at  college,  this  brother  was  considered  a  young  man  of  great  genius. 
It  is  related  that  he  and  the  late  Bishop  George  F.  Pearce,  who  were  class 
mates,  began  preaching  together,  and  that  the  sermons  delivered  by  young 
Pinckney  Hill  were  considered  superior  to  those  of  George  F.  Pearce.  When 
we  consider  that  Bishop  Pearce  was  the  most  eloquent  preacher  ever  produced 
in  the  South,  we  can  but  regret  that  young  Hill  decided  to  change  his  voca 
tion  in  life.  After  the  first  enthusiasm  of  youth  had  been  expended  in  many 
contests  with  the  Indians  and  Mexicans,  William  Pinckney  Hill  settled 
in  Texas,  selecting  the  law  as  his  profession.  He  rose  to  great  eminence  as 
a  lawyer  and  was  easily  the  leader  of  the  Texas  bar.  I  have  heard  my 
father  state  that  if  the  Southern  Confederacy  had  established  a  supreme 
court,  that  Mr.  Davis  would  have  selected  his  brother  as  the  first  chief 
justice.  Many  political  honors  were  offered  to  him  but  he  declined  them 
all,  preferring  to  devote  himself  to  his  profession.  My  father  thought  him 
the  most  gifted  member  of  the  family,  and  was  very  proud  of  him.  In 
1869,  the  year  the  writer  graduated  from  the  University  of  Georgia,  this 
uncle  came  to  Athens  on  a  visit  to  his  brother.  He  impressed  me  as  a  man 
of  vast  information,  great  culture,  and  was  a  most  brilliant  and  fascinating 
conversationalist.  He  was  not,  however,  the  equal  of  his  younger  brother  in 
originality,  depth  and  strength  of  thought.  The  late  Jeremiah  Black,  one 
of  the  greatest  of  American  lawyers,  said  that  William  Pinckney  Hill  was 


«  i  «  • 
'*.*«. 


. 

r  1  »  » 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  13 

the  most  interesting  speaker  he  had  ever  heard  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States.  The  other  brothers  were  all  farmers  and  men  of  character 
and  local  influence.  Only  one  survives,  Allen,  now  living  in  Arkansas,  who 
is  the  youngest  of  the  brothers.  His  three  sisters  married  Georgia  farmers 
and  all  diecT  before  their  brother.  Indeed,  the  family  was  not  a  long-lived 
family,  only  two  reached  the  age  of  sixty. 

When  sixteen  years  old  Ben  was  taken -by  Dr.  John  F.  Moreland,  an 
intimate  friend  of  the  family,  to  Meri wether  County,  and  lived  in  his 
home,  where  he  had  the  privilege  of  being  taught  by  Rev.  Mr.  Corbin,  a 
graduate  of  Yale  College.  His  progress  under  this  tutor. was  very  rapid. 
His  preceptor  declared  that  his  pupil  could  easily  master  six  lessons  to  an 
ordinary  boy's  one,  and  he  confidently  predicted  that  "  Harvey,"  as  he  was 
then  called,  would  some  day  be  president  of  the  United  States.  But  for  the 
unhappy  movement  of  secession  and  the  consequent  destruction  of  Southern 
institutions  and  the  disqualification  of  all  Southern  men  for  generations  for 
this  high  office,  there  are  many  who  believe  this  prediction  would  have  been 
verified.  He  did  reach  the  highest  position  possible  for  a  Southern  man 
in  his  day  and  generation.  And  he  reached  this  high  eminence  purely  by 
his  own  genius,  for  he  possessed  none  of  the  tricks  and  arts  of  a  demagogue 
to  win  the  favor  of  the  fickle  populace.  At  seventeen  he  was  ready  for 
college.  But  in  the  mean  time  his  father  had  become  somewhat  discouraged 
with  the  result  of  higher  education,  as  illustrated  in  the  case  of  his  son 
William  Pinckney,  and  he  felt  lyiwilling  to  risk  another  experiment  in  this 
direction.  At  this  most  important  juncture  his  mother,  and  an  old  great- 
aunt,  who  lived  near  the  homestead,  came  to  the  rescue.  To  use  the  lan 
guage  of  my  father,  in  giving  an  account  of  this  period  of  his  life  to  a  friend, 
"  A  family  consultation  was  held.  My  mother  insisted  on  my  going.  She 
had  always  had  what  was  called  her  patch,  which  was  near  the  house,  and 
was  cultivated  bv  her  house  servants  when  not  needed  at  house  work.  This 

ff 

patch  had  always  been  my  mother's  pin  money,  amounting  from  $50  to 
$100.  My  mother  said  she  would  contribute  this  to  my  college  expenses 
and  would  make  my  clothes  at  home  besides.  An  old  aunt  of  my  mother's, 
who  lived  in  a  small  house  in  my  father's  yard  and  had  some  means — small 
— and  no  children,  agreed  to  contribute  as  much  more.  My  father  agreed 
to  add  the  balance,  and  I  promised  that  all  my  college  expenses  of  every 
kind  should  not  exceed  $300  per  annum.  I  promised  my  mother  I  would 
take  the  first  honor  in  my  class.  I  redeemed  this  promise."  And  thus 
these  two  noble  women  opened  the  door  of  opportunity  to  genius.  They 
were  repaid  with  love,  honor,  and  fame.  The  tutor  endeavored  to  persuade 
his  promising  student  to  go  to  Yale,  but  with  that  love  for  his  own  State 
and  her  institutions,  which  was  even  then  a  controlling  influence,  he  pre 
ferred  to  go  to  the  University  of  Georgia,  at  Athens.  The  writer  cannot 
understand  nor  appreciate  that  policy  which  induces  parents  to  send  chil 
dren  to  colleges  and  universities  outside  the  limits  of  their  own  State, 
only  patriotism,  but  a  regard  for  the  future  interest  of  the  child  should 
always  decide  the  balance  in  favor  of  home  institutions.  Associations 
formed  in  college  are  the  strongest  and  most  lasting  in  this  life, 
begins  a  comradeship  that  is  not  only  a  source  of  happiness,  but  of  great 
usefulness  throughout  life.  And  in  the  fierce  struggle  with  the  world  the 
companions  of  college  days  are  the  loyal  friends  upon  whom  one  can  lean 
with  confidence.  This  truth  was  illustrated  during  the  stormy  career  of 
Benjamin  H.  Hill,  as  it  has  been  illustrated  in  the  lives  of  many  others. 


14  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

In  1841,  Benjamin  H.  Hill  entered  the  university,  joining  the  sophomore 
class.  Dudism  or  even  style  in  those  days  were  unknown  accomplishments 
of  the  students  at  Athens.  The  boys  drove  into  the  classic  city  in  wagons 
containing  their  furniture,  dressed  in  homespun  and  home-made  jeans.  The 
art  of  the  tailor  was  little  known  among  the  mothers  and  sisters,  who  cut 
and  made  with  loving  hands  suits  for  sons  and  brothers.  And  it  mattered 
little  how  it  fit,  so  that  the  material*was  substantial  and  the  suit  comforta 
ble.  Those  who  saw  Ben  Hill  when  he  first  came  to  Athens  declare  that  he 
was  the  greenest  looking  student  of  that  year.  His  dress  consisted  of  home 
made  gray  jeans,  an  unusually  long  coat,  and  scanty  trousers  barely  touch 
ing  the  tops  of  his  home-made  shoes.  In  personal  appearance  he  was  un 
usually  tall  and  slender,  with  a  very  pale  and  thoughtful  face,  and  rather 
shy  and  awkward.  In  the  words  of  one  of  the  brightest  of  his  classma'tes: 
"He  was  a  towheaded  boy  that  had  grown  up  without  filling  into  pro 
portion.  He  had  none  of  the  light  and  blithesome  habit  usual  to  boys,  but 
was  thoughtful  and  quiet.  Even  then  he  carried  his  head  bent  to  one  side, 
and  when  walking  appeared  to  be  completely  absorbed  in  thought." 

His  college  career  was  brilliant  and  successful.  Popular  with  his  fel 
low-students,  he  was  also  the  favorite  of  the  faculty  and  especially  loved 
by  the  Chancellor,  Dr.  Church.  He  devoted  his  hours  to  redeeming  the 
promise  made  to  his  mother,  and  was  remarkable  for  his  earnest,  studious 
habits.  He  carried  witli  him  to  college  the  pure  lessons  of  his  country 
home,  and  was  ever  faithful  to  the  family  altar,  where  his  father  had  prayed 
for  him  and  his  mother  had  blessed  him  with  her  kiss.  Dr.  G.  A.  Orr,  a 
distinguished  man  and  an  earnest  Christian,  one  of  his  classmates,  in  speak 
ing  of  this  part  of  his  life,  said  :  "  He  was  a  pure  and  exalted  boy  through 
my  college  acquaintance  with  him.  There  was  not  the  slightest  shadow  of 
immorality  in  his  character.  He  was  loyal,  quiet,  studious.  I  knew  that 
he  would  be  a  great  man.  Through  all  his  life  and  through  all  criticism,  I 
have  thought  of  him  as  the  pure,  earnest  boy  I  knew  at  Athens,  and  I  have 
loved  him  and  believed  in  him  always."  At  the  very  beginning  he  took  the 
head  of  his  class  and  the  lead  in  his  debating  society,  and  easily  maintained 
both  positions  until  he  graduated  with  the  highest  honors  of  class  and 
society.  In  those  days  the  debates  in  the  society  were  not  simply  superficial 
declamations,  but  most  laborious  and  exhaustive  discussions.  The  subjects 
for  debate  were  thoroughly  studied,  and  on  Saturday  the  entire  day  was 
spent  in  argument.  Close  attention  to  the  debates,  as  then  conducted, 
taught  logical  thought  and  accuracy  of  speech.  It  was  in  the  contests  of 
the  Demosthenian  Society  that  Mr.  Hill  laid  broad  and  deep  the  foundations 
of  his  matchless  eloquence  and  resistless  logic.  He  made  three  speeches 
during  his  college  career  which  were  much  talked  of  at  the  time  of  their  de 
livery.  His  speech  at  commencement,  when  a  member  of  the  junior  class,  on 
"  Life,  Love,  and  Madness  of  Torquato  Tasso,"  was  in  perfect  harmony  with 
the  poetical  subject,  yet  luminous  with  eloquence.  His  speech  as  anniver 
sary  orator  of  the  society  was  said  to  have  been  a  masterly  address,  full  of 
wisdom  and  practical  suggestions.  The  crowning  effort  of  his  college  career 
was  his  valedictory.  Col.  P.  W.  Alexander,  a  classmate  and  a  scholar  of 
splendid  attainments,  said  of  this  speech:  "It  was  a  superb  piece  of 
eloquence  from  beginning  to  end,  and  held  the  audience  entranced:  his  per 
oration  was  a  tribute  to  Dr.  Church,  the  thrilling  tones  of  which  ring  in  my 
ears  yet.  It  was  magnificent!  That  speech  stamped  the  young  orator  as 
a  man  of  wonderful  power,  and  had  newspapers  then  given  the  same  atten- 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  15 

» 
tion  to  details  as  they  now  do  it  would  at  once  have  made  him  famous 

throughout  the  State."  This  opinion  was  attested  as  correct  by  the  enthu 
siastic  applause  of  the  two  most  eminent  Southern  orators  of  that  day,  who 
sat  on  the  stage — Berrien,  of  Georgia,  and  Preston,  of  South  Carolina. 
When  the  young  orator  had  finished,  both  distinguished  senators  rose  from 
their  seats,  and,  warmly  grasping  his  hand,  spoke  to  him  words  of  highest 
encomium. 

In  the  course  of  years  the  young  orator  eclipsed  the  fame  of  the  great 
Berrien  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  and  became  involved  in  a  bitter 
controversy  with  the  successors  of  Preston,  in  an  effort  to  expel  from  the 
Senate  an  infamous  carpet-bag  intruder  from  the  State  of  Louisiana.  Im 
mediately  on  graduating,  Mr.  Hill  entered  the  office  of  William  Dougherty, 
one  of  the  ablest  lawyers  that  ever  adorned  the  bar  of  any  country.  The 
great  lawyer  took  a  special  interest  in  his  student,  and  after  one  year's  study 
he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  Heard  County,  Georgia.  After  his  admission 
to  the  bar  he  returned  to  Athens,  where  he  married  Miss  Caroline  E.  Holt, 
whom  he  had  wooed  and  won  while  at  college.  This  marriage  connected 
him  with  one  of  the  oldest  and  best  known  families  in  the  State,  and  added 
some  little  to  his  financial  condition. 

After  his  marriage,  Mr.  Hill  settled  in  La  Grange,  Ga.,  and  commenced 
the  practice  of  law.  From  the  first  he  had  unbounded  confidence  in  himself. 
Without  a  dollar  arid  with  a  young  wife  who  had  been  surrounded  with 
every  luxury,  he  purchased,  exclusively  on  credit,  ahandsome'and  expensive 
home.  And  it  is  proof  of  the  faith  of  the  people  of  Troup  County  in  him 
that  he  was  enabled  to  do  so.  As  soon  as  he  opened  his  office,  clients  came 
to  him.  The  eager,  yearning,  watchful,  and  sometimes  hopeless  waiting  for 
clients,  the  lot  of  most  young  lawyers,  was  not  his.  His  success  was  im 
mediate  and  phenomenal.  In  two  years  he  had  paid  for  the  home  he  had 
bought  on  credit,  and  was  rapidly  forging  ahead  to  independence  and  fame. 
He  was  in  his  early  professional  life*  a  hard  student.  He  mastered  the  prin 
ciples  of  the  law.  Blackstone's  Commentaries,  Chitty  on  Pleading,  Story's 
Equity  Jurisprudence,  Starkie's  Evidence,  and  elementary  books  of  similar 
character  were  completely  mastered.  He  not  only  understood  the  funda 
mental  principles  laid  down*  by  these  great  writers,  but  he  understood  the 
reason  of  the  principles.  He  could  have  written  a  book  equal  to  Blackstone 
or  Chitty,  because  he  understood  as  well  as  they  did  the  subjects  they 
treated.  He  did  not  search  the  reports  to  find  precedents.  He  knew  what 
had  been  decided,  or  would  be  decided,  because  he  fully  understood  what 
was  the  law.  His  comprehension  and  apprehension  of  legal  principles  even 
at  this  early  day  marked  him  as  an  authority.  In  addition  to  his  legal 
studies,  he  was  at  this  time  a  student  of  the  classics  and  of  English  history. 
He  was  also  very  fond  .of  Milton  and  Shakespeare.  But  what  was  known 
'as  light  literature'  he  never  read.  He  seemed  to  construe  the  aphorism  of 
Bacon,  "  That  reading  maketh  a  full  man,"  as  applicable  to  quality  and  not 
quantity.  There  is  much  truth  in  the  warning,  "  Beware  of  the  man  with 
one  book  "  ;  if  it  be  a  great  book  and  the  man  who  has  thoroughly  read 
the  Greek  and  Latin  classics,  English  history,  Shakespeare,  and  Milton,  need 
go  no  further  in  search  of  knowledge,  unless  in  the  field  of  science.  In  his 
entire  life  Mr.  Hill  only  read  three  novels.  The  first  novel  he  ever  read 
was  the  "  Lamp  Lighter."  He  told  the  writer  that  he  was  induced  to  read 
it  by  the  following  incident  :  While  attending  a  country  court,  he  went  one 
night  at  a  late  hour  into  the  room  of  the  presiding  judge,  and  found  him 


16 


SENATOR  B.   II.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 


poring  over  a  book  with  tears  streaming  down  his  face.  Curious  to  know 
what  could  so  move  the  stern  man  of  justice,  he  asked  him  what  he  was 
reading,  he  replied  the  "  Lamp  Lighter,"  and  that  he  was  crying  over  the 
tribulations  of  "  poor  little  Gerty."  He  borrowed  the  book  from  the  judge 
and  read  it.  He  also  read  "  Ten  Thousand  a  Year,"  that  wonderful  novel 
by  Samuel  Warren.  Later  in  life,  he  was  persuaded  by  his  youngest  son, 
who  is  an  ardent  lover  of  Dickens,  to  read  "  Pickwick  Papers,"  and  I  have 
seen  him  laugh  until  the  tears  rolled  down  his  cheeks  over  the  inimitable 
humor  found  in  this  incomparable  book.  But  as  a  general  rule,  he  regarded 
it  as  a  waste  of  time  to  read  either  novels  or  light  literature.  His  nature 
was  too  earnest  and  profound.  His  mind  was  far  too  great  to  be  satisfied 
with  any  lesser  food  than  the  mighty  problems  of  life  and  government,  and 
the  great  thoughts  of  the  profound  and  original. 

In  1845  to  1851,  he  gave  all  of  his  time  to  the  practice  of  his  profession, 
and  in  a  few  years  he  was  on  one  side  of  every  case  in  his  circuit.  As  a 
private  citizen  he  was  from  the  first  very  much  beloved  by  the  people  of 
La  Grange  and  Troup  counties.  He  carried  into  his  own  household  the 
teachings  of  his  country  home.  He  was  a  devoted  father  and  husband,  and 
in  every  respect  a  most  exemplary  citizen.  He  was  an  earnest  member  of 
the  Methodist  'Church,  a  most  efficient  superintendent  of  the  Sunday 
School,  and  active  in  every  movement  looking  to  the  elevation  of  his  town 
and  people.  At  this  time  the  temperance  movement  took  an  absorbing 
hold  on  the  people.  An  organization  known  as  the  "  Sons  of  Temperance  r 
was  pushing  the  cause  in  Troup  County  and  throughout  the  State.  Mr. 
Hill  was  the  leader  of  this  movement  in  his  section.  In  1884,  in  speaking 
of  his  work  in  this  direction  and  its  effect,  Judge  B.  H.  Bingham,  who  was 
one  of  his  associates,  declared  that  "  his  speeches  on  temperance  had  a  won 
derful  influence,  which  has  been  felt  in  the  county  ever  since  and  which  will 
be  felt  for  time  to  come.  These  orations  were  the  finest  I  ever  heard  deliv 
ered  on  any  subject,  and  stamped  him  as  the  coming  statesman."  We  can 
well  understand  how  the  earnest  nature  of  Mr.  Hill  was  enlisted  in  such  a 
noble  cause,  and  it  is  to  be  deeply  regretted  that  the  eloquent  appeals  he 
made  for  the  preservation  of  home,  and  the  salvation  of  man,  from  this  the 
deadliest  of  all  curses,  have  not  been  preserved! 


CHAPTER  II. 

Entrance  into  Politics — Elected  to  the  Lower  House  of  the  General  Assembly  in  1851 — 
Position  on  Political  Questions — A  Member  of  the  Whig  Party — Declines  a  Re-elec 
tion  to  the  Legislature — Declines  the  Nomination  for  Congress  in  1853 — Nominated 
for  Congress  by  the  American  Party  in  1855 — His  Opponent,  Hiram  Warner — His 
Canvass — How  He  Won  the  Sobriquet  of  "Our  Ben" — Reduced  the  Democratic 
Majority  from  2000  to  24 — Nominated  as  the  Presidential  Elector  from  the  State  at 
Large  for  Fillmore  in  1856 — Canvass  of  the  State — Discussion  with  Alexander  H. 
Stephens  at  Lexington,  Ga. — Stephens  Challenges  him  to  Mortal  Combat — He  De 
clines  the  Challenge — Correspondence  Between  the  Two — The  People  Sustain  him  in 
his  Declination — Nominated  for  Governor  by  the  American  Party  in  1857 — Joseph 
E.  Brown  his  Opponent — Ben  Hill  and  Joe  Brown — Comparison  of  their  Political 
Careers  and  Statesmenship — Defeated  for  Governor — Elected  to  the  State  Senate  in 
1859 — The  Choice  Case — Nominated  in  1860  for  Presidential  Elector  for  the  State  at 
Large  on  the  Bell  and  Everett  Ticket— Selected  as  a  Delegate  to  the  Secession  Con 
vention — Letter  Accepting  the  Nomination — Secession  Convention — Mr.  Hill's  Earn 
est  Fight  for  the  Union — His  Feeling  of  Sadness  over  Secession. 

WITH  a  love  for  the  country  which  dominated  him  throughout  life,  in 
1849  Mr.  Hill  purchased  a  farm  three  miles  from  the  town  of  La 
Grange,  to  which  he  moved  his  wife  and  two  children.  In  this  quiet  and 
delightful  re-treat  he  devoted  himself  to  study  and  farm  work,  was  ideally 
happy  with  his  young  wife  and  children,  and  untroubled  by  any  ambitious 
longings.  But  it  could  not  be  expected  that  a  man  so  brilliant  as  a  speaker, 
so  wise  in  counsel,  would  be  permitted  to  pursue  his  private  work.  The 
people  of  his  county  were  watching  him,  and  in  1851,  without  seeking  or 
desiring  the  office,  he  was  elected  to  the  lower  house  of  the  General  Assem 
bly.  During  the  year  1850  the  entire  country  was  greatly  aroused  on 
the  subject  of  the  compromise  measures  in  reference  to  the  extension  of 
slavery.  The  agitation  on  this  subject,  which  eventually  disrupted  the 
Union,  was  at  its  height.  Mr.  Hill  entered  the  struggle  in  behalf  of  the 
Union,  and  was  elected  to  the  General  Assembly  as  a  Union  man,  and 
against  continued  slavery  agitation.  He  saw  with  deep  concern  the  bitter 
and  aggressive  agitation  of  the  slavery  question  and  its  rapid  and  dangerous 
growth  as  a  paramount  and  overshadowing  issue  in  national  politics.  He 
realized  that  the  question  was  dividing  the  North  and  South,  embittering 
both  sections  and  laying  the  foundation  for  war.  He  therefore  entered 
public  life  as  a  member  of  the  grand  old  Whig  party,  which  at  all  times 
was  for  the  Union,  and  he  was  an  unrelenting  enemy  of  the  Democratic 
party  in  its  course  on  national  questions.  He  hoped  that  the  splendid 
Union  victory  in  1851  had  settled  the  question  of  slavery,  and,  notwithstand 
ing  a  most  brilliant  record  in  the  Legislature,  he  declined  a  re-election, 
and  foivthe  same  reason  he  declined  the  nomination  for  Congress  in  1853. 
In  1 85 4T;  Congress  repealed  the  Missouri  compromise.  This  legislation  Mr. 
Hill  regarded  as  an  act  of  bad  faith,  a  reopening  of  the  slavery  question,  a 
menace  to  the  peace  of  the  country  and  the  institutions  and  liberties  of  the 
South.  "Take  care^my  fellow-citizens,"  was  his  prophetic  warning,  "that 
in  endeavoring  to  carry  slavery  where  nature's  laws  prohibit  its  entrance, 

17 
O^.  --•<>.( 


18  SENATOR  B.    II.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

and  where  your  solemn  faith  is  pledged  it  shall  not  go,  you  do  not  lose  the 
right  to  hold  slaves  at  all." 

Declining  a  nomination  by  the  Know-Nothings,  whose  ritual,  especially 
the  religious  test,  he  condemned,  he  announced  himself,  in  1855,  a  candidate 
for  Congress  upon  the  simple  yet  comprehensive  platform  of  opposition  to 
the  agitation  of  the  slavery  question  and  the  maintenance  of  the  Union. 
He  was  splendidly  equipped  for  the  contest,  he  had  earnestly  studied  from  a 
patriotic  national  standpoint  the  great  questions  of  the  hour,  and  was  an  ardent 
lover  of  the  Union  and  the  Constitution.  The  maintenance  of  slavery  he 
regarded  as  secondarv  to  the  maintenance  of  the  Union,  and  he  felt  assured 

ti 

that  the  extremists,  North  and  South,  would,  if  successful,  destroy  both. 
He  was  also  in  fine  physical  condition;  his  active  and  regular  life  in  the 
country  had  fully  restored  his  health,  which  had  been  somewhat  impaired 
by  hard  study,  and  Ixis  experience  in  the  court  house  and  in  the  Legislature 
had  fully  overcome  the  awkwardness  of  youth,  and  at  this  time  he  was  the 
personification  of  grace  in  motion  and  manner,  and  was  a  noble  type  of 
robust  manhood.  To  oppose  this  ardent  advocate  of  the  Union,  the  Demo 
crats  nominated  Hiram  Warner.  Judge  Warner  was  a  man  of  middle  age, 
a  fine  lawyer,  and  a  logical  and  forcible  speaker.  He  was,  however,  no  match 
on  the  stump  for  his  brilliant  and  aggressive  young  antagonist,  and  after 
two  joint  discussions  the  managers  of  the  democratic  party  thought  it  pru 
dent  to  withdraw  their  champion.  In  this  contest  Mr.  Hill  received  the 
sobriquet  of  "  Our  Ben,"  by  which  he  was  ever  afterward  affectionately 
called  by  his  political  supporters.  Hon.  A.  O.  Bacon,  a  leading  lawyer  and 
politician,  gives  the  circumstance  of  the  christening  as  follows  : 

A  big  American  rally  was  held  at*  Newnan,  Ga.  There  was  a  great 
crowd  assembled  to  hear  Mr.  Hill  speak.  One  of  the  spectators  drew  a  car 
toon,  which  was  mounted  on  white  linen  and  hung  from  a  pole.  It  was  en 
thusiastically  received.  It  represented  a  big  shanghai  rooster,  all  tattered 
and  torn  and  overthrown,  while  a  trimmed  Georgia  game  cock  fluttered 
over  him  in  triumph.  The  shanghai  represented  Judge  Warner,  while  the 
native  game  cock  represented  Mr.  Hill.  Underneath  the  picture  were  these 
lines: 

When  shanghais  meet  our  native  bird,  they  are  sure  to  get  a  licking, 
Old  Hiram  Shanghai  tried  "  Our  Ben,"  and  there  he  lies  a-kicking. 

The  district  had  always  given  a  Democratic  majority  of  not  less  than 
2000,  and  it  was  predicted  that  this  majority  would  be  greatly  increased 
during  the  election.  But  Mr.  Hill's  power  as  a  speaker,  his  impassioned 
eloquence,  his  inspiring  presence,  and  his  earnest  and  patriotic  appeals,  burn 
ing  with  unselfish  love  for  his  country,  made  many  converts,  and  he  was 
defeated  by  only  twenty-four  votes.  It  was  conceded  that  the  virtue  and 
intelligence  of  the  district  were  largely  in  his  favor,  and  that  his  defeat  was 
accomplished  by  smuggling  Democratic  miners  across  the  Alabama  line  from 
Okichobee  gold  mines.  This  campaign  gave  Mr.  Hill  a  State  reputation, 
and  in  1856  he  was  elected  as  a  Fillmore  elector  for  the  State  at  large.  He 
made  an  active  canvass  of  the  State,  meeting  in  joint  discussion  the  most  dis 
tinguished  Democratic  orators.  He  won  National  fame  by  the  power  and 
scope  with  which  he  discussed  great  national  questions.  He  took  as  his  patri 
otic  text,  "  The  Northern  extremist  who  would  save  the  Union  at  the  expense 
of  the  Constitution,  and  the  Southern  extremist  who  would  save  the  Constitu 
tion  by  destroying  the  Union,  are  to  be  equally  condemned.  Let  us  have 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  19 

both,  my  countrymen:  the  Constitution  inviolate,  and  the  Union  as  its  surest 
defense."     No  nobler  sentiment  ever  inspired  patriot.     But  the  extremists 
were  too  strong  for  patriots,  and  for  a  while  both  Constitution  and  Union 
were  torn  and  rent  by  contending  armies.     Mr.  Hill's  ardent   love  for  the 
Union  and  Constitution  naturally  placed  him  as  a  supporter  of  a  man  who, 
as  a  candidate  for  President,  declared,  "If  there  be  those   either  North  or 
South,  who  desire  an  administration  for  the  North  as  against  the  South  or 
the  South  against  the  North,  they  are  not  the  men  who  should  give  their 
suffrages  to  me  ;  for  my  own  part  I  know  only  my  country,  my  whole 
country,  and  nothing  but  my  country.     I  can  never  consent  to  be  one  thing 
to  the   North  and  another  to  the  South."     How  strangely  this  sentiment 
sounds  in  this  day  of  political  degeneracy,  when  the  entire  political  stock  in 
trade  of  one  party  is  hatred  and  misrepresentation  of  the  South,  and  when 
the  highest  office  in  the  gift  of  the  American  people  is  filled  by  a  man  whose 
administration   is  characterized   by  narrow  and  unrelenting   sectionalism. 
Indeed,  but  for  the  Cleveland  epoch,  such  patriotic  sentiments  would  have 
been  forgotten  by  our  people  and  laughed  at  by  our  politicians.     Groveh 
Cleveland,  by  precept  and  practice,  revived  the  better  and  purer  days  of  the 
republic,  and  to  him  our  country  is  a  grateful  debtor  for  a  four  years'  re 
naissance  of  national  patriotism,  free  from  the  poison  of  sectional  bitterness. 
It  is  a  striking  proof  of  the  blind  passion  even  then  possessing  our  people 
that  the  patriotic  speaker  of  these  noble  sentiments  was  defeated  by  a  politi 
cal  coward  and  trickster.     A  man  who  as  President  saw  the  gathering  and 
oncoming  of  fratricidal  strife,  and  who  had  the  power,  but  not  the  courage, 
to  save  the  country.     In  this  eventful  fight,  which  really  involved  the  preser 
vation  of  the  Union,  Mr.  Hill  met  the  most  bitter  and  formidable  opposition. 
Alexander  H.  Stephens  and  Robert  Toombs  had  both  been  Whigs,  but  had 
left  the    party  and   gone  over  to   the    Democrats,  and,  like  all  converts, 
were  extremely  zealous.     These  two  men  had  ruled  the  State  in  politics  for 
a  decade,  and  they  looked  upon  the  advent  of  this  new  claimant  to  public 
favor  as  an  intrusion.     It  is  true  that  Bob  Toombs,  who  was  in  some  respects 
a  generous  man  toward  his  political  rivals,  had  declared  in  speaking  of  Hill, 
"You  may  bury  him  under  a  mountain  that  will  overtop  Pelion,  and  make 
Ossa  a  wart,  and  he  would  rise  again  more  formidable  than  ever  and  more 
ready  for  the  conflict.     He  is  bound  to  succeed.     He  was  born  to  excel." 
But  even  Toombs,  while  lavishing  his  praise,  was  limited  in  his  assistance. 
Alexander  H.  Stephens  never  shared  this  feeling  of  admiration  for  his  young 
rival  and  opponent,  or  if  he  did  he  was  never  generous  enough  to  express 
it.     He  and  Mr.  Hill  began  a  joint   canvass  of  the  State,  but  in  their  first 
meeting  in  Lexington,  Ga.,  Mr.  Hill  was  unfortunate  enough  to  utterly  route 
his  adversary,  and  Stephens  never  forgave  him  or  met  him  again. 

From  this  Lexington  discussion  dates  a  political  animosity  that  lasted 
throughout  life,  frequently  going  beyond  the  limits  of  political  controversy 
into  acrimonious  personalities.  Mr.  Stephens  became  exasperated  over  Mr. 
Hill's  triumph,  and  concluded  to  slay  his  adversary  with  the  sword,  having 
failed  to  do  so  with  the  tongue.  Some  time  after  the  discussion  had  taken 
place,  smarting  under  the  recollection  of  his  defeat  and  over  reports  of  the 
discussion,  he  sent  Mr.  Hill  a  peremptory  challenge  to  mortal  combat.  This 
presented  a  terrible  crisis  to  a  brave,  ambitious  man.  At  that  time  in  the 
South  the  Code  Duello  was  universally  recognized  and  appealed  to  in  the 
settlement  of  difficulties.  If  one  refused  to  accept  a  challenge,  he  was  pro 
nounced  a  poltroon,  and  his  political  death  and  social  ostracism  was  sure 


20  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

and  permanent.  In  this  condition  of  public  sentiment,  it  required  a  brave 
man  to  refuse  a  challenge  and  a  most  extraordinary  man  to  survive  a  re 
fusal.  Mr.  Hill  promptly  declined,  and  the  remarkable  spectacle  was  pre 
sented  of  a  dueling  believing  people  applauding  his  refusal.  The  correspond 
ence  between  the  two  men  is  exceedingly  bitter,  and  on  the  part  of  Mr. 
Hill  shows  remarkable  power  of  satire  and  sarcasm.  The  entire  correspond 
ence  is  interesting  and  is  here  inserted. 

CORRESPONDENCE   BETWEEN  HON.    A.    H.    STEPHENS 

AND  HON.  B.  H.  HILL. 


CRAWFORD VILLE,  November  17,  1856. 

Sir  :  I  have  been  informed  that  in  your  speech  at  Thomson,  and  also  in 
Augusta,  in  alluding  to  a  discussion  you  had  with  Mr.  Toombs  at  Washing 
ton,  and  myself  at  Lexington,  you  said  in  substance  that  you  had  charged 
upon  them  (Mr.  Toombs  and  myself)  that  they  had  betrayed  the  Whig 
party,  and  had  acted  toward  it  worse  than  Judas  Iscariot,  for  though  he  be 
trayed  his  Master,  yet  he  did  not  abuse  Him  afterward  ;  that  you  had 
thundered  this  in  their  (Toombs's  and  Stephens's)  ears,  and  they  cowered 
under  it. 

Please  let  me  know  if  it  be  true  that  you,  on  the  occasions  alluded  to, 
used  such  language,  or  intended  yourself  to  be  understood  as  using  such 
language,  or  any  of  like  import,  at  least  so  far  as  I  am  concerned.  Your 
early  attention  to  this  will  oblige 

Yours  most  respectfully, 

ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 
To  B.  H.  Hill,  Esq.,  La  Grange,  Ga. 


LA  GRANGE,  GA.,  November  18,  1856. 

Dear  Sir  :  I  received  your  letter  of  the  17th  to-day,  and  proceed  to  give 
a  prompt  reply. 

I  did  not  say  at  Thomson  or  Augusta,  or  elsewhere,  that  you  and  Mr. 
Toombs  "  had  betrayed  the  Whig  party,  and  had  acted  toward  it  worse  than 
Judas  Iscariot,"  etc.  This,  perhaps,  is  the  application  which  your  informant 
himself  made  of  what  I  did  say. 

It  is  not  possible  for  me  now  to  recall  the  precise  words  used  by  me  at 
the  time  alluded  to,  nor  at  any  other  time  ;  but  the  substance  of  what  I  said 
about  the  discussion  at  Lexington  and  Washington  I  well  remember,  though 
I  cannot  designate  precisely  how  much  I  said  at  one  place,  as  I  sometimes 
said  more  than  at  other  times  ;  but  I  have  no  disposition  to  conceal  any 
thing  I  did  say  at  any  time  ;  because  my  motives  were  right  and  my  "  dec 
larations  from  the  house-tops." 

At  Thomson,  Augusta,  and  other  places,  I  did  allude  to  the  discussion 
at  Lexington  and  Washington,  especially  the  first,  but  I  can  say  with  entire 
certainty  that  I  said  no  more  on  the  subject  of  your  inquiry  than  I  did  say 
in  your  presence  at  the  time  of  the  discussion  at  Lexington. 

During  the  discussion  at  Lexington  you  spoke  of  the  "Know-nothings  ' 
(as  you  have  been  pleased  to  term  the  members  of  the  American  party)  very 
severely,  or  contemptuously,  as  I  understood  it.      Among  other  things,  you 
read  a  portion  of  what  you  called  the  "  oath,"  and  declared  it  illegal,  and 
you  spoke  of  Lane,  "one  of  the  forty-four,"  as  a  Judas,  and  said  he  was 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  21 

"our  ally,"  etc.  At  Washington,  Mr.  Toombs  spoke  of  the  Americans,  if 
possible,  still  more  bitterly,  and  described  t!iem  "as  sneaking  at  midnight 
around  back  lots,"  and  even  ministers  as  "  telling  lies,  and  getting  out  of 
them  by  equivocations,"  etc.,  etc. 

To  both  of  you  I  made  reply,  and  a  portion  of  the  reply  was  the  same 
to  both,  and  in  the  reply  alluded  to  the  manner  in  which  you  had  on  former 
occasions  treated  these  men,  when  they  were  alluded  to  as  "  midnight  con 
spirators,"  "treason  plotters,"  arid  as  comparable  to  "French  Jacobins,"  etc. 
I  then  spoke  of  the  characters  of  many  of  these  men  who  were  brought 
under  these  terrible  denunciations ;  referred  to  the  fact  that  they  were  up 
right  members  of  the  various  branches  of  the  Christian  church  ;  never  vio 
lated  any  law  ;  were  men  into  whose  keeping  we  would  be  willing  to  trust 
our  families,  our  reputation,  and  our  property  ;  that  among  them  were  to 
be  found  the  greatest  number  of  your  early  and  best  friends — men  who  had 
made  you — had  taken  you  by  the  hand  and  given  you  their  business  and 
made  you  rich  ;  had  placed  you  in  the  national  councils,  and  kept  you  there, 
and  thus  made  you  great  ;  and  even  if  you  differed  from  them  now,  that 
difference  on  such  questions  of  propriety  could  not  justify  you  in  using  the 
position  they  had  given  you  thus  to  denounce  them.  I  then  spoke  of  your 
habitual  and  particular  reference  to  Judas,  and  I  added,  "  that  Judas  did  be 
tray  his  Lord,  but  even  Judas  never  abused  his  Lord  after  he  betrayed 
him." 

These  are  the  facts  on  the  "Judas  "  branch  of  the  argument — the  only 
one  to  which  you  have  addressed  your  inquiry. 

Now,  as  the  manner  in  which  "I  intended  it  to  be  understood,"  I 
intended  it  to  be  understood  as  simply  in  reply  to  the  charges  made  ; 
neither  more  nor  less.  It  was  in  reply  at  Lexington  and  Washington,  and 
on  every  other  occasion  afterward,  when  referred  to,  it  was  by  way  of  nar 
rative  as  in  reply,  and  in  no  other  manner.  The  same  charges  seem  to  have 
been  made  wherever  I  went  in  eastern  Georgia,  and  the  same  manner  of 
treating  the  so-called  "  Know-nothings' "  oath  had  been  adopted  by  you  dur 
ing  the  canvass  of  last  year.  So  the  people  said.  I  never  abused  either  you 
or  Mr.  Toombs — saw  no  one  who  so  construed  my  remarks.  I  spoke  of  the 
reply  as  a  reply,  and  made  in  your  presence.  May  have  said  "  thundered 
it  r — not  certain  as  to  those  words.  Do  not  remember  that  I  said  in  any 
speech,  "  you  cowered  under  it."  May  have  said  in  conversation  that  some 
of  your  friends  were  reported  as  saying  so,  and  that  the  people,  as  far  as  I 
know,  deemed  the  reply  not  out  of  place,  but  well  timed  and  merited; 
know  my  main  object  was  to  report  the  facts  as  the  best  form  in  which  I 
could  present  the  argument.  I  never  abuse  anybody,  never  myself  make 
personal  issues  in  public  speeches,  but  generally  reply  to  anything  which  I 
consider  merits  a  reply;  I  frequently,  if  not  always  (I  now  believe  always), 
alluded  to  yourself  and  Mr.  Toombs  with  a  distinct  disclaimer  of  unkind 
feelings,  because  I  never  had  such  feelings  for  either  of  you.  But  I  deemed 
it  my  duty  to  meet  your  argument  to  the  best  of  my  humble  ability",  wher 
ever  I  met  it,  or  heard  it,  and  that,  too,  whether  the  argument  assumed  the 
shape  of  logic,  sarcasm,  or  ridicule,  and  I  never  attempt  the  latter  species  of 
argument  unless  in  reply  to  something  of  the  kind  first  used  by  the  adver 
sary.  I  never  make  shots,  except  to  those  who  build  batteries.  What  I  said 
at  Thomson,  Augusta,  or  elsewhere,  on  the  Judas  allusion,  you  heard  at  Lex 
ington.  How  I  said  it  you  saw,  and  to  what  it  was  said  in  reply,  and,  there 
fore,  why  it  was  said  you  know;  and  whoever  represents  otherwise  misleads 


22  SENATOH  3.  B.  &ILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

you,  either  by  misrepresenting  me,  or  by  substituting  his  own  applications 
for  my  statements.  I  had  almost  said  I  was  willing  to  submit  to  your  own 
judgment,  whether  the  whole  was  not  in  strict  accordance  with  the  rules  of 
parliamentary  retort. 

The  public  mind  has  strangely  had  yourself,  and  brother  Linton  and  my 
self,  on  several  occasions  fighting  and  quarreling  about  something  growing 
out  of  this  Lexington  discussion,  but  hoping  these  things  will  be  in  the  fu 
ture,  what  they  have  been  in  the  past,  entirely  imaginary  and  without  foun 
dation  in  either  fact  or  feeling, 

I  am  very  truly  yours, 

B.  H.  HILL. 
Hon.  A.  H.  Stephens. 

CKAWFORDVILLE,  GA.,  November  22,  1856. 

Sir :  Your  letter  bearing  date  the  18th  instant  (mailed  or  postmarked  the 
20th)  was  received  by  me  to-day.  In  reply  to  the  inquiry  made  in  mine  to 
you  of  the  17th  inst.,  you  say  that  you  did  not,  at  Thomson  or  Augusta,  or 
elsewhere,  say  that  I  and  Mr.  Toombs  "  had  betrayed  the  Whig  party, 
and  had  acted  toward  it  worse  than  Judas  Iscariot,"  etc. 

This  is  satisfactory  on  that  point.  You,  however,  go  on  to  say  that  at 
Thomson,  Augusta,  and  other  places  you  did  allude  to  the  discussion  at  Lex 
ington;  but  that  you  said  on  those  occasions  no  more  on  the  subject  of  my 
inquiry  (contained  in  my  letter  of  the  17th  inst.)  than  you  did  say  in  my 
presence  at  Lexington.  And  you  give  what  you  intend,  I  suppose,  as  the 
substance  of  what  you  there  said,  etc. 

Now  waiving  all  comments  on  this  report  of  your  remarks  at  Lexington, 
as  given  in  your  letter,  allow  me  to  ask  you  further,  whether,  at  Lexington, 
in  the  only  allusion  you  made  to  Judas  Iscariot,  you  did  not  expressly  state 
that  you  did  not  apply  that  to  me  ? 

I  wish  also  to  be  informed  whether,  in  your  "  narrative  "  at  Thomson  or 
elsewhere,  you  intended  to  be  understood  as  having  imputed  treachery  in 
me  to  the  Whig  party,  or  any  other  body  of  men  ?  An  early  and  distinct 
reply  to  these  additional  inquiries  rendered  necessary  by  the  character  of 
your  letter,  is  desired. 

Very  respectfully, 

ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 
To  B.  H.  Hill,  Esq.,  La  Grange,  Ga. 

LA  GRANGE,  GA.,  November  24,  1856. 

Sir:  By  the  mail  of  yesterday  (Sunday)  I  received  your  letter  of  the 
22d  inst.,  in  which  you  made  two  inquiries,  and  ask  distinct  replies. 

1st.  Whether  in  the  allusion  to  Judas  Iscariot  at  Lexington  I  did  not 
expressly  state  that  I  did  not  apply  that  to  you.  My  recollection  is  this: 
In  your  first  speech  you  made  your  charges  against  the  Americans,  alluded 
to  in  my>letter  of  the  18th,  and  introduced  the  character  of  Judas  and  "  his 
allies."  In  my  first  rejoinder,  I  made  the  reply  alluded  to,  and  without  quali 
fication,  expecting  you,  if  you  were  dissatisfied  or  desired  explanation,  to 
speak  of  it  in  your  conclusion.  I  again  mentioned  it,  and  added  voluntarily 
— "  of  course,  rny  friends,  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  Mr.  Stephens  is  a 
Judas."  This  I  added  because  I  did  not  wish  the  audience  to  consider  me 
personal,  but  as  using  a  figure  of  my  own  in  reply,  and  (as  I  must  now  tell 
the  feeling  that  actuated  me)  because  I  did  feel  some  compunctions  for 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  23 

making  that  last  speech  at  all,  as  it  seemed  cruel  to  add  anything  after  your 
last  speech.     I  always  disclaimed  personal  unkindness,  because  I  certainly 

felt  none. 

2d.  You  ask  "  whether  in  my  narrative  at  Thomson  or  elsewhere,  I  in 
tended  to  be  understood  as  imputing,  or  having  imputed,  treachery  in  you 
to  the  Whig  party,  or  any  other  body  of  men." 

In  my  letter  of  the  18th,  I  distinctly  stated  in  reference  to  my  meaning 
that  "  I  intended  to  be  understood  as  simply  in  reply  to  the  charges  made, 
neither  more  or  less."  By  the  light  of  your  own  meaning,  then,  you  can 
learn  my  answer. 

Your  remarks  were,  certainly,  as  offensive  as  anything  said  by  me,  and 
were  the  first  made;  and  I  might  also  have  been  writing  letters  and  calling 
on  you  for  explanation;  but  as  I  entered  the  contest  to  use  the  sword  of 
the  tongue  and  the  shield  of  fact,  I  intend  to  be  satisfied  with  the  result, 
and  so  I  am.  And  as  what  I  said  there  was  said  to  the  public,  I  had  no  ob 
jections  to  its  use  in  reply  to  similar  points,  made  at  any  time  to  any 
people. 

I  never,  in  discussion,  first  enter  the  field  of  ridicule  or  personal  re 
proach,  but  if  my  adversary  takes  that  path,  I  generally  follow,  and  if  I  get 
too  close  on  his  heels  for  his  comfort,  he  must  blame  only  himself. 

Instead  of  discussing  the  principles  advocated  by  the  American  party, 
have  you  not  for  the  last  eighteen  months  been  abusing  the  members  of  that 
party  as  "  midnight  conspirators,"  "  treason  plotters,"  "  French  Jacobins," 
etc.?  Have  you  not  compared  them  to  everything  monstrous  among  men, 
beasts  or  insects  ?  Have  you  not  searched  the  whole  field  of  ridicule  from 
"Doodle-holes,"  "  Bear  Fights,"  with  which  to  engender  prejudice  against 
this  party  ?  Did  you  not  at  Lexington  call  them  the  ajlies  of  the  Abolitionist 
Lane,  who  has  never  acted  with  them,  nor  been  of  them,  but  who  was  one 
of  the  immaculate  "  forty-four  "  ?  And  did  you  not  pretend  to  read  what 
you  called  the  "  Know-nothing "  oath  (which  you  said  Mr.  Fillmore  had 
taken)  and  did  you  not  read  only  a  portion,  leaving  out  the  qualification 
which  your  argument  was  designed  to  prove  it  did  not  contain  ?  Did  you 
not,  in  that  very  connection,  talk  a  good  deal  about  Judas  ?  Were  these 
charges  just?  Were  they  true  ?  Was  it  not  abuse  ?  And  who  were  the 
men  thus  denounced  ?  Can  you  find  better  anywhere  ?  Will  you  ever  find 
men  who  can  or  will  do  more  for  you  than  these  men  have  done  ?  Do  you 
really  believe  that  they  are  dangerous  to  their  country  ?  Why,  sir,  I  but 
repeat  what  you  know  when  I  say  that  when  the  battle  for  our  country,  our 
section,  or  our  rights,  must  be  fought,  these  men  will  be  the  first  in  the  field, 
and  the  last  to  leave  it.  When  they  fall,  Rome  has  fallen,  and  the  Goths 
and  Vandals  may  take  it.  Now  then,  to  the  point:  If  in  discussion  you 
do  so  treat  these  men,  must  I  say  nothing  in  reply  ?  If  I  do  reply,  can  your 
own  illustrations  returned  be  out  of  place  ?  If  the  arrow  does  pierce,  it  was 
taken  from  your  own  quiver,  and  if  I  make  you  feel  this  one  shot,  how  do 
you  suppose  your  old  friends  have  felt  when  you  have  made  thousands  ?  If 
you  had  not"  made  the  charge,  I  should  not  have  made  the  reply.  If  you 
had  only  a  political  meaning,  then  the  reply  goes  no  further.  If  you  meant 
nothing,  so  did  the  reply.  Your  treatment  of  the  Whiixs  is  a  matter  be 
tween  you  and  them;  nor  is  it  material  to  me  to  how  many  parties  you  may 
have  belonged,  or  how  you  left  them,  or  they  left  you;  but  when  you  speak 
of  my  political  associates,  whether  Whigs  or  Democrats,  in  the  manner  men 
tioned,  then  the  hour  of  defense  and  retort  has  come,  and  will  not  be 


24  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

suffered  to  pass  idly  away.  By  your  own  words,  construe  mine;  by  your 
own  meaning  judge  me,  and  harshly  or  kindly  as  you  may.  The  charge 
was  made,  the  reply  followed,  and  there  they  are;  take  both  or  take  neither. 
If  you  were  in  a  glass  house,  you  ought  not  to  throw  stones:  if  you  did  not 
live  in  a  glass  house,  no  stone  thrown  by  me  has  harmed  you.  Your  right 
to  refuse  to  join  the  American  party,  and  to  join  the  Democratic  party,  is 
unquestionable;  and  the  motive  and  the  fact  are  both  unquestioned  by  me. 
The  right  of  your  old  friends  to  refuse  to  follow  you  is  also  unquestionable, 
and  neither  you  nor  they  should  be  compared  to  Judas,  nor  charged  with 
treachery  in  thus  obeying  the  dictates  of  honest  conviction.  Nor  have 
I  done  so,  or  intended  to  be  so  understood  by  anybody.  But  if  you  compare 
these  men  to  Judas,  or  apply  the  other  opprobrious  terms  mentioned  to 
them,  their  organizations,  their  principles,  or  their  conduct,  I  shall  call  it  by 
its  right  name — abuse;  and  in  retorting  to  such  abuse,  leaving  his  treachery 
out  of  the  question,  I  say  you  do  what  the  record  does  not  show  against 
Judas — abuse  the  men  who  for  twelve  years  fed  you  with  "  five  loaves  and 
two  fishes,"  indefinitely  multiplied. 

I  hope  you  now  understand  me.  I  never  have  made,  and  do  not  now 
make  any  charge  of  treachery  against  you.  No  man  regrets  more  than  I  do 
your  opposition,  and  especially  the  character  of  your  opposition  to  the 
American  party.  It  has  been  unjust  to  the  party,  grossly  unjust,  and  untrue 
to  the  motives  of  the  men  and  the  principles  they  advocate.  It  has  been 
unjust  to  yourself,  and  the  student  of  your  early  history  will  have  no  right 
to  anticipate  such  a  sequel.  But  in  the  discharge  of  what  I  deemed  my  duty, 
I  replied  to  your  charge,  and  while  the  charges  remain  the  reply  must  keep 
it  company. 

Yours  very  truly, 

B.  H.  HILL. 
Hon.  A.  H.  Stephens.  

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  November  29,  1856. 

Sir:  Your  letter  bearing  date  of  the  24th  inst.  (mailed  or  postmarked 
the  25th),  did  not  reach  Crawfordville,  where  it  was  directed,  until  after  I 
had  left  for  this  place,  which  I  regret.  It  has  just  come  to  hand  here, 
where  it  has  been  forwarded,  and  is  far  from  being  such  as  I  had  reason  to 
expect.  So  far  from  this,  it  has  in  it  much,  both  in  tone  and  matter,  per 
sonally  offensive  in  itself.  Your  answer,  therefore,  to  my  last  two  inquiries, 
taken  in  connection  with  the  whole  of  your  response  to  my  first  letter  of 
the  17th  inst.,  by  no  means  constitute  such  an  explanation  of  the  offensive 
character  of  the  report,  which  had  been  communicated  to  me  of  your 
remarks  at  Thomson  and  Augusta,  as  I  can  receive  with  a  due  regard  to  my 
honor  as  a  gentleman  and  my  integrity  as  a  man.  I  do  not  deem  it  proper 
on  this  occasion  to  join  issues  with  you  in  any  statement  of  facts  in  your 
account  of  what  either  you  or  I  said  at  Lexington.  You  hold  yourself 
responsible,  I  suppose,  for  your  own  version  of  both,  and  for  the  version,  as 
given  by  yourself,  as  well  as  its  tone  and  manner.  I  ask  of  you  that  satis 
faction  which  is  usual  between  gentlemen  on  such  occasions.  My  friend, 
Hon.  Thomas  W.  Thomas,  who  will  hand  you  this,  is  authorized  to  make 
all  necessary  arrangements,  allowing  only  such  terms  as  my  present  distance 
may  require.  Respectfully, 

ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 
To  12.  If.  Hill,  Esq.,  La  Grange,  Ga. 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  25 

LA  GRANGE,  GA.,  December  6,  1856. 

Dear  Sir:  Your  letter  of  November  29  was  handed  to  me  a  few  moments 
since  by  Hon.  Thomas  W.  Thomas.  You  say  that  my  letter  of  the  24th 
ult.  has  in  it  much,  both  in  tone  and  manner,  personally  offensive  in  itself, 
and,  without  specifying  anything  which  you  designate  as  offensive,  you  pro 
ceed  to  ask  of  me  "  that  satisfaction  which  is  usual  between  gentlemen  in  such 
cases."  It  might  be  some  satisfaction  for  you  to  shoot  me,  though  I  should 
entertain  no  great  fear  of  being  hit;  but  candor  requires  me  to  say,  with  my 
present  feelings,  I  could  not  deliberately  shoot  at  you,  and  for  many  reasons, 
a  few  only  of  which  I  now  give: 

1st.  I  might  possibly  kill  you,  and  though  you  may  not  consider  your  life 
valuable,  yet  to  take  it  would  be  a  great  annoyance  to  me  ever  afterward. 
The  ceaseless  accusations  of  my  conscience  that  I  was  a  murderer  would  be 
the  bane  of  my  future  happiness. 

2d.  I  am  not  conscious  of  having  given  you  any  just  ground  of  offense. 
In  my  letter  of  the  24th  I  authorized  you  to  construe  my  remarks  by  the 
meaning  of  your  own  charge,  to  which  the  remarks  were  intended  as  reply. 
If  the  reply  then  was  offensive,  it  only  proves  that  you  so  intended  your 
charge,  and  in  that  view  you  are  entitled  to  no  satisfaction,  and  I  am  satis 
fied  with  the  reply.  Further  than  this  I  distinctly  disclaimed  any  personal 
allusion  or  unkindness,  and,  notwithstanding  your  "  belligerent  message," 
feel  none  now. 

3d.  If  the  invitation  to  mortal  combat  is  extended  as  a  mere  formal  oc 
casion  to  exchange  a  few  harmless  shots,  and  then  have  an  adjustment,  I 
can  only  say  I  never  engage  in  farces  nor  make  feigned  issues.  If  I  could 
be  made  conscious  that  I  had  done  you  injustice,  I  should  deem  it  a  duty  to 
repair  it,  and  should  not  wait  first  to  be  shot  at.  If  you  did  me  injustice,  I 
met  the  occasion  with  the  remedy,  and  it  does  seem  made  a  shot  which  pro 
duced  a  wider,  if  not  deeper  sore  than  any  within  the  power  of  powder  or 
ball  to  produce. 

Now,  sir  (as  I  always  speak  plainly),  I  will  only  add  that  I  know  of 
nothing  which  has  occurred  between  you  and  me  which  could  authorize  or 
justify  a  duel;  and  while  I  have  never  at  any  time  had  an  insult  offered  to 
me,  nor  an  aggression  attempted,  I  shall  yet  know  how  to  meet  and  repel 
any  that  may  be  offered  by  any  gentleman  who  may  presume  upon  this 
refusal  or  otherwise. 

Yours  respectfully, 

B.  H.  HILL. 
Hon.  A.  H.  Stephens.  

Mr.  Stephens,  after  receiving  Mr.  Hill's  letter,  refusing  to  meet  him  in 
mortal  combat,  publishes  the  following  in  the  Chronicle  and  Sentinel: 

The  letter  of  B.  H.  Hill,  Esq.,  published  in  the  Constitutionalist  of  the 
26th  ult.  (copied  from  the  Savannah  Republican),  abounding  as  it  does  with 
the  grossest  perversion  of  truth  upon  matters  relating  to  myself,  though  not 
of  great  weight  of  themselves,  should  have  been  noticed  at  an  earlier  date, 
but  for  the  pendency  of  a  correspondence  between  him  and  me  upon  another 
subject  of  a  much  higher  grade  of  importance,  which  required  prior  adjust 
ment — that  was  the  report  which  had  reached  me  of  his  speeches  at  Thomson 
and  Augusta,  near  the  close  of  the  late  canvass,  in  which,  as  communicated 
to  me,  he  had  said  in  substance,  at  both  of  these  places,  in  alluding  to  the 
discussion  at  Lexington  with  me  and  the  discussion  at  Washington  with  Mr. 


SENATOR  B.  ff.  HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

Toombs,  that  he  had  charged  them  (Messrs.  Toombs  and  Stephens)  with 
having  betrayed  the  Whig  party,  and  having  acted  toward  it  worse  than 
Judas  Iscariot.  "  For  though  he  betrayed  his  Master,  yet  he  did  not  abuse 
him  afterward — that  he  thundered  this  in  their  ears  and  they  cowered  under 
it."  An  explanation  of  this  language  took  precedence  over  all  minor  issues, 
and  I  am  now  compelled,  by  a  sense  of  duty  to  myself  and  the  public,  to 
make  known  that  in  the  correspondence  referred  to,  and  just  terminated,  in 
relation  to  it,  Mr.  Hill  has  proved  himself  to  be,  not  only  an  impudent  brag 
gart  and  an  unscrupulous  liar,  but  a  despicable  poltroon  besides.  All  these 
I  proclaim  him  to  be,  holding  myself,  notwithstanding  what  has  passed  and 
this  denunciation,  still  responsible  even  to  him  for  what  I  say,  if  he  be  not 
utterly  insensible  to  shame  or  degradation,  however  he  may  be  as  to  fear. 
The  public  will,  therefore,  excuse  me  for  not  saying  anything  further  upon 
his  version  of  facts  relating  to  the  very  immaterial  question,  so  far  as  I  was 
concerned,  as  to  whether  he  did  or  did  not  "back  out  from  a  discussion  in 
Elbert."  I  will  also,  I  trust,  be  excused,  even  by  the  most  fastidious,  for 
the  language  now  used  toward  him,  which  my  own  self-respect,  on  ordinary 
occasions,  would  forbid.  But  when  a  mendacious  gasconader  sets  up  wan 
tonly  to  asperse  my  private  character  and  malign  individual  reputation,  and 
then  refuses  that  redress  which  a  gentleman  knows  how  to  ask  as  well  as  to 
grant,  no  course  is  left  for  the  most  courteous  and  decorous,  and  the  most 
upright  and  honorable,  but  to  put  the  brand  of  infamy  upon  him,  there  to 
remain  until  a  radical  change  in  his  character,  and  especially  in  his  conduct, 
either  in  giving  personal  insults  or  making  proper  amends  for  them  when 
given  shall  remove  it. 

ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 
WASHINGTON  CITY,  D.  C.,  December  12,  1856. 


Letter  from  Mr.  Hill : 

LA  GRANGE,  GA.,  December  18,  1856. 

Mr.  Editor :  I  have  this  morning  read  the  "  card  "  of  Hon.  A.  H.  Ste 
phens,  dated  at  Washington  City,  December  12,  and  published  in  the  Con 
stitutionalist  of  yesterday.  It  shall  be  answered  as  its  merits  demand.  The 
correspondence  between  Mr.  Stephens  and  myself,  as  far  as  any  purpose  of 
mine  was  concerned,  was  not  intended  for  publication,  but  as  Mr.  Stephens 
has  alluded  to  it  in  his  card,  and,  as  an  inspection  will  show,  has  given  it  a 
false  version,  it  is  proper  that  the  public  should  see  the  whole  of  it,  and 
"  then  enter  judgment."  I  send  it  to  you  with  this.  Mr.  Stephens  first 
made  an  issue  of  veracity  in  his  letter  of  October  31  about  going  to  Elbert. 
I  stated  the  facts  on  this  subject  in  my  letter  of  November  5,  and  gave  it  as 
my  opinion  that  Mr.  Stephens  would  not  deny  the  facts  there  stated.  He 
does  not  do  it.  He  dare  not  do  it — but  goes  on  to  say  that  the  letter 
abounds  "  with  the  grossest  perversion  of  truth  upon  matters  relating  to 
himself,"  and  then  without  a  single  specification  dismisses  this  branch  of  the 
controversy,  by  saying  they  are  of  "  no  very  great  weight  in  themselves," 
etc.,  and  was  a  very  "  immaterial  question,"  etc. 

It  is  well  for  him  that  he  abandoned  this  issue.  He  made  it,  but  soon 
found  it  was  a  ridiculous  retreat  from  a  mortifying  defeat,  and  every  posi 
tion  assumed  by  him  in  relation  to  it  false,  either  in  letter  or  the  im 
pression  which  he  sought  to  make,  and  known  to  him  to  be  false,  because  he 
is  compelled  to  know  my  statement  is  correct  and  can  now  be  proven  by 
disinterested  gentlemen,  if  he  dared  to  deny  it,  and  specify  what  he  denied. 


LIF&,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  2? 

Since  writing  this  portion  of  this  article  I  have  received  another  letter  from 
a  highly  respectable  gentleman  (whose  name  with  many  others  can  be  given 
if  desired),  in  which  he  says  :  "  I  read  your  published  letter  to  Mr.  Ste 
phens,  of  November  5,  stating  the  facts  in  the  case  relative  to  your  going  to 
Elbert,  or  to  Washington  ;  every  item  of  which  I  think  you  could  substan 
tiate,  if  necessary,  by  at  least  twenty  witnesses — myself  among  the  number." 
In  his  letter  of  the  12th  inst.  he  alludes  to  what  he  calls  a  "  subject  of  a 
much  higher  grade,"  and  that  was  the  following  language,  which  he  says 
was  communicated  to  him  as  used  by  me  at  Thomson  and  Augusta,  that  I 
had  charged  them  [Messrs.  Toombs  and  Stephens]  with  "  having  betrayed 
the  Whig  party,  and  having  acted  toward  it  worse  than  Judas  Iscariot,*for 
though  he  betrayed  his  Master,  yet  he  did  not  abuse  him  afterward  ;  that 
he  had  thundered  this  in  their  ears,  and  they  had  cowered  under  it."  By 
his  own  showing  this  is  the  language  he  desired  explained,  and  it  is  the 
correspondence  in  relation  to  it  [this  language]  by  which  he  justifies  his 
challenge,  and,  when  it  was  declined,  proceeds  to  utter  his  denunciations 
against  me  with  his  characteristic  impotence  and  imperiousness.  Now  I  will 
prove  that  this  is  not  only  a  discreditable  evasion,  but  an  unmitigated  false 
hood.  My  witness,  I  admit,  is  discredited,  and  has  been  often  proved  to  be 
guilty  of  false  statements  ;  but  as  he  testifies  in  this  instance  against  himself, 
probably  some  slight  credence  ma}'-  be  given  to  his  statements.  Look  at  his 
letter  dated  November  22,  and  you  will  find  that  he  quotes  this  very  lan 
guage  and  says  my  explanation  "  on  that  point  is  satisfactory,"  and  then 
proceeds  to  ask  other  questions,  "  rendered  necessary,"  as  he  says,  by  the 
character  of  my  letter  of  the  18th  of  November,  the  very  letter  which  on 
that  point  complained  of  is  admitted  to  be  satisfactory.  The  man  is  so 
given  to  falsehoods  that  he  disputes  himself.  The  truth  is,  the  language 
which  I  did  use,  and  which  hurts  him  so  badly,  he  knows  was  justifiable, 
because  provoked  by  him,  and  hence  his  complaint  could  not  be  based  on 
that  foundation.  But  his  sore  would  not  let  him  rest  ;  he  must  have  an 
issue;  the  only  effect  of  which  he  knew  would  be  to  prevent  the  probability 
of  another  "  Lexington  blister,"  and  if  he  could  not  get  up  this  issue  in  any 
other  way,  he  would  follow  his  natural  proclivities,  and  lie  into  it.  This  he 
could  do  easily — without  effort.  The  gentleman  has  thus  made  two  issues 
growing  out  of  this  Lexington  discussion.  The  first  he  abandons  as  "  im 
material,"  and  the  second  he  proves,  himself,  to  be  a  falsehood,  yet  he  says 
my  correspondence  proves  to  him  that  I  am  a  "braggart,  a  liar,  and  a  pol 
troon,"  etc. 

The  public  can  judge  from  the  correspondence  itself  whether  this  is  not 
like  all  else  he  has  said  on  the  subject.  His  statement  is  no  evidence. 
But  let  us  see  by  facts  how  he  stands  on  each  of  these  points. 

I  am  informed  that  some  time  since,  in  a  speech  he  made  at  Lexington, 
he  compared  himself  to  Moses  ;  and  I  know  in  the  discussion  with  me  he 
bragged  disgustingly,  I  and  Toombs  and  a  few  others  (underlining  he  at  the 
top  always)  passed  and  formed  the  Compromise  Measure  of  1850,  told  Web 
ster  how  to  fix  up  the  Whig  platform  of  1852,  and  did  almost  everything 
else  of  importance  for  many  years  in  Congress.  The  records  do  not  show 
it — very  badly  kept — they  ought  to  be  corrected.  At  Mount  Moriah,  in 
Jefferson  County,  when  asked  publicly  by  some  of  his  friends  where  they 
should  go  in  the  then  disruption  of  parties,  he  drew  himself  up,  assuming 
the  air  of  a  Jupiter  Tonans,  and  stretching  forth  his  "  red  right  arm  "  cried 
"  Come  to  me,  come  to  me,  Alexander  Hamilton  Stephens,"  etc.  Wonderful 


28  SENATOR  B.   H.  HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

savior.  lie  also  compared  himself  to  an  eagle  and  other  folks  to  an  owl, 
and  talked  about  how  he  soared,  and  he  did  soar  beyond  all  location.  I 
could  fill  columns  with  evidence  on  this  subject,  but  I  should  say  the  fore 
going  is  enough  for  the  present  to  prove  him  a  "  braggart." 

Now  let  us  see  how  this  imperious  arbiter  of  character  stands  the  test  of 
the  second  characteristic  which  he  attributes  to  me.  During  the  discussion 
at  Lexington  I  referred  to  and  quoted  a  passage  in  Mr.  Brooks's  speech  at 
Ninety-six,  and  asked  Mr.  Stephens  if  he  indorsed  it.  In  his  reply,  he  said 
that  he  did  not  know  that  Mr.  Brooks  had  used  such  language — it  had  not 
been  read.  I  immediately  handed  it  to  him,  pointing  to  the  portion  quoted, 
and  asked  him  (Stephens)  to  read  it.  He  commenced  reading,  and  when  he 
reached  the  portion  I  had  quoted  he  skipped,  and  commenced  reading 
below.  I  quietly  stopped  him  and  asked  him  to  go  back,  and  as  I  was 
rather  under  and  behind  him  I  gently  took  hold  of  his  arm  to  point  him  to 
the  omitted  part,  and  he  absolutely  pulled  against  me.  The  thing  was  so 
palpable  that  a  little  boy  five  years  old  detected  it,  and  exclaimed  "  he 
skips."  After  he  was  thus  compelled  to  go  back,  he  read  it,  and  found  it 
precisely  as  I  had  quoted  it.  He  then  told  the  people  I  had  misrepresented 
Mr.  Brooks,  that  he  [Mr.  Brooks]  had  not  advised  us  to  "tear  up  the  already 
tattered  Constitution '  —that  these  were  not  Mr.  Brooks's  words,  as  I  had 
said,  but  that  Mr.  Brooks  said  these  are  the  abolitionists'  words,  that  they 
would  tear  up  the  Constitution,  etc.  This  he  said  with  the  balance  of  the 
sentence  before  his  eyes,  and  which  I  then  read  :  "  Tear  up  the  already 
tattered  Constitution,  scatter  its  fragments  to  the  winds,  and  build  a  South 
ern  Confederacy."  Did  the  Abolitionists  say  they  would  build  a  Southern 
Confederacy  ?  Here  are  two  falsehoods  in  reading  one  paragraph. 

He  afterward  read,  or  pretended  to  read,  what  he  called  the  "  Know- 
nothing  Oath,"  and  commenced  with  the  words  "You  will,  when  appointed 
to  office,"  etc.,  and  then  made  an  argument  to  prove  this  oath  was  illegal, 
and  went  through  a  theatrical  ceremony  of  holding  up  the  Constitution,  and 
closed  by  depositing  it  into  the  keeping  of  some  little  boys.  (I  understood, 
in  Elbert,  he  deposited  it  in  the  keeping  of  some  good  old  woman.)  I 
asked  him  for  the  very  paper  from  which  he  read,  and  I  took  it,  and  showed 
the  people  that  this  very  sentence,  which  he  pretended  to  read,  and  which  he 
sought  to  prove  was  illegal,  commenced,  "  If  it  can  be  done  legally,  you 
will,  when  appointed  to  office,"  etc.,  he  [Stephens]  leaving  out  the  words  "  if 
it  can  be  done  legally,"  etc.  Now,  reader,  how  do  you  suppose  this  truth 
ful  impeacher  of  other  men's  veracity  justified  this  deceptive  garbling  ? 
With  an  effrontery  and  imperturbable  gravity  which  surpassed  even  Simon 
Suggs,  when,  after  swindling  his  neighbor  out  of  a  horse  by  a  legerdemain 
known  only  to  jockeys,  he  said,  "  Integrity  is  the  post  I  allers  tie  to."  Mr. 
Stephens  told  the  people  "  he  read  as  much  of  the  document  as  suited  his 
purpose."  His  purpose;  amid  all  his  prevarication  this  one  truth  slipped 
out  by  accident;  he  read  enough  to  suit  his  purpose.  He  next  spoke  of  the 
passage  of  the  Compromise  Measures  of  1850,  and  the  part  Mr.  Fillmore 
acted,  which  he  illustrated  by  one  of  those  classical  anecdotes,  which  so 
distinguish  this  gentleman's  oratory,  about  Nancy  fighting  the  bear,  and 
her  husband  remaining  in  the  loft  until  Nancy  killed  the  bear,  and  then 
coming  down  and  saying,  "  Nancy,  aren't  we  brave! '  So  said  Mr.  Stephens 
when  "  I  andToombs  and  a  few  others  "  were  fighting  the  bear  [passing  the 
Compromise]  Fillmore  said,  "  Nancy,  aren't  we  brave! '  In  reply  to  all  this 
stuff,  I  proceeded  to  read  Mr.  Stephens's  published  declarations  in  1852,  ap- 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  29 

plauding  Mr.  Fillmore  for  his  advocacy  of  these  measures  and  his  "  firm  ad 
herence  "  to  the  policy  which  sustained  them.  To  get  out  of  this  dilemma 
he  told  the  people  he  was  not  speaking  of  Mr.  Fillmore — he  told  the  bear 
anecdote  to  ridicule  me,  which,  of  course,  made  me  President  in  1850,  and 
the  candidate  for  that  office  in  1856.  He  denied  that  he  had  abused  Stephen 
A.  Douglas,  especially  on  the  slavery  question,  in  1852.  I  appealed  to  the 
audience  before  me  to  prove  otherwise,  and  stated  what  I  myself  had  heard 
Mr.  Stephens  say  in  La  Grange,  and  voices  responded  from  every  part  of  the 
audience,  "  He  did  it  here — we  heard  him."  I  could  go  on  and  state  more 
falsehoods  equally  ridiculous — his  Lane  charges,  the  introduction  of  Judas, 
— a  favorite  illustration  with  him  [Mr.  Stephens] — and  many  other  things, 
but  it  seems  to  me  unnecessary,  and  it  is  no  pleasant  task  thus  to  expose 
him,  if  I  were  able  to  count  his  falsehoods  as  fast  as  he  told  them.  I  have 
mentioned  five,  given  as  instance  at  one  time  in  one  discussion,  and  before  a 
large  audience  of  intelligent  people,  and  by  whom  every  word  can  be  pro 
ven,  if  he  denies  them.  It  seems  to  me  this  makes  the  gentleman  a  perfect 
"  Colt's  Repeater  "  in  the  matter  of  telling  falsehoods.  Keep  cool,  Nancy, 
this  is  worse  than  the  bear  fight. 

To  the  third  point:  The  gentleman  cannot  specify  a  single  sentence, 
word,  or  syllable  in  my  letters  to  him,  my  speech  in  his  presence,  or  my 
remarks  about  him,  that  is  not  strictly  true,  and  confined  to  him  as  a  public 
man.  The  only  grievance  which  he  specified  in  his  card,  he  admits  in  his 
letter,  is  satisfactorily  explained.  Everything  else  in  the  correspondence 
relates  to  what  was  said  in  the  discussion.  He  did  not  take  it  as  offensive 
at  the  time,  invited  me  to  discussion  afterward,  saw  me  two  days  before  his 
first  letter  was  written,  was  with  me,  had  a  long  business  transaction  and 
social  conversation,  and  not  a  word  of  dissatisfaction  was  whispered.  He 
forged  his  grievance,  manufactured  his  excuse,  acted  only  a  pretender  in  his 
challenge  and  is,  therefore,  a  poltroon. 

Mr.  Stephens  speaks  of  my  aspersing  "private  character  "  and  "  malign 
ing  individual  reputation."  This  is  false — unconditionally,  absolutely 
false;  in  fact,  in  conception,  and  in  purpose.  I  never  said  anything  against 
his  private  character,  nor  do  I  deal,  in  public  discussions  or  at  dinner  tables, 
with  private  characters.  But  even  on  this  point,  I  cannot  release  him 
without  a  stripe.  At  the  dinner  table,  in  Lexington,  on  the  very  day 
before  the  discussion,  at  the  house  of  a  distinguished  gentleman,  and  when 
most  of  the  listeners  were  personally  strangers  to  me,  this  very  man,  A.  H. 
Stephens,  did  asperse  my  "  private  character  "  and  "  malign  my  individual 
reputation."  This  he  did  falsely  and  maliciously. 

My  private  character  is  the  jewel  I  prize  above  all  others.  I  was  born, 
raised,  and  educated  in  Georgia,  and  if  man,  woman,  or  child  can  be  found 
whom  I  ever  willfully  deceived  in  private  or  public  life,  in  politics,  law,  or 
social  intercourse,  I  hereby  unseal  his  lips,  and  authorize  him  to  speak.  It  is 
a  real  consolation  to  know  that  on  this  subject,  at  least,  I  can  defy  the 
slanderer,  mock  the  traducer,  and  despise  the  venom  of  even  Alexander  H. 
Stephens.  I  hope  that  no  one  will  suppose  that  even  now  I  entertain  any 
thing  like  a  feeling  of  hatred  for  Mr.  Stephens;  far  from  it — I  would  not 
harm  a  hair  of  his  head.  Up  to  the  Lexington  discussion,  I  entertained  some 
thing  of  respect  for  him,  though  the  character  of  many  of  his  statements 
prior  to  that  time  shook  my  faith  in  him  considerably.  Since  I  saw  him, 
felt  him,  and  weighed  him,  and  knew  him,  as  at  Lexington,  all  the  depths 
of  unutterable  contempt  are  exhausted  in  the  idea  I  have  of  his  utter  want 


30  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

of  fairness  and  candor  and  truthfulness  as  a  debater.  In  our  discussion  at 
Lexington,  I  deemed  it  a  duty,  because  of  his  slanders  of  honest  men,  to 
draw  a  picture  of  his  own  course  and  show  it  to  him.  The  very  sight  of 
his  own  picture  ran  him  mad.  It  was  true  to  life,  and  therefore  the  more 
hideous.  Hence  his  sore.  He  had  been  allowed  to  misrepresent  until  he 
concluded  he  had  a  right  to  do  so,  by  lapse  of  time  and  immemorial  usage. 
His  adverse  possession  of  falsehood,  he  deemed,  furnished  an  absolute  bar 
to  the  entry  of  truth  by  the  statute  of  limitations. 

No  man  saw  any  grounds  for  a  challenge  in  any  of  my  speeches;  no  man 
can  find  it  in  our  correspondence,  and  I  believe  every  candid  man  will  admit 
that  my  letter  of  November  18  ought  to  have  proven  satisfactory  to  any 
gentleman.  The  truth  is,  Mr.  Stephens  has  discovered  that  I  have  found 
him  out,  and  if  you  want  a  man  to  hate  you,  let  him  be  aware  that  you  are 
honest  and  that  you  know  he  is  mean.  I  say  to  Mr.  Stephens,  that 
while  I  do  know  his  faults,  I  am  willing  to  regard  them  with  much  allowance 
and  not  talk  about  them  as  much  as  he  supposes;  because  I  honestly  believe 
the  man  has  perverted,  distorted,  and  misrepresented  until  he  cannot  help  it. 
It  is  necessary  for  his  comfort.  He  is  a  monomaniac  on  the  subject  of 
falsehoods. 

This  letter  is  long,  but  my  reliance  is  the  facts,  and  it  requires  space  to 
state  them.  The  language  is  severe,  but  not  so  wanton  as  that  which  called 
it  out.  I  did  not  commence  this  controversy.  Mr.  Stephens  was  scarcely 
out  of  the  stand  at  Lexington,  before,  keeping  time  with  the  new  discovery 
in  electricity,  he  formed  his  throat  into  a  wire  for  passage  of  counter-cur 
rent — dinner  going  down  and  slanders  coming  up — originating  the  version 
about  going  to  Elbert.  To  generalities  I  have  replied  facts,  which,  if  the 
gentleman  controvert,  he  will  but  confirm  his  title  to  the  character  given 
him.  There  are  many  facts  known  to  me,  not  stated;  but  I  have  no  dispo 
sition  to  prosecute  this  controversy,  even  against  a  man  who  originates 
falsehood  to  injure  me  and  appeals  to  malice  to  soothe  his  self-provoked 
wounds. 

I  regard  dueling  as  no  evidence  of  courage,  no  vindication  of  truth,  and 
no  test  of  the  character  of  "  a  true  gentleman."  I  shall  be  "  braggart," 
"  liar,"  and  "  poltroon  "  enough,  now  and  forever,  to  declare  that  what  the 
laws  of  God  and  my  native  State  unite  in  denouncing  as  murder  could  give 
me  no  satisfaction  to  do,  to  attempt,  or  to  desire.  This  determination  is  but 
strengthened  when  the  contrary  course  involves  the  violation  of  my  con 
science  and  the  hazard  of  my  family,  as  against  a  man  who  has  neither  con 
science  nor  family.  But  I  have  had,  and  shall  continue  to  have,  courage 
enough  to  do  my  duty  firmly  and  truthfully,  and  to  defend  myself  any 
where  and  everywhere,  even  in  the  Eighth  District,  and  if  any  gentleman 
doubts  it,  there  is  a  short  and  easy  way  to  test  it. 

Yours  very  truly, 

B.  H.  HILL. 

A  distinguished  Georgian,  in  writing  about  this  episode  of  Mr.  Hill's 
public  career,  says  :  "  When  the  correspondence  was  published,  Hill  became 
more  popular  than  before.  There  was  not  another  man  in  all  the  South 
who  could  have  penned  that  letter  of  declination  and  escaped  political  anni 
hilation  and  social  ostracism.  But  Hill  was  a  man  whose  courage  required 
no  certificate.  His  mien,  his  language,  and  his  character  were  like  '  all  the 
blood  of  all  the  Howards,'  The  courage  of  Henry  of  Navarre  was  acquired, 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND   WRITINGS.  31 

that  of  Ben  Hill  was  innate  in  the  man."  The  writer  has  always  regarded 
it  as  unfortunate  that  these  two  Georgians  became  thus  early  personal 
enemies.  They  viewed  a  great  many  public  questions  alike,  were  both 
ardent  lovers  of  the  Union,  and,  in  his  opinion,  impartial  history  will  pro 
nounce  them  the  two  wisest  statesmen  the  South  has  ever  produced.  The 
work  done  by  Mr.  Hill  in  the  Fillmore  campaign  made  him  the  leader 
of  the  Whig  or  American  party  in  the  State.  The  press  of  that 
day  was  filled  with  eulogiums  of  his  powers  as  an  orator  and 
debater.  Colonel  J.  R.  Sneed,  then  editor  of  the  Savannah  Republican,  and 
for  a  long  time  the  leader  of. Georgia  journalism,  published  in  his  paper, 
October,  1856,  the  following  strong  article  describing  a  speech  which  Mr. 
Hill  made  at  Waynesboro',  in  Burke  County.  This  article  is  one  of  many  of 
similar  import  published  of  him  at  this  time,  and  it  is  here  quoted  for  the 
purpose  of  giving  the  reader  some  conception  of  him  as  a  speaker  at  this 
period  of  his  career. 

From  the  Savannah  Republican  : 

HON.  H.  B.  HILL. 

I  heard  the  Hon.  B.  H.  Hill  at  Waynesboro',  on  Friday  last,  address  the 
people  for  three  hours,  arid  the  impression  he  made  upon  my  mind  is  that, 
now  the  great  Berrien  is  no  more,  he  stands,  irrespective  of  age,  without  a 
rival  in  mental  power  in  Georgia.  I  know  all  our  great  men  ;  I  have  read 
their  thoughts  and  listened  to  their  eloquence.  He  has  no  superior  as  an 
orator,  and  no  equal  as  a  logician.  He  unites  moral  with  intellectual 
strength.  He  shuns,  with  the  dignity  of  a  statesman,  and  the  integrity  of  a 
patriot,  all  the  subtle  arts  and  artifices  of  a  demagogue.  He  goes  not  about 
the  country  imposing  upon  the  weak  and  credulous  with  miserable  balder 
dash  and  clap  trap.  He  deals  only  in  the  indisputable  truths  of  history,  and 
in  his  analysis  of  these  truths  he  makes  arguments  that  eloquence  can  never 
fritter  away,  festoons  of  rhetoric  never  conceal,  nor  the  thunders  of  declama 
tion  silence.  His  language  is  plain,  his  perception  clear,  his  wit  bright,  and 
under  it  the  sophistry  of  an  adversary  withers.  With  a  manner  manly,  an 
agreeable  and  a  deep-toned  voice,  his  unanswerable  logic  becomes  irresisti 
bly  fascinating,  and  for  four  consecutive  hours  intelligent  audiences  have 
listened  to  his  great  efforts  at  the  hustings  without  having  a  thought  to 
give  to  impatience  or  anything  else  but  the  vast  importance  of  the  vital 
theme,  whose  interest  his  pre-eminent  powers  as  a  public  debater  are  so 
happily  adapted  to  intensify.  There  are  some  public  men  who,  with  great 
boldness,  will  confront  an  intelligent  audience,  and,  like  the  eagle  dashing 
against  the  sun,  will  plume  their  wings  for  lofty  flights  into  the  far-off 
regions  of  speculation.  The  ignorant  and  vulgar  stare  and  wonder  ;  but 
Avhen  the  man  of  sense  goes  home,  and  sits  down  in  his  own  quiet  closet  to 
ruminate  on  what  he  has  heard,  he  finds  it  an  easy  matter  to  pick  to  pieces 
with  a  bodkin  all  the  fine  fret  work  that  blazed  so  brilliantly  before  him  for 
an  hour.  It  is  not  so  with  the  views  promulgated  from  the  stump  by  this 
gifted  young  statesman.  When  you  take  his  facts  and  thoughts  home  with 
you,  you  find  his  facts  are  not  inventions,  and  his  thoughts  are  not  specula 
tions  ;  but  you  do  find  one  is  history  and  the  other  is  truth,  and  ought  to  be 
come  history.  With  a  spotless  private  character,  a  big  heart  full  of  the  glow 
ing  fire  of  pure  patriotism,  an  intellect  such  as  God  sends  to  the  human  family 
only  once  in  a  century,  a  soul  that  dreads  neither  the  devil  nor  his  imps, 


32  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

neither  the  enemies  of  Heaven  nor  his  country,  he  is  at  this  time  capable  of 
more  usefulness  than  every  other  public  man  in  Georgia,  and  you  may  set  the 
balance  to  work  in  a  gang,  and  turn  him  out  on  his  high  and  holy  mission  alone. 

One  who  was  present  at  this  meeting  says:  "  There  were  several  Demo 
crats  on  hand,  and  when  they  saw  that  a  speech  was  being  made  that  no 
mortal  man  could  answer,  they  determined  to  drown  their  sorrow  in  the  pro 
verbial  answer  of  Democracy  to  sound  logic,  to  wit — whisky;  and  every 
now  and  then  they  could  be  heard  shouting  for  Buchanan.  One  of  them  I 
heard  shout:  'Hurrah  for  Buchanan  and  he.ll,'  whereupon  Mr.  Hill  pleas 
antly  remarked,  *  That  man  is  in  the  right  fix  to  shout  for  Buchanan,  be 
cause  his  reason  is  gone.'  One  of  Mr.  Hill's  chief  characteristics  as  a 
speaker,  even  at  this  early  day,  was  his  coolness,  his  calm  self-possession. 
He  was  absolute  master  of  himself  at  all  times,  and  nothing  could  disturb 
his  wonderful  mental  equipoise.  On  October  1,  1868,  a  great  Fillmore  mass 
meeting  was  held  in  Atlanta.  All  the  eloquent  Whig  orators  were  present, 
including  such  men  as  R".  P.  Tripp/  H.  V.  M.  Miller,  A.  R.  Wright,  and 
Henry  W.  Hilliard,  the  latter  gentleman  at  this  time  the  leading  orator  in 
Alabama.  He  had  frequently  successfully  met  that  greatest  of  Alabamians, 
William  L.  Yancey.  The  account  of  the  speaking  given  in  the  newspapers 
of  the  day  shows  that  Mr.  Hill,  though  much  the  youngest  of  the  brilliant 
coterie,  was  a  popular  favorite.  After  the  conclusion  of  Mr.  Hilliard's 
speech,  our  '  native  bird,'  Benjamin  H.  Hill,  arose  amid  deafening  shouts  of 
applause,  and  after  some  length  of  time  he  was  permitted  to  proceed  with 
his  speech.  It  was  the  speed)  of  the  day,  and  will  long  be  remembered 
by  those  who  were  enchained  by  his  brilliant  eloquence  and  burning  sar 


casm.' 


In  July,  1857,  the  American  party  held  its  convention  at  Milledgeville 
for  the  purpose  of  nominating  a  candidate  for  Governor.  At  this  date  the 
party  was  composed  of  some  of  the  best  men  in  Georgia.  Among  its  lead 
ers  was  Charles  J.  Jenkins,  a  name  revered  by  Georgians;  E.  A.  Nisbet, 
one  of  the  first  and  ablest  justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  ;  H.  V.  M.  Miller, 
then,  as  now,  a  marvel  of  eloquence  and  learning;  the  impulsive  and  chival 
rous  Francis  Bartow,  the  witty  and  humorous  Cincinnatus  Peeples,  the 
scholarly  A.  R.  Wright,  and  men  of  like  spotless  and  lofty  character,  but 
who  were  all  of  them  totally  unfit  for  the  rough  contention  of  politics. 
Mr.  Hill  was  the  youngest  of  the  leaders,  but  so  great  was  the  reputation 
made  by  him  in  the  race  against  Warner,  and  in  his  canvass  as  a  Fillmore 
elector,  that  he  was  unanimously  and  by  acclamation,  amid  great  applause, 
nominated  as  an  American  candidate  for  Governor.  In  writing  of  Mr.  Hill, 
in  connection  with  this  high  position,  an  eminent  journalist  of  that  day  said : 
"Uniting  a  cool  head  and  cultivated  mind  with  a  warm  and  honest  heart, 
he  is  eminently  qualified  for  the  high  and  honorable  station  of  chief  magis 
trate.  We  are  told  he  is  the  very  idol  of  the  community  in  which  he  lives, 
that  he  has  been  pronounced  by  the  judges  of  the  courts  in  which  he  pleads 
to  be  the  best  lawyer  there  is  in  this  State.  The  recent  political  campaign 
has  placed  him  in  the  front  ranks  with  the  orators  and  politicians  of  the  day, 
many  of  his  political  opponents  even  admitting  that  he  has  proven  himself 
victor  of  every  contest.  For  a  man  of  his  age  to  have  risen  so  rapidly  in 
the  estimation  of  the  people,  with  so  much  to  contend  with,  not  to  say  envy, 
malice,  and  political  asperity,  is  proof  positive  that  he  is  a  great  man.  And 
for  him  to  have  had  the  moral  courage  to  brook  public  opinion  in  an  affair 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,   AND   WRITINGS.  33 

of  honor  and  lean  to  virtue's  side,  because  the  laws  of  his  country  and  of  his 
God  demanded  it,  is  the  best  evidence  that  he  is  a  good  man,  one  who  fears 
God  and  eschews  evil.  Such  a  man  is  eminently  qualified  to  be  governor  of 
a  Christian  people."  This  nomination,  following  so  soon  after  Mr.  Hill's 
declination  of  the  challenge  of  Mr.  Stephens,  furnishes  conclusive  proof  that 
he  had  lost  neither  popularity  nor  prestige  by  the  act.  He  was  then  thirty- 
four  years  old,  and  had  met  all  the  old  leaders  of  Democracy  on  the  stump, 
and,  by  the  concurrent  opinion  of  friend  and  foe,  met  them  most  success 
fully.  In  his  letter  accepting  the  nomination  he  went  beyond  the  limits  of 
State  politics,  discussing  with  breadth  and  ability  the  issues  then  agitating 
the  whole  country.  The  committee  notifying  him  of  his  nomination  assured 
him  it  was  "  with  unanimity  and  amid  great  enthusiasm,"  and  that  the  "office 
had  sought  the  candidate." 

The  "Democrats  nominated  Joseph  E.  Brown  for  Governor.  "  Ben  Hill ' 
and  "Joe  Brown,"  as  they  were  familiarly  called  by  their  admirers,  thus 
began  a  political  antagonism  which  continued  until  a  few  years  before  the 
former's  death.  When  they  met  as  colleagues  in  the  United  States  Senate, 
this  personal  and  political  bitterness  of  years  was  entirely  forgotten,  and 
they  became  very  close  friends.  In  Georgia's  political  history  the  most 
striking  and  original  figures  are  Ben  Hill  and  Joe  Brown.  The  State  has 
been  the  prolific  mother  of  genius.  In  statesmanship  and  literature,  in 
science  and  art,  she  has  given  to  the  world  many  names  that  posterity  will 
not  willingly  let  die.  But  no  two  men  have  more  indelibly  stamped  their 
individuality  upon  her  history  than  Hill  and  Brown. 

These  two  men,  in  character,  in  temperament,  in  thought,  and  in  method, 
were  opposites.  Their  careers  are  divergent  and  in  contrast.  They  both 
sprung  from  the  people,  and  were  leaders  of  the  people,  but  they  led  them 
hi  different  paths  and  by  different  methods.  It  has  been  so  frequently 
asserted  as  almost  to  have  attained  the  dignity  of  a  popular  belief,  that  the 
political  career  of  Governor  Brown  was  characterized  by  unerring  sagacity. 
That  in  statecraft  his  judgment  was  almost  infallible.  Indeed,  he  has 
appropriated  the  meaning  of  the  word  by  peculiarity  of  pronunciation. 
His  admirers  point  him  out  in  the  political  firmament  as  the  planet  shining 
with  clear  and  steady  light. 

These  same  critics  have  asserted  that  Senator  Hill's  political  course 
was  inconsistent  and  frequently  unwise.  That  he  was  unreliable  and 
unstable  as  a  leader.  In  the  political  firmament  he  was  the  meteor,  brilliant, 
but  erratic  ;  dazzling,  but  doubtful.  This  opinion  is  partly  attributable  to 
the  different  political  methods  of  the  two  men.  Brown  1Vras  a  skillful  party 
tactician,  Hill  an  earnest  student  of  political  principles.  Brown  was 
influenced  by  policy — Hill  by  conviction.  Personalism  and  party  expedi 
ency  dominated  Brown.  Patriotism,  intense  and  ardent,  inspired  Hill. 
Brown  was  a  partisan,  Hill  a  statesman. 

Governor  Brown  himself  is  largely  responsible  for  this  estimate  of 
Senator  Hill.  Indeed,  he  is  the  author  of  the  fallacy  that  "  Ben  Hill  pos 
sessed  great  eloquence,  but  lacked  judgment."  But  Governor  Brown  can 
not  be  condemned  for  this  opinion  of  his  antagonist.  It  was  necessary  to 
accredit  his  own  wisdom.  I  purpose  to  depart  from  the  chronological  order 
of  my  narrative,  and  by  a  comparison  of  the  course  of  the  two  men  demon 
strate,  in  the  light  of  the  logic  of  events,  the  absolute  incorrectness  of  this 
opinion.  In  doing  so,  it  is  unnecessary  for  me  to  disclaim  any  personal 
feeling  against  Senator  Brown.  I  am  actuated  solely  by  a  motive  of  justice 


34  SENATOR  B.   II.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

to  the  public  career  of  Senator  Hill.  I  know  that  there  never  was  a  greater 
error,  and  one  for  which  there  was  less  foundation,  than  the  statement  that 
Senator  Hill  as  a  leader  and  statesman  was  lacking  in  consistency  and 
wisdom.  And  if  I  show  this  truth  by  contrast  with  the  career  of  his  eminent 
antagonist,  it  is  because  the  facts  furnish  the  contrast. 

These  two  statesmen  began  their  great  careers  in  the  midst  of  a  revolu 
tion.  This  revolution,  caused  by  slavery  agitation,  finally  culminated  in 
these  momentous  stages  of  Secession,  Coercion,  and  Reconstruction.  In 
the  light  of  to-day  let  us  consider  these  stages  and  the  part  these  two 
leaders  took  in  each. 

Viewed  from  the  standpoint  of  practical  statesmanship,  the  monumental 
folly  of  the  century  was  secession.  It  stands  without  a  rival  in  all  history, 
the  most  striking  example  of  a  people's  madness.  I  am  not  discussing  seces 
sion  as  a  right,  but  as  a  remedy  for  political  wrongs.  Senator  Hill  believed 
that  secession  was  a  revolutionary  right,  but  not  a  remedy  for  Southern 
wrongs.  He  asserted  that  this  remedy  was  to  be  found  inside  the  Con 
stitution,  and  if)  the  Union.  He  first  entered  public  service  to  warn  his 
people  against  that  fanaticism  of  the  North  which  would  trample  upon  Con 
stitutional  rights,  and  that  folly  of  the  South,  which  in  its  efforts  to 
carry  slavery  where  God  intended  it  should  not  go,  the  Union  would  be  de 
stroyed  and  the  right  to  hold  slaves  would  be  lost.  With  prophetic  vision 
he  saw  that  fanaticism,  slavery  fanaticism,  was  the  element  of  destruction  in 
the  Union  of  the  States.  At  all  times  and  everywhere  he  denounced  slavery 
agitation.  The  right  to  hold  slaves  he  held  as  nothing  in  comparison  with 
the  priceless  value  of  the  Union.  At  all  times,  and  to  the  last,  he  resisted 
the  current  rushing  madly  and  blindly  on  to  the  rock  of  secession.  With 
pathetic  voice  he  exclaimed :  "I  pray  God  that  those  who  would  destroy 
this  Union  in  a  frolic,  may  have  wisdom  to  furnish  our  children  with  a 
better."  To  save  the  Union  was  the  grandest  opportunity  ever  offered  to 
American  statesmanship.  Mr.  Hill  fully  comprehended  it,  and  with  patriot 
ism  and  wisdom  labored  to  accomplish  it. 

Governor  Brown  had  no  conception  of  the  value  of  the  Union,  and  the 
awful  consequences  resulting  from  its  disruption.  He  was  an  extreme  Seces 
sionist.  He  advocated  secession  as  a  constitutional  right,  and  a  perfect 
remedy.  His  judgment  was  obscured  by  passion.  His  nature,  usually  calm, 
his  actions,  ordinarily  deliberate,  became  impetuous  and  precipitate.  He 
rushed  ahead  of  the  fierv  Toombs  toward  revolution  and  ruin.  He  seized 

\> 

the  forts  and  arsenals  of  the  general  government  before  the  ordinance  of 
secession  was  adojfted — and  in  advance  endeavored  to  commit  his  State  to 
the  fatal  step  of  disrupting  the  Union. 

During  this  great  crisis  of  our  country's  history,  who  was  the  wise  and 
sagacious  statesman,  Benjamin  H.  Hill  or  Joseph  E.  Brown  ? 

War,  predicted  and  dreaded  by  Hill,  laughed  at  and  precipitated  by 
Brown,  resulted.  After  the  conflict  began,  the  only  possible  hope  of  success 
was  in  the  absolute  unity  of  the  Southern  people.  Division  was  certain 
defeat.  Harmony  was  possible  victory.  Factious  opposition  to  the  Con 
federate  Government  was  an  unpardonable  crime.  Mr.  Hill,  realizing  this 
truth,  consecrated  himself  without  reservation  to  the  cause  of  the  South. 
He  never  wavered  in  his  support  of  the  Confederate  administration,  and 
soon  became  to  civil  affairs  what  Lee  was  to  the  military — the  right  arm  of 
the  Confederacy.  While  leaders  who  plunged  the  country  into  strife  were 
using  their  power  and  influence  to  impede  the  success  of  the  cause  by  fac- 


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HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  35 

tious  attacks  on  the  policy  of  Congress  and  the  President,  Mr.  Hill  exerted 
his  eloquence  in  their  defense.  He  never  criticised.  No  soldier  in  the 
front  ever  heard  from  him  any  but  words  of  cheer.  His  absorbing  purpose 
was  success,  and  to  accomplish  this  he  was  ready  to  make  any  sacrifice  of 
opinion  or  property.  In  short,  he  was  one  of  the  "  most  heroic  figures  in 
the  revolution  fought  against  his  judgment." 

The  men  who  were  responsible  for  the  Confederacy  were  under  para 
mount  obligation  to  promote  its  success.  Of  all  men,  the  Secessionist  should 
have  buried  self  and  exalted  country.  It  is  not  my  purpose  to  go  into  the 
merits  of  the  controversy  between  President  Davis  and  Governor  Brown. 
But  I  believe  Jefferson  Davis  was  true  to  the  cause  of  the  South  in  every 
fiber  of  his  nature  ;  and  I  assert  that  Governor  Brown's  course  during  these 
trying  days  is  open  to  serious  criticism  from  the  standpoint  of  patriotic 
statesmanship.  I  do  not  doubt  the  sincerity  of  his  motives,  nor  question 
his  loyalty  in  arraying  himself  against  the  Confederate  Government.  But 
it  is  certainly  true  that  his  attitude  caused  much  discontent  among  the  people 
and  the  soldiers,  and  his  threat  to  resist  the  enforcement  of  the  conscript 
laws  gave  encouragement  to  the  enemy. 

Who  was  the  wise  leader  those  four  years  of  darkness  and  death — Hill, 
the  faithful  friend  of  Davis,  or  Brown,  the  opponent  of  Davis?  Let  the 
soldiers  who  followed  Lee,  Jackson,  and  Hood,  answer. 

The  third  and  last  stage  in  the  revolution  was  the  infamous  period  of 
Reconstruction.  That  the  Reconstruction  measures  were  infamous  in  pur 
pose  and  character  has  passed,  as  a  truth,  into  impartial  history.  No  people  in 
the  history  of  the  world  ever  occupied  a  more  critical  position  than  the 
white  people  of  the  South  immediately  after  the  war.  Civil  law  was  dead. 
Military  tyrants  held  absolute  and  irresponsible  sway.  A  fanatical  Con 
gress  proposed  to  disfranchise  intelligence  and  enfranchise  ignorance  ;  to 
place  "  black  heels  on  white  necks,"  and  the  white  men  of  the  South  were 
asked  to  consent  to  the  monstrous  outrage. 

^j 

It  was  indeed  a  fearful  crisis.  Courage,  patriotism,  and  statesmanship 
were  demanded.  It  was  absolutely  necessary  to  put  hope  into  the  crushed 
hearts  of  the  people,  to  preserve  the  self-respect  of  the  soldier,  otherwise  the 
fate  of  the  country  was  not  only  certain  but  ruinous.  In  this  extreme  hour 
of  the  country's  peril  was  it  wise  statesmanship  to  accept  the  terms  proposed? 
It  is  conceded  that  they  were  degrading  to  Southern  honor,  that  they  were 
monstrous  usurpations  ;  but  it  was  claimed  by  Governor  Brown  that  they 
were  the  terms  of  the  conqueror,  and  therefore  it  was  expedient  in  the  con 
quered  to  accept  them.  He  thought  the  "  South  was  doomed  to  a  complete 
surrender,"  and  without  a  struggle  she  should  accept  her  doom.  It  is  true 
that  such  acceptance  carried  with  it  the  admission  by  the  South  that  the 
war  between  the  States  was  a  rebellion,  and  not  a  revolution, — that  our  dead 
soldiers  were  traitors,  not  patriots.  Governor  Brown  insisted  that  unless 
these  terms  were  accepted,  others,  more  objectionable,  would  be  forced  upon 
the  South.  He  did  not  show  how  it  was  possible  for  wicked  ingenuity  to 
devise  other  terms,  worse  in  character  and  effect,  for  death  to  a  proud  people 
is  preferable  to  dishonor.  Mr.  Hill,  on  the  contrary,  resisted  the  adoption  of 
the  Reconstruction  measures,  as  a  menace  to  the  honor  and  civilization  of  his 
people.  He  fought  them  with  matchless  power,  terrible  invective,  and  burn 
ing  eloquence.  In  the  language  of  one  of  his  ablest  biographers,  "  He  was 
the  incarnation  of  eloquent  zeal  in  opposition  to  the  wrongs  he  believed 
to  be  meditated  against  his  people,  and  against  Anglo-Saxon  civilization, 


36  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

Under  the  influence  of  his  magnificent  appeals,  his  burning  invective,  and 
dauntless  courage,  the  white  people  of  Georgia  became  suddenly  massed  in 
a  Macedonian  phalanx,  seemingly  ready  again  to  defy  the  monster  that  had 
but  recently  subdued  them."  The  practical  result  of  Mr.  Hill's  leadership 
was  the  salvation  of  his  people  from  dishonor  and  the  redemption  of  his 
State  from  the  rule  of  ignorance  and  corruption  and  placing  her  ten  years 
in  advance  of  the  other  Southern  States, — an  advance  that  she  still  maintains. 

To  sum  up  the  whole  matter  :  On  these  great  questions  of  Secession, 
Coercion,  and  Reconstruction,  Mr.  Hill  displayed  marvelous  statesmanship 
and  prophetic  wisdom.  The  irresistible  logic  of  results  has  demonstrated 
the  absolute  correctness  of  his  positions.  And  these  facts  being  true,  the 
converse  is  equally  true  as  to  Governor  Brown. 

When  I  consider  the  lives  of  these  two  statesmen,  the  momentous  scenes 
in  which  they  were  leading  actors, — when  I  find  that  events  have  always 
justified  Senator  Hill,  and  have  never  justified  Governor  Brown, —  it  seems  to 
me  a  political  paradox  that  the  former  should  ever  have  been  regarded 
unsafe  and  unwise  as  a  leader,  while  the  latter  was  regarded  safe  and  wise. 
I  have  been  led  into  this  digression  by  the  conviction  that  truth  and  justice 
demanded  the  prompt  explosion  of  this  popular  error. 

I  return  to  the  order  of  my  sketch. 

The  campaign  between  Mr.  Hill  and  Mr.  Brown  for  Governor,  in  1857, 
was  a  memorable  one  in  Georgia.  Both  candidates  were  young,  and  popular 
with  their  parties.  Mr.  Hill  had  the  advantage  in  prestige  and  reputation, 
and  in  the  joint  discussions  that  took  place  demonstrated  his  superiority  as 
an  orator  and  debater.  Governor  Brown,  however,  exhibited  great  skill 
and  adroitness,  but  after  several  meetings  the  manager  of  the  Democratic 
campaign  deemed  it  prudent  to  withdraw  their  champion  from  the  joint 
discussion.  The  Democratic  party  was  overwhelmingly  strong  in  Georgia, 
and  after  a  canvass  of  unsurpassed  brilliancy,  in  the  language  of  another, 
"  Mr.  Hill  found  himself  the  idol  of  his  party,  the  wonder  of  all  Georgians, 
defeated  by  ten  thousand  votes,  but  the  foremost  man  of  his  years  in  the 
country." 

In  1859  Mr.  Hill  was  elected  a  member  of  the  State  Senate  by  the 
American  party.  He  accepted  the  position  for  the  express  purpose  of  avert 
ing,  if  possible,  secession  and  saving  the  Union  he  loved  so  ardently  and 
had  always  championed  so  eloquently.  In  the  Senate,  he  was  the  admitted 
leader  of  his  party,  and  recognized  as  the  ablest  debater  in  an  unusually 
strong  body.  While  serving  his  term  in  the  Senate  Mr.  Hill  won  a  mar 
velous  legal  victory,  and  established  himself  as  the  foremost  advocate  in 
Georgia.  In  the  winter  of  1858,  William  A.  Choice  shot  and  killed  one 
Calvin  Webb,  in  the  city  of  Atlanta.  The  killing  was  a  premeditated  assas 
sination.  Webb  was  a  constable,  who  the  day  before  had  attempted  to  col 
lect  a  small  debt  from  Choice.  There  was  at  this  time  an  angry  discussion 
between  the  two,  but  violence  was  prevented  by  others.  The  next  day 
Choice  met  Webb  near  the  Trout  House,  and,  without  warning,  drew  his 
pistol  and  shot  him  twice,  killing  him  instantly.  The  murder  was  so  brutal 
and  inexcusable  that  excitement  ran  high,  and  the  prisoner's  life  was  in 
danger  from  mob  violence.  Mr.  Hill  was  employed  to  defend  the  murderer  ; 
his  defense  was  insanity,  caused  by  a  blow  on  the  head  in  early  youth. 
Notwithstanding  a  powerful  effort  to  acquit,  the  jury  found  Choice  guilty. 
Mr.  Hill  appealed  the  case  to  the  Supreme  Court.  This  tribunal  affirmed 
the  judgment.  In  the  report  of  this  case,  in  31  Georgia,  the  doctrine  of 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  37 

mental  responsibility  for  crime  and  the  legal  view  of  insanity  are  exhaust 
ively  discussed.  It  is  said  that  Mr.  Hill's  argument  before  the  Supreme 
Court  in  the  case  exceeded  the  great  speech  of  Erskine  in  behalf  of  Hadfield. 
The  defense  in  the  two  cases  was  similar.  Undismayed  by  the  adverse 
decision,  Mr.  Hill  appealed  to  the  General  Assembly  for  pardon,  and  by  a 
majority  of  one  the  pardon  was  granted.  Governor  Brown,  however,  in  a 
very  strong  message,  vetoed  the  bill,  and  in  the  effort  to  pass  tlie  bill  over 
this  veto,  Mr.  Hill  made  a  speech,  that  to  this  day  is  recalled  by  those  who 
heard  it,  as  a  marvel  of  argument,  eloquence,  and  pathos.  Unfortunately,  it 
was  never  reported  stenographically,  and  we  have  only  tradition  as  to  its 
power  and  eloquence.  Under  the  influence  of  the  argument  the  bill  was 
passed  over  the  Governor's  veto,  and  Choice  was  liberated  while  under  the 
shadow  of  the  gallows.  Mr.  Hill  was  greatly  enlisted  in  the  case,  because 
of  his  thorough  conviction  that  his  unfortunate  client  was  not  mentally  re 
sponsible  for  his  act.  The  sequel  proved  the  correctness  of  his  belief. 
Choice  lived  only  a  few  years,  a  mental  wreck,  and  when  he  died  he  was  per 
fectly  insane. 

Mr.  Hill's  course  in  the  Senate  was  conspicuous  for  his  earnest  efforts 
to  stop  sectional  agitation  and  save,  if  possible,  the  imperiled  Union.  And 
to  his  work  is  in  large  part  attributed  the  strong  love  for  the  Union  that 
existed  in  the  State  even  when  the  ordinance  of  secession  was  passed.  But 
no  human  power  could  stay  the  revolution,  and  events  were  shaped  and  con 
trolled  by  destiny. 

The  most  momentous  Presidential  campaign  this  country  ever  passed 
through  was  that  of  1860.  Four  tickets  were  before  the  people.  The  ex 
tremists  of  the  North  nominated  Lincoln  ;  the  extremists  of  the  South  nom 
inated  Breckenridge  ;  the  Whigs  who  loved  the  Union  more  than  slavery, 
nominated  Bell  ;  the  conservative  Democrats  nominated  Douglass. 

Mr.  Hill's  consistent  course  in  favor  of  the  perpetuity  of  the  Union 
naturally  placed  him  with  the  Bell  party.  He  was  an  elector  from  the 
State  at  large.  His  canvass  of  the  State  was  marked  by  great  power  and 
earnestness.  The  platform  upon  which  Bell  and  Everett  stood  was  broad 
enough  to  include  all  patriots.  It  was  "  the  Constitution  of  the  country,  the 
Union  of  the  States,  and  the  enforcement  of  the  laws."  The  candidates  were 
personally  eminent  for  purity  of  character,  and  in  public  life  had  been  con 
sistently  non-sectional  and  national.  Mr.  Hill's  speeches  in  this  campaign 
were  characterized  by  clear  statement,  close  argument,  and  conservatism. 
He  endeavored  to  convince  the  reason  of  the  people  and  to  prove  the  abso 
lute  necessity  for  the  election  of  the  candidates  of  the  Constitutional  Union 
party  in  order  to  stop  further  slavery  agitation,  and  thus  save  the  Union. 
None  of  these  speeches  were  preserved  by  him,  and  I  have  been  able  to  find 
only  one  that  was  reported  in  such  a  way  as  to  give  any  idea  of  his  style. 
This  speech  was  delivered  at  Macon,  June  30,  1860.  It  is  a  very  calm, 
lucid  exposition  and  argument.  Mr.  Hill  foresaw  that  unless  the  three  anti- 
Republican  tickets  were  united,  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  and  the  conse 
quent  disruption  of  the  Union  would  be  inevitable.  Just  before  the  election 
he  wrote  a  strong  appeal  urging  a  fusion  of  these  three  tickets.  This  propo 
sition  was  favored  by  some  of  the  ablest  leaders  of  the  three  parties,  but 
was  finally  declined.  The  proposition  shows  that  Mr.  Hill  stood  far  above 
all  mere  party  consideration  and  was  working  in  behalf  of  the  whole  country. 
The  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  plunged  the  country  into  a  momentous  struggle. 
Mr.  Hill  felt  that  the  Union  must  be  saved  at  all  hazards,  and  into  this  last 


38  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

great  effort  he  threw  all  the  devotion  of  his  heart  and  all  the  eloquence  of 
his  tongue  and  all  the  fearlessness  of  his  nature.  He  found  fighting  by 
his  side  his  old  adversary,  A.  H.  Stephens,  and  his  brother,  Linton  Stephens. 
In  reviewing  this  period  of  our  history  at  this  day,  when  the  mind  is  free 
from  the  passions  of  the  hour,  we  are  astonished  at  two  things  ;  we  are 
amazed  that  any  human  power  could  have  withstood  the  storm  of  passion  in 
which  the  secession  of  Georgia  was  consummated  and  so  nearly  defeated  it 
in  the  end.  Robert  Toombs,  then  a  Senator  from  Georgia,  with  all  the  im 
passioned  eloquence  of  his  nature,  had  declared  to  his  people  upon  his  faith 
as  a  true  man,  that  there  was  no  longer  any  hope  for  the  security  of  South 
ern  rights  in  the  Union.  Howell  Cobb  had  asserted  that  the  South  could 

^j 

only  find  independence  out  of  the  Union.  South  Carolina  had  seceded, 
Fort  Sumter  had  been  captured,  other  States  had  followed  Carolina,  and 
their  ambassadors  thronged  our  halls  pleading  with  Georgians  to  make 
common  cause  with  them  against  a  common  enemy.  Governor  Brown  had 
anticipated  secession,  and  seized  the  Federal  forts  and  arsenals  at  Augusta 
and  Savannah.  The  fanatics  North  and  South  made  the  atmosphere  lurid 
with  passionate  crimination  and  recrimination.  The  people  were  in  a  state 
of  frenzy,  and  it  required  a  brave  and  dauntless  heart  to  withstand  the  on 
coming  storm.  Says  an  eloquent  writer,  in  describing  this  period  :  "  In  the 
midst  of  all  this  fury  and  madness,  unawed  and  undismayed,  Mr.  Hill  stood 
the  incarnation  of  seventy  years  of  national  peace  and  glory  under  the  Union 
and  Constitution — the  spirit  of  Bunker  Hill,  of  Yorktovvn,  pleading  for  the 
perpetuity  of  the  republic,  born  of  that  revolution  to  which  his  people  had 
furnished  the  voice  in  Patrick  Henry,  the  pen  in  Jefferson,  and  the  sword  in 
Washington.  In  the  Senate,  on  the  hustings,  in  the  convention,  every 
where  and  under  all  circumstances,  he  was  for  the  Union  and  the  Consti 
tution,  speaking  like  one  inspired."  One  of  the  many  speeches  made  by  Mr. 
Hill  in  this  great  struggle  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union,  only  one  is 
given.  This  speech  he  delivered  in  Milledgeville  on  November  15,  1860, 
and,  at  the  request  of  many  who  heard  it,  he  afterward  wrote  out  the  argu 
ment*;  and  although  the  speech  lacked  the  fire  and  fervor  which  must  have 
characterized  its  delivery,  it  is  an  unanswerable  piece  of  logic,  and  is  espe 
cially  valuable  in  fully  setting  forth  his  views  of  the  course  to  be  pursued  in 
the  great  crisis  then  before  the  people.  Mr.  Hill  was  selected  as  a  delegate 
to  the  secession  convention,  and  wrote  the  following  letter  accepting  the 
nomination: 

ACCEPTANCE    OF   MR.    HILL. 

LA  GRANGE,  GA.,  December  26,  1860. 

Gentlemen:  Your  letter,  informing  me  that  I  have  been  unanimously 
nominated  as  a  delegate  to  the  approaching  convention,  has  been  received. 
I  accept  the  nomination,  because  I  do  not  think  such  a  position  ought  now 
to  be  sought  or  declined. 

You  ask  for  my  particular  views  on  pending  issues.  These  I  have  hith 
erto  fully  given.  I  see  no  reason  to  change  or  modify  the  views  expressed 
to  the  people  of  Troup  County  on  the  29th  day  of  November  last. 

A  more  important  crisis  was  never  upon  any  people.  We  of  the  South 
can  bring  this  crisis  to  an  end,  just  such  as  we  wish;  and  we  can  reach  that 
end  in  blood  or  peace,  as  our  passions  or  our  prudence  may  direct.  Come 
what  may,  we  should  never  be  content  with  any  patch- work.  Slavery  must 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  39 

never  again  be  the  hobby  of  the  political  demagogue.  I  greatly  deplore  so 
much  feeling  and  impatience  with  so  many  of  our  people.  We  need  all  the 
wisdom  and  cool  firmness  of  all  our  people.  We  are  in  danger  now  from 
nothing  but  ourselves.  No  man  is  a  fit  counselor  now  who  assumes  that 

^j 

slavery  can  be  abolished  by  any  party  or  any  power.  This  is  a  concession 
to  the  efforts  and  dreams  of  fanaticism  without  any  foundation  in  fact.  Of 
all  people  in  this  nation,  the  slave  is  this  day  far  the  happiest;  and  of  all 
property,  slavery  is  by  far  the  safest.  The  Union,  the  Constitution,  good 
government,  and  the  peace  of  the  country,  are  in  danger  from  the  passions, 
the  fanaticisms,  and  ambition  of  the  white  race  only.  But,  whatever  be  the 
cause,  a  crisis  is  upon  us,  and  we  must  meet  it. 

It  is  an  hour  when  every  man  should  be  all  prudence  and  firmness,  with 
out  petulance  or  rashness  in  word  or  action.  Every  Southern  man  should 
remember  that  every  other  Southern  man  is  as  much  interested  as  himself; 
and  every  Southern  State  should  remember  that  every  other  Southern  State 
must  be,  more  or  less,  involved  by  her  action.  Each  is,  therefore,  bound  by 
every  consideration  of  ordinary  respect  and  good  feeling,  to  offer  a  consulta 
tion  and  an  interchange  of  views  before  final  action. 

Has  South  Carolina  done  this?  Does  her  hasty  action  become  the  dig 
nity  of  the  occasion  and  the  importance  of  the  issues  ?  Rather,  has  she  not 
acted  with  abrupt  discourtesy  to  the  claims,  wishes,  and  movements  of  her 
sister  slaveholding  States?  I  trust  she  will  yet  be  more  deliberate  and  com 
municative  than  her  proceedings  would,  at  first  view,  indicate.  South  Caro 
lina  is  not  acting  toward  her  sister  States  in  1860  as  she  did  act  toward  her 
sister  colonies  in  1776.  Perhaps  her  people  are  more  chivalrous  and  patri 
otic!  In  the  name  of  Calhoun,  South  Carolina  is  doing  whatCalhoun,  to  the 
day  of  his  death,  never  intended,  desired,  or  counseled.  It  may  be  her  present 
statesmen  are  wiser,  and  understood  Calhoun  better  than  Calhoun  understood 
himself!  She,  doubtless,  expects  the  sympathy  and  assistance  of  her  sister 
Southern  States;  and  these  States,  equally,  expected  from  her  consultation, 
and,  at  least,  advisory  co-operation.  They  have  been  disappointed;  she  may 
not  be.  At  any  rate,  I  hope  Georgia,  in  her  own  sensible  way  of  doing 
things,  will  return  good  for  evil,  and  act  in  no  spirit  of  retaliatory  petulance. 
At  the  same  time,  Georgia  will  not  be  dragooned  by  either  friends  or  foes. 
Georgia  will  prefer  discretion  to  haste,  and  wisdom  to  impetuosity.  I  believe 
she  will  be  courteous  to  all  her  sister  States  of  the  South,  and  seek  to  com 
bine  the  wisdom  of  at  least  as  many  as  will  act  with  her.  She  will  not 
be  coerced  to  stay  in  the  Union,  nor  to  be  hurried  out  before  the  proper 
time. 

There  are  numberless  rumors  and  telegraphic  reports  flooding  the  coun 
try.  We  know  not  how  much  to  believe.  Our  people  must  be  self-pos 
sessed  and  deliberate,  or  they  will  be  misled.  One  truth  is  established: 
there  are  too  many  demagogues  and  too  few  statesmen  at  Washington.  By 
the  papers  of  this  morning  I  am  confirmed  in  what  I  have  before  suspected: 
that  certain  great  men,  so  called,  are  playing  tricks,  in  this  awful  crisis,  to 
excite  the  people!  Oh,  my  country! 

The  dissolution  of  this  Union  may  be  a  necessity.  If  so,  after  being 
fully  satisfied  of  that  fact,  let  us  decree  that  dissolution.  But  I  must  be 
allowed  to  say  that  I  cannot  regard  such  an  event  as  an  occasion  for  rejoic 
ing.  The  sum  of  Nero's  ingratitude  is  recorded  in  the  fact  that  he  "fiddled 
while  Rome  was  burning."  I  do  not  liken  our  people  to  Nero.  Far  from 
it.  But  is  it  not  strange  that  we  should  fire  cannons,  illumine  cities,  raise 


40  SENATOR  B.   R.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

bonfires,  and  make  noisy  the  still  hours  of  night  with  shouts  over  the  de 
struction  of  a  government  infinitely  greater  than  Rome  ever  was  ! 

Unless  our  grievances  are  fully  redressed,  and  we  can  have  satisfactory 
guarantees  that  they  will  not  be  repeated,  I  will  aid  in  the  necessity  of  dis 
union.  But  I  shall  dissolve  this  Union  as  I  would  bury  a  benefactor — in 
sorrow  of  heart.  For,  after  all,  the  Union  is  not  the  author  of  our  griev 
ances.  Bad,  extreme  men,  in  both  sections,  insult  each  other,  and  then  both 
fight  the  Union,  which  never  harmed  or  insulted  either!  Perhaps  it  has 
blessed  all  above  their  merits.  For  myself,  I  shall  never  ask  for  more  true 
liberty  and  real  happiness  under  any  government  than  I  have  enjoyed  as  a 
citizen  of  this  great  American  Union.  May  they  who  would  destroy  this 
Union  in  a  frolic  have  wisdom  to  furnish  to  our  children  a  better. 

Yours  very  truly, 

B.  H.  HILL. 

There  is  deep  pathos  in  the  closing  sentence  of  this  letter,  and  through 
out  it  breathes  a  consecration  of  service  to  that  Union  which  had  blessed  all 
beyond  their  merits.  In  this  spirit  he  went  to  the  convention,  determined  to 
do  all  in  his  power  to  redress  Southern  grievances  inside  the  Union.  But  if 
the  rash  impetuosity  of  the  hour  overrode  considerations  of  wisdom,  and 
Georgia  was  whirled  from  the  beautiful  system  in  which  she  had  moved  so 
harmoniously,  then  with  a  sad  but  loyal  heart  he  would  follow  her  in  all  her 
wanderings  to  the  end.  The  secession  convention  was  the  ablest  body  that 
ever  assembled  in  Georgia.  Every  county  had  sent  its  truest  and  wisest 
men.  The  question  to  be  settled  was  the  greatest  that  had  ever  confronted 
the  people.  Upon  its  wise  solution  depended  the  destiny  of  the  common 
wealth.  Mr.  Hill  fully  comprehended  the  magnitude  of  the  issue.  He  was 
the  leader  in  the  great  and  prolonged  debate,  and  his  appeals  for  the  Union 
surpassed  expectation.  And  he,  and  those  who  stood  with  him,  would  have 
held  the  State  safely  anchored  to  that  Union,  even  amid  the  wild  waves  of 
passion  and  impulse,  but  for  the  argument  of  the  disunionist  that  better 
terms  could  be  made  outside  through  a  parliament  of  sovereign  States  and 
the  Union  restored  in  more  perfect  form.  But  for  the  conviction  that  the 
separation  would  be  o'nly  temporary,  and  the  sovereign  sisters  would  come 
together  again,  with  all  differences  healed,  into  a  more  lasting  and  loving 
Union,  the  ordinance  of  secession  would  not  have  been  adopted.  Even  with 
this  argument  the  test  vote  was  close — 166  to  130.  Not  in  the  way  then 
predicted,  but  through  great  sorrow  and  sacrifice  in  God's  own  appointed 
time,  Georgia  did  return  to  the  Union,  and  though  many  of  her  gallant  sons 
have  been  left  by  the  wayside,  she  has  come,  we  believe,  to  a  more  perfect 
one.  Her  tears  have  crystallized  into  diamonds.  They  are  the  most  price 
less  of  her  treasures.  But  regretting  nothing  but  the  sacrifice,  she  has 
turned  her  face  resolutely  to  the  future,  and  in  love  and  in  wisdom  will 
make  the  restored  Union  a  better  one  for  her  children.  In  studying  this 
period  of  our  history,  the  second  fact  that  strikes  the  mind  with  amazement 
is,  that  our  fathers  should  have  sought  a  remedy  for  their  wrong  in  the  de 
struction  of  the  Union.  Waving  discussion  of  the  right  of  secession,  it  is 
astounding  that  it  should  have  been  regarded  as  a  remedy.  The  great 
wrongs  perpetrated  against  the  Constitutional  rights  of  the  South  were  many 
and  outrageous.  But  the  Constitution  was  strong  enough  to  protect  her, 
and  no  President  great  enough  to  be  the  ruler  of  the  nation  had  ever  been 
traitor  to  its  mandates  or  deaf  to  its  voice.  A  Southern  President,  in 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  41 

obedience  to  the  appeal  of  the  North,  had  declared,  "By  the  Eternal  God," 
that  a  Southern  State  should  not  nullify  the  national  la\v,  and  his  declaration 
had  been  successfully  enforced.  So  I  believe  Abraham  Lincoln  would  have 
been  patriot  enough  to  have  listened  to  the  voice  of  the  South,  and  through 
Constitutional  methods  protected  her  rights  from  Northern  fanaticism. 
Viewing  the  question,  therefore,  free  from  the  passion  of  the  hour,  mel 
lowed  by  the  lapse  of  }rears,  the  argument  of  Mr.  Hill  that  the  remedy  for 
Southern  wrongs  was  not  to  be  found  in  secession,  but  in  the  enforcement  of 
the  Constitution,  was  the  very  essence  of  practical  statesmanship.  It  is  not 
my  purpose  to  discuss  fully  this  great  question.  It  is  forever  buried,  and 
as  a  remedy  for  sectional  wrong  will  have  no  resurrection  in  the  South.  It 
is  simply  referred  to  here  to  illustrate  the  wisdom  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  in  this  the  greatest  crisis  of  the  country's  history.  The  writer  has 
frequently  heard  Mr.  Hill  declare  that  this  was  the  saddest  period  of  his 
political  life.  While  the  people  were  rejoicing  over  the  adoption  of  seces 
sion,  cannon  firing,  the  air  illuminated  with  bonfires  and  laden  with  eloquent 
speeches,  he  shut  himself  in  his  room  in  Milledgeville,  and  in  darkness 
grieved  for  the  Union  he  had  loved  and  labored  so  earnestly  to  maintain. 
Indeed,  so  earnest  and  outspoken  was  the  expression  of  this  sorrow,  and  so 
resolute  was  his  refusal  to  participate  in  the  rejoicings  of  the  hour,  that 
some  of  the  people  became  offended,  and  to  show  their  displeasure  burned 
him  in  effigy.  How  little  they  understood  his  loyal  heart  the  next  five  years 
made  demonstration. 


CHAPTER  HI. 

Selected  as  a  Delegate  to  the  Provisional  Congress  of  the  Confederate  States  —  Elected 
Confederate  States  Senator  —  His  Record  as  Confederate  States  Senator  —  Personal 
Difficulty  in  the  Senate  with  William  L.  Yancey  —  True  Account  of  this  Unfortu 
nate  Affair—  Speech  in  1862  in  Milledgeville  —  Efforts  to  Rally  the  People  to  Continue 
the  War  —  Great  Speech  in  La  Grange  in  1865  —  Confederate  Leaders  Gather  at  Mr. 
Hill's  House  in  La  Grange  —  Mr.  Hill's  Arrest  and  Imprisonment  —  Letter  to  Presi 
dent  Johnson  —  His  Release  from  Prison  —  His  Letter  on  Election  of  United  States 
Senator  in  1866. 


far  I  have  given  a  general  sketch  of  Mr.  Hill's  political  career 
J_  previous  to  the  war  between  the  States.  The  conspicuous  features  of 
this  career  are  a  broad  nationalism,  and  an  intense  love  for  the  Union  and  a 
wise  opposition  to  slavery  agitation,  as  inevitably  leading  to  a  sectional  war, 
in  which  the  South  would  lose  the  battle,  and  Republican  institutions,  as  em 
bodied  in  the  great  American  system  of  government,  be  menaced,  if  not 
destroyed.  His  speeches  and  writings  from  1851  to  1861  are  replete  with 
prophetic  warnings  to  his  countrymen,  and,  as  we  read  them  in  the  light  of 
subsequent  events,  we  fully  realize  that  in  the  decade  leading  to  revolution, 
Georgia  or  the  South  had  no  more  sagacious  or  wiser  statesman.  When  his 
heroic  struggle  in  behalf  of  the  Union  resulted  in  failure,  and  his  beloved 
State  was  fully  committed  to  revolution,  he  cast  his  lot  with  his  own  people, 
and  in  order  to  secure  unity  of  action  he  voted  for  the  passage  of  the  ordi 
nance  of  secession.  There  was  no  inconsistency  in  this  course.  He  had  not 
changed  his  convictions,  but  he  felt  it  to  be  his  duty  to  yield  his  convic 
tions,  and  he  knew  that  his  loyalty  was  due  first  to  his  State.  So  great  was 
the  confidence  in  him,  notwithstanding  his  Union  sentiments,  that  he  was 
selected  in  1861  as  a  delegate  to  the  Provisional  Congress  of  the  Con 
federate  States.  In  this  Congress  he  was  one  of  the  most  earnest  and  active 
leaders  in  the  formation  of  the  new  government,  and  it  was  largely  through 
his  influence  that  the  Constitution  of  the  Confederate  States  was  in  all 
essentials  like  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  In  speaking  of  this  long 
afterward,  while  defending  his  own  Southland  from  the  charge  of  disloyalty 
to  the  Constitution,  he  declared:  "That  so  far  from  having  lost  our  fidelity 
to  the  Constitution  which  our  fathers  made,  when  we  sought  to  go,  we 
hugged  that  Constitution  to  our  bosom  and  carried  it  with  us." 

When  the  Provisional  Congress  adjourned,  and  the  new  government  of 
the  South,  fraught  with  so  many  hopes,  was  fully  organized,  Mr.  Hill  re 
turned  to  his  home  in  La  Grange.  He  had  predicted  that  there  would  be  a 
long  and  bloody  conflict,  and  although  he  had  no  part  in  bringing  it  on,  but 
had  exerted  all  the  powers  of  his  mind  to  avert  it,  yet  he  felt  that  every 
Southern  man  should  be  ready  to  go  to  the  front,  and  he  prepared  to  be 
among  the  first.  The  Legislature  of  his  State  was  in  session  at  Milledge- 
ville.  He  did  not  imagine  that  he  would  be  called  on  to  serve  his  country 
in  any  civil  capacity,  but  that  the  leaders  in  the  secession  movement  would 
naturally  be  selected  for  this  work.  Great,  therefore,  was  his  surprise  when 
a  telegram  informed  him  that  he  had  been  elected  on  the  first  ballot  Con- 

42 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  43 

federate  States  Senator  over  Toombs,  Jackson,  and  Iverson,  who  had  led  the 
secession  movement.  There  never  was  a  more  signal  honor  paid  to  man  than 
this  action  of  the  General  Assembly.  Toombs  had  missed  by  only  one  vote 
the  highest  prize  in  the  gift  of  the  people  in  the  new  government,  and  to  be 
selected  almost  unanimously  over  such  a  man  was  not  only  wholly  unex 
pected,  but  a  remarkable  evidence  of  confidence.  Mr.  Hill  could  not  resist 
the  call  of  his  State  coming  to  him  in  such  a  spontaneous  way,  and  lie 
accepted  the  high  and  responsible  position.  His  record  as  Confederate  States 
Senator  is  known  and  honored  all  through  the  South.  He  was  the  young 
est  member  of  the  Senate.  This  body  was  composed  of  the  ablest  lawyers 
in  the  South.  The  judiciary  system  of  the  government  had  to  be  organized 
and  all  national  laws  enacted  in  pursuance  of  provisions  of  the  Constitution. 
Such  work  required  great  ability,  learning,  and  experience.  So  eminent 
was  Mr.  Hill's  reputation  as  a  lawyer,  that  he  was  selected  as  the  legal 
pioneer  of  the  new  government  and  made  chairman  of  the  Judiciary  Com 
mittee  of  the  Senate.  His  services  in  this  capacity  involved  immense  labor 
and  great  anxiety,  and  he  gave  his  whole  ardent  nature  to  it.  I  do  not  pur 
pose  to  go  into  detail  showing  his  great  work  in  the  Confederate  States 
Senate.  His  unfaltering  devotion  to  the  cause  of  the  South,  his  tireless  de 
fense  of  her  civil  administration,  his  eloquent  support  of  her  military  lead 
ers,  are  known  and  honored  by  every  true  Southern  man.  In  the  language 
of  another  :  "  A  proud  passage  in  his  life  and  in  the  history  of  Georgia  is  Hill's 
record  as  a  Confederate  Senator.  Georgia  knows  the  story  of  the  patri 
otic  ardor  with  which,  forgetting  party  associations  and  political  antecedents, 
he  became  the  right  arm  of  the  Confederate  civic  leader,  and  the  devotion 
which  so  often  won  for  him  the  measured  eulogy  of  its  first  and  incompara 
ble  military  defender.  Mr.  Davis,  in  speaking  of  this  part  of  Mr.  Hill's 
career,  declared  that  he  was  one  '  who  stood  by  me  when  all  others  forsook 
our  cause.  It  was  in  those  trying  times  that  he  proved  himself  the  truest  of 
the  true.  His  pen  and  voice  were  on  my  side  when  I  most  needed  them, 
and  they  were  equal  to  ten  thousand  bayonets,  and  I  will  not  forget  his 
services.'  The  fervid  encomiums  of  Davis  and  the  tranquil  confidence  of 
Lee,  are  the  sum  of  all  praise  that  a  devoted  Confederate  should  desire,  and 
these  Hill  had  in  abundance." 

While  in  the  Confederate  Senate,  Mr.  Hill  had  a  personal  difficulty  with 
William  L.  Yancey,  Senator  from  Alabama.  I  allude  to  this  matter  for  the 
purpose  of  correcting  many  of  the  exaggerated,  false,  and  sensational 
reports  that  have  been  published  about  it.  It  has  been  even  stated  that  an 
injury,  which  Mr.  Yancey  received  in  this  difficulty,  subsequently  caused  his 
death.  This  statement  is  absolutely  without  truth.  The  facts  connected 
with  the  unfortunate  occurrence,  as  gathered  from  Mr.  Hill,  are  as  follows: 
An  exciting  debate  had  been  in  progress  for  several  days,  in  which  Mr. 
Yancey  was  making  severe  attacks  on  the  administration,  and  Mr.  Hill  was 
defending  it.  Mr.  Yancey,  in  the  course  of  one  of  his  speeches,  asserted 
that  a  statement  made  by  Mr.  Hill  was  false,  and  known  to  be  false  when 
spoken.  As  soon  as  the  words  were  uttered,  Mr.  Hill  threw  an  inkstand  at 
the  speaker,  striking  him  on  the  cheek  bone.  The  wound  produced  was  not 
at  all  serious,  and  after  a  few  minutes  Mr.  Yancey  resumed  his  speech,  mak 
ing  no  further  allusion  to  Mr.  Hill.  The  matter  was  adjusted  by  friends  of 
both  Senators,  and  no  other  reference  was  ever  made  to  the  occurrence  by 
either  Senator.  The  following  version  of  the  affair  is  taken  from  the 
Montgomery  Bulletin,  Mr.  Yancey's  home  paper  :  "  The  facts  in  a  nut-shell 


44  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

are  these,  as  we  learned  them  subsequently  to  the  removal  of  secrecy  from 
Senators  who  witnessed  the  whole  affair.  In  the  midst  of  a  warm  debate 
in  open  session,  Mr.  Hill  animadverted  upon  the  record  of  Mr.  Yancey.  At 
the  conclusion  of  Mr.  Hill's  speech,  Mr.  Yancey  rose  to  reply,  and  during  his 
speech  said  that  what  the  Senator  from  Georgia  had  said  in  regard  to  his 
record,  was  false,  and  that  the  Senator  knew  it  was  false  when  he  made  the 
statement.  Whereupon  Mr.  Hill  threw  a  glass  ink-stand  from  aslant  the 
position  of  Mr.  Yancey,  striking  him  on  the  point  of  the  cheek  bone,  which 
made  a  sharp  cut,  producing  considerable  flow  of  blood,  but  causing  no 
serious  injury.  The  Senate  went  into  secret  session,  took  the  matter  in  hand, 
and  settled  it.  Long  afterward  Mr.  Yancey  died  at  his  residence,  near  this 
city,  from  an  affection  of  the  kidneys  from  which  he  had  suffered  for  years." 
The  brother  of  William  L.  Yancey,  Hon.  B.  C.  Yancey,  of  Athens,  and  his 
son,  the  gallant  and  generous  G.  H.  Yancey,  were  Mr.  Hill's  warm  personal 
friends  and  most  earnest  supporters  up  to  the  date  of  his  death.  During  his 
last  illness,  the  latter  gentleman,  in  a  meeting  of  the  Ninth  District  Demo 
cratic  Committee,  presented  the  following  resolution: 

"Col.  G.  H.  Yancey,  of  Clarke,  offered  the  following  resolutions  :  Re 
solved,  that  we  tender  to  our  distinguished  and  peerless  Senator,  the  Hon. 
Benjamin  H.  Hill,  our  profound  sympathy  in  his  affliction.  His  great  ser 
vices  to  the  country  command  our  warmest  admiration,  his  fidelity  to  duty 
our  highest  respect,  his  matchless  eloquence  our  unbounded  praise,  and  his 
Christian  fortitude  in  bearing  without  a  murmur  the  great  suffering  which 
has  been  sent  upon  him,  touches  our  very  hearts.  If  it  be  consistent  with 
the  will  of  the  Divine  Ruler  of  us  all,  we  pray  that  God  will  still  spare  his 
life  to  a  devoted  people  ;  but  if  he  must  die,  may  God  in  his  mercy  close  his 
eyes  to  earth  in  peace,  and  open  them  to  a  blissful  immortality  in  Heaven." 

It  is  hardly  probable  that  the  son  would  have  presented  such  tender  and 
sympathetic  resolutions  about  the  man  who  had  caused  the  death  of  his 
father.  There  is,  therefore,  no  foundation  for  the  sensational  accounts  that 
have  been  published  concerning  this  matter.  Both  Mr.  Yancey  and  Mr. 
Hill  were  men  of  undoubted  courage,  high-spirited  and  impetuous,  and 
deeply  regretted  the  unfortunate  affair.  Mr.  Hill  left  his  post  in  Richmond, 
Va.,  only  twice  during  the  entire  session  of  Congress,  and  each  time  for  the 
purpose  of  counteracting  influences  in  Georgia  that  were  weakening  the 
cause.  As  the  cause  of  the  South  grew  more  hopeless,  his  devotion  grew 
more  intense.  He  gave  himself  wholly  to  the  effort  of  the  South  to  win  in 
dependence.  During  the  year  1862,  the  Confederate  Congress  enacted  the 
conscription  laws.  There  was  no  disaffection  on  the  part  of  the  soldiers  to 
these  laws.  They  were  recognized  as  necessary  to  meet  the  crisis,  and  sub 
mission  was  prompt  and  patriotic.  Governor  Brown,  however,  earnestly 
opposed  them,  and  counseled  disobedience.  It  was  feared  that  his  persist 
ent  opposition  might  produce  serious  trouble,  and  Mr.  Hill  was  sent  to 
Georgia  to  meet  the  threatened  emergency.  On  the  llth  of  December, 
1862,  he  made  a  speech  before  the  Legislature  at  Milledgeville.  It  was  a 
comprehensive  presentation  of  the  causes  that  led  to  the  conscription  laws, 
a  demonstration  of  their  constitutionality,  and  a  most  earnest  denunciation 
of  internal  strife,  and  an  eloquent  appeal  for  harmony.  This  speech,  in  con 
nection  with  others  made  in  different  parts  of  the  State,  fully  satisfied  our 
people  of  the  correct  policy  of  the  laws,  and  although  the  opposition  of 
Governor  Brown  continued,  no  serious  trouble  resulted.  But  the  fate  of 
the  South  was  certain.  While  we  fought  for  a  higher  and  deeper  principle 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  45 

than  the  right  to  hold  slaves,  yet  the  world  regarded  slavery  as  the  "  corner 
stone  "  of  the  Confederacy,  and  we  fought  alone,  without  support  and  with 
out  sympathy.  Our  soldiers  were  our  own  citizens,  and  after  each  battle, 
whether  victorious  or  defeated,  our  ranks  were  reduced  without  hope  of  re 
cruits.  The  enemy,  on  the  contrary,  having  the  world  upon  which  to  draw, 
grew  stronger  with  each  succeeding  year.  So  Appomattox  was  inevitable. 
Mr.  Hill's  courage  rose  higher  under  disaster,  his  efforts  more  earnest  with 
successive  defeat.  In  the  darkest  hour  of  the  struggle,  he  came  to  Georgia 
to  encourage  the  people  and  inspire  them  with  a  determination  to  continue 

(the  fight.  In  La  Grange,  on  the  llth  of  March,  1865,  he  delivered  a  speech 
which  is  regarded  by  many  as  the  best  he  ever  made.  The  writer,  though  a 
mere  boy,  will  never  forget  the  effect  it  produced  on  the  audience.  The  hall 
was  crowded  with  old  men,  boys,  women,  and  disabled  Confederate  soldiers. 
As  the  orator  spoke  of  our  gallant  soldiers,  and  in  prophetic  language  pic 
tured  the  South  under  defeat,  his  listeners  were  overcome  with  emotion, 
and  there  was  no  one  present  but  who  would  have  regarded  it  as  a  happy 
privilege  to  die  for  Southern  success.  This  was  the  last  speech  made  in  the 
South  for  the  continuance  of  the  war.  It  is  a  striking  illustration  of  the 
earnestness  of  Mr.  Hill's  nature  and  the  love  he  bore  his  State  ;  that  as  he 
was  the  last  man  in  Georgia  to  speak  against  secession  and  revolution,  so  he 
was  the  last  to  urge  the  people  to  continue  the  struggle.  The  predictions 
made  in  this  speech,  many  of  them  were  verified  in  the  policy  of  the  Repub 
lican  party  toward  the  South.  It  was  a  most  remarkable  forecasting  of 
Federal  legislation  with  reference  to  the  rights  of  the  negro  and  the  recon 
struction  of  the  Southern  States.  It  is  true,  some  of  the  predictions  have 
not  been  verified,  but  time  may  yet  bring  the  exact  fulfillment  of  its 
darkest  prophecies.  For  though  the  war  has  been  over  for  a  quarter  of  a 
century,  and  though  the  South  has  gone  to  the  point  of  humiliation  in  pro 
testing  her  loyalty  to  the  Union  and  her  complete  acquiescence  in  the  results 
of  the  war,  vet  in  this  vear,  1890,  sectional  bitterness  at  the  North  is  as 

'       V  f 

intense  as  it  ever  was  against  the  South,  and  a  radical  majority  in  Congress 
is  threatening  to  enact  sectional  legislation  against  one  portion  of  our  com 
mon  country.  These  things  continue,  too,  after  an  administration  of  four 
years  of  the  national  government  largely  dominated  by  Southern  influence, 
the  purest  and  most  patriotic  since  Washington.  After  the  war  was  over, 
Mr.  Hill  retired  to  his  home  in  La  Grange,  and  calmly  awaited  results. 
Several  of  the  chiefs  of  the  Confederacy  with  their  families  gathered  under 
his  hospitable  roof.  There  came  the  courteous  and  courtly  Clay,  for  whose 
head  the  Federal  government  offered  $100,000.  His  brilliant  wife  was  his 
devoted  companion,  and,  when  the  publication  of  the  reward  for  her  hus 
band's  head  came  to  her  knowledge,  with  high  and  courageous  spirit  she 
accompanied  him  to  Atlanta  and  claimed  the  privilege  of  surrendering  him 
to  the  authorities.  There  came  also  Stephen  R.  Mallorv,  the  all-accom 
plished  statesman,  who  out  of  nothing  had  organized  a  Confederate  navy, 
and  driven  the  commerce  of  the  United  States  from  the  seas.  The  brilliant 
and  fiery  Wigfall,  who  had  fought  President  Davis  in  the  Senate  with  great 
bitterness,  and  had  frequently  met  in  high  discussion  the  Confederate  chief 
tain's  ready  champion,  forgot  the  hours  of  contest  and  came  to  the  faithful 
Hill  in  the  hour  of  common  sorrow.  The  elegant  Sparrow,  of  Louisiana, 
with  his  colleague,  the  great  lawyer,  T.  J.  Semrnes,  both  of  whom  were  Mr. 
Hill's  able  lieutenants  in  support  of  the  administration,  were  also  welcomed 
guests.  These  men  all  came  with  their  families,  and  it  was  an  interesting 


46  SENATOR  B.  H.   HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

group  that  gathered  each  day  for  the  purpose  of  discussing  the  probable 
fate  of  their  unhappy  country.  But  they  could  not  remain  together  long  ; 
already  the  enemy  was  on  their  track.  So  after  a  few  days,  all  but  Mallory 
left  the  country  in  disguise.  It  is  a  sad  reflection,  that  of  that  brilliant 
coterie  then  gathered  together,  only  one  is  left, — all  but  one  have  passed  into 
the  rest  of  the  beautiful  Beyond. 

Mr.  Hill's  slaves  all  remained  with  him,  and  notwithstanding  emancipa 
tion  continued  to  serve  him  with  affection  and  fidelity.  And  it  is  a  strik 
ing  proof  of  their  loyalty  to  him,  that  during  the  time  when  the  leaders  of 
the  Confederacy  were  gathered  at  his  house,  and  the  Federal  soldiers  were 
in  possession  of  the  town,  there  was  found  no  traitor  among  them  all.  Mr. 
Hill's  immunity  from  molestation  was  also  due  to  the  fact  that  the  officer  in 
command  of  the  Federal  troops  had  given  the  most  stringent  orders  to  his 
soldiers  to  keep  out  of  Mr.  Hill's  premises.  Long  afterward  he  found  that 
this  consideration  was  shown  to  him  and  his  household  because  the  officer, 
while  a  prisoner  and  desperately  wounded,  had  been  taken  to  the  home  of  a 
niece  of  Mr.  Hill's  and  kindly  nursed  back  into  health  and  life.  It  was 
thought  by  Mr.  Hill  that  he  would  probably  be  arrested  at  once.  His 
prominent  and  ardent  support  of  Mr.  Davis,  and  his  efforts  in  behalf  of  the 
continuance  of  hostility  made  him  a  conspicuous  figure  for  exemplary  pun 
ishment;  and  when  several  weeks  passed  by,  and  no  soldier  appeared  on  the 
scene,  the  hope  was  entertained  that  our  conquerors  were  going  to  be  gener 
ous,  and  permit  our  prominent  Southern  men  to  remain  at  home  and  aid  in 
the  work  of  rehabilitation.  But  in  this  hope  we  were  disappointed.  I  shall 
never  forget  the  night  my  father  wras  arrested.  We  had  all  retired,  and 
about  midnight  were  aroused  by  a  loud  knocking  at  the  front  door.  I  at 
once,  and  without  dressing,  rushed  down  to  my  father's  bedroom.  I  found 
him  already  awake.  A  search  was  made  for  a  match  but  there  was  none  in 
the  house,  and  I  went  outside  to  the  servant's  house  for  the  purpose  of  get 
ting  a  light.  What  was  my  consternation  on  opening  the  rear  door  to  find 
the  house  surrounded  by  soldiers,  who  stood  with  muskets  and  on  guard. 
Securing  the  light  I  returned  at  once,  but  in  the  mean  time  the  officer  at  the 
front  door  had  secured  an  entrance  and  with  a  dozen  men  was  in  the  bed 
room.  The  officer  in  command  gave  him  just  ten  minutes  to  get  ready. 
He  did  not  leave  him  for  a  second,  and  there  was  no  opportunity  for  any 
private  leavetaking  from  wife  and  children.  Neither  my  mother  nor  any  of 
the  children  evinced  the  slightest  fear,  but  said  good-by  with  courage  and 
cheerfulness.  My  father  was  placed  in  front  of  the  soldiers  and  the  order 
given  to  march.  Anxious  to  find  out  where  they  intended  to  take  him,  I 
marched  in  front  by  his  side.  We  walked  rapidly  down  the  long  drive 
leading  from  the  house  to  the  street,  and  at  the  gate  found  another  detail 
with  Mr.  Mallory  in  charge.  The  two  rebels  were  placed  in  front,  and  the 
company  rapidly  marched  through  the  silent  streets  of  the  little  village  to 
the  depot,  where  a  special  train  was  waiting.  The  officers  declined  to  give 
us  any  information  as  to  their  destination,  and  were  a  reticent  and  sullen 
set  of  fellows.  I  bade  my  father  good-by  and  hurried  back  alone  to  my 
home,  where  I  found  the  entire  family  and  all  the  servants  in  a  tumult  of 
indignation.  We  afterward  learned  that  the  reason  for  the  time  and  hurry 
of  the  arrest  was  a  fear  of  resistance  or  rescue  bv  the  citizens.  Mr.  Hill 

y 

and  Mr.  Mallory  were  taken  to  Fort  Lafayette,  in  New  York  Bay,  and  in 
carcerated  in  separate  cells.  They  were  not  allowed  any  communication, 
a.nd  were  treated  with  great  indignity  and  unkindness  by  the  officials,  My 


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I.  t '.  1 


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HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  47 

father  had  no  money  that  would  pass  current  in  the  North,  and  but  for  the 
kindness  of  two  friends  in  Atlanta,  who  insisted  on  lending  him  $100  in 
gold,  he  would  have  suffered  a  great  deal.  He  was  arrested  in  May  and 
remained  in  prison  until  the  following  July.  After  being  in  prison  for  a 
month  and  having  no  specific  charge  made  against  him,  and  hearing  of  no 
reason  for  his  arrest  and  imprisonment,  he  directed  a  letter  to  President 
Johnson.  No  copy  of  this  letter  was  preserved,  but  it  simply  contained  a 
request  for  the  reasons  of  his  arrest  and  continued  imprisonment.  The 
President  replied  to  the  letter,  promising  to  have  the  matter  investigated  at 
once.  After  waiting  two  weeks  and  hearing  nothing  at  all,  Mr.  Hill 
addressed  the  following  letter  to  the  President: 

FORT  LAFAYETTE,  NEW  YORK,  July  4,  1865. 
His  EXCELLENCY  ANDREW  JOHNSON, 

President  of  the  United  States. 

Sir  :  Accept  my  thanks  for  your  kind  letter  of  the"  23d  ultimo.  Nearly 
two  weeks  since  that  date  having  passed  without  an  order  in  my  case,  I 
infer  that  I  have  not  been  sufficiently  explicit  in  presenting  my  application 
for  parole.  Allow  me  then  to  say  that  I  accept  in  good  faith  continued 
Union  and  the  abolition  of  slavery  as  irreversible  results  of  the  late  strug 
gle.  Entering  politics  originally,  avowedly,  to  oppose  those  extreme  meas 
ures  which  then  endangered  the  Union,  yielding  to  secession  only  from 
necessity,  doing  nothing  cruel  or  criminal  or  inconsistent  during  the  war, 
having  at  no  time  a  feeling  or  sentiment  in  common  with  extreme  men, 
either  South  or  North,  I  deem  it  is  clearly  not  in  accordance  with  your  re 
peated  avowals  on  this  subject  that  I  should  be  selected  for  exemplary 
severity.  But  if  I  err  in  this,  yet  having  no  concealments,  making  no  at 
tempt  to  escape,  and  wishing  to  avoid  responsibility  for  no  act  of  my  life, 
I  know  it  cannot  be  your  wish  to  hold  me  in  prison  in  a  time  of  peace,  with 
out  charge,  without  process,  without  indictment,  and  without  trial.  Approv 
ing  as  I  do  your  plan  of  reorganizing  the  Southern  States,  commending  it  as 
a  great  benefaction  to  the  Southern  people,  when  compared  to  other  plans 
proposed,  seeking  no  public  position,  but  willing,  as  a  private  citizen,  by  ex 
ample  and  counsel  to  aid  in  restoring  harmony  and  prosperity  on  the  new 
basis  of  labor,  I  feel  it  is  not  egotism  to  say  my  presence  in  Georgia  would 
be  of  positive  service,  while  it  would  also  enable  me  to  look  after  the  rem 
nants  of  an  estate  devastated  by  the  war,  to  adjust  my  family  to  the  new 
order  of  things,  and  to  make  some  arrangements  with  and  for  those  who 
have  hitherto  been  my  slaves.  If  for  any  cause  existing  or  contingent,  an 
amnesty  at  present  is  not  deemed  advisable,  and  my  presence  may  be  desired 
on  any  occasion,  that  presence  can  be  as  effectually  secured  by  a  parole  as 
my  detention  in  this  fort.  And  if  it  be  deemed  better  that  I  do  not  now 
return  to  Georgia,  I  will  remain  in  any  designated  place  on  parole  until  fur 
ther  orders.  I  have,  therefore,  the  honor  respectfully  to  request  an  order 
for  my  release,  with  or  without  terms,  as  a  candid  review  of  my  case  may 
dictate.  I  have  the  honor  to  be, 

Very  truly  and  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

B.  H.  HILL. 

In  a  short  time  after  this  letter  was  sent,  Mr.  Hill  was  paroled  by  the 
President  and  permitted  to  return  to  his  family.  He  had  very  little  prop- 


48  SENATOR  R   H.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

erty  left,  and  at  that  time  the  judiciary  of  the  estate  was  in  a  chaotic  condi 
tion.  For  several  years  Mr.  Hill  devoted  himself  exclusively  to  his  private 
affairs,  taking  no  part  whatever  in  any  public  questions.  But  he  fully  ap 
proved  the  policy  of  President  Andrew  Johnson  in  reference  to  the  restora 
tion  of  the  South  to  all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  sovereign  States  in  the 
Union.  He  corresponded  with  the  President  on  the  subject,  and  Johnson 
was  desirous  of  having  his  influence  in  this  work.  In  January,  1866,  the 
Georgia  Legislature  assembled  at  Milledgeville  and  proceeded  to  elect  two 
United  States  Senators.  The  important  question  was  to  select  men  who 
would  not  be  objectionable  either  to  the  President  or  Congress.  Messrs. 
Ridley  and  Frost,  members  of  the  Legislature  from  Troup  County,  wrote 
Mr.  Hill  a  letter  requesting  that  he  permit  the  use  of  his  name  in  this  con 
nection.  In  reply  thereto,  he  wrote  as  follows  : 


LA  GRANGE,  GA.,  January  12,  1866. 

Gentlemen:  In  deference  to  your  query,  I  have  concluded  on  the  sub 
ject  of  United  States  Senator  to  say:  In  view  of  some  facts,  entire  seclusion 
would  be  much  more  agreeable  to  me  at  this  time.  But  in  view  of  other 
facts,  which  I  cannot  ignore,  I  could  not  honorably  decline  the  position  if 
tendered.  Knowledge  acquired  by  honors  heretofore  conferred  might  en 
able  me  to  be  of  service  to  those  whose  misfortunes  but  increase  my  regards, 
and  to  a  people  when  rescued  by  plain  facts  from  the  most  malign  obloquy 
now  sought  to  be  heaped  upon  them,  must  be  admitted  by  civilized  man 
kind  to  have  shown  themselves  the  bravest  and  most  heroic  people  of  whom 
history  can  furnish  any  account.  In  this,  at  least,  the  labor  of  duty  would 
become  a  labor  of  love.  The  extreme  radicals  of  the  North  are  now,  and 
ever  have  been,  the  most  bitter  of  all  the  enemies  of  the  Union.  By  re 
peated  treacheries  to  the  Constitution  they  forced  the  impulsive  but  gener 
ous  South,  under  the  counsels  of  a  few  impassioned  leaders,  into  an  unwise 
secession.  They  then  made  that  secession  the  excuse  for  waging  the  most 
cruel  and  devastating  war  upon  their  victims.  And  now,  when  these  victims 
lay  down  their  arms  and  offer,  in  good  faith,  to  restore  the  Union,  they 
reject  the  offer.  Not  satisfied  with  having  broken  the  peace  of  the  nation, 
with  having  shed  our  blood  and  laid  waste  our  country,  they  now  seek 
to  hold  the  government  in  their  exclusive  possession  until,  the  slanders  lit 
tered  in  uncontradicted  form,  they  can  fix  upon  us  the  most  infamous  char 
acter  in  the  annals  of  human  atrocities,  and  can  fix  upon  the  whole  country, 
by  repeated  amendments,  a  new  Constitution  suited  to  their  fanatical  vaga 
ries.  The  great  original  error  of  the  South  was  in  mistaking  her  enemy, 
and  in  making  war  upon  the  Union  instead  of  upon  these  common  enemies 
of  the  South  and  the  Union.  The  best  vindication  of  the  South,  the  strongest 
support  of  the  President,  and  the  surest  means  of  perpetuating  the  Union  is 
to  lay  bare  the  real  history  and  purposes  of  these  extreme  men.  If  this  be 
not  done,  honor  for  us  and  liberty  for  all  are  no  more.  But  I  am  not  a 
candidate  seeking  office.  To  be  honorable,  I  have  always  thought  it  should 
be  conferred  as  merited,  and  not  secured  by  personal  importunities.  And 
now  the  crisis  is  so  solemn,  our  situation  so  delicate,  the  duties  of  the  posi 
tion  are  so  responsible,  and  the  sacrifices  to  a  capable  man  so  great,  that  the 
idea  of  seeking  it  is  shocking.  Content  with  my  station,  ready  to  perform 
to  the  best  of  my  ability  any  service,  I  leave  the  whole  matter  where  the 


7/75  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS. 


49 


Constitution  and  people  have  placed  it,  in  the  hands  of  an  unsolicited  and 
freely-acting  Legislature.     With  high  regard,  I  am 

Yours  very  truly, 

BENJ.  H.  HILL. 
To  Messrs.  Ridley  and  Frost, 

Representatives  from  Troup. 


It  was,  however,  deemed  prudent  not  to  present  Mr.  Hill's  name,  as 
had  been  too  earnest  and  prominent  in  the  counsels  of  the  Confederacy. 
Mr.  Stephens,  who  had  been  less  active  in  his  support  of  the  "Lost  Cause/ 
was  regarded  as  more  acceptable  to  the  North,  and  he,  with  Herschel  V. 
Johnson,  were  elected.  But  they  were  not  allowed  to  take  their  seats.  Of 
course,  Mr.  Hill's  election  would  have  been  obnoxious  to  the  North,  and  he 
would  not  have  been  allowed  to  take  his  seat.  But,  in  reading  his  letter- 
we  cannot  repress  a  deep  regret  that  he  could  not  have  been  present  in  the 
Senate  during  the  great  debates  of  1866  and  1867,  to  have  met  the  slander? 
of  the  South,  and  in  the  very  beginning  vindicated  her  honor  and  humanity, 
We  would  have  probably  lost  the  "  Notes  on  the  Situation,"  but  the  iniqui 
tous  purposes  of  the  Republican  party  would  have  been  exposed  to  the  scorir 
of  the  civilized  world,  and  the  South  would  not  have  waited  in  deep  hu 
miliation  until  1876  for  her  vindication  from  the  charge  of  inhumanity 
barbarism. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Mr.  Hill  Resumes  the  Practice  of  Law — His  Success — The  Metcalf  Case — He  Prevents 
the  Illegal  Seizure  of  Cotton  of  the  People. — Mr.  Hill's  Fight  against  the  Reconstruc 
tion  Measures  of  Congress — His  Davis  Hall  Speech,  July  16,  1865^-General  Pope 
Advises  his  Banishment  from  the  State — His  Notes  on  the  Situation — Joel  Chandler 
Harris  on  this  Part  of  his  Work — Reorganized  the  Democratic  Party  in  Macon  in 
1857— Bush  Harbor  Speech  in  Atlanta,  July  4,  1868— Toombs,  Cobb,  and  Hill- 
Description  of  their  Speeches  and  Effect  Produced — Henry  Grady's  Graphic  Account 
of  the  Occasion — Robert  Toombs's  Tribute. — Some  Reflection  on  the  Character  of 
the  Reconstruction  Measures. 

TT^ROM  the  close  of  the  war  until  the  reconstruction  period  Mr.  Hill  took 
I*  no  part  in  public  affairs.  He  gave  his  time  to  the  practice  of  law  and 
the  adjustment  of  his  private  business.  During  the  years  1865,  1866,  1867, 
and  1868,  Georgia  was  in  a  fearful  condition.  Her  leading  men  were  all 
disfranchised,  her  labor  system  destroyed,  and  her  people  greatly  impov 
erished.  Life,  liberty,  and  property  were  at  the  will  or  caprice  of  military 
governors.  A  few  of  our  citizens  had  saved  cotton,  and  on  the  proceeds  of 
this  they  hoped  to  subsist  until  law  and  order  could  be  restored.  Northern 
adventurers,  in  collusion  with  Federal  commanders,  were  seizing  this  cotton 
under  the  pretense  that  it  belonged  to  the  Confederate  government,  and 
was  confiscated  to  the  United  States.  But  the  cotton  was  appropriated  in 
every  instance  by  these  robbers.  Thomas  A.  Metcalf,  a  wealthy  citizen  of 
Augusta,  had  accumulated  a  large  quantity  of  cotton.  This  was  seized  by 
the  Federal  commander  at  Augusta,  and  Mr.  Metcalf  himself  was  arreste'd 
and  thrown  into  prison.  There  was  no  lawyer  in  the  city  who  was  brave 
enough  to  undertake  to  release  the  citizen  or  recover  the  cotton.  The  local 
bar  was  completely  awed  by  the  threats  of  the  general  in  command.  Mr. 
Hill  happened  to  be  in  Augusta  at  the  time,  and  became  deeply  interested 
in  the  case.  In  behalf  of  Metcalf  he  prepared  a  bill  in  equity  asking  for  an 
injunction  to  prevent  the  Federal  officers  from  selling  this  cotton.  General 
Steadman,  who  was  in  command,  threatened  to  put  Mr.  Hill  in  jail  if  he  at 
tempted  to  invoke  the  aid  of  the  civil  authority.  The  threat  had  no  effect 
on  Mr.  Hill.  No  judge  near  Augusta  would  sanction  the  bill,  and  he  was 
compelled  to  go  to  Milledgeville  and  present  it  to  Judge  Iverson  L.  Harris. 
This  brave  judge  at  once  sanctioned  the  bill  and  granted  the  injunction. 
Returning  to  Augusta,  the  order  was  served  and  treated  with  respect.  The 
effort  to  hold  the  cotton  was  abandoned  and  it  was  restored  to  its  lawful 
owner.  This  action  of  Mr.  Hill  put  a  stop  to  similar  robberies  throughout 
the  State.  It  was  regarded  at  the  time  as  a  signal  instance  of  professional 
courage  and  legal  triumph. 

In  1867  the  Reconstruction  measures  were  passed  by  Congress  and  sub 
mitted  to  tht  Southern  States  for  ratification.  It  is  not  the  present  purpose 
of  the  writer  to  enter  into  a  discussion  of  these  measures.  It  is  enough  to 
say  that  they  were  enacted  by  a  fanatical  Congress  in  bitter  hatred  of  the 
South  and  for  the  purpose  of  degrading  her  people.  A  few  citizens  of  At 
lanta  met  together  for  the  purpose  of  taking  such  action  as  might  be  deemed 

50 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  51 

necessary  to  meet  the  exigency  of  the  hour.  These  men  looked  around  for 
their  leaders.  Brown  was  advocating  the  prompt  acceptance  by  the  South 
of  the  terms  proposed.  Stephens  was  in  silent  despair  at  Liberty  Hall. 
Toombs  was  abroad.  Howell  Cobb  declined  to  give  advice.  Herschel  V. 
Johnson  promised  to  write  a  letter  reviewing  the  situation.  Mr.  Hill  came 
to  Atlanta  to  confer  with  his  fellow-citizens.  After  doing  so,  he  secured 
a  copy  of  the  Military  Bills  and  promised  to  give  his  advice  in  a  few  days, 
and  at  the  expiration  of  that  time  notified  the  gentlemen  that  he  was  ready 
to  make  a  speecli  in  Atlanta  at  such  time  as  they  might  wish.  July  10, 
1867,  is  an  ever  memorable  day  in  the  history  of  the  South.  On  the  night 
of  that  day  a  voice  was  raised  in  behalf  of  Southern  honor  and  manhood 
for  the  first  time  since  the  surrender.  The  speech  aroused  the  people  to  a 
sense  of  their  danger,  it  put  courage  in  the  place  of  despair,  and  that  night 
the  glorious  fight  for  political  redemption  was  inaugurated.  In  the  lan 
guage  of  Joel  Chandler  Harris,  "His  voice  rang  like  a  trumpet  through  the 
State,  yet  murky  with  the  smoke  of  battle.  As  he  called  on  Georgians  to 
rally  once  more  and  defend  with  the  ballot  the  liberties  they  had  lost  by  the 
sword,  he  stirred  the  hearts  of  the  people  and  aroused  them  to  a  sense  of 
their  duty.  And  then  he  went  on  the  hustings  and  made  a  campaign 
through  the  State.  It  is  a  campaign  which  must  remain  without  a  parallel 
in  the  history  of  the  State.  The  circumstances  under  which  it  was  made 
can  never  be  repeated.  And  if  they  could,  there  is  no  longer  a  Ben  Hill  to 
take  advantage  of  them.  His  soul  and  intellect  were  both  aflame.  He 
went  through  the  State  with  the  ardor  of  a  prophet.  He  met  the  people 
face  to  face  and  lifted  them  upon  their  feet.  He  could  not  go  into  every 
hamlet,  but  his  influence  went.  He  was  a  Greatheart,  to  whom  the  new  pil 
grim  turned.  What  fire,  what  fluency,  what  tenderness  was  his!  How 
terse,  how  simple  his  language,  how  glowing  his  periods,  how  terrible  his 
denunciations!  He  had  set  himself  to  the  task  of  revolutionizing  a  revolu 
tion,  arid  he  was  equal  to  every  demand  made  upon  him.  He  was  sur 
rounded  by  bayonets.  He  walked  amid  the  ruins  of  a  peculiar  civilization; 
upon  every  hand  doubt,  fear,  and  despair  had  possession  of  the  people.  He 
had  attracted  the  attention  of  the  government.  John  Pope,  a  satrap, 
whose  career  was  pronounced  ignominious  by  Northern  writers,  was  in 
command  of  the  State.  And  he  wrote  to  President  Grant  proposing  that 
Mr.  Hill  be  banished  from  the  State.  In  the  midst  of  all  the  confusion  and 
uncertainty  and  doubt  of  that  trying  period,  the  great  orator  went  among 
the  people  and  bade  them  lift  their  lips  from  the  dust.  Few  of  his  speeches 
during  that  campaign  have  been  preserved,  but  it  is  impossible  to  remember 
them  without  a  thrill.  The  remedies  he  proposed  were  the  remedies  of 
peace,  but  with  what  marvelous  eloquence  he  denounced  the  oppressors ! ' 

During  this  period  Mr.  Hill  wrote  his  celebrated  "  Notes  on  the  Situa 
tion,"  which  did  more  to  arouse  the  people  and  weld  them  together  in  their 
assaults  upon  the  Republican  party  than  the  efforts  of  all  the  combined  in 
fluences  in  the  State.  In  bitter  denunciation,  scathing  invective,  and  terri 
ble  force,  their  merits  entitled  them  to  a  first  rank  in  the  world's  political 
literature.  In  writing  of  them,  Henry  W.  Grady  said:  "In  my  opinion 
they  stand  alone  as  the  profoundest  and  most  eloquent  political  essays  ever 
penned  by  an  American.  They  were  accepted  as  the  voice  of  the  South, 
uttering  her  protest  and  her  plea,  and  as  such  were  discussed  on  the  streets 
of  London  and  the  Boulevards  of  Paris,  no  less  than  in  the  cities  of  the 
North.  Even  now  they  stir  the  blood  and  kindle  the  pulses  of  the  most 


52  SENATOR  B.    II.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

phlegmatic  reader,  but  this  is  but  a  hint  of  the  sensation  they  produced  when 
they  were  printed.  Had  Mr.  Hill  never  spoken  one  speech,  his  *  Notes  on 
the  Situation '  would  have  stamped  him  as  one  of  the  greatest  men  Georgia 
ever  produced."  This  eloquent  opinion  is  but  the  expression  of  the  public 
voice.  Under  the  influence  of  Mr.  Hill's  appeals,  the  people  became  a  solid 
and  invincible  phalanx  against  radical  wrong  and  oppression,  but  for 
a  while  he  stood  alone  of  Georgia's  public  men  in  his  denunciation  of  the 
Reconstruction  measures.  It  is  true  that  Johnson  had  written  his  promised 
letter,  but  it  was  a  negative  and  not  a  positive  force  in  the  fight.  Mr.  Hill 
did  not  confine  himself  to  speech  making  and  letter  writing.  For  the  first 
time  in  his  life  he  gave  attention  to  the  details  of  politics,  and  in  Macon,  in 
1867,  he  reorganized  the  Democratic  party.  Mr.  Hill,  therefore,  was  not 
only  the  voice  and  the  pen  of  the  South  in  the  dark  days  of  Reconstruction, 
but  he  was  also  the  practical  leader  in  the  organization  of  the  party  which 
redeemed  his  State  from  the  horrors  and  infamies  of  radicalism. 

On  July  4,  1868,  a  convention  of  Democrats  met  in  Atlanta  for  the  pur 
pose  of  nominating  Presidential  electors.  An  immense  bush-arbor  was 
erected  where  the  passenger  depot  now  stands.  Robert  Toombs,  Howell 
Cobb,  and  Benjamin  H.  Hill  were  the  speakers.  It  was  the  largest  mass 
meeting  ever  held  in  Georgia.  Mr.  Hill  had  been  for  several  weeks  pre 
vious  to  this  time  suffering  from  an  attack  of  bilious  or  malarial  fever, 
which  he  had  contracted  while  experimenting  in  planting  in  southwest 
Georgia.  He  had  gone  to  Indian  Spring  for  relief,  and  the  writer  had  ac 
companied  him.  I  had  no  intimation  that  he  intended  to  make  a  speech, 
and  was  greatly  surprised  wdien  he  told  me  on  the  day  before  the  meeting 
that  he  was  going  to  Atlanta  for  this  purpose.  I  had  been  with  him  con 
stantly,  and  did  not  see  any  preparation  for  the  speech,  and  as  he  was  quite 
feeble  physically  I  felt  some  concern  for  the  result ;  and  when  we  reached 
the  city  and  found  over  20,000  Georgia  Democrats  gathered  to  hear  the 
speaking,  and  that  Toombs  and  Cobb  were  also  to  speak,  this  concern  in 
creased.  I  shall  never  forget  that  day.  The  impatience  of  the  crowd 
would  not  wait  for  the  order  of  speaking,  but  broke  forth  in  loud  calls  for 
"  Ben  Hill  "  before  the  meeting  was  organized.  It  was  evident  that  he  was 
greatly  the  favorite.  This,  of  course,  was  due  to  the  fact  that  he  was 
looked  upon  as  the  leader  in  the  great  fight  against  Reconstruction. 
Toombs,  Howell  Cobb,  and  Ben  Hill — never  before  in  the  history  of  the 
State  had  three  such  orators  appeared  on  the  same  rostrum,  and  to  discuss 
questions  appealing  most  strongly  to  the  sympathies  and  passions  of  the 
audience.  They  were  questions  upon  the  correct  solution  of  which  depended 
not  only  Southern  restoration,  but  white  supremacy  in  the  land.  I  had 
never  heard  Toombs,  and  my  expectation  was  at  the  highest  point,  but  I 
was  greatly  disappointed  in  his  speech.  I  expected  an  eloquent  and  im 
passioned  display  of  oratory,  but  I  heard  a  desultory  and  disconnected  argu 
ment  that  did  not  even  quicken  the  pulses  of  the  vast  crowd.  Howell  Cobb 
followed  him  and  made  a  great  speech  of  surpassing  eloquence,  logic,  and 
invective.  The  crowd  was  wild  with  enthusiasm  when  Mr.  Hill  rose  to 
speak,  the  cheering  that  greeted  him  was  indescribable;  men  and  women 
rose  in  their  seats  and  waved  handkerchiefs  and  shouted  for  about  five 
minutes.  Mr.  Hill  was  very  pallid,  not  only  from  that  pallor  characteristic 
of  the  orator  on  rising  to  speak,  but  this  was  increased  by  his  physical  con 
dition. 

An  able  writer,  in  giving  a  personal  recollection  of  the  scene,  gives  this 


II IS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND    WRITINGS.  53 

vivid  description  :  "  Another  personal  memory  of  Mr.  Hill  comes  to  me 
with  distinctness.  It  was  the  day  that  he  spoke  at  the  bush-arbor  meeting. 
I  don't  think  I  was  ever  so  impressed  by  any  human  being  as  by  Mr.  Hill 
that  day.  He  lacked  the  superb  presence  of  Mr.  Toombs,  who  preceded,  for 
in  personal  majesty  I  never  saw  the  man  that  equaled  the  unpardoned 
Georgian.  He  lacked  the  prestige  of  Mr.  Cobb,  for  that  statesman  made  a 
larger  national  figure  than  any  Georgian  since  Crawford,  but  in  fervid  elo 
quence,  in  the  stirring  invective  and  appeal  demanded  just  then  to  arouse  the 
people  to  a  true  understanding  of  the  situation,  Mr.  Hill  walked  like  a  god 
for  hours  at  heights  to  which  the  others  did  not  soar.  Such  a  speech,  of  such 
compass,  pitched  upon  such  a  key,  was  never  made  in  this  State  before  or 


since.' 


However  its  violence  may  stand  the  test  of  after  inquiry,  there  is  no 
doubt  that  it  was  wisdom  when  delivered.  At  its  close  General  Toombs 
jumped  from  his  seat,  and  in  the  presence  of  the  crowd  threw  his  arms 
around  the  speaker,  tossed  his  hat  in  the  air,  and  shouted  three  cheers  for 
Ben  Hill.  A  careful  student  of  politics  said  to  me  a  year  ago  :  "  One  hour 
after  that  speech  of  Ben  Hill,  I  knew  that  the  redemption  of  Georgia  was 
accomplished.  All  the  bayonets  in  the  United  States  could  not  have  awed, 
nor  all  the  wealth  of  the  government  debauched  a  people  who  had  listened  to 
that  speech."  It  is  an  interesting  incident  to  recall  that  a  dark-eyed  youth, 
his  face  radiant  with  excitement  and  enthusiasm,  picked  up  General  Toomb's 
hat,  handing  it  to  its  owner.  This  young  man  was  Henry  W.  Grady,  who 
years  afterward  was  counted  not  unworthy  to  rank  with  the  great  orators  of 
that  day.  The  invective  of  the  speakers  was  directed  principally  against 
Governor  Brown,  and  those  who  remember  the  indignation  and  hatred  which 
flashed  from  every  eye  as  they  denounced  him  as  the  arch-traitor  to  his  peo 
ple,  can  but  marvel  at  his  complete  forgiveness  twenty  years  afterward. 
And  it  is  a  strange  illustration  of  the  remarkable  power  of  the  man,  that, 
without  change  or  repentance,  he  won  to  his  support  in  1880  the  same  men 
who  had  cursed  him  in  1868.  This  remarkable  condonation  of  what  were 
then  deemed  political  crimes  furnishes  proof  of  the  ephemeral  character 
of  political  differences. 

The  questions  submitted  to  our  people,  contained  in  the  Reconstruction 
measures,  were  questions  of  principle  and  not  political  expediency;  their 
acceptance  involved  our  honor  and  civilization.  The  South  could  not  con 
sent  to  accept  the  terms  proposed  by  Congress  without  sacrificing  her  self- 
respect  and  dishonoring  her  dead  soldiers.  The  two  fundamental  principles 
of  the  Reconstruction  measures  were  that  the  Southern  States,  in  seceding 
from  the  Union,  committed  an  act  of  treason  and  rebellion,  and  that  in  the 
plan  of  Reconstruction,  intelligence  and  property  should  be  placed  under  the 
heels  of  ignorance  and  pauperism.  To  consent  to  the  first  was  to  volun 
tarily  write  the  words  rebel  and  traitor  on  the  tombstones  of  our  honored 
dead.  To  consent  to  the  second  was  a  crime  against  our  own  race.  In  my 
opinion,  therefore,  the  men,  who  when  such  terms  were  offered  to  the  South 
ern  people,  advocated  their  acceptance  committed  an  unpardonable  crime. 
Some  distinction  should  be  made  between  the  men  who  were  faithful  in 
those  dark  hours  and  those  who  were  unfaithful,  else  there  is  no  incentive  to 
patriotism  and  no  reward  for  fidelity.  The  terrible  upheaval  of  the  war 
threw  to  the  surface  many  hybrid  characters,  but  standing  out  in  hideous 
prominence  as  a  product  of  that  period  is  the  secessionist-scalawag.  A 
paradox  in  politics  to  which  history  gives  no  parallel.  The  bitterness  that 


54  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

characterized  the  invective  of  a  true  Southern  man  against  this  class,  was 
the  natural  and  laudable  emotion  of  an  indignant  and  outraged  patriot,  and 
their  political  ostracism  should  have  been  implacable  and  perpetual. 

The  fight  made  by  Mr.  Hill  could  not  result  in  the  defeat  of  these  Con 
gressional  measures  of  Reconstruction,  but  it  did  result  in  solidifying  the 
Southern  whites,  a  solidity  which  rescued  our  State  from  the  control  of  alien 
enemies  and  placed  her  affairs  in  the  hands  of  her  own  people.  To  Mr.  Hill 
is  due  more'  than  to  any  other  man  the  honor  of  saving  the  character  of 
Georgians  and  the  integrity  of  Georgia.  In  the  language  of  one  of  his  elo 
quent  eulogists,  "  Among  all  the  true  sons  of  Georgia  and  the  South  in  that 
day,  his  form  stands  conspicuous."  The  Reconstruction  measures  were 
declared  ratified  by  the  people  of  the  Southern  States,  and  this,  too,  in  the 
face  of  the  admitted  fact  that  the  whites  were  opposed  to  them,  and  they 
thus  became  parts  of  the  fundamental  law  of  the  land.  This  presented  an 
entirely  new  issue  for  our  people. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Address  to  the  People,  December  8,  1870— The  Effect  of  this  Address— State  Road 
Lease — Delano  Banquet — Speech  at  the  Banquet — These  Three  Things  Cost  Hill  his 
Popularity  in  the  State — He  was  Misunderstood  and  Greatly  Abused — Explains  fully 
his  Reason  for  Attending  said  Banquet  to  Mr.  Grady — The  Greeley  Movement — 
Advocates  it — Defeated  for  United  States  Senate  in  1873  by  General  John  B. 
Gordon — Cause  of  his  Defeat — Gainesville  Convention  of  1875 — Fails  to  Make  a 
Nomination  for  Congress — Mr.  Hill  Goes  before  the  People — Makes  a  Canvass  of  the 
District — Elected  by  a  Very  Large  Majority — General  Rejoicing  over  his  Election 
Throughout  the  South — Meeting  of  the  Citizens  of  Atlanta  to  Celebrate  his  Election — 
His  Speech  on  the  Occasion — Analysis  of  Mr.  Hill's  Political  Character,  by  F.  H. 
Alfriend. 

When  the  Reconstruction  measures  were  presented  to  the  South  in  1867,  our  people 
could  not  have  consented  to  their  ratification  without  dishonoring  their  history.  We 
could  not  have  allowed  them  to  become  laws  by  our  consent.  But  after  they  had  been 
declared  ratified  by  the  States,  they  became  parts  of  the  law,  and  although  by  force  and 
usurpation,  yet  it  was  the  duty  of  all  good  citizens  to  obey  them.  The  obligation  of 
obedience  to  a  law  of  consent  is  a  duty  embracing  the  moral  sense  ;  the  obligation  of  obe 
dience  to  a  law  of  usurpation  is  a  duty  measured  by  necessity,  but  practically  a  duty  fully 
as  binding  upon  all  good  citizens.  To  meet  this  new  phase  of  the  great  questions,  Mr. 
Hill  wrote  his  letter  of  December  8,  1870,  and  as  it  fully  elucidates  the  changed  condition 
of  things  and  explains  the  motive  actuating  Mr.  Hill  in  this  part  of  his  career,  the  letter 
is  inserted  at  this  place  : 

ADDRESS  TO  THE  PEOPLE  OF  GEORGIA. 

r  I  ^IIE  relation  I  have  borne  to  you  during  the  last  fifteen  years  will  justify, 
JL  if  not  demand,  this  address. 

I  began  life  with  the  distinct  resolution  never  to  enter  public  or  political 
station,  but  to  limit  the  gratification  of  ambition  to  professional  success. 
This  resolution  was  based  upon  the  assumption  that  the  integrity  of  the  gov 
ernment  would  not  be  disturbed,  and  was  departed  from  only  when  that 
integrity  was  brought  into  question.  Entering  politics  with  none  but  the 
most  unselfish  and  patriotic  desire  to  aid  in  preserving  our  constitutional 
union.  I  was  caught  in  the  current,  which  quickened  into  revolutionary 
madness,  on  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  and  have  since  been 
borne  along,  every  hour  vainly  but  earnestly  endeavoring  to  arrest  its  wild 
rush  to  our  ruin. 

Through  all  its  three  stages  of  Secession,  Coercion,  and  Reconstruction,  I 
have  been  the  zealous  and  consistent  antagonist  of  the  revolution,  and  regard 
ing  as  I  did  the  first  stage  as  an  error,  the  second  as  a  crime,  and  the  third 
as  a  monstrous  usurpation,  I  would  not  if  I  could,  disguise  from  you  the 
fact  that  the  conscious  memory  that  I  opposed  all,  and  am  in  no  degree 
responsible  for  the  consequences  of  any,  has  been  to  me  a  well-spring  of  joy 
through  all  the  horrors  of  the  past,  and  will  be  a  source  of  strength  in  all  the 
struggles  of  the  future.  Whatever  else  be  lost,  this  consciousness  of  self- 
sacrifice  and  devotion  to  what  I  believed  was  right  is  a  treasure  of  exhaust- 
less  wealth,  which  no  power  can  destroy  and  no  misfortune  can  take  away. 

The  revolution,  at  least  in  its  work  of  violence,  let  us  hope,  is  at  an  end. 

55 


56  SENATOR  B.   II.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

Leaving  now  out  of  view  the  material  and  moral  devastations  sustained,  it 
is  our  duty  to  ascertain  and  fix,  with  all  possible  distinctness  and  without 
passion,  the  changes  wrought  by  the  revolution  in  our  political  framework; 
changes,  though  wrought  as  results,  are  now  to  become  causes,  and  in  their 
time  must  work  results,  for  good  or  evil,  over  all  our  country  for,  perhaps, 
generations  to  come. 

The  tangible,  permanent  results  thus  wrought  by  the  war  in  the  charac 
ter  of  our  political  institutions  are  embodied  in  what  are  known  as  the 
thirteenth,  fourteenth,  and  fifteenth  amendments  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States.  It  is  historical  accuracy  to  say  that  the  thirteenth  amend 
ment  received  the  assent  of  the  original  constituency  of  the  Southern  States; 
and  the  two  other  amendments  did  not  receive  that  assent.  Nevertheless, 
all  these  amendments  have  been  proclaimed  by  the  power  having  jurisdiction 
of  the  question,  to  have  received  constitutional  ratification,  and  to  constitute 
parts  of  the  national  fundamental  law. 

Taking  this,  then,  as  our  starting  point,  the  first  question  is  :  What  are 
the  specific  changes  wrought  by  these  amendments  ? 

The  first  changes  I  notice  are  perhaps  the  only  ones  which  the  popular 
mind  seems  to  be  aware  of  as  accomplished  at  all.  The  amendments,  in  the 
order  named,  establish,  with  a  qualification,  the  freedom,  civil  equality,  and 
political  equality  of  the  races — all  races  and  colors. 

The  only  badge  of  bondage  remaining  in  America  is  the  qualification 
alluded  to — being  the  disabilities  imposed  by  the  fourteenth  amendment 
upon  a  portion  of  the  white  race  in  the  Southern  States. 

But,  in  truth,  these  changes  in  the  relative  status  of  the  different  races 
are  the  most  insignificant  effects  of  these  amendments.  Not  only  has  the 
civil  and  political  status  of  the  negro  race  been  changed,  but,  what  is  inex 
pressibly  far  more,  the  jurisdiction  over  the  civil  and  the  political  status  of 
all  the  races  in  all  the  States  will  be  held  to  have  been  transferred  by  these 
amendments  from  the  States,  severally  to  the  general  government.  This 
effects  a  great  change  in  the  character  of  the  general  government — greatly 
increasing  the  national  and  as  greatly  lessening  its  Federal  features.  In 
deed,  language  cannot  express  ideas  more  intensely  national  than  are  the 
ideas  covered  by  the  words  "  jurisdiction  over  the  civil  and  political  status 
of  the  citizen."  These  powers  being  conferred,  it  will  be  difficult  to  say 
what  power  has  not  been  conferred.  While  State  governments  may  remain 
as  convenient  regulators  of  limited  local  interests,  it  will  be  held  that  under 
these  amendments  to  the  now  National  Constitution  the  general  government 
has  acquired  revisory  powers  over  the  entire  State  government,  and  over  all 
the  legislative,  executive,  and  judicial  departments  of  the  State  governments. 

In  view  of  the  thorough  changes  thus  wrought  by  these  amendments  in 
the  whole  character  of  the  general  and  State  governments,  the  next  question 
becomes  of  exceeding  great  importance.  Have  these  amendments  become, 
in  fact,  fixed  parts  of  the  National  Constitution,  and  will  they  be  so  held? 

After  giving  this  subject  not  only  a  careful,  but  a  most  anxious  con 
sideration,  I  have  been  driven  to  the  conclusion  that  these  three  amendments 
are  in  fact,  and  will  be  held  in  law,  fixed  parts  of  the  Constitution,  as  bind 
ing  upon  the  States  and  people  as  the  original  provisions  of  that  instru 
ment. 

The  legal  ratification  of  the  thirteenth  amendment  is  conceded  by  all. 
It  must  be  also  conceded — is  conceded — that  the  ratifications  of  the  four 
teenth  and  fifteenth  amendments  have  been  proclaimed.  By  whom?  I 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND    WRITINGS.  57 

answer,  by  the  political  departments  of  the  general  government  having  the 
jurisdiction  so  to  proclaim. 

But  it  is  said  the  ratifications  were  not  free  or  real,  but  forced  and  usur- 
patory,  and  that,  therefore,  the  Supreme  Court  will  declare  the  proclama 
tions  of  such  ratifications  to  be  null  and  void.  I  reply,  the  Supreme  Court 
has  only  judicial  power,  and  the  power  in  question  is  political  and  not 
judicial.  Again,  this  judicial  power  of  the  Supreme  Court  is  itself  limited 
to  cases  arising  under  the  Constitution — that  is,  to  questions  arising  in  the 
construction  of  the  Constitution  after  it  is  made,  and  not  to  the  making  it 
self.  The  political  power  makes  the  Constitution,  and  the  judicial  power 
construes  it.  The  political  power  having  proclaimed  these  amendments  to  be 
parts  of  the  Constitution,  the  judicial  power  can  have  no  jurisdiction  to  re 
view  or  reverse  that  proclamation,  but  can  only  decide  what  the  amend 
ments  so  proclaimed  mean.  The  facts  necessary  to  ratification,  as  recited 
by  the  political  power,  must  be  accepted  as  true  by  the  judiciary,  and 
cannot  be  ever  judicially  questioned  ;  for  the  judicial  is  no  part  of  the 
amending  power.  There  is  a  vast  difference,  in  this  respect,  between 
the  making  of  the  Constitution  and  the  passage  of  laws  under  it  after 
made. 

But,  I  am  asked,  can  usurpation  become  law,  binding  a  people  and 
courts  ?  I  reply,  yes,  easily,  very  easily,  and  often.  As  efforts  the  most 
patriotic,  failing,  became  rebellion,  so  usurpation  the  most  glaring,  succeed 
ing,  become  laws.  A  majority  of  human  governments  have  no  origin  save 
in  usurpations.  Indeed,  successful  usurpation  is  the  strongest  expression  of 
power  ;  and  law  itself,  in  its  last  analysis,  is  only  power. 

In  plain  truth,  human  experience  has  discovered  but  one  remedy  for 
usurpation.  That  remedy  is  preventive — not  curative  ;  military — not  civil. 
It  is  the  sword.  To  apply  this  remedy  in  this  case,  the  South  was  unable, 
and  the  North  unwilling.  Conceding  then  that  these  amendments  were 
usurpations,  they  were  successful,  and  have  become  law — fundamental  law — 
binding  upon  States  and  people,  courts  and  rulers.  It  may  have  been 
criminal — was  criminal — to  aid  in  committing  a  usurpation  ;  it  is  crime  it 
self  to  break  the  law.  And  thus  are  we  bound. 

But,  again,  we  are  told,  the  Northern  people  will  discover  their  error, 
and  a  reaction  will  take  place  which  will  obliterate  these  amendments.  But 
it  will  take  three  fourths  of  the  States  to  obliterate.  Besides,  I  now  believe 
the  following  propositions  may  be  correctly  assumed  concerning  the  North 
ern  people. 

1.  Feeling  that  their  protection  was  in  their  power  rather  than  in  the  law, 
they  have  not  been  induced  to  understand  and  learn  the  nature  of  their  gov 
ernment  as  their  fathers  did.     What  men  do  not  know  they  cannot  love. 
Their  government  the  Northern  people  know.     They  know  its  power,  in  one 
sense,  and  for  that  they  love  it.     They  do  not  understand  its  federative 
character  and  do  not  love  it. 

2.  The  Northern  people  believe  that  what  they  understand  to  be  the 
State's  rights  theory  was  the  real  source,  and,  therefore,  the  cause  of  seces 
sion,  the  war,  and  all  its  consequences.     Therefore  they  hate  that  theory  of 
our  government. 

3.  The  increase  in  population,  the  great  accumulation  of  wealth,  the  won 
derful  growth  of  commerce  and  trade,  the  close  intermixture  of  many  States 
and  people  through  the  agencies  of  railroads  and  other  improvements,  re 
quire,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Northern  people,  a  strong  national  government  j 


58  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

and  if  these  amendments  increase  the  national  powers  of  the  government, 
they  are  not  likely,  on  that  account,  to  change  them. 

4.  Add  to  these  views  the  well  known  fact  that  the  great  body  of  the 
Northern  people  regard  the  freedom  and  the  civil  and  political  equality  of 
the  negro  as  great  national,  philanthropic,  and  religious  results ;  and  you 
must  agree  with  me  that  the  hope  of  a  change  at  the  North,  which  would 
obliterate  these  amendments,  must  be  abandoned. 

If  we  could  not  hold  the  Northern  people  to  the  franchise  system,  when 
we  had  it  with  all  the  sanctity  of  common  revolutionary  struggles  hallowing 
it,  how  shall  we  induce  them  to  return  voluntarily  to  that  system  after,  as 
they  believe,  they  have  paid  so  much  in  treasure  and  blood  to  get  rid  of  it. 
In  a  word,  the  masses  of  the  Northern  people  have  been  taught  to  regard, 
and  do  regard  slavery,  secession,  and  State  rights  as  words  of  close  affinity, 
if  not  of  identical  meaning,  and,  whether  they  are  right  or  wrong  in  their 
conviction,  there  is  no  probability  of  its  early  change. 

The  conclusion,  then,  is.  that  we  have  a  new  National  Constitution, 
with  new  and  enlarged  powers  of  government,  establishing  new  and  differ 
ent  relations  between  the  general  and  State  governments;  and  also  a  new 
system  of  industry  with  a  new,  if  not  anomalous,  condition  of  society. 

How  this  new  system  will  operate;  whether,  under  it,  government  will 
be  more  stable  ;  the  enjoyment  of  life,  liberty  and  property  more  secure; 
whether  statesmanship  shall  be  more  elevated,  laws  more  respected  and 
justly  enforced,  and  natural  prosperity  and  moral  excellence  advanced  and 
increased;  whether  "the  magnetism  of  conciliated  interests  and  kindly 
sympathies  "  which  so  distinguished  the  old  system,  can  be  imparted  to  the 
new,  are  all  problems  which  experience  alone  can  solve,  and  upon  which  I  do 
not  now  propose  to  speculate. 

But  there  are  a  few  immediate  and  pressing  duties  resulting  from  the 
above  premises,  to  which  I  will  call  your  attention. 

First.  It  is  the  duty  of  every  good  citizen  to  abide  and  obey  the  Con 
stitution  and  laws  as  they  exist,  precisely  as  if  he  had  co-operated  in  estab 
lishing  and  enacting  them.  Because  we  disapproved  a  proposed  law  can 
furnish  no  excuse  for  disobeying  an  enacted  law.  Every  good  and  trust 
worthy  citizen  will  oppose  if  he  can,  and  disapprove  anyhow,  a  proposed 
wrong;  and  every  such  citizen  will  likeA\dse  obey  an  existing  law  and  abide 
an  accomplished  fact.  If  the  citizen's  opinion  of  the  law,  rather  than  the 
law  itself,  furnished  the  measure  of  his  obligation  to  obey,  it  would  be  im 
possible  to  have  uniform  rule,  settled  law,  or  stable  government. 

Second.  It  was  your  opinion  that  the  colored  man  was  not  prepared  at 
once  and  indiscriminately  to  understand  and  appreciate,  and,  therefore,  to 
receive  the  great  trust  of  suffrage.  But  right  or  wrong,  wisely  or  unwisely, 
the  new  fundamental  law  has  conferred  upon  him  the  right  to  exercise  that 
trust.  It  has,  therefore,  become  our  duty,  as  it  is  also  our  interest,  not  only 
to  permit  and  assent  to  its  exercise,  but  also  to  render  ready  protection  and 
cheerful  assistance  to  the  colored  man  in  its  free,  full,  and  unrestricted  en 
joyment.  I  know,  fellow-citizens,  that  you  concur  in  these  views  and  do 
not  need  this  admonition;  but  there  is  no  subject  on  which  the  Northern 
people  and  the  government  itself  so  greatly  suspect  your  fidelity;  and,  there 
fore,  you  will  know  how  to  pardon  this  repeated  counsel. 

Third.  I  respectfully  suggest  that  the  time  has  arrived  when  duty  does 
not  require,  nor  interest  seek,  a  continuance  of  the  divisions  on  the  princi 
ples  and  events  which  have  led  to  our  present  condition.  Their  heroism  in 


1IIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND    WRITINGS.  59 

the  field  and  wisdom  in  the  Cabinet  during  the  war;  their  fortitude  under 
suffering,  and  patience  under  wrong,  since  the  war:  and,  above  all,  the 
grandeur  of  that  manhood  which  they  almost  universally  exhibited  in  per 
sistently  withholding  their  assent,  under  the  severest  threats,  from  a  scheme 
which  proposed  to  manacle  intelligence  and  virtue,  and  turn  loose  ignorance 
and  vice  to  inaugurate  government  and  administer  law,  have  made  a  record 
of  sincerity,  devotion,  and  sense  of  honor  for  the  Southern  people  which  time 
must  ever  brighten  and  discussion  cannot  strengthen.  Let  us,  therefore, 
cease  all  quarreling  over  the  past  and  all  threatenings  for  the  future,  and 
manfully  unite  our  energies  to  bring  back  prosperity  to  our  country  and 
good  will  among  our  people. 

Touching  the  pending  election,  I  will  add  but  one  suggestion.  It  is  of 
secondary  importance  whom  else  you  choose  for  your  General  Assembly; 
but  it  is  of  first  importance  that  you  choose  honest  men.  We  are  suffering 
for  wise  and  honest  legislation.  We  can  never  get  such  legislation  unless 
you  elect  members  whom  feed  lobbyists  cannot  buy.  A  black  man  who 
cannot  be  bought  is  better  than  a  white  man  who  can,  and  a  Republican  who 
cannot  be  bought  is  better  than  a  Democrat  who  can.  The  worst  possible 
condition  for  any  people  is  a  body  of  ignorant  and  venal  legislators,  under 
the  control  of  a  band  of  professional  lobbyists,  fed  by  unscrupulous  specula 
tors.  No  government  can  be  stable,  and  no  country  can  be  prosperous,  if 
these  things  meet  not  condemnation  by,  and  correction  from,  the  people. 

BENJ.  H.  HILL. 
December  8,  1870. 

This  letter,  eminently  wise,  patriotic,  and  entirely  consistent  with  Mr. 
Hill's  position  in  1867  and  1868,  was  nevertheless  generally  misconstrued, 
and  furnished  the  excuse  for  much  abuse  from  press  and  politicians.  Shortly 
after  this  address  was  published,  the  lease  of  the  Western  and  Atlantic  Rail 
road  was  made  by  the  Governor  in  pursuance  of  an  act  of  the  Legislature. 
The  act  directing  the  lease  of  the  road  was  prepared  and  introduced  by  a 
distinguished  Democratic  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives.  There 
were  two  companies  bidding  for  the  lease.  At  the  head  of  one  was  Mr. 
Hill,  having  as  associates  prominent  Democrats  and  citizens  of  Georgia. 
At  the  head  of  the  other  was  Governor  Brown,  having  as  associates  promi 
nent  Republicans  of  the  North.  It  was  soon  discovered  that  the  Governor 
would  probably  give  the  preference  to  those  of  his  o\Vn  political  faith,  and 
to  avoid  this  result,  Mr.  Hill's  company  combined  with  Governor  Brown, 
forming  a  new  company  which  secured  the  lease.  Pending  the  negotiations 
on  the  subject  of  the  lease,  the  prominent  Republicans  associated  with 
Governor  Brown,  came  to  Georgia.  Among  them  was  Columbus  Delano, 
Secretary  of  the  Interior.  A  banquet  was  given  to  these  gentlemen  at  the 
Kimball  House,  to  which  Mr.  Hill  was  invited,  and  at  which  he  made  a 
speech.  These  three  things, — the  address  of  December  8,  1870,  his  associa 
tion  with  Governor  Brown  and  other  Republicans  in  the  lease  of  the  West 
ern  and  Atlantic  Railroad,  and  his  speech  at  the  Delano  banquet,  had  a  most 
important  effect  on  his  political  career.  Up  to  this  time  he  had  been  the 
most  popular  of  all  the  prominent  men  of  Georgia  ;  he  was  simply  the 
idol  of  the  people;  but  these  acts  changed  the  whole  current  of  popular  love 
and  confidence  into  one  of  distrust.  Many  politicians  of  the  State,  who  did 
not  like  Mr.  Hill,  made  them  the  pretext  for  gross  misrepresentation  and 
slander.  Looking  to  his  own  personal  advancement,  it  cannot  be  denied 


60  SENATOR  R   II.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

tli at  tliis  action  of  Mr.  Hill  was  unfortunate.  It  practically  condemned  him 
to  private  station  and  lost  him  the  United  States  senatorship  in  1873. 
But  when  we  look  at  his  conduct  in  the  light  of  subsequent  events,  we  recog 
nize  his  pure  and  patriotic  motives.  Indeed,  the  motives  that  induced  him 
to  make  a  political  sacrifice  of  himself  must  have  been  strong. 

As  this  part  of  Mr.  Hill's  life  was  so  greatly  misconstrued,  I  propose  to 
show  how  unjustly  he  was  treated.  Was  his  letter  of  December  inconsist 
ent  with  his  course  previous  to  that  time  ?  A  careful  perusal  of  the  address 
itself,  clearly  stating  as  it  does  the  changed  condition  of  public  affairs,  is 
conclusive  answer  in  the  negative.  It  was  claimed  by  his  detractors  that 
he  had  receded  from  his  previous  position  and  was  now  advocating  what  he 
had  before  so  eloquently  condemned.  This  opinion  is  due'to  a  superficial 
examination  of  the  address.  Mr.  Hill  nowhere  approves  as  right  the  meas 
ures  that  had  become  parts  of  the  law  of  the  land.  He  recognizes  them  as 
accomplished  facts.  To  use  his  own  terse  expression :  "  Successful  usurpa 
tion  had  become  law."  There  was  a  vast  difference  between  this  position 
and  that  of  those  Southern  men  who  favored  the  acceptance  of  the  Recon 
struction  measures  when  proposed.  Mr.  Hill  himself,  in  answer  to  the  ques 
tion  to  define  the  difference  between  his  position  as  enunciated  in  this  ad 
dress  and  that  of  Republicans  in  1867,  uses  the  following  emphatic  language: 
"  There  is  just  the  same  difference  as  that  between  two  sons,  one  of  whom 
helps  assassins  to  slay  his  father,  and  the  other,  after  exposing  life  and  all 
to  prevent  the  slaughter,  and  fails,  simply  and  sadly  recognizes  the  fact  that 
his  father  is  dead,  and  decently  buries  him,  and  honestly  goes  to  work  for 
the  family.  Is  there  no  difference  between  parricide  and  filial  love?"  In 
truth,  Mr.  Hill,  in  the  position  taken  in  this  celebrated  letter,  was  only  in 
advance  of  his  party.  In  1872  the  Democratic  party,  in  its  national  plat 
form,  fully  incorporated  the  principles  set  forth  by  Mr.  Hill  in  1870.  The 
Democratic  party,  by  this  course,  was  not  inconsistent  and  was  not  sur 
rendering  any  one  of  its  great  principles,  but  was  simply  adapting  itself  to 
the  changes  which  the  final  adoption  of  the  Reconstruction  measures  made 
necessary. 

Now  as  to  the  lease  of  the  Western  and  Atlantic  Railroad.  Was  Mr. 
Hill  untrue  to  his  people  in  becoming  one  of  the  lessees  of  this  property  ? 
It  was  the  unanimous  opinion  that  the  road  should  be  leased,  and  Mr.  Hill 
had  advocated  its  lease  for  thirteen  years.  Managed  by  the  State  it  paid 
nothing,  but  furnished  the  means  for  corrupt  party  manipulation.  Mr.  Hill 
endeavored  to  obtain  control  of  this  great  property  by  a  company  composed 
exclusively  of  Georgians  ;  finding  that  he  could  not  do  so,  he  was  forced 
into  a  business  association  with  men  whom  in  politics  he  had  bitterly  de 
nounced.  But  the  lease  was  not  unpopular  for  any  objection  to  the  policy  of 
leasing,  but  Governor  Brown  and  his  associates  were  at  that  time  extremely 
obnoxious  to  our  people.  In  speaking  of  the  lease,  Mr.  Hill  uses  the  fol 
lowing  language  in  a  letter  written  to  Hon.  John  P.  King,  President  of  the 
Georgia  Railroad  and  Banking  Company  : 

"  Besides  the  desire  to  see  this  great  work  taken  out  of  the  control  of 
corrupt  party  politics,  there  were  two  special  reasons  why  I  approved  this 
particular  bill  to  lease.  The  first  reason  was  that  I  was  assured  that  unless 
this  bill  to  lease  was  passed,  one  nominally  to  sell,  but  really  to  steal  the 
road  would  pass.  The  second  reason  was,  that  I  was  assured  you  would 
organize  the  company.  Now  outside  of  the  magnitude  of  the  interests  in 
volved,  I  feel  a  special  desire  that  the  gentlemen  who  are  to  be  the  lessees 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND    WRITINGS.  61 

should  be  such  as  will  secure  the  confidence  of  the  people,  the  owners,  be 
cause  if  the  company  shall  excite  odium,  that  odium  will  attach  to  the  lease 
itself,  and  will  extend  to  all  who  aided  in  and  approved  its  adoption.  Rumor 
has  many  tongues  as  to  the  personnel  and  character  of  the  lease.  One  is 
that  your  road  and  one  in  Tennessee  are  to  be  the  sole  indorsers  and  the 
chief 'beneficiaries.  If  this  is  well  founded,  a  fierce  and  bitter  contest  may 
be  expected.  Let  me  beg  you  not  to  permit  this.  Another  rumor  is,  that 
the  Chief  Justice  of  the  State  is  to  be  interested  as  a  lessee,  and  is  even  to 
be  the  president  of  the  company.  This  is  exciting  much  disparaging  com 
ment.  As  an  individual,  I  would  not  say  one  word  against  Governor 
Brown  as  a  lessee.  He  is  able  and  industrious.  But  as  a  chief  justice,  there 
is  every  objection  to  his  connection  with  this  lease.  The  greatest  crime  of 
this  corrupt  age  is  the  use  of  official  station  for  personal  aggrandizement. 
You  have  been  the  honored  associate  of  men  of  better  habits  and  better 
times.  I  beg  you  now  not  to  allow  your  good  name  to  be  quoted  hereafter  as 
lending  countenance,  even  by  association,  to  this  great  crime.  In  my  judg 
ment,  this  great  work  ought  to  be  removed  from  political  partisan  control." 

But  it  could  not  be  denied  that  the  lease,  as  made,  was  for  a  while  very 
unpopular  in  the  State,  and  Mr.  Stephens  had  added  to  its  unpopularity  by 
refusing  to  take  a  share  in  the  lease,  although  he  had  written  to  Governor 
Brown  consenting  to  do  so.  One  of  the  greatest  victories  ever  won  by  a 
public  speaker  was  that  of  Mr.  Hill  before  the  convention  of  the  Georgia 
Railroad,  held  in  Augusta.  The  question  before  the  convention  was 
whether  or  not  the  stockholders  of  the  road  would  ratify  the  action  of  the 
president,  John  P.  King,  in  becoming  one  of  the  securities  on  the  bond  of 
the  lessees  of  the  State  road.  Mr.  Hill  was  present  to  advocate  sustaining 
the  indorsement.  Robert  Toombs  and  Linton  Stephens  were  present  for 
the  purpose  of  fighting  it.  The  hall  in  which  the  convention  was  held  was 
crowded  with  earnest  and  excited  men,  all  against  the  indorsement  and 
bitterly  inimical  to  the  lease.  When  Mr.  Hill  arose  to  speak,  instead  of 
being  greeted  by  applause,  he  was  received  with  hisses  and  jeers,  but  when 
he  had  concluded  his  argument  this  same  crowd  gave  him  round  after  round 
of  enthusiastic  applause,  and  so  great  was  the  revolution  in  their  sentiment 
that  the  speeches  of  Toombs  and  Stephens  made  no  impression  upon  them,  and 
they  voted  to  sustain  the  indorsement  almost  without  a  dissenting  voice. 
At  this  day  it  will  certainly  be  admitted  by  all  that  the  condemnation  of 
Mr.  Hill  for  becoming  one  of  the  lessees  was  without  reason  and  unjust. 

The  third  reason  for  Mr.  Hill's  unpopularity  at  this  period  was  his 
attendance  on  the  banquet  given  by  Governor  Bullock  to  Mr.  Delano,  and 
the  speech  that  he  made  there.  It  was  objected  in  the  first  place  that  he 
ought  not  to  have  attended.  It  was  said  that  no  Southern  man  ought  to 
have  attended  a  banquet  given  by  Governor  Bullock  to  Northern  Republi 
cans.  Was  this  position  correct  ?  The  banquet  was  given  to  a  distin 
guished  gentleman,  who  was  a  member  of  the  Cabinet.  It  was  given  by  the 
Governor  of  the  State,  and,  although  a  Republican  governor,  yet  an  honest 
man  and  a  gentleman.*  It  is  a  striking  illustration  of  the  bitterness  of 
those  days  and  the  changes  which  time  has  wrought,  that  Mr.  Hill  should 

*  I  speak  advisedly.  Governor  Bullock  was  indicted  for  embezzlement  while  gover 
nor.  I  was  solicitor-general  at  the  time,  and  aided  in  his  prosecution.  The  most 
searching  investigation  failed  to  disclose  any  evidence  of  his  guilt,  and  he  was  promptly 
acquitted  by  a  Democratic  jury.  This  much  a  sense  of  justice  induces  me  to  write. 


62  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

have  been  condemned  for  being  present  at  a  banquet  to  a  prominent  North 
ern  citizen.  Now  our  people  welcome  all  visitors  from  the  North,  regard 
less  of  politics,  have  frequently  banqueted  our  worst  political  enemies,  and 
Governor  Bullock  is  now  one  of  the  most  honored  citizens  of  Atlanta  and  a 
welcome  guest  at  any  Southern  home.  But  the  speech  that  Mr.  Hill  made 
at  the  banquet  gave  much  offense  to  the  people,  and  the  expression  in  it, 
"  that  he  did  not  go  to  be  a  Democrat,"  was  used  by  his  traducers  with  ter 
rible  effect ;  and  yet  this  expression  is  thoroughly  explained  by  the  context 
of  the  speech,  and  is  perfectly  unobjectionable.  As  a  matter  of  interest  in 
this  connection,  the  speech  is  here  given  in  full. 

Mr.  Delano  in  his  speech  made  the  following  allusion  to  the  State  of 
Georgia  : 

"  When  I  travel  over  your  extensive  territory  ;  when  I  behold  the  fertility 
of  your  soil,  and  its  peculiar  adaptability  for  the  production  of  that  great 
commodity  that  yields  to  our  country  more  wealth  than  is  realized  from  any 
other  one  source  ;  when  I  come  in  contact  with  your  inhabitants,  and  receive 
their  congratulations  and  friendly  greetings,  and  enjoy  their  hospitality,  I 
feel  that  I  am  not  paying  an  unjust  or  undeserved  compliment,  when  I  say 
that  this  State  is  one  of  the  most  flourishing  and  one  of  the  most  progressive 
States  in  the  Union,  and  in  the  Union  she  is  and  she  will  ever  be." 

Mr.  Delano  gave  the  following  toast  : 

"  I  desire  now  to  give  you,  gentlemen,  as  my  sentiment,  '  Georgia — may 
she  soon  have  in  the  Union,  in  all  respects  and  in  all  particulars,  the  place 
she  deserves.' 

Governor  Bullock  called  on  Hon.  Ben.  H.  Hill  to  answer  to  this  toast.  He 
said,  in  substance  : 

"  In  one  respect  I  am  very  sure  that  I  am  the  proper  person  to  respond  to 
the  toast,  *  The  State  of  Georgia,'  for  I  affect  no  merit  when  I  say  that  I 
love  that  State.  I  have  loved  her  in  her  errors,  I  have  loved  her  in  her  wis 
dom,  I  have  loved  her  in  her  prosperity,  I  have  loved  her  in  the  days  of 
adversity — the  days  of  her  sorrows  and  trials,  and  thank  God,  I  shall  love 
her  to  the  end.  I  am  glad  that  the  toast  was  given,  '  The  State  of  Geor 
gia.'  I  like  the  toast.  I  like  it  because  it  is  of  Georgia.  I  like  it  because 
my  friend  spoke  of  it  as  the  /State  of  Georgia.  Ah,  that  is  a  cheering  word  ! 
It  has  been  a  very  long  time  since  we  knew  whether  we  were  a  State  or  not. 
But  we  are  a  State  now  ;  we  have  it  from  high  authority, — from  the  lips  of  a 
member  of  the  Cabinet.  We  are  a  State  at  last  !  That  means  reconstruc 
tion  is  over.  Thank  God.  It  has  been  a  long  time  getting  over  ;  it  has  been 
a  hard  struggle  to  get  over,  but  it  is  over,  over,  over  at  last.  I  like  that 
toast  because  it  came  from  the  distinguished  gentleman  who  is  a  member  of 
General  Grant's  Cabinet.  I  like  him,  and  if  all  the  members  of  General 
Grant's  Cabinet  are  like  him,  I  like  them  all.  He  spoke  of  the  prosperity  of 
Georgia.  These  words  remind  us  of  the  days  that  are  gone,  and  I  hope  they 
are  the  happy  augury  of  days  that  are  to  come.  For  myself,  I  feel  to-night 
that  I  am  ten  years  behind  where  I  really  stand.  I  remember  about  ten 
years  ago  I  was  able  to  say,  and  say  conscientiously,  that  this  was  the  State 
of  Georgia.  Just  ten  years  ago  I  was  a  Bell  and  Everett  man.  Ten  years 
ago  the  platform  of  the  Bell  and  Everett  party  was  'the  Constitution,  the 
Union,  and  the  enforcement  of  the  Laws.'  That  is  about  all  the  points  that 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  63 

I  have  now.  I  am  back  where  I  was  ten  years  ago,  upon  the  platform  of 
the  Constitution  and  the  enforcement  of  the  law.  Some  people  say  that  I 
have  come  to  be  a  radical.  That  is  a  terrible  mistake.  That  can  never  be, 
never,  never.  Some  people  say  that  I  am  not  a  good  Democrat.  If  I  ever 
was  a  Democrat,  I  can  honestly  say  that  I  did  not  go  to  be.  I  was  not  a 
Democrat,  certainly,  from  choice,  and  if  a  Democrat  at  all,  I  was  a  Demo 
crat  from  necessity.  People  talk  about  my  having  changed.  I  have  not 
changed  a  single  sentiment  you  ever  heard  me  express,  not  one  ;  but  times 
change  ;  circumstances  change  ;  issues  change  ;  events  change  ;  interests 
change  ;  rights  change  ;  necessities  change  ;  and  we  should  adapt  ourselves 
to  them  if  we  expect  to  prosper. 

Sir,  when  you  return  to  Washington,  honorable  and  honored  as  I  know 
you  to  be,  from  association,  say  that  the  people  of  Georgia  have  three  ideas  : 
the  first  is  to  resist  wrong  ;  the  second  is  to  resent  insult  ;  and  the  third 
is  to  submit  to  the  law.  The  highest  type  of  manhood  is  exhibited  in  sub 
mission  to  the  law.  The  most  disorganizing  form  of  manhood  is  exhibited 
in  disregard  of  law.  People  do  not  draw  distinctions.  When  you  propose 
to  do  what  I  do  not  approve,  I  am  not  a  man  if  I  do  not  disagree  with  you. 
When  anything  becomes  law,  whether  I  like  it  or  not,  if  I  do  not  obey  it,  I 
am  neither  a  good  citizen  nor  an  honest  patriot.  Power  makes  law,  and  you 
may  argue  forever,  and  after  all  the  question  comes  back  to  this  :  the  only 
safety  in  society,  the  only  security  for  property,  the  only  protection  for  life, 
the  only  hope  for  the  future,  is  undivided,  honest,  faithful  submission  to  the 
law,  whether  we  like  it  or  not. 

That  is  the  only  idea  I  have  ever  had  on  this  subject,  and  it  is  worth  a 
life-time  to  have  that  idea.  If  men  would  not  submit  to  the  law  because 
they  did  not  like  it,  then  every  man's  wish  would  be  his  law,  and  the  only 
law  known  to  them.  I  do  not  like  some  of  our  laws.  I  am  free  to  say  if  I 
had  had  the  making  of  them,  they  would  never  have  been  made, — never, 
never,  never, — but  being  made,  I  am  not  ashamed  to  say  that  it  is  my  duty 
to  obey  them  ;  and  it  is  your  interest  and  your  duty  to  obey  them  also.  I 
want  to  say  something  to  the  people  of  Georgia,  but  I  cannot  do  it  now. 
It  is  said  that  a  man's  mind  always  runs  in  the  direction  that  he  is  the  most 
interested  in  at  the  particular  time  in  which  he  is  speaking.  I  trust  that 
our  quarrels  are  over  ;  I  trust  that  our  sufferings  are  over  ;  I  trust  that  every 
man  can  rise  to  the  high  dignity  and  the  glorious  liberty  of  saying  that  he 
has  buried  the  past  and  purposes  to  live  for  the  future. 

But  beyond  and  deeper  than  all  these  questions  of  propriety,  Mr.  Hill 
had  a  patriotic  motive  for  attending  this  banquet  and  making  this  speech. 
His  motive  was  to  save  Georgia  from  the  horrors  of  another  reconstruction. 
Mr.  Hill  himself  explains  fully  his  motive  in  a  conversation  reported  by  Mr. 
Henry  W.  Grady.  Mr.  Grady  makes  the  following  statement : 

"  About  two  years  ago,  at  a  banquet  to  General  Gordon,  I  sat  just 
opposite  Mr.  Hill.  Governor  Bullock,  one  of  the  invited  guests,  sat  next  to 
Major  Crane  at  the  head  of  the  table.  Mr.  Hill  suddenly  said  to  me  :  *  This 
scene  recalls  a  very  important  night  in  my  life,  that  of  the  Delano  banquet. 
By  strange  coincidence  the  tables  are  arranged  precisely  as  they  were  on 
that  night,  and  Governor  Bullock  occupies  precisely  the  same  seat,  and  I  am 
sitting  exactly  where  I  sat  that  night.  I  have  been  thinking  of  that  affair 
while  sitting  here,  and,  after  the  lapse  of  more  than  ten  years,  I  am  prepared 
to  say  that  it  was  the  most  patriotic  and  bravest  act  of  my  life.  If  I  had 


64  SENATOR  B.   II.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

the  power  to  judge  myself  as  a  patriot  and  a  man  by  one  single  act  of  my 
life,  I  would  take  that  night  as  the  measure  of  my  aspiration.'  '  You  believed 
it  necessary  to  conciliate  the  Republican  administration,  then  ?'  '  Yes,  sir  ; 
I  knew  then,  and  we  all  know  now,  that  a  plan  had  been  determined  on  that 
would  put  the  States  again  under  military  rule,  and  that  would  re-enact  the 
horrors  and  disturbances  of  reconstruction.  I  felt  that  it  was  absolutely 
necessary  for  the  prosperity  of  the  State  and  the  safety  of  the  people  that 
this  should  be  prevented.  I  felt  that  if  the  struggle  between  the  races  was 
renewed  under  even  more  irritating  circumstances  than  those  through  which 
we  had  already  passed,  there  would  be  the  most  horrible  results.  I  believed 
that  if  I  could  get  the  ear  of  the  gentlemen  who  visited  Atlanta  that  night, 
and  could  tell  them  candidly  and  forcibly  the  real  status  of  affairs,  I  could  pre 
vent  the  carrying  out  of  the  program  of  force  and  oppression,  and  secure 
for  the  State  the  right  to  work  out  its  problem  in  a  legitimate  way,  unawed 
by  bayonets  and  undisturbed  by  military  force.  I  felt  in  my  own  heart 
that  there  was  but  one  way  to  get  an  audience  of  those  men,  and  that  was 
to  meet  them  on  that  social  occasion.  I  went  there  and  made  such  a  speech 
as  I  thought  would  meet  the  case,  speaking  from  the  depths  of  a  patriotic 
heart.  I  was  satisfied  then,  and  I  know  now,  that  I  saved  the  State  by  that 
night's  work.  I  have  said  that  it  was  a  brave  act,  because  it  required  bravery 
to  face  the  prejudice  of  that  period  and  to  challenge  the  criticisms  I  knew 
my  conduct  would  provoke.  My  duty,  however,  was  plain  to  me,  and  I  did 
not  shrink  from  it.  I  have  outlived  the  storm  which  followed  that  night, 
but  never,  even  when  it  was  at  its  height,  did  I  regret  for  one  moment  the 
course  I  had  taken  ;  and  to-night,  reviewing  the  whole  case,  I  say  to  you 
that  I  had  rather  see  any  single  thing  that  I  ever  did  blotted  out  of  my  life, 
than  that  night's  work.' 

It  is  conceded  by  all  men  now  that  the  letter  of  Mr.  Hill,  in  1870,  was 
wise  and  consistent,  and  was  adopted  by  his  party  two  years  afterward  ; 
that  the  lease  of  the  Western  and  Atlantic  Railroad  was  honestly  made,  and 
was  the  correct  policy  of  the  State  ;  that  Mr.  Hill's  attendance  at  the  Delano 
banquet  and  the  speech  he  there  made,  was  dictated  by  the  sincerest  motives 
that  ever  actuated  a  patriot's  heart. 

And  that  the  expression  that  "he  did  not  goto  be  a  Democrat,"  was  simply 
to  emphasize  the  oppressions  of  the  Republican  party  in  its  treatment  of  the 
South.  Yet  the  criticisms  that  followed  these  things  were  relentless,  unspar 
ing,  and  cruel,  and  kept  Mr.  Hill  from  public  service  for  years.  'I  have  thus 
been  particular  in  giving  the  details  of  this  period  of  Mr.  Hill's  life,  because 
I  think  it  important  that  the  facts  should  be  thoroughly  understood  and 
the  truth  vindicated.  But  the  result  of  all  these  unjust  criticisms  was  to 
weaken  Mr.  Hill's  influence  as  a  public  man,  and  for  several  years  his  utter 
ances  were  perverted  and  his  purposes  misrepresented.  This  fact  was  strik 
ingly  illustrated  in  the  criticism  that  followed  his  address  before  the  Alumni 
Society  of  the  University  of  Georgia,  at  the  commencement  of  1871.  This 
address  was  prepared  with  great  care,  and  was  the  fruit  of  matured  thought 
and  philosophical  reflection.  Mr.  Hill  departed  from  his  usual  habit  and 
wrote  the  address  in  full,  and  for  the  first  and  only  time  in  his  life  read  it 
to  his  audience.  I  venture  to  say  that  no  speech  ever  before  delivered  in 
Georgia  contains  more  truth,  more  wisdom,  and  more  love  of  country,  than 
this  one.  Since  that  day,  its  thoughts  have  been  utilized  by  many  speakers 
and  have  received  the  plaudits  of  Southern  audiences,  but  so  great  was  the 
prejudice  against  Mr.  Hill,  that  when  he  spoke  great  truths  for  the  good  of 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND    WRITINGS.  65 

bis  people,  his  sentiments  were  perverted  and  he  was  charged   with   advo 
cating  social  equality  between  the  races  and  with  disloyalty  to  his  section. 

In  1872  the  Democratic  party  nominated  Horace  Greeley  for  Presi 
dent,  and  in  its  platform  adopted  the  principles  enunciated  by  Mr.  Hill 
in  his  letter  of  December,  1870.  The  "  N.  D.,"  as  it  was  called,  was 
regarded  by  Mr.  Hill  as  an  earnest  effort  on  the  part  of  the  Democratic 
party  to  get  rid  of  all  sectional  issues,  and,  if  possible,  bring  about  national 
harmony.  He,  therefore,  gave  this  movement  his  most  active  and  enthusi 
astic  support.  He  canvassed  the  State,  and  made  many  speeches  to  recon 
cile  his  people  to  the  support  of  one  who  had  been  a  life-long  enemy,  and 
notwithstanding  the  opposition  of  the  two  Stephenses  and  General  Toombs, 
all  three  of  whom  preferred  Grant  to  Greeley,  he  carried  the  people  of 
Georgia  to  the  almost  unanimous  support  of  Horace  Greeley.  The  Greeley 
movement  was  a  most  disastrous  failure,  but,  notwithstanding  this  fact,  it 
was  regarded  by  Mr.  Hill  as  the  most  beneficial  post  bellum  episode  in 
national  politics.  It  broke  the  crust  of  Northern  prejudice,  and  furnished 
proof  of  the  sincere  desire  of  the  Southern  people  to  get  rid  of  sectional 
issues  and  all  questions  arising  out  of  the  war.  In  December,  1873,  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  State  was  to  elect  a  United  States  Senator  to  suc 
ceed  Joshua  Hill,  and  Mr.  Hill  was  supported  by  his  friends  for  this  position. 
His  opponents  were  General  Gordon,  who  was  idolized  by  our  people  because 
pf  his  gallant  services  during  the  war,  and  Mr.  Stephens,  who  represented 
the  opposition  to  the  Greeley  movement,  and  who  thought  to  win  success 
on  its  failure.  All  three  of  the  candidates  addressed  the  Legislature.  The 
speech  ma<Je  by  Mr.  Hill  was  regarded  as  a  masterly  vindication  of  his 
political  career,  and  was  pronounced  one  of  the  ablest  discussions  of 
national  questions  ever  heard  in  this  State.  But  the  cloud  cast  over  his 
political  future  by  the  letter  of  1870,  the  lease,  and  the  Delano  banquet,  had 
not  sufficiently  lifted  ;  and  the  confidence  of  the  people,  that  had  been 
estranged  from  him  on  account  of  these  things,  had  not  returned,  and  he 
was  defeated  by  General  Gordon,  and  did  not  secure  as  many  votes  as  Mr. 
Stephens.  During  the  years  1873  and  1874,  Mr.  Hill  made  several  political 
speeches  against  the  Republican  party  in  its  treatment  of  the  South.  These 
speeches,  in  great  part,  won  back  for  him  the  love  of  the  people,  and  in 
1874  there  was  a  clamor  all  over  the  State  for  his  election  to  Congress  from 
the  ninth  district.  He  had,  however,  purchased  a  home  in  the  city  of 
Atlanta,  although  he  had  not  formally  removed  his  residence  from  the  town 
of  Athens,  and  it  was  therefore  argued  against  him  that  he  did  not  reside  in 
the  district.  For  this  reason  he  was  defeated  by  Garnett  McMillan.  Mr. 
Hill  made  no  effort  whatever  to  secure  the  nomination  for  Congress  at  this 
time.  Garnett  McMillan  died  before  taking  his  seat.  The  voice  of  the  State, 
through  the  press  and  through  meetings  of  the  citizens,  became  so  earnest  for 
his  election  to  Congress  that  his  friends  determined  to  elect  him  at  all  hazards. 

The  convention  assembled  in  Gainesville,  and  for  the  reason  that  Mr.  Hill 
had  removed  from  Athens  to  Atlanta,  he  did  not  get  a  majority  of  the  votes 
in  the  convention,  but  the  two  thirds  rule  had  been  adopted,  and  the  dele 
gates  who  supported  Mr.  Hill  represented  the  wealthiest  and  most  populous 
counties.  They  insisted  that  they  represented  a  large  majority  of  the 
voters  of  the  district,  and  it  was  not  right  for  them  to  yield  the  two 
thirds  rule,  and  they  declared  their  intention  of  remaining  in  session  and 
balloting  until  the  day  of  the  election.  They  remained  together  for  eight 
days,  without  a  change,  except  by  repeated  efforts  to  break  the  ranks  of  Mr. 


66  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

Hill's  supporters  by  bringing  forward  local  candidates,  but,  failing  in  this, 
they  withdrew  from  the  convention  and  recommended  J.  B.  Estes  as  a  can 
didate  for  Congress.  Mr.  Hill's  supporters  recommended  him.  Mr.  Hill 
was  very  deeply  interested  in  the  result  of  this  convention.  He  felt  anxious 
to  go  to  Congress,  not  from  any  personal  motive  of  ambition,  but  he  realized 
that  he  could  benefit  and  vindicate  his  long-slandered  people,  and  he  was 
anxious  for  an  opportunity  of  defending  them  before  the  listening  nation. 
He  determined,  therefore,  to  run,  and,  publishing  an  address  to  the  people  of 
the  district,  he  announced  himself  as  a  candidate. 

In  connection  with  this  Gainesville  convention,  Mr.  Grady  gives  the 
following  account  of  an  interview  with  Mr.  Hill  :  "  Mr.  Hill  had  been  beaten 
by  McMillan  for  the  House  and  beaten  by  Gordon  for  the  Senate  ;  the 
shadow  of  the  Delano  banquet  unjustly,  but  cruelly,  still  hung  over  his  name. 
His  friends  felt  and  he  felt,  I  think,  that  the  struggle  he  was  then  engaged 
in  was  political  life  or  death.  We  had  hoped  to  open  with  at  least  half  the 
votes  and  speedily  get  a  nomination  under  the  two  thirds  rule.  I  received 
a  bulletin  of  the  first  ballot.  It  stood  Hill  28,  Bell  33.  Astonished  and 
mortified,  I  hurried  to  him  with  the  news.  I  met  him  at  the  Wall  Street 
side  door  of  the  Kimball  House.  I  read  him  the  dispatch.  It  struck  him 
hard.  He  paled  instantly  and  his  face  filled  with  grief.  He  turned  away, 
lifted  one  foot  to  a  baggage  truck  which  stood  on  the  sidewalk,  and  was 
silent  for  fully  a  moment ;  then  he  fronted  me  and  said  in  sad  tones, '  I  had 
not  expected  this  or  deserved  it.  As  God  is  my  judge,  I  do  not  seek  office 
for  office  sake,  or  for  the  notoriety  that  comes  with  it.  I  believe  that  I  can 
serve  my  people  and  my  country  to  good  purpose.  For  this  reason  and  for 
this  alone  I  have  asked  their  suffrage.  They  have  decided  against  me.  I 
shall  at  once  withdraw  my  name,  and  never  again  allow  it  to  go  before  the 
people.'  I  do  not  care  to  say  even  now  how  much  of  pain  and  grief  there 
was  in  his  manner  and  voice  as  he  said  this.  He  spoke  as  a  man  facing  an 
irreparable  and  essential  loss." 

But  the  determination  of  his  friends,  as  above  indicated,  paved  the  way 
for  him  to  go  directly  to  the  people,  and  he  did  so,  winning  an  overwhelm 
ing  triumph.  His  election  to  Congress  caused  great  rejoicing  throughout 
the  State,  and  indeed  throughout  the  South.  The  confidence  of  his  people, 
that  misconception  had  temporarily  withdrawn  from  him3  returned  with 
enthusiastic  love.  Mass  meetings  were  held  in  nearly  every  city  r.ncl  town  in 
the  State,  and  resolutions  were  passed  congratulating  the  people  upon  the 
election  of  one  who  was  able  to  become  the  invincible  champion  of  the  South 
in  the  halls  of  Congress.  A  large  meeting  of  the  people  of  Atlanta  was 
held  in  the  hall  of  the  House  of  Representatives  to  signalize  their  joy  over 
his  election.  Twenty-eight  cannons  v/ere  fired  in  honor  of  the  twenty-eight 
delegates  who  had  stood  firm  in  hie  support,  thus  securing  his  triumph.  He 
was  invited  to  make  a  speech,  and  he  ctid  so  in  such  manner  as  added  greatly 
to  the  enthusiasm  and  expectations  of  the  people.  In  commenting  on  Mr. 
Hill's  position  in  Georgia,  just  before  his  election  to  Congress,  Mr.  Frank 
H.  Alfriend,  in  a  philosophical  analysis  of  his  public  course,  uses  the  follow 
ing  eloquent  language  : 

"  Whatever  the  issue  of  the  present  popular  demand,  seconded  by  an 
unprecedented  unanimity  of  appeal  from  the  Southern  press,  that  Mr.  Hill 
be  given  to  the  service  of  the  nation,  there  is  significance  in  the  spontaneity 
of  the  demonstration  and  encouragement  of  a  reviving  public  spirit.  Whether 
Mr.  Hill,  and  men  of  similar  representative  genius  and  character,  shall  in  the 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND    WRITINGS.  67 

early  future  fill  high  official  positions,  involves  less  of  interest  to  themselves 
than  of  pertinence  in  the  question  of  the  extent  to  which  popular  sensibility 
and  appreciation  have  recovered  from  the  demoralization  consequent  upon 
the  change  and  turbulence  of  our  recent  past.  In  the  entire  range  of  con 
temporary  political  biography,  there  can  be  found  no  public  man  with  a 
personality  to  be  affected  less  by  political  promotion  or  its  absence,  than 
Benjamin  H.  Hill,  and  with  an  assured  fame,  to  be  disturbed  less  by  the 
fickle  favor  of  the  multitude.  Rich  in  the  elements  of  greatness  that  have 
given  to  mankind  its  benefactors,  Mr.  Hill  is  indeed  poor  in  the  arts  that 
have  for  a  score  of  years  been  the  avenues  to  political  success  in  America. 
His  sterling  honesty  and  blunt  truthfulness  and  high  courage,  not  less  than 
his  massive  intellect,  give  him  a  noble  disdain  of  fawning  upon  the  masses 
and  catching  up  the  street  cry  of  popular  prejudice,  and  will  impel  him  at 
any  time,  without  regard  to  his  personal  interest,  to  defend  the  Thermopylae 
of  what  he  believes  to  be  truth  against  a  host  of  assailants.  Under  anv  cir- 

<_/  v 

cumstances  Mr.  Hill  must  ever  remain  a  colossal  figure  in  the  history  of  the 
last  two  decades  of  Georgia  :  to  the  minds  of  those  who  have  differed 
with  him,  a  distinct  and  formidable  power,  and  to  his  friends  the  symbol  of 
the  shaping  brain  and  guiding  hand  that  rescued  Georgia  from  the  ruin 
menaced  by  war  and  Reconstruction.  Office  is  not  necessary  to  render  such 
a  man  great  in  the  eyes  of  his  countrymen.,  Pitt,  out  of  office,  was  hailed 
with  acclamations  by  a  grateful  people,  who  refused  to  notice  George  the 
Third ;  the  absence  of  Cato's  statue  only  reminded  the  people  of  the  sur 
passing  greatness  of  the  absent  patriot.  Mr.  Hill  belongs  to  a  class  of 
public  men  for  whose  eminent  exemplars  we  have  to  look  back  at  least  a 
quarter  of  a  century  in  American  politics,  and  of  whom  there  have  been  few, 
save  Peel  and  Gladstone,  among  the  publicists  of  England  of  the  present 
century.  Knowing  little  of  the  mere  tactics  of  party,  nor  conversant  with 
the  duties  of  the  drill-master,  and  courting  no  influence  with  the  '  chiefs  of 
fifties  and  the  captains  of  tens,'  they  are  yet  the  brain  and  the  heart  of  the 
great  popular  impulses  that  make  history  in  its  most  dignified  sense." 


CHAPTER  VL 

Takes  his  Seat  us  a  Member  of  the  Forty-fourth  Congress,  December,  1875 — Great  Debate 
with  James  G.  Blaine,  on  the  10th  of  January,  1876,  on  the  Subject  of  Amnesty — 
Powerful  Vindication  of  the  South — The  Scene  in  the  House  during  this  great  Dis 
cussion — The  Effect  of  his  Speech — Received  with  Great  Enthusiasm  at  the  South — 
Editorial  of  Henry  W.  Grady  on  the  Speech — Mr.  Hill  is  Unanimously  Re-elected  to 
the  Forty-fifth  Congress — The  Electoral  Commission — Mr.  Hill  Supports  it — His 
Reasons  for  so  Doing — Elected  United  States  Senator  on  January  8,  1877 — Great 
Enthusiasm  of  the  People  over  his  Triumph — His  Career  in  the  United  States  Senate — 
He  again  Meets  in  Discussion  his  old  Antagonist,  Mr.  Blaine — The  Similarity  be 
tween  the  Two  Men — Mr.  Hill's  Debate  with  the  Judiciary  Committee  of  the  Senate 
on  the  Pacific  Funding  Bill — Great  Speech  on  the  10th  of  May,  1879 — Comments  of 
a  Northern  Journalist — The  Spofford-Kellogg  Senatorial  Contest — Argument  against 
Kellogg — Discussion  with  Senators  Butler  and  Hampton  of  South  Carolina — The 
Attack  on  William  Mahone — His  Speech  on  this  Occasion — Scenes  in  the  Senate  dur 
ing  its  Delivery — His  Letter  in  Reply  to  an  Attack  Made  on  him  by  Dr.  William  H. 
Felton. 

MR.  HILL  took  his  seat  in  Congress,  December,  1875.  This  was  the 
first  Democratic  Congress  since  the  war.  He  had  never  served  in 
the  national  council,  but  his  fame  as  an  orator,  and  his  political  record  in 
Georgia  before,  during,  and  since  the  war,  were  perfectly  well  known.  His 
experience  in  the  Confederate  States  Senate,  and  his  stud}7"  of  public  ques 
tions  and  his  familiarity  with  national  legislation  prepared  him  at  once  for 
leadership,  and  this  position  he  was  accorded  by  unanimous  consent.  On 
the  10th  of  January,  1876,  about  one  month  after  Mr.  Hill  took  his  seat,  the 
great  debate  on  the  subject  of  general  amnesty  to  Southern  men  came  on, 
Mr.  James  G.  Blaine  moving  to  except  Jefferson  Davis  from  its  provisions. 
The  discussion  that  followed  was  the  most  dramatic,  eloquent,  and  powerful 
that  ever  took  place  in  the  halls  of  Congress.  When  Blaine  had  finished  his 
terrible  attack  on  the  South,  and  the  wires  flashed  the  intelligence  that  Ben 
Hill  of  Georgia  had  the  floor  to  reply,  the  people  were  in  an  excited  and 
enthusiastic  expectation.  It  was  felt  with  intense  thankfulness  that  at  last 
the  opportunity  had  come  for  Southern  vindication,  and  that  the  man  was 
equal  to  the  opportunity.  This  vindication  had  been  long  delayed.  The 
civilization  and  humanity  of  the  South  in  her  treatment  of  prisoners  of  war 
had  been  a  portion  of  stock  in  trade  of  Northern  slanderers  on  the  floor  of 
Congress,  and  there  seemed  to  be  no  one  who  had  the  ability  to  make  a 
defense. 

Mr.  Blaine  had  prepared  his  attack  with  great  care,  and,  realizing  that 
Mr.  Hill  would  be  the  man  to  make  reply,  with  gesticulation  and  manner  he 
singled  the  Georgian  from  the  Democratic  side  and  made  his  speech  at  him. 
The  Democrats  were  not  prepared  for  Mr.  Elaine's  attack.  As  Speaker  of 
the  House  of  Representatives  in  the  preceding  Congress,  he  had  won  the 
gratitude  of  the  Southern  people  for  his  resistance  to  the  force  bill.  The 
moment  he  finished  his  terrific  arraignment,  Mr.  Hill  endeavored  to  secure 
the  floor  to  make  an  immediate  reply.  In  this,  however,  he  did  not  suc 
ceed,  as  both  Cox  of  New  York  and  Kelly  of  Pennsylvania  were  recognized 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND    WRITINGS.  69 

by  the  Speaker.  At  last  Mr.  Hill  was  recognized,  whereupon  a  motion  to 
adjourn  was  made,  thus  giving  Mr.  Hill  until  the  next  morning  until  eleven 
o'clock  for  preparation.  He,  however,  required  no  time  for  preparation. 
He  was,  by  reason  of  his  services  as  Confederate  States  Senator,  perfectly 
familiar  with  the-  whole  question,  and  so  soon  as  Congress  adjourned  he 
went  to  his  home.  The  Southern  members  had  submitted  to  slander  so 
long,  that  many  of  them  doubted  the  wisdom  of  any  reply.  They  had  so 
long  sacrificed  principle  to  a  mistaken  conception  of  policy  that  they  were 
still  willing  to  listen  in  silence  to  their  traducers.  They  were  timid  and 
very  much  afraid  that  the  heat  and  passion  of  the  debate  might  lead  Mr. 
Hill  to  say  something  that  would  injure  the  Democratic  party.  So  soon, 
therefore,  as  Mr.  Hill  reached  home  he  was  besieged  with  Democratic  mem 
bers,  making  suggestions  and  giving  caution.  To  escape  these  visitors,  he 
retired  to  bed  about  nine  o'clock,  thoroughly  disgusted  with  the  pusillani 
mous  spirit  of  some  of  his  party  associates.  He  did  not  wish  any  sugges 
tions  from  them.  His  mind  was  fully  made  up,  and  he  was  prepared.  He 
knew  that  he  could  make  a  complete  defense  of  his  beloved  land,  and  he 
was  not  one  of  those  who  believed  in  the  policy  of  silence.  Indeed,  the 
character  and  civilization  of  his  people  were  dearer  to  him  than  party  suc 
cess  ;  besides,  he  did  not  believe  that  the  fearless  declaration  of  truth  could 
injure  any  just  cause.  Early  the  next  morning  he  \vas  again  annoyed  by 
callers,  but  refused  to  see  any  one  or  hear  any  suggestions.  At  eleven 
o'clock,  when  he  arose  in  his  place  to  speak  for  his  long  maligned  section, 
he  faced  such  an  audience  as  had  greeted  no  man  since  the  war.  An  able 
writer  in  the  Chronicle  and  Sentinel,  of  Augusta,  thus  describes  this  historic 
scene  : 

"  It  has  been  given  to  Georgia  to  illustrate  the  records  of  Congress  by 
the  triumph  of  her  sons  upon  that  arena  of  high  debate.  Since  the  great 
effort  of  Mr.  Hill  last  Tuesday,  I  have  been  running  hurriedly  through  the 
Globe  and  other  records  of  Congressional  history,  and  it  is  only  from  such 
sources  that  a  just  appreciation  can  be  reached  of  the  powerful  voice  and  in 
fluence  that  Georgia  has  always  had  at  Washington.  For  more  than  thirty 
years  past,  omitting  the  four  years  of  war,  coming  down  to  a  period  subse 
quent  to  the  great  career  of  Crawford,  through  Berrien  and  Stephens  and 
Tooiubs,  Georgia  has  stood  in  the  van  of  States  in  the  character  and  ability 
of  her  representatives  in  both  houses.  For  nearly  a  week  past,  men  all  over 
the  country  have  been  discussing  the  burst  of  another  magnificent  sunshine 
from  Georgia,  and  to-day  there  are  few  men  confronting  so  splendid  a 
national  reputation  as  he  whom  Georgians,  for  a  quarter  of  a  century,  have 
called  'Bon  Hill,' calling  the  name  always  as  if  it  symbolized  intellectual 
powers,  embracing  might  in  argument,  power  of  statement,  eloquence  of 
thought  and  action,  as  Demosthenes  meant  it  in  oratory, — in  brief,  as  a  very 
Spartacus  in  the  arena  of  politics  as  in  the  legal  forum.  In  Mr.  Hill's  debut 
in  Congress  there  has  been  nothing  of  the  harlequin-like  effrontery  and 
eagerness  to  grasp  Congressional  honors.  There  was  in  his  manner,  as  he 
arose  at  eleven  o'clock  last  Tuesday  to  address  the  House,  a  profound 
solemnity,  which  men  feel  only  when  confronted  by  high  duty  to  which 
they  come  with  noble  resolve. 

"  The  scene  was  a  memorable  one,  and  in  future  years,  if  put  upon  can 
vas,  the  picture  would  be  a  proud  one  for  Georgia,  as  commemorative  of  the 
day  when  one  of  her  sons  put  to  lasting  shame  the  calumnies  and  reproaches 
of  her  enemies.  The  Senate  Chamber  was  deserted  and  Senators  of  both 


70  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

parties  were  early  on  the  floor  of  the  House  and  eager  to  secure  eligible 
seats.  The  attendance  in  the  House  was  unusually  full.  Fringing  the 
amphitheater  of  the  floor  were  the  galleries,  dense  with  eager  humanity, 
divided  in  desire  and  hope  as  to  the  outcome,  but  animated  by  a  common 
impulse  of  expectancy  of  a  display  which  should  be  powerful  in  its  conse 
quences  of  good  or  evil.  The  space  in  front  of  the  Speaker  was  filled  with 
men  conspicuous  in  the  history  of  the  past,  and  others  who  had  been  promi 
nent  in  making  the  history  of  our  times.  Immediately  in  front  of  Mr.  Hill 
was  seen  the  strong,  gnarled  face  of  ex-Senator  Gwin  of  California,  drawn 
for  the  first  time  this  session  to  the  Capitol,  wearing,  despite  his  character 
istic  air  of  imperturbable  repose  and  practiced  unconcern,  a  visible  expression 
of  blended  confidence  and  anxiety.  Ex-Senator  Henry  S.  Foote,  who  in  age 
haunts  like  a  ghost  the  Capitol,  where  in  his  young  manhood  he  found  the 
theater  for  the  melodrama  of  his  life  of  cheap  political  reputation,  sat  just 
in  front  of  the  clerk's  desk.  The  noble  face  of  Gordon  was  seen  in  close 
proximity  to  the  handsome,  clear-cut  features  of  Ransom.  As  close  to  Mr. 
Hill  as  he  could  get,  was  Senator  Caperton  of  West  Virginia,  Hill's  old 
confrere  in  the  Confederate  Senate.  The  Georgia  members  were  variously 
located  in  places  of  close  proximity  to  Mr.  Hill.  Gallant  Phil  Cook  had  sur 
rendered  his  seat  to  Mr.  Hill,  and  sat  with  his  face  to  his  eminent  colleague. 
Across  the  narrow  aisle  sat  Hardridge,  calm  and  erect  ;  Harris  sat  close  to 
Hill  to  help  him  with  the  authorities  he  required  in  his  argument  ;  Smith 
sat  in  his  own  seat,  closely  watching  the  scene  with  more  or  less  anxiety 
upon  his  countenance  ;  Blount  and  Candler,  whose  seats  are  adjacent,  were 
absorbed  listeners  and  spectators — Blount  with  his  head  upon  his  hand,  his 
face  betraying  no  particular  emotion,  and  Candler  with  his  face  wearing 
that  curious  equivoke  of  expression  that  utterly  forbids  one  to  know  whether 
he  is  pleased  or  displeased,  entertained  or  annoyed,  amused  or  disgusted  ; 
Dr.  Felton  occupied  his  accustomed  seat,  and  the  floor  held  no  more 
delighted  listener  to  the  noble  oration  of  his  old  class-mate. 

"  As  the  speech  continued,  I  closely  watched  its  effect.  -In  fifteen  minutes 
from  its  beginning  all  anxiety  disappeared  from  the  faces  of  Southern  men. 
'  He  is  coming  to  time,  and  is  as  good  a  champion  as  we  want,'  said  the 
manly  Parsons  of  Kentucky.  *  What  a  man  Hill  must  be  in  the  court 
house,'  said  Waddell  of  North  Carolina,  as  the  full  weight  of  the  powerful 
argument  developed.  *  He  is  an  ideal  speaker,'  said  the  veteran  Charles 
James  Faulkner,  '  and  comes  fully  up  to  my  expectations.'  Mr.  Faulkner 
is  himself  one  of  the  most  accomplished  orators  and  debaters  in  the  country, 
and  it  was  a  compliment  indeed  when  further  he  turned  and  said,  'Hill  is  a 
man  of  wonderful  power.'  Proctor  Knott  quietly  turned  to  Waddell  with 
the  remark,  '  That  man  is  a  giant.'  The  Republicans  were  curiously  uneasy 
during  the  speech.  Blaine  looked  hacked  badly,  as  he  unquestionably  was, 
and  it  required  two  days  to  give  him  such  complete  recovery  as  to  enable 
him  to  make  his  reply  on  Thursday.  Several  times  Mr.  Hill  was  interrupted 
from  the  Republican  side  with  questions,  but  the  latter  were  quick  to  see 
that  he  rather  courted  than  avoided  interruptions,  and  let  him  severely 
alone  until  the  end  of  his  speech.  The  speech  would  excite  no  surprise 
before  a  Georgia  audience  acquainted  with  Mr.  Hill's  oratorical  power. 
Here  it  is  pronounced  on  all  hands  a  wonderful  effort.  The  argument  was 
severely  close  and  no  Republican  speaker  has  been  able  to  make  the  slightest 
impression  upon  its  massive  front.  The  peroration  is  a  magnificent  appeal 
for  harmony  and  a  splendid  expression  of  the  broadest  and  best  American 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND    WRITINGS.  71 

sentiment.  Mr.  Hill  is  the  recipient  by  every  mail  of  letters  and  newspapers, 
from  every  section  of  the  country,  full  of  congratulations  and  thanks.  Some 
of  the  most  earnest  of  these  congratulatory  letters  are  from  Union  soldiers, 
who  say,  in  substance,  that  Mr.  Hill  has  performed  a  double  duty  of 
patriotism  in  vindicating  a  section  of  the  country  from  shameful  calumny, 
and  making  a  powerful  plea  for  national  sentiment  everywhere.  Prominent 
Northern  Democrats  are  delighted  with  the  speech.  They  no  longer  have 
to  fight  the  *  Andersonville  Horrors.'  Twenty  thousand  copies  of  the 
speech  have  been  ordered  for  early  distribution  in  the  North." 

The  Southern  people  received  this  speech  with  unbounded  enthusiasm, 
and  Mr.  Hill  received  thousands  of  letters  and  telegrams  conveying  to  him 
the  gratitude  of  his  people.  It  is  a  remarkable  proof  of  the  success  of  the 
argument,  that  never  again  was  the  charge  of  cruelty  to  prisoners  of 
war  made  against  the  South  by  the  most  reckless  of  Northern  slan 
derers.  Henry  W.  Grady  wrote  the  following  beautiful  editorial  on  this 
speech  : 

MR.    HILL'S    GREAT    SPEECH. 

We  are  enabled  this  morning  to  present  to  our  readers  a  full  verbatim 
report  of  Mr.  Hill's  great  speech  in  reply  to  Mr.  Elaine.  We  print  the 
speech  in  full,  just  as  it  was  delivered,  omitting  only  the  colloquial  debates 
that  bubbled  up  over  the  course  of  the  essential  argument  at  odd  intervals. 

It  rejoices  us  to  see  that  the  sober  second  thought  of  the  press,  and  es 
pecially  of  the  correspondents  at  Washington,  gives  Mr.  Hill  unqualified 
praise  for  his  grand  defense  of  the  South  against  her  slanderers.  We  have 
clipped  and  prepared  for  print  over  four  columns  of  extracts  from  leading 
papers,  in  all  sections,  that  put  to  shame  Mr.  Hill's  detractors  and  give  him 
his  just  meed  of  commendation. 

It  is  naturally  expected,  by  those  who  understood  Mr.  Hill's  peculiar 
surroundings,  that  he  would  be  criticised  sharply  on  his  first  speech,  by  cer 
tain  members  of  his  own  party,  no  matter  what  sort  of  a  speech  he  might 
make.  Beyond  this,  Mr.  Hill  always  makes  such  speeches  as  excite  com 
ment.  The  speech  in  question  startled  the  House  and  the  galleries,  we  may 
be  sure.  We  have  the  word  of  an  eye-witness,  who  has  heard  Mr.  Hill 
over  and  over  again,  that  he  was  never  so  superbly  eloquent ;  never  so 
grandly  impassioned,  and  yet  so  coolly  poised,  as  in  his  last  speech.  The 
speech  came  like  a  revelation  to  those  who  did  not  know  the  speaker.  Sur 
prise  broke  upon  the  faces  of  the  listeners  as  the  voice  of  the  Georgian 
swelled  into  his  rounded  periods,  and  became  sheer  wonder  when  he  got 
fairly  down  to  his  work.  He  held  the  House  enraptured,  and  friends  and 
foes  alike  hung  upon  every  syllable  that  dropped  from  his  silver  tongue. 
At  last,  when  his  splendid  peroration  was  finished,  and  the  echoes  of  his 
trumpet-like  voice  were  dying  away,  Hon.  Dan.  Voorhees,  himself  a  good 
orator,  sprang  to  his  feet  and  exclaimed,  "  That  is  the  best  speech  that  has 
been  spoken  in  this  House  for  twenty  years.  It  is  as  sublime  as  the  inspired 
words  that  fell  from  the  lips  of  Paul  on  Mar's  hill." 

After  all,  let  us  look  quietly  and  soberly  at  the  speech  and  the  circum 
stances  surrounding  it.  For  the  simple  purpose  of  answering  the  few  men 
who  still  believe,  or  profess  to  believe,  that  Mr.  Hill  should  not  have  made 
the  speech,  we  assume  to  defend  him  for  a  moment.  We  admit,  in  the  out 
set,  that  the  revival  of  this  discussion  of  the  Northern  and  Southern  prison 
treatment  is  unfortunate  for  the  whole  country,  and  especially  so  for  the 


72  SENATOR  B.   H.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA, 

South.  It  will  renew  sectional  hatred,  revivify  the  partisan  fires,  and  rein- 
spire  the  North  to  fanaticism.  If  any  Southern  member  had  inaugurated, 
or  in  any  manner  whatever  provoked  this  discussion,  he  would  have  been 
guilty  of  a  blunder,  that  would  have  been,  as  Talleyrand  said,  worse  than  a 
crime. 

But  no  Southern  member  was  responsible  for  it.  It  was  wantonly  and 
deliberately  sprung  by  Mr.  Elaine,  a  smart  schemer  for  the  Republican 
Presidential  nomination.  He  arose,  and  in  the  most  brutal  and  slanderous 
manner  denounced  the  Confederate  Government  for  the  cruelties  alleged  to 
have  been  practiced  at  Andersonville.  Such  another  fiendish  and  malignant 
assault  upon  the  honor,  the  chivalry,  and  good  name  of  a  people  we  do  not 
believe  the  records  of  Reconstruction  politics — as  full  as  they  are  of  brutal 
slanders — will  furnish.  He  made  two  statements  that  were  positive,  con 
spicuous,  and,  as  Mr.  Hill  showed,  false.  He  first  charged  that  "  Mr. 
Davis  was  fully,  deliberately  guilty,  and  wantonly  cognizant  of,  and  re 
sponsible  for  the  organized  crime  and  murder  of  Andersonville."  He  then 
said  : 

"  I  now  assert  deliberately  before  God,  as  my  judge,  knowing  the  full 
measure  and  import  of  my  word,  that  the  cruelties  of  the  Duke  of  Alva  in 
the  Low  Countries,  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew,  and  the  screws  and 
tortures  of  the  Spanish  Inquisition  did  not  approach  in  cruelty  the  atrocity 
of  Andersonville." 

• 

His  speech  absolutely  bristled  with  statements  similar  to  the  ones  above 
quoted.  Now,  on  the  floor  of  the  House,  within  the  hearing  of  these  slan 
ders,  sat  a  man  delegated  by  his  people  to  protect  their  honor  before  the 
country  ;  a  man  elected  because  his  wonderful  power  qualified  him  especially 
to  answer  the  misrepresentations  which,  for  a  long  and  painful  decade,  had 
been  heaped  upon  an  unresisting  people.  This  man,  above  any  other  man 
probably  in  the  House,  had  in  his  possession  facts  which  dispelled,  utterly 
and  triumphantly,  every  leading  assertion  made  by  Blaine.  This  man  knew 
that  the  statements  of  the  ex-Speaker,  if  acquiesced  in  by  silence,  would  put 
a  miserable  and  everlasting  stain  upon  the  integrity  and  honor  of  his 
people.  He  knew  that  they  were  false,  and  that  he  could  prove  them  to 
be  false. 

What  was  his  duty,  then,  under  the  circumstances  ?  To  sit  supinely  in  his 
chair  and  have  it  said,  that  the  confidential  adviser  of  Jefferson  Davis,  with 
all  the  facts  in  his  possession,  did  not  dare  to  rise  and  contradict  what  Mr. 
Blaine  had  said  ?  To  sit  there  skulking  beneath  a  false  prudence,  and  let 
the  Republican  party  scatter  Blame's  assertions  all  over  the  North,  coupled 
with  the  boast,  that  though  made  in  open  Congress,  in  the  presence  of  a 
Democratic  majority,  in  the  very  face  of  ex-Confederate  senators  and 
generals  and  congressmen,  that  not  one  of  them  dared  to  rise,  and  contro 
vert  the  facts  as  laid  down  by  the  ex-Speaker  ?  We  can  imagine  nothing 
more  absurd  and  cowardly.  Silence,  under  such  circumstances,  would  have 
been,  as  the  Savannah  News  fitly  says,  "  both  hypocritical  and  pusillani 


mous.' 


It  being  admitted,  then,  and  we  suppose  no  intelligent  man  will,  upon  re 
flection,  deny  that  Blaine  should  have  been  answered,  it  is  easy  to  see  why, 
of  all  other  men,  Mr.  Hill  was  the  man  to  make  it.  He  was  intimately  con 
nected  with  Mr.  Davis  during  the  Andersonville  days,  and  was  thoroughly 
conversant  with  all  the  facts  in  the  case.  If,  then,  the  slanders  of  Blaine 
needed  refutation,  and  Mr.  Hill  was  the  best  man  to  refute  them  (and  those 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  73 

propositions  seem  to  us  to  be  self-  evident),  let  us  advance  to  the  speech  it 
self,  and  see  how  he  performed  his  task — a  task  to  which  a  hundred  con 
siderations  of  duty  imperatively  urged  him. 

It  is  acknowledged  on  all  hands  that  the  speech  is  a  masterpiece  of  elo 
quence.  We  seriously  doubt  if  the  United  States  can  furnish  Mr.  Hill's 
superior,  when  considered  simply  as  an  eloquent  speaker.  His  wonderful 
effort  doubtless  did  much  to  revive  the  old  distinction  earned  for  the  South 
by  such  fiery  giants  of  debate  as  Clay,  Toombs,  Cobb,  and  Berrien.  As  a 
piece  of  soul-stirring,  scholarly  eloquence,  the  speech  was  surprisingly  suc 
cessful,  and  carried  off  all  the  honors. 

As  logical  effort,  it  was  none  the  less  admirable.  Mr.  Hill  did  not  make  a 
single  assertion  that  was  not  sustained  by  the  records.  He  said  many  things 
that  were  new  to  his  hearers,  and  unpalatable  to  some  of  them.  He  aston 
ished  his  friends  as  well  as  his  foes  by  the  surprising  array  of  facts  and 
figures.  And  yet,  though  the  statements«made  in  his  speech  turned  Elaine's 
assault,  and  made  the  gentleman  ridiculous,  and  though  Mr.  Blaine  has 
himself  since  occupied  the  floor  in  his  own  defense,  he  did  not  attempt  to 
contradict  a  single  statement  made  by  Mr.  Hill. 

Considered  simply  as  regards  its  effect  in  the  North,  we  think  the  speech 
admirable  in  tone  and  sentiment.  It  breathed  a  thorough  Union  sentiment, 
and,  while  firm  in  its  defense  of  the  South,  was  tender,  respectful,  and  de 
voted  to  the  whole  country.  Even  when  forced,  through  the  necessity  of  de 
bate,  to  allude  to  the  cruelties  practiced  in  Northern  prisons,  he  shrank  from 
the  task,  and,  with  a  nobility  of  sentiment  that  must  have  touched  even  his 
enemies,  he  says  that  he  shudders  from  putting  a  stigma  upon  either  section 
of  the  country,  because  he  loves  the  whole  country  and  is  jealous  of  its 
honor.  How  different  is  this  good  sentiment  from  the  partisan  meanness 
of  Blaine,  who,  though  he  pretended  to  love  the  Union,  takes  a  delight  to 
put  a  stigma  upon  one  section  of  it. 

The  whole  speech  is  full  of  a  patriotic  fervor,  full  of  love  for  the  re 
stored  Union,  and  hopeful  for  its  future.  There  is  not  a  word  in  it  to  which 
any  Northern  Democrat  or  Liberal,  or  intelligent  citizen,  can  object,  but 
much  that  all  of  these  must  commend.  As  for  the  Republicans,  it  was  not 
meant  to  please  them. 

It  will  be  plain,  we  think,  to  any  man  who  carefully  surveys  the  situation, 
that  Mr.  Hill  was  right  in  answering  Elaine's  mad  and  reckless  assertions. 
To  have  permitted  them  to  go  to  the  country,  unanswered,  would  have  been 
virtually  to  admit  their  truth — a  most  fatal  admission.  That  Mr.  Hill  an 
swered  them,  eloquently,  manfully,  dignifiedly,  and  prudently,  cannot  be 
denied,  after  the  authorized  report  of  his  speech  is  read. 

Ben  Hill  said  a  grand  thing  when  he  confronted  Blaine  and  his  angry 
adherents,  and  exclaimed,  "  I  tell  you  that  this  reckless  misrepresentation  of 
the  South  must  stop  right  here.  I  put  you  upon  notice  that  hereafter  when 
you  make  any  assertion  against  her  you  must  be  prepared  to  substantiate 
it  with  proof  ! ' 

We  thank  God  that  there  is  a  man  in  Congress  at  once  bold  enough  to 
say  such  a  thing  as  this,  and  able  enough  to  enforce  it.  With  all  respect 
to  those  who  have  thought  and  acted  otherwise,  it  is  what  the  South  has 
needed  for  some  time. 

At  the  expiration  of  Mr.  Hill's  term  in  Congress,  he  was  unanimously  re- 
elected  for  another  term.  The  spring  of  1877  is  the  darkest  period  in 


74  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

American  history.  Then  was  perpetrated  that  greatest  outrage  against  the 
Constitution  and  against  the  sovereignty  of  the  people.  The  infamous  heel 
of  fraud  and  bribery  was  on  the  fair  neck  of  liberty  and  law.  The  voice 
of  the  people  silenced,  and  the  greatest  crime  ever  committed  against  free 
government  was  executed  by  the  Republican  party.  Mr.  Tilden  was  elected 
President  of  the  United  States,  but  by  unparalleled  and  unprecedented 
wrong  was  not  permitted  to  take  his  seat.  The  country  was  in  the  midst 
of  a  fearful  crisis.  The  Republican  party  was  unwilling  to  yield  the  govern 
ment,  after  so  long  possession.  General  Grant  had  possession  of  the  govern 
ment  and  had  the  power  and  determination  to  usurp  the  functions  of  Con 
gress,  unless  some  measure  of  compromise  was  adopted.  It  was  civil  war 
or  compromise.  This  condition  of  affairs  gave  birth  to  the  Electoral  Com 
mission.  Democratic  patriots  were  willing  to  submit  to  almost  any  wrong 
rather  than  plunge  the  country  into  internecine  conflict ;  as  a  consequence, 
all  Democratic  leaders  favored  the  Electoral  Commission.  It  did  not  seem 
possible  to  them  that  men  who  were  prominent  enough  to  be  selected  as 
members  of  this  Commission  could  be  led,  from  partisan  feeling,  to  the  com 
mission  of  perjury,  and  in  order  to  continue  party  supremacy,  suppress  truth, 
and  destroy  Constitutional  principles.  Surely  it  was  not  possible  for  a 
division,  on  strictly  party  lines,  on  questions  involving  the  very  existence  of 
free  government.  Besides,  the  Independent  judge,  David  Davis,  was  to  be 
the  umpire  in  the  event  of  such  a  contingency,  and  the  Democrats  felt  that 
in  his  hands  they  could  safely  commit  their  cause. 

The  Republicans,  apprehensive  of  the  independent  spirit  of  the  judge, 
hastened  to  elect  him  Senator  from  Illinois  before  the  Commission  was 
organized,  and  he,  in  order  to  avoid  the  responsibility  of  the  position  as  a 
member  of  the  Commission,  resigned  his  seat  on  the  supreme  bench  and 
accepted  the  senatorship,  thus  rendering  himself  ineligible,  and  so  another 
judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  under  the  terms  of  the  act  creating  the  Com 
mission,  had  to  be  selected,  and  Justice  Bradley  was  the  man.  This  settled 
the  question,  and  from  that  time  the  Democratic  party  had  no  chance. 
Partisanship  overrode  patriotism,  sectionalism  was  stronger  than  the  great 
right  of  free  suffrage,  returning  boards  more  potent  than  ballots,  falsehood 
stronger  than  truth,  and  over  all  facts  and  against  all  law  the  will  of  the 
sovereign  people  was  disregarded  and  Hayes  declared  elected  President.  So 
great  and  glaring  was  this  outrage  perpetrated  against  free  government,  that 
some  of  the  Democrats  in  the  House  advocated  a  resistance  to  the  decla 
ration  of  the  result  as  determined  by  the  Commission,  and  proposed  to 
adopt  a  policy  of  filibustering  until  after  the  4th  of  March. 

Mr.  Hill  did  not  favor  this  policy.  In  the  first  place  he  thought  that  the 
Democrats  were,  in  good  faith,  bound  to  submit  to  the  decision  of  the  Elec 
toral  Commission,  as  the  party  had  given  its  consent  to  this  method  of  set 
tlement  ;  and  in  the  second  place,  if  the  plan  of  delay  succeeded  in  post 
poning  the  declaration  of  the  result  by  Congress,  he  did  not  see  that  any 
practical  good  would  be  accomplished,  or  how  Mr.  Tilden  could  be  seated. 
President  Grant  was  in  possession  of  the  government  and  would  enforce  the 
decision  of  the  Electoral  Commission,  even  if  it  involved  the  country  in 
civil  war.  During  this  exciting  period,  Mr.  Hill  was  recognized  as  the 
leader  of  Southern  Democrats,  and  his  voice  and  influence  were  for  peace  at 
all  hazards.  In  support  of  his  position,  he  made  the  following  speech  at  a 
Democratic  caucus  : 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WHITINGS. 


REMARKS    MADE    BY    B.    H.  HILL,   IN  THE    CAUCUS  OF  DEMOCRATIC  MEMBERS  OF 

THE  HOUSE,  FEBRUARY  12,  1877. 

Mr.  Chairman :  Those  who  take  counsel  of  their  passions  are  often 
honest,  but  rarely  wise.  The  indignation  excited  by  a  sense  of  wrong 
springs  naturally  in  an  honest  heart,  but  this  very  indignation  may  over 
come  the  judgment  and  increase  the  very  wrongs  it  would  remedy.  The 
strength  of  a  wise  man  is,  in  great  degree,  measured  by  his  ability  to  restrain 
his  indignation  and  control  his  feelings.  It  was  my  lot  to  be  in  the  midst 
of  the  secession  excitement.  I  listened  to  those  who  counseled  that  move 
ment.  I  am  not  sure  I  ever  listened  to  more  honest  men,  but  I  am  sure  I 
never  listened  to  more  unwise  ones.  Pardon  me,  my  friends,  for  I  speak 
with  the  greatest  respect,  but  I  must  say  that  the  scene  here  to-night  has 
brought  vividly  to  my  mind  some  of  the  scenes  I  then  witnessed.  Expres 
sions  have  been  used  here  to-night  which  are  identical  with  some  I  heard 
sixteen  years  ago,  and  are  doubtless  .inspired  by  like  honest  but  excited 
passions.  I  did  not  concur  with  the  counsels  of  passion  then  because  I 
believed  only  evils  would  result.  I  do  not  concur  with  the  counsels  of  pas 
sions  to-night  because  I  believe  still  greater  evils  would  result  from  their 
adoption. 

I  have  calmly  reviewed  our  present  situation,  and  feel  it  is  my  duty  to 
state  frankly  my  conclusions.  This  is  an  hour  for  frankness.  A  mistake 
now  cannot  be  recalled. 

I  have  carefully  considered  and  weighed  the  decision  and  report  made  by 
the  Electoral  Commission  in  the  case  of  Florida.  It  is  painfully  clear  to 
my  mind  that  the  majority  of  that  Commission  have  resolved,  right  or 
wrong,  to  count  in  Mr.  Hayes.  They  will  refuse  to  see  fraud,  in  order  that 
fraud  may  have  success.  I  concede  that.  The  result  will  be  a  great  wrong 
and  a  national  shame.  I  concede  that  also.  Can  we  prevent  it  ?  If  we  can, 
we  ought.  How  can  it  be  prevented  ?  Only  one  method  has  been  sug 
gested.  That  method  is,  by  dilatory  motions,  to  prevent  the  completion*  of 
the  count  bv  the  4th  of  March.  As  a  fact  I  admit  that  result  can  be 

p 

reached.     But  as  a  remedy,  is  it  wise,  and  will  it  be  effected  ?     I  think  not. 

In  the  first  place,  the  Constitution  enjoins  upon  us  the  duty  of  making 
the  count,  and  we  have  all  taken  an  oath  to  support  the  Constitution.  We 
cannot  be  absolved  from  that  oath  except  by  causes  we  can  neither  avert 
nor  control.  But  it  is  said  all  our  dilatory  motions  will  be  according  to 
the  rules,  and,  therefore,  not  revolutionary.  I  answer,  the  rules  were  made 
to  enable  us  to  discharge  our  duties,  and  not  to  avoid  them.  We  have  no 
right  to  use  the  rules,  nor  any  other  agency,  to  enable  us  to  fail  in  a  duty. 
To  do  wrong  under  color  and  form  of  law,  has  been  the  strength,  but  also 
the  crime,  of  the  Republican  party.  It  is  the  very  crime  which  is  making 
fraud  omnipotent  and  of  which  we  now  justly  complain. 

In  the  second  place,  we  have  passed,  at  this  very  session,  the  law  which 
created  this  Electoral  Commission.  Our  motives  in  passing  it  were  patriotic, 
however  wicked  may  be  the  manner  of  its  execution.  That  law  pledges  us 
to  complete  the  count,  and  we  passed  it  in  order  to  complete  the  count 
peaceably  and  by  the  time  prescribed.  We  cannot  repeal  that  law,  for 
neither  the  Senate  nor  the  Executive  will  concur  in  such  repeal.  No  wrongs 
and  deceptions  practiced  by  others — indeed,  nothing  can  justify  us  in  the 
violation  or  disregard  of  that  law. 


76  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

But  in  the  third  place,  suppose  we  determine  not  to  complete  the  count, 
and  do  succeed  in  preventing  it  ;  what  then  ? 

We  shall  certainly  thereby  prevent  the  peaceable  inauguration  of  Mr. 
Hayes,  but  we  shall  also  as  certainly  not  secure  the  peaceable  inauguration 
of  Mr.  Tilden.  Neither  will  have  been  counted  in.  This  will  bring  about 
a  contingency  not  contemplated  by  the  framers  of  the  Constitution  nor  by 
the  framers  of  the  laws  to  carry  into  eifect  the  Constitution,  and,  therefore, 
a  contingency  which  has  not  been  provided  for.  We  shall  be  without  both 
a  President  and  Vice-President,  and  without  any  provision  of  law — consti 
tutional  or  statute — to  secure  either.  In  this  contingency  wrho  doubts  that 
Grant  will  continue  himself  upon  us,  perhaps  for  life  ;  or,  that  the  Senate 
will  put  Morton  upon  us  at  least  until  another  election  can  be  had  ?  Had 
we  not  better  take  Hayes  peaceably  for  four  years  than  have  either  of  these 
on  any  terms  ? 

But  suppose  we  resist  this  result,  and  declare  Tilden  President  by  a  reso 
lution  of  this  House,  without  completing  the  count  as  required  by  the  Con 
stitution.  What  then  ?  Our  enemies  will  have  possession  of  the  govern 
ment,  and  will  profess  great  willingness  to  abide  by  the  Constitution  and 
the  laws.  We  shall  be  charged  with  having  precipitated  a  revolution  by 
refusing  to  obey  either  the  Constitution,  or  our  own  law,  both  of  which 
require,  us  to  complete  the  count.  This  result  will  be  charged  to  have  been 
brought  about  by  a  Democratic  House  controlled  by  ex-Confederates. 
Civil  war  will  be  inevitable.  The  end  of  that  war  no  man  can  foresee.  I 
believe  our  free  institutions  w^ill  be  finally  and  forever  destroyed.  The 
character  of  the  war  will  become  more  and  more  sectional  again,  and  I  do 
ilot  doubt  that  Louisiana  and  South  Carolina,  from  whose  necks  we  are  so 
anxious  to-  lift  the  heels  of  oppressors  and  robbers,  will  be  the  greatest  vic 
tims  in  the  universal  horror.  I  believe  nothing  can  justify  or  excuse  a  civil 
war  in  a  popular  government. 

Lifting  myself,  then,  above  all  personal,  sectional,  and  party  considera 
tions — looking  only,  in  this  dark  hour,  to  the  good  of  our  whole  country — 
earnestly  desiring  to  perpetuate  our  free  institutions,  and  taking  counsel 
only  of  my  judgment  and  sense  of  duty,  I  can  see  no  course  left  us  but  to 
go  straight  forward  with  the  count,  in  accordance  with  the  Constitution  and 
laws,  and  trust  to  the  intelligence  and  virtue  of  the  American  people,  in  due 
time,  to  visit  proper  retribution  upon  those  who  commit  or  accept  frauds,  for 
geries,  and  perjuries,  in  order  to  usurp  the  offices  and  defeat  the  popular  will. 

But  if  we  take  a  narrower  view  of  the  situation,  and  look  only  to  the 
effect  upon  political  parties,  we  shall  be  brought  to  the  same  conclusions. 

If  the  course  I  suggest  be  adopted,  the  Republican  party  will  hold  the 
Presidency  for  four  years  longer.  But  they  will  continue  in  power  solely 
by  frauds  committed  and  accepted  only  by  themselves.  Those  frauds  will 
surely  come  to  light.  The€y  cannot  be  concealed.  We  will  bring  them  to 
the  light.  If  we  fail  in  our  duty,  they  will  bring  themselves  to  the  light. 
In  the  light  of  those  frauds,  when  exposed,  the  people  will  be  able  to  see 
what  passion  and  war  and  falsehood  have  hitherto  prevented  them  from  see 
ing — that  the  Republican  party  was  never  anything  but  a  sectional,  uncon 
stitutional,  and  revolutionary  party.  They  will  see  that  that  party  has  never 
had  any  principle  but  force,  and  never  any  policy  but  fraud  ;  and  finally 
they  will  see  that  it  is  the  only  party  now  existing  which  is  willing  to  hold 
the  offices  against  the  will  of  the  people.  After  the  4th  of  March  that  party 
will  become  powerless  to  use  force,  and  will  live  by  no  tenure  but  fraud,  and, 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  11 

after  four  years  of  imbecile  infamy,  it  will  go  out  of  power  and  out  of 
respect  forever  ! 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Democratic  party  will  lose  the  Presidency  for 
four  years,  but  we  shall  save  the  peace  of  the  country  and  end  the  revolu 
tion  of  force  which  has  brought  upon  the  people  so  much  suffering.  In  the 
light  of  this  sacrifice  the  people  will  be  able  to  see  that  the  Democratic 
party  is  the  only  truly  national  or  constitutional  party  in  existence,  and  is 
the  only  party  which  regards  the  good  of  the  people  and  the  integrity  of 
the  government  as  of  higher  value  than  the  possession  of  the  offices.  At 
the  end  of  two  years  the  States  will  give  us  the  Senate,  as  the  people  have 
already  given  us  the  House,  and  a  Republican  President  will  become  utterly 
harmless  for  evil.  At  the  end  of  four  years  the  people  will  redeem  them 
selves  from  the  rule  of  both  force  and  fraud  by  placing  the  Democracy  in 
full  possession  of  the  government,  and  they  will  retain  that  possession  gen 
erations  to  come. 

These  are  my  views.  I  express  them  with  diffidence,  but  in  kindness  for 
all.  I  believe  my  conclusions  are  wise,  and  I  know  they  are  honest  and 
patriotic. 

At  this  time  the  General  Assembly  of  Georgia  was  in  session  and  a 
United  States  senator  was  to  be  elected  to  succeed  Thomas  M.  Nor 
wood.  Mr.  Norwood's  elevation  to  the  senatorship  was  at  a  time  when 
Southern  intelligence  and  statesmanship  were  disfranchised  by  the  in 
iquitous  Reconstruction  measures.  He  was  a  mnn  of  considerable  lit 
erary  culture,  a  very  good  speaker,  but  possessed  none  of  the  elements 
of  statesmanship.  He  had  made  no  record  in  the  Senate.  He  had 
listened  for  six  years  in  silence  to  the  slanders  of  his  section  and 

•/ 

his  people.  At  this  time,  when  the  country  demanded  the  presence 
of  all  its  servants  at  Washington  City,  he  left  his  seat  and  came  to 
Georgia  to  look  after  his  re-election.  His  excuse  for  doing  so  was 
that  he  could  do  nothing.  This  was  true,  but  the  same  reason  should 
have  retired  him  to  private  life.  A  senator  who  could  do  nothing, 
and  for  six  years  had  demonstrated  his  remarkable  and  exceptionable 
capacity  in  this  line,  should  have  recognized  the  fitness  of  things  and 
not  have  labored  to  impose  himself  further  on  a  people  whose  interest 
demanded  that  something  be  done.  But  Mr.  Norwood  was  a  success 
ful  still  hunter.  He  hunted  among  the  legislators  of  Georgia  and  the 
press  of  the  State.  To  accomplish  his  purpose  he  did  not  hesitate  to 
put  in  circulation  charges  against  Mr.  Hill's  fealty  to  the  Democratic 
party,  and  at  this  time,  when  Mr.  Hill  was  devoting  his  utmost  ca 
pacity  to  secure  to  his  party  the  result  of  its  great  victory,  and  was 
a  trusted  leader,  the  press  of  Georgia,  taking  its  clew  from  Mr.  Nor 
wood,  began  to  assault  him.  The  history  of  politics  does  not  furnish 
another  instance  of  such  inexcusable  and  groundless  accusations  made 
against  a  public  man.  It  was  charged  that  he  had  joined  the  Radi 
cals,  was  untrue  to  his  people,  and  was  endeavoring  to  sell  out  his 
party.  To  such  an  extent  did  these  attacks  go,  that  some  of  Mr.  Hill's 
friends  in  the  Legislature  deemed  it  necessary  to  secure  letters  from  promi 
nent  Democrats  at  Washington  City,  sustaining  his  devotion  and  loyalty 
to  the  party. 

The  warm  pulse  of  indignation  beats  strong  even  to  this  dav  as  I  recall 
these  efforts  to  destroy  the  usefulness  of  a  statesman  whose  whole  life  is  a 
luminous  record  of  unselfish  fidelity  to  public  trust.  So  great  persistent,  and 


78  SENATOR  B.   If.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

outrageous  were  these  slanders  that  Mr.  Hill  was  urged  by  his  friends  to 
come  to  Georgia  and  vindicate  himself  before  the  Legislature.  After  much 
entreaty  and  repeated  calls,  he  was  induced  to  do  so.  He  came  to  Atlanta, 
arriving  in  the  morning  ;  at  night  he  made  a  speech  before  the  members  of 
the  General  Assembly,  reviewing  his  political  career,  conclusively  proving 
not  only  his  party  fealty,  but  the  wisdom  of  every  policy  which  he  had 
advocated.  His  accusers  were  overwhelmed  and  silenced.  Immediately 
after  the  delivery  of  the  speech  he  returned  to  Washington  City.  This 
senatorial  election  was  the  most  remarkable  and  exciting  one  that  ever  took 
place  in  Georgia.  Mr.  Norwood,  by  the  fact  of  occupancy,  by  persistent 
personal  appeals,  by  his  shrewd  manipulation  of  all  the  elements  of  opposi 
tion  to  Mr.  Hill,  came  very  near  succeeding.  The  State  narrowly  missed  a 
great  calamity.  On  the  first  ballot  Mr.  Norwood  lacked  only  two  votes  of 
success.  The  Hill  men,  however,  were  not  disheartened,  but  were  more 
determined  on  success.  By  the  most  adroit  political  management,  they  were 
enabled  to  reduce  Norwood's  vote  on  the  second  ballot,  and  on  the  third 
ballot  Mr.  Hill  was  elected.  The  President  of  the  Senate,  who  presided 
over  the  joint  Assembly,  w^as  a  Savannah  man,  and  consequently  a  supporter 
of  Norwood.  Under  the  pretense  that  the  galleries  were  unsafe,  he  ordered 
the  door-keeper  to  refuse  to  admit  any  spectators.  The  true  reason  was 
that  he  feared  the  pressure  of  the  public  would  have  its  effect  on  the  floor, 
and  when  the  result  was  declared  there  were  only  members,  and  those  who 
had  the  privileges  of  the  floor,  present.  The  enthusiasm  was  intense.  Men 
shouted,  wept  tears  of  joy,  embraced  each  other,  and  went  wild  with  delight. 
The  vast  crowd  outside  knew  what  the  shout  meant,  took  up  the  glad  refrain, 
and  the  "  rebel  yell "  was  heard  once  more  over  what  was  regarded  as  a  great 
victory  for  the  South.  While  all  this  excitement  was  going  on  in  Atlanta, 
Mr.  Hill  was  on  his  feet  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  making  a  calm 
constitutional  argument  in  favor  of  the  Electoral  Commission,  and  when  he 
took  his  seat,  a  telegram  was  handed  to  him  announcing  the  result.  I 
have  frequently  heard  my  father  say  that  his  highest  ambition  was  to 
serve  his  people  in  the  United  States  Senate.  He  regarded  this  body  as 
the  finest  deliberative  assembly  in  the  world,  and  he  felt  that  there  he 
could  do  good  work.  The  noise  and  tumult  of  the  House  did  not  suit  him, 
and,  although  he  made  great  reputation  there,  he  was  happy  that  his  people 
had  seen  fit  to  place  him  in  a  position  of  wider  usefulness,  and  one  far  more 
congenial  to  his  tastes  and  habits  of  thought. 

He  took  his  seat  March  4,  1877.  He  served  no  novitiate,  but  was  recog 
nized  as  a  leader  from  the  very  first.  The  Senate  at  this  time  contained 
some  very  great  men.  In  its  personnel  it  recalled  the  days  of  Webster, 
Calhoun,  and  Clay.  The  Democrats  had  Thurman  and  Lamar.  The  Repub 
licans  Elaine,  Conkling,  and  Carpenter.  Mr.  Hill  made  the  Democratic 
trio  equal  if  not  superior  to  the  Republican,  and  in  my  judgment  the  Sen 
ate  has  never  had  at  one  time  six  men  superior  to  these  in  intellectual  ca 
pacity.  Mr.  Hill  met  in  the  Senate  his  old  antagonist,  Mr.  Elaine,  and  had 
several  notable  contests  with  him.  These  two  men,  while  bitter  political 
opponents,  were  strong  personal  friends.  They  mutually  admired  and  re 
spected  each  other.  They  were  similar  in  character  and  many  intellectual 
qualities.  Both  were  generous,  impetuous,  and  without  malice.  Both  pos 
sessed  that  wonderful  quality,  personal  magnetism.  Both  were  frank,  open, 
and  without  disguise.  Both  were  great  debaters  and  great  orators.  Mr. 
Hill's  career  in  the  United  States  Senate  was  a  series  of  brilliant  triumphs. 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  79 

He  was  in  all  respects  fully  equipped  to  meet  the  intellectual  giants  of  the 
opposition.  In  knowledge  of  the  law,  in  oratory,  in  logic,  in  familiarity 
with  legislation,  in  the  weapons  of  invective  and  sarcasm,  in  learning  and  in 
readiness,  he  was  the  equal  of  any  man  in  the  body. 

Mr.  Hill's  first  great  contest,  after  his  entrance  in  the  Senate,  was  on 
the  bill  reported  from  the  Judiciary  Committee,  proposing  to  establish  a 
sinking  fund  to  secure  the  repayment  of  a  loan  made  by  the  United  States 
to  the  Union  Pacific  and  the  Central  Pacific  railroad  companies.  The  bill 
was  the  unanimous  measure  of  the  committee.  Senator  Hill  took  the  posi 
tion  that  the  bill  was  unconstitutional,  in  that  it  impaired  the  obligation  of 
the  contract  heretofore  made  bv  the  United  States  with  said  railroad  com- 

p 

panics.  He  met  in  this  discussion  all  the  members  of  the  committee,  and  by 
a  speech  delivered  March  27,  1878,  demonstrated  his  surpassing  power  as  a 
constitutional  lawyer.  After  the  delivery  of  this  speech,  his  fame  as  a  law 
yer  was  established  and  he  was  employed  in  many  cases  before  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court.  Shortly  before  his  sickness  he  was  paid  one  fee  of 
$25,000  in  a  case  before  this  court,  and  if  he  had  lived  he  would  have  had 
a  large  and  lucrative  practice  before  this  high  tribunal.  On  the  8th  of 
February,  1878,  Senator  Hill  delivered  a  speech  on  the  subject  of  the  coin 
age  of  silver  dollars.  It  exhibited  a  minute  and  comprehensive  knowledge 
of  the  intricate  subject  of  finance,  and  excited  most  favorable  comments 
throughout  the  country.  On  the  10th  of  May,  1879,  he  delivered  a  speech 
in  reply  to  Elaine,  Edmunds,  and  Chandler,  which,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
writer,  is  the  best  he  ever  made.  It  is  a  grand  exposition  of  the  dual  sys 
tem  of  our  government,  and  an  eloquent  defense  of  the  South  and  the 
Democratic  party.  Senator  Vest  pronounced  it  the  greatest  speech  deliv 
ered  in  the  Senate  within  a  quarter  of  a  century.  It  created  a  profound 
impression,  and  in  writing  about  it  a  Northern  journalist  uses  this  lan 
guage  : 

BEN   HILL. 

Washington  Letter  to  Rochester  Evening  Express. 

We  have  a  good  seat  to  see  him,  and  we  have  long  wanted  to  hear  him 
and  see  some  miracle  that  he  would  work.  He  is  six  feet,  straight  face, 
rather  thin,  firm  set,  and  with  an  eye  born  to  face  any  fortune.  The  man 
to  his  left  is  Butler  of  South  Carolina  ;  next  is  Beck,  and  round  him  press 
Eaton  and  others,  who  evidently  looked  for  a  field  day  on  their  side  of  the 
hall,  for  Ben  Hill  is  now  their  ablest  speaker.  He  is  neat  but  plain  in  his 
dress  and  address.  Davis,  who  is  one  of  the  possibilities  of  the  Senate,  and 
one  of  the  pussy  billities,  too,  turns  around  to  face  him  ;  the  whole  Senate 
begins  to  mark  the  iron  face  of  Hill,  as  he  opens  coolly  and  slowly,  with  his 
hands  clasped  behind  him.  In  this  manner  he  speaks  on  the  great  question, 
now  up  for  ten  minutes,  without  a  gesture  ;  his  voice  increases  a  little,  and 
his  forefinger  comes  forward  to  point  at  the  Senator  from  New  York,  or 
from  Maine,  or  from  Vermont.  The  Georgian  soon  has  his  plan  opened  and 
presses  on  to  review  the  speeches  of  the  three  leading  Republicans  just 
named,  and  it  is  evident  he  is  in  for  a  review  of  the  whole  of  these,  and  the 
whole  of  the  question  now  up,  and  the  whole  of  the  late  war.  As  he  advanced, 
he  showed  more  and  more  the  real  orator.  I  have  already  said  in  another 
letter  that  he  is  a  graduate  of  college,  and  he  shows  it  in  his  clear-cut,  incisive 
words,  never  wanting  to  his  thought,  never  misplaced,  though  his  speech 
was  extemporaneous  and  continued  over  three  hours.  He  was  bold  in  his 


80  SENATOR  B.   ff.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

statements,  well  arranged  with  his  books  of  reference  before  him,  bold  in 
gesture  and  voice,  sometimes  with  one  hand  opened  toward  the  other  side 
of  the  house,  sometimes  with  both  extended,  and  then  striking  the  attitude 
in  which  Henry  Clay  is  pictured  in  making  his  farewell.  With  head  and 
shoulders  thrown  back,  his  feet  well  advanced,  and  both  hands  reaching 
out  and  downward  in  calm  grace  and  dignity.  I  have  seen  Clay,  but  never 
heard  him  except  in  conversation  ;  but  I  have  heard  Tom  Marshall,  who  is 
said  to  have  been  much  like  Clay  in  style  and  eloquence.  Hill  has  studied 
them  both  and  equals  if  he  does  not  excel  them  both. 

The  greatest  contest  which  Mr.  Hill  conducted  while  senator,  was  the 
effort  to  unseat  William  Pitt  Kellogg,  senator  from  Louisiana.  This  man 
was  one  of  the  most  odious  representatives  of  the  carpet-bag  element,  and 
was  peculiarly  offensive  to  the  good  people  of  the  State  to  which  he  had 
emigrated  for  political  spoils.  By  the  most  outrageous  and  palpable  frauds, 
he  had  had  himself  elected  United  States  senator.  Mr.  Hill  was  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Committee  on  Privileges  and  Elections,  and  was  chairman  of  the 
sub-committee  sent  to  Louisiana  for  the  purpose  of  taking  the  evidence  in  the 
case.  The  facts  there  gathered,  proved  incontestably  that  Kellogg  was  not 
elected  to  the  Senate  by  the  Louisiana  Legislature,  but  by  a  fragmentary 
body  of  persons,  assuming  to  be  such  Legislature  ;  and  that  even  if  this 
body  was  the  Legislature,  there  was  no  quorum  present  at  the  time  of  the 
alleged  election,  and  that  even  this  illegal  faction  were  controlled  in  their 
votes  by  open  corruption  and  bribery. 

Mr.  Hill  made  the  report  of  the  committee  to  the  Senate,  declaring  that 
Kellogg  was  not  entitled  to  the  seat,  and  his  speech  in  support  of  the  report 
is  the  most  elaborate,  comprehensive,  and  severely  logical  that  he  ever  made 
in  that  body.  It  amounted  to  absolute  demonstration.  His  arraignment  of 
Kellogg  and  his  unholy  crew  was  terrible  and  unsparing.  But  the  Senate, 
at  a  previous  session,  when  the  Republicans  were  in  the  majority,  after  a 
contest,  had  seated  Kellogg,  and  his  friends  now  took  the  position  that  the 
matter  was  res  adjudicata.  This  argument  drew  to  its  support  several  of  the 
Democrats,  among  them  the  two  senators  from  South  Carolina,  who  stood 
alone  of  Southern  senators  in  this  position.  It  was  charged  that  those 
two  senators  voted  to  sustain  the  point  of  res  adjudicata  because  of  an 
agreement  made  between  them  and  the  Republicans  when  Senator  Butler's 
seat  was  contested  at  a  previous  session.  This  report  was  so  current 
that  Senator  Hill,  in  the  conclusion  of  his  speech,  made  allusion  to  it,  deny 
ing  it  with  great  indignation,  and  making  a  beautiful  reference  to  the  State 
of  South  Carolina.  For  some  reason  this  speech  gave  offense  to  both  Sena 
tors  Butler  and  Hampton,  and  they  made  quite  bitter  attacks  on  Mr.  Hill. 
His  reply  was  very  severe,  and  left  the  two  South  Carolina  statesmen  in  an 
unenviable  attitude.  After  a  prolonged  fight,  led  by  Senator  Hill  for  the 
Democrats,  Kellogg  was  permitted  to  retain  the  seat  to  which  he  was  clearly 
not  elected,  and  this  outrage  was  consummated  against  the  State  of  Louisi 
ana  through  the  aid  of  the  votes  of  the  senators  from  South  Carolina,  who 
voted  against  their  party.  The  last  speech  of  importance  made  by  Senator 
Hill  in  the  United  States  Senate  was  on  March  14,  1881.  It  was  made  dur 
ing  the  extra  session  of  the  Senate,  and  was  entirely  impromptu. 

This  session  witnessed  the  advent  of  William  Mahone,  the  political  non 
descript  of  Virginia.  He  had  been  elected  by  Democratic  Readjusters  of 
the  Old  Dominion,  and  as  both  he  and  his  friends  had  supported  the  elec- 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,  AND   WRITINGS.  81 

tion  of  Hancock  for  President,  it  was  reasonably  expected  that  he  would  in 
the  Senate  vote  with  the  party  that  had  elected  him ;  but  when  the  Senate 
assembled  Mahone  refused  to  participate  in  the  Democratic  caucus,  and  it 
soon  became  an  open  secret  that  the  little  Readjuster  had  effected  an  under 
standing  with  the  Republicans,  and  would  vote  with  them  in  the  organi 
zation  of  the  Senate.  As  the  Democrats  had  a  majority,  counting  Mahone 
and  David  Davis,  as  soon  as  the  Senate  met  on  the  morning  of  March  14,  a 
motion  was  made  to  organize  and  elect  officers,  and  it  was  in  the  debate 
growing  out  of  this  motion  that  Mr.  Hill  made  his  celebrated  attack  uncover 
ing  the  political  traitor  to  his  party  and  to  his  State.  The  mere  formal 
selection  of  officers  did  not  interest  Senator  Hill,  but  he  had  a  scorn  and  4 
contempt  for  political  jugglery  and  treachery,  and  he  saw  in  this  con 
duct  of  Mahone  an  effort  to  form  a  coalition  with  the  Federal  adminis 
tration  for  the  purpose  of  dividing  the  South,  and  by  the  help  of  the  negroes 
to  get  control  of  the  State  governments.  It  soon  became  clear  that  such 
was  the  purpose  of  the  Republicans  and  Mahone  and  his  followers.  It  was 
expected  by  its  originators  that  this  scheme  would  find  support  among  what 
was  known  as  the  Independent  Democrats  of  the  South,  and  that  the  State 
of  Georgia  would  furnish  two  prominent  recruits  who  had  been  recently 
defeated  for  re-election  to  Congress.  Mr.  Hill's  attack  was  the  first  gun 
fired  by  the  Democrats  against  this  corrupt  coalition  to  divide  the  South, 
and  it  was  so  terrible  and  effective  that  it  made  the  scheme  odious,  defeat 
ing  it  in  its  very  inception. 

In  the  winter  of  1881,  Mr.  Hill  occupied  a  seat  a  portion  of  the  session 
of  the  Senate,  but  took  little  part  in  its  deliberation,  making  only  one  short 
speech  denouncing  the  sham  of  Civil  Service  Reform  as  practiced  by  the 
Republicans.  He  had  undergone  two  operations  for  the  dread  disease  which 
eventually  destroyed  his  life,  and  its  possible  return  was  a  never-lifting 
shadow.  Notwithstanding  this  fact,  he  was  preparing  a  speech  on  the  race 
question.  He  thought  that  he  had  a  solution  to  this  great  problem,  but  un 
fortunately  for  his  country,  he  was  not  permitted  to  deliver  it. 

The  last  political  article  ever  written  by  Mr.  Hill  was  his  letter  in  reply 
to  the  attack  made  on-  him  by  Dr.  William  H.  Felton.  This  attack  on  Mr. 
Hill  stands  alone  as  the  most  unprovoked  and  groundless  assault  ever  made 
by  one  public  man  against  another.  Dr.  Felton,  in  his  better  moments,  I 
think,  regretted  it.  Some  months  before  my  father's  death  he  wrote  him  a 
letter,  endeavoring  to  renew  his  friendship.  This  letter,  however,  did  not 
contain  any  expression  of  regret  for  his  unjustifiable  assault  on  one  who  had 
been  his  life-long  friend,  and  when  I  read  it  to  my  father,  he  made  this 
simple  comment  :  "  Dr.  Felton  feels  that  he  has  greatly  wronged  me,  but 
has  not  the  manliness  to  acknowledge  it."  I  publish  the  article  of  my  father 
in  reply  to  Dr.  Felton,  not  because  of  the  personal  features  contained  in  it, 
but  because  of  the  discussion  of  public  questions  growing  out  of  the  political 
situation  at  the  time  it  was  written. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

X. 

General  Statement  of  Mr.  Hill's  Political  Career — His  Career  as  a  Lawyer— Resolutions 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Georgia — He  made  a  Great  Deal  of  Money  Practicing 
Law — His  Experiment  in  Planting  in  Southwest  Georgia — Great  Financial  Loss — 
His  Princely  Manner  of  Living — His  Generosity — His  Character  as  Husband  and 
Father — His  Private  Life — f*ure  Domestic  Lives  of  Georgia's  Great  Men — Mr.  Hill's 
Letter  to  his  Wife  from,  Richmond,  Va. — Mr.  Grady's  Personal  Reminiscence  of 
Mr.  Hill's  Home  Life — His  Letter  to  his  Son— Advice  about  Political  Office. 

IN  the  sketch  thus  far,  I  have  confined  myself  almost  exclusively  to  the 
political  career  of  Senator  Hill.  I  realize  fully  how  meager  and  unsat 
isfactory  is  the  account  I  have  written.  I  could  not,  without  occupying 
space,  much  better  filled  by  his  own  thoughts,  give  the  many  interesting 
details  of  a  life  unusually  crowded  with  dramatic  events.  In  contemplating 
the  lives  of  great  men,  even  the  most  trivial  incident  is  full  of  interest,  but 
the  important  phase  of  value  is  to  be  found  in  the  logic  of  their  public 
careers,  and  not  in  the  detailed  narrative  of  personal  history.  The  really 
great  men  of  the  world  have  been  those  who  have  impressed  their  per 
sonality  upon  the  age  in  which  they  lived.  Such  men  are  monumental,  and 
have  an  influence  not  limited  by  time  or  bounded  by  the  grave.  Of  this 
class  was  the  subject  of  this  memoir. 

In  person  he  possessed  great  physical  beauty  and  strength.  He  stood 
erect,  six  feet  one  and  one  half  inches  high,  perfect  in  proportion  and  sym 
metry.  His  head  he  invariably  carried  slightly  inclined  to  the  right  ;  it 
was  unusually  large,  and  covered  with  light-brown  hair,  straight  and  very 
fine  ;  his  complexion  was  clear ;  his  forehead  broad  and  high  ;  his  eyes  the 
"  oratorical  gray."  Indeed,  upon  form  and  feature  "  every  god  had  set 
his  seal  to  give  the  world  assurance  of  a  man." 

Whatever  might  be  his  work  for  the  next  day,  he  never  studied  late  at 
night,  but  went  to  bed  early,  and  rose  with  the  sun.  While  not  disapprov 
ing,  he  belonged  to  no  order  or  secret  society,  but  was  from  boyhood  a 
member  of  the  Methodist  Church.  In  habit  he  was  absolutely  free  from 
vice  ;  no  unclean  or  profane  word  ever  soiled  his  lips.  While  he  did  not 
condemn  the  moderate  use  of  wine,  or  a  social  game,  for  himself  he  never 
touched  spirituous  liquors,  and  did  not  know  one  card  from  another.  In 
mind,  heart,  physique,  and  conduct,  he  was  an  extraordinary  type  of  pure 
and  noble  manhood. 

He  was  a  man  of  the  rarest  and  most  impressive  individuality.  He 
relied  almost  entirely  upon  his  own  intellectual  powers  and  resources,  and 
with  striking  originality  solved  great  problems  of  State  and  arrived  at  cor 
rect  conclusions.  Such  a  man  does  not  depend  upon  office  for  either  power 
or  influence.  I  think  I  do  not  go  beyond  the  limits  of  truth  when  I  state 
that  no  man  ever  lived  in  Georgia  who  has  more  deeply  and  lastingly  im 
pressed  himself  upon  the  thought  of  the  people  and  achieved  more  lasting 
distinction  than  Senator  Hill,  and  yet  his  official  life  did  not  reach  a  dozen 
years,  an.4  four  of  these  were  given  to  the  "  Lost  C*Rse,"  But-  whether  jn 

83 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  83 

office  or  out,  he  was  always  a  leader  and  a  potential  factor  in  the  great 
political  problems  confronting  the  South,  for  nearly  thirty  years. 

To  summarize  his  public  career  by  periods.  From  1851  to  1861  his 
course  was  signalized  by  the  most  intense  devotion  to  the  Union,  and  his 
earnest  service  was  given  to  save  that  Union  from  destruction  at  the  hands 
of  extremists  North  and  South.  This  object  he  regarded  as  the  supreme 
duty  of  statesmanship  and  as  the  first  obligation  of  patriotism.  To  the 
preservation  of  the  Union  he  consecrated  the  power  of  his  mind  and  the 
eloquence  of  his  tongue  for  ten  years.  He  stood  a  Georgia  Gibraltar  against 
the  mad  waves  of  slavery  agitation  and  secession  folly.  But  deeper  than 
his  love  for  the  Union  was  his  love  for  his  own  State,  and  although  his 
warning  and  prophetic  voice  was  unheeded,  he  gave  unreserved  allegiance  to 
his  own  people,  and  from  1861  to  1865  the  South  had  no  wiser  champion, 
no  son  more  unselfish  and  devoted.  From  1865  to  the  day  of  his  death,  he 
labored  to  make  the  restored  Union  one  of  honor  to  both  sections.  Every 
where  and  at  all  times  he  defended  his  beloved  South,  her  motives  and  her 
history,  but  he  never  failed  to  appeal  for  cessation  of  strife  and  a  union  of 
love.  The  keynote  to  all  his  public  utterances  was  denunciation  of  section 
alism  ;  the  motive  power  of  his  political  conduct  a  patriotism  not  limited  to 
sections,  but  embracing  the  whole  country.  Impartial  history  will  declare 
that  his  life  was  that  of  a  patriot-statesman.  In  this  character  his  fame  will 
expand  and  strengthen  as  time  advances  and  his  course  is  studied.  In  the 
language  of  another,  "  Grand  as  was  his  intellectual  stature,  great  as  a 
lawyer  and  orator  and  distinguished  as  a  statesman,  and  though  her  history  is 
lustrous  with  the  story  of  his  prowess,  Georgia  most  of  all  will  crown  him 
with  the  laurel  that  the  Romans  awarded  to  eminence  in  patriotism." 

The  great  civic  chieftain  of  the  Confederacy,  while  holding  in  admiration 
his  surpassing  eloquence  and  profound  statesmanship,  called  him  "  Hill  the 
faithful."  Prouder  title  can  no  man  wear.  It  will  endure  when  the  chaplet 
of  intellectual  qualities  has  faded  away.  Faithful  to  his  country,  faithful  to 
every  trust,  faithful  to  his  God  !  As  the  Georgian  of  the  future  contem 
plates  the  effigies  in  the  Pantheon  of  his  native  State,  his  eye  will  rest  long 
and  lovingly  upon  one  towering  figure,  and  looking,  his  thoughts  will  go 
back  through  the  great  crises  of  his  country's  history  :  through  the  mad 
days  of  slavery  and  secession,  through  the  dark  days  of  fratricidal  strife, 
through  the  terrible  days  of  Reconstruction  dishonor,  through  the  brighter 
days  of  restored  union,  and  high  above,  more  enduring  than  the  applause  of 
senates  and  peoples,  will  be  the  eulogy  to  unswerving  fidelity  pronounced  by 
grateful  hearts. 

I  have  not  attempted  to  follow  Mr.  Hill's  career  as  a  lawyer.  It  can  be 
summed  up  in  the  general  statement  that  it  was  a  triumphant  ascent  ;  rapid, 
brilliant,  and  lasting.  His  forensic  efforts  were  never  reported,  and  live 
only  in  the  memories  of  those  who  heard  them.  Nearly  every  court-house 
in  Georgia  has  its  associations  connected  with  some  famous  legal  victory, 
some  client's  life,  liberty,  or  property  saved.  His  legal  knowledge  was 
profound,  but  was  the  original  deductions  of  a  great  mind  from  the  study  of 
•  the  principles  and  logic  of  the  law.  He  rarely  ever  consulted  decisions  of 
1  courts,  and  was  in  no  sense  a  case  lawyer.  He  established  legal  propositions 
from  his  mastery  of  the  reason  of  the  law,  and  did  not  rely  upon  the 
opinions  of  judges.  He  was  equally  potential  with  courts  as  with  juries. 
Like  his  great  English  prototype,  Erskine,  he  seems  to  have  invented  a 
machine  by  the  secret  use  of  which,  in  court,  he  could  make  the  head  of 


84  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

the  judge  nod  assent  to  his  propositions,  and  what  Lord  Brougham  said  of 
Erskine  might  with  equal  truth  have  been  said  of  Hill  :  "  That  juries  have 
declared  that  they  felt  it  impossible  to  remove  their  looks  from  him  when  he 
had  riveted,  and,  as  it  were,  fascinated  them  by  his  first  glance,  and  it  used 
to  be  a  common  remark  of  men  who  observed  his  motions,  that  they 
resembled  those  of  a  race  horse,  as  light,  as  limber,  as  much  betokening 
strength  and  speed,  as  free  from  all  gross  superfluity  or  encumbrance."  An 
interesting  volume  could  be  written,  filled  with  anecdotes  of  Mr.  Hill's  dex 
terity  as  a  lawyer,  and  with  incidents  showing  his  marvelous  gifts  as  an 
advocate.  In  the  opinion  of  his  professional  brethren,  he  was  easily  the 
foremost  lawyer  of  the  South  at  the  date  of  his  death.  The  estimate  in 
which  he  was  held  by  the  bar  of  the  State  is  fittingly  set  forth  in  the  fol 
lowing  memorial  and  resolutions  reported  to  the  Supreme  Court  by  a  com 
mittee  of  eminent  lawyers : 

Benjamin  Harvey  Hill  having  been  for  many  years  a  distinguished  prac 
titioner  at  the  bar  of  this  court,  it  is  eminently  fitting  and  appropriate  that  its 
records  should  contain  some  lasting  memento  of  his  unsurpassed  ability,  his 
brilliant  genius,  and  his  matchless  eloquence  as  a  lawyer  and  an  advocate. 

The  legal  profession  has  been  honored  by  some  of  the  proudest  names  in 
the  history  of  the  world,  but  in  all  the  shining  list  it  would  be  difficult  to 
find  one  who,  in  a  comparatively  short  life,  more  brilliantly  exemplified  the 
learning,  the  honors,  and  the  successes  of  that  noble  profession  than  the 
illustrious  lawyer  to  whose  memory  we  offer  this  tribute  of  affection  and 
respect.  Let  his  honored  name  shine  on  the  records  of  this  tribunal,  and  let 
it  go  down  to  history  side  by  side  with  the  names  of  Berrien  and  the  Charl- 
tons,  Starnes  and  the  Millers,  Nisbet  and  Stephenses,  Lumpkin  and  the 
Cobbs,  Warner  and  the  Doughertys,  Cone,  Colquitt,  and  Holt,  and  the  in 
numerable  host  of  renowned  men  who,  in  their  day  and  generation,  shed  un 
dying  luster  on  their  profession,  and  left  to  their  survivors  and  the  world  a 
legacy  of  virtuous  achievements,  richer  far  than  shekels  of  gold  or  shekels 
of  silver. 

Mr.  Hill's  days  on  earth  were  less  than  three  score  years  ;  yet  where  can 
one  be  found  who,  in  so  brief  a  period,  was  more  abundant  in  labors  or 
grander  in  achievement  ?  What  lawyer  ever  received  a  better  patronage, 
or  won  more  victories  in  the  court-house,  or  enjoyed  a  larger  professional 
income? 

Mr.  Hill  was  admitted  to  plead  and  practice  law  in  the  county  of  Meri- 
wether,  in  the  year  1845,  when  he  was  twenty-two  years  of  age.  He  did  not 
have  to  wait  and  toil  and  grow  old  before  becoming  a  lawyer,  but  just  as 
soon  as  he  had  obtained  license  to  practice  and  had  opened  an  office  for  that 
purpose,  with  a  heroic  bound  he  vaulted  into  the  professional  lists — a  verita 
ble  self-reliant  knight,  panoplied  for  the  contest,  and  ready  with  invincible 
might  and  unfailing  courage  to  break  lances  with  the  bravest,  the  mightiest, 
and  the  best  who  chanced  to  come  against  him. 

It  has  been  the  fate  of  some  of  the  best  lawyers  that  ever  lived  to  pass 
through  years  of  discouragement,  anxiety,  and  study  in  the  beginning  of 
their  professional  career,  waiting  impatiently  for  cases  and  clients  ;  but  such 
was  not  the  fate  of  Mr.  Hill.  From  the  very  outset,  and  before  he  or  his 
friends  had  a  right  to  expect  it,  business  and  patrons  poured  in  upon  him 
from  all  sides,  until  very  soon  he  was  employed  in  almost  every  case  of 
importance  in  the  courts  which  he  was  accustomed  to  attend. 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  85 

Such  was  the  popular  confidence  in  Mr.  Hill's  ability  and  eloquence  as  a 
lawyer,  that  his  services  were  demanded  in  important  cases  all  over  the 
State,  and  frequently  in  other  States  of  the  Union. 

Mr.  Hill's  successes  at  the  bar  were  extraordinary.  He  very  seldom  lost 
a  case  that  ought  to  have  been  gained,  and  he  has  gained  very  many  that 
ought  to  have  been  lost.  He  rarely  found  a  cause  too  heavy  to  be  carried 
by  him,  and  when  he  failed  it  was  not  for  want  of  ability,  skill,  or  fidelity 
in  the  advocate,  but  because  of  the  inherent  weakness  of  the  cause  itself. 

As  a  lawyer  he  was  able,  self-possessed,  courageous,  and  invincible.  He 
carried  judges  with  him  by  the  force  of  unanswerable  logic,  and  he  swayed 
the  juries  by  an  eloquence  which  was  absolutely  resistless.  Benjamin  Har 
vey  Hill  seems  to  have  always  been  great.  He  was  an  uncommon  child; 
he  was  an  extraordinary  boy ;  he  was  a  great  lawyer  ;  he  was  a  matchless 
orator  ;  and  he  was  a  grand  statesman. 

In  all  the  numerous  positions  of  trust  and  responsibility  which  Mr.  Hill 
occupied  in  his  life,  he  never  failed  to  distinguish  himself  and  to  honor  the 
position.  He  was  a  Richard  Coaur  de  Lion  at  the  bar,  an  Ivanhoe  before 
the  people,  and  a  Chevalier  Bayard  in  the  Senate.  When  such  a  man  dies 
in  the  full  vigor  of  his  manhood,  well  may  the  world  stand  still  and  exclaim 
with  the  Psalmist,  "  Behold,  thou  hast  made  my  days  as  a  hand  breadth,  and 
mine  age  is  as  nothing  before  thee  ;  verily,  every  man  at  his  best  state  is 
altogether  vanity." 

We  append  the  following  resolutions  : 

Resolved,  That  in  the  death  of  Benjamin  Harvey  Hill  the  legal  profession 
of  this  State  lost  its  ablest  champion,  its  most  eloquent  advocate,  and  its 
brightest  ornament. 

Resolved,  That  we  who  survive  him  will  treasure  in  affectionate  memory 
his  shining  virtues  and  brilliant  achievements,  and  will  ever  point  with  just 
pride  to  his  character  and  his  deeds  as  a  rich  legacy  left  us  for  the  encour 
agement  of  .our  hopes  and  our  endeavors. 

Mr.  Hill  made  more  money  by  his  profession,  for  the  time  actually  engaged 
in  its  practice,  than  any  lawyer  in  the  South,  and  possibly  in  the  United 
States.  He  was  in  every  important  case  in  Georgia,  and  named  his  own 
fees.  In  the  fourteen  years  of  his  practice,  up  to  1860,  he  made  at  least  a 
half  million  of  dollars,  and  during  this  period  he  served  one  term  in  the 
lower  house  of  the  General  Assembly,  one  term  in  the  upper  house,  made  a 
canvass  for  Congress,  for  Governor,  and  twice  as  Presidential  Elector  for  the 
State  at  large.  During  the  war  he  did  not  give  much  of  his  time  to  his 
practice,  being  completely  engrossed  by  his  duties  as  Confederate  States 
Senator.  After  the  war  he  resumed  his  practice,  but  gave  much  of  his 
attention  to  planting  in  southwest  Georgia.  From  1865  to  the  day  of  his 
death,  his  annual  professional  income  was  not  less  than  $30,000.  Some  of 
his  fees  were  enormous.  One  of  $65,000,  one  of  $50,000,  and  several  of 
$25,000.  Yet,  with  all  this  money,  he  died  a  poor  man,  leaving  to  his 
widow  only  a  home  and  a  policy  of  insurance  of  $10,000  on  his  life.  The 
explanation  of  this  fact  is  to  be  found  in  several  causes.  He  knew  little  of 
business  methods  and  never  made  a  lucky  investment.  He  never  refused  to 
indorse  for  a  friend,  and  in  one  instance  had  to  pay  a  security  debt  of 
$10,000  for  a  man  who  had  no  special  claim  on  him.  Indeed,  I  doubt  if  he 
ever  refused  an  appeal  for  pecuniary  help.  He  was  most  lavish  and  princely 
in  expenditures  on  his  family  and  home.  He  never  denied  wife  or  children 


86  SENATOR  B.  H.   HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

the  gratification  of  any  wish  or  caprice.  His  home  in  La  Grange,  where 
he  passed  the  happiest  years  of  his  life,  was  one  of  the  most  magnificent  in 
Georgia.  A  great  house,  with  large  Corinthian  columns,  surrounded  by 
beautiful  grounds,  with  granite  walks  leading  to  a  massive  iron  gate  250 
yards  from  the  house.  He  spent  at  least  $50,000  in  fitting  up  and  beautify- 
ing  this  place,  and  here,  for  years,  he  indulged  in  the  most  lavish  hospitality, 
his  house  nearly  always  being  crowded  with  company. 

In  1867  he  moved  to  Athens,  Ga.,  purchasing  an  elegant  home  for 
$20,000,  and  in  1872  he  changed  his  residence  to  Atlanta,  buying 
his  place  on  Peachtree  Street,  for  which  he  paid  $20,000,  and 
afterward  $10,000  was  expended  in  improvements.  In  addition  to  his 
munificent  family  expenses,  he  gave  away  a  great  deal  of  money  to 
his  less  fortunate  relatives.  Indeed,  his  was  a  rarely  liberal  and  generous 
nature.  He  made  money  without  an  effort  and  spent  it  like  a  prince.  He 
loved  money  for  the  pleasure  of  giving  it  to  those  he  loved  and  to  those  in 
need.  Besides  his  lavish  expenditures  and  gifts  of  charity,  he  lost,  on  plant 
ing,  over  a  quarter  of  a  million  of  dollars  immediately  after  the  war.  Losing 
confidence  in  the  purity  and  uprightness  of  the  judiciary  under  a  Radical 
administration,  and  under  military  government,  he  invested  largely  in  lands 
in  southwest  Georgia.  Under  the  impression  that  cotton  could  not  be  success 
fully  made  with  free  negro  labor,  or  with  white  labor,  and  the  high  price  of 
the  staple,  lands  in  the  cotton  belt  commanded  very  high  prices.  Mr.  Hill 
bought  four  of  the  largest  plantations  in  southwest  Georgia,  each  containing 
about  5000  acres.  He  erected  comfortable  houses  for  his  laborers,  and  built 
on  each  place  a  school-house.  His  intention  was  to  educate  the  negro,  and,v 
if  possible,  elevate  him  to  some  little  appreciation  of  his  citizenship.  He 
prepared  to  plant  on  an  immense  scale.  In  a  short  time  it  was  demon 
strated  that  cotton  could  be  as  successfully  made  by  free  labor  as  by  slave 
labor.  As  a  result  cotton  went  down  from  thirty  to  ten  cents  a  pound,  the 
value  of  land  decreased  in  proportion,  and  in  a  few  years  Mr.  Hill  found 
himself  nearly  $300,000  in  debt  as  a  result  of  his  experiment.  'His  planta 
tions  he  sold  at  a  great  sacrifice  and  he  resumed  the  active  practice  of  his 
profession  to  make  money  to  pay  his  planting  debts.  This  he  had  done  at 
the  date  of  his  death. 

It  is  a  striking  illustration  of  the  confidence  that  he  felt  in  his  ability  to 
make  money,  that  his  heavy  indebtedness  at  this  time  did  not  alter  his 
generous  methods  of  living.  He  never  felt  depressed  by  his  debts,  and 
refused  to  compromise  any  of  them,  but  paid  every  dollar  with  interest.  To 
those  who  love  and  hoard  money,  this  is  not  a  successful  financial  record. 
Men  who  make  money  usually  grow  to  love  it  and  die  rich  in  gold,  but  poor 
in  a  record  of  good  deeds  and  unregretted  by  mankind.  "  This  man  was 
molded  differently  and  leaves  his  family  better  and  sweeter  legacy  than- 
millions  could  have  been.  The  consciousness  that  he  had  lived  honestly  and 
done  good,  that  his  pleasure  had  been  to  make  them  happy  and  to  hold 
nothing  too  dear  that  could  contribute  to  their  comfort,  that  with  ungrudg 
ing  hand  to  them  and  to  the  world  he  had  given  freely  and  had  found  joy 
in  the  giving." 

I  would  be  false  to  the  sweetest  memories  of  my  life  were  I  to  conclude 
this  sketch  without  allusion  to  the  exceeding  beauty  of  Mr.  Hill's  home  life. 
In  contemplating  the  lives  of  Georgia's  great  men  it  is  a  cause  for  pride 
that  all  of  them  had  happy  homes.  Slander,  which  ever  loves  to  attack  the 
pure,  in  some  instances  aimed  its  envenomed  dart  at  the  character  of  some 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  87 

of  her  prominent  men,  but  in  the  light  of  truth,  it  is  a  fact  to  be  ever  cher 
ished  that  the  State's  greatest  sons  were  also  her  best  and  purest  men  in  the 
sacred  relations  of  home.  The  loyalty  and  love  of  the  home  circle  is  the 
truest  and  holiest  inspiration  to  great  endeavor.  Happy  is  the  man  of  genius 
and  ambition  who  is  wedded  to  a  woman  who  can  feel  for  him  affectionate 
sympathy  and  give  to  him  intellectual  encouragement.  Such  was  the  for 
tunate  lot  of  Mr.  Hill.  His  conjugal  felicity  was  perfect.  His  wife's  com 
panionship  was  an  inspiration  never  failing,  ever  exalted.  He  always 
delighted  to  ascribe  his  success  to  her  influence.  I  am  sure  it  will  not  be 
considered  indelicate  for  me  to  incorporate,  at  this  place,  two  letters  written 
by  my  father  to  my  mother  during  the  terrible  days  of  our  Civil  War. 
They  show  in  what  loving  confidence  he  held  her  after  twenty  years  of 
married  life.  The  letter,  dated  February  7,  1864,  will  be  found  valuable  for 
its  description  of  the  condition  of  our  country  at  that  time. 

RICHMOND,  VA.,  February  7,  1864. 

My  Dearest  Wife  :  I  have  never  seen  as  much  gayety  in  society  as  has 
existed  in  Richmond  during  this  winter.  Being  with  Hennie,*  I  have 
been  occasionally  thrown  in  the  current.  But  it  is  true  I  have  never  passed 
a  winter  so  replete  with  anxiety  and  trouble.  I  have  not  been  sad  because 
others  have  been  gay,  although  I  think  gayety  now  is  out  of  place  and  not 
at  all  calculated  to  make  one  feel  cheerful.  Nor  have  I  been  sad  only  be 
cause  I  have  been  absent  from  my  dear  wife  and  children,  for,  though 
absence  from  them  is  always  unhappiness,  it  has  often  occurred  and  not 
produced  such  heaviness  of  spirit. 

There  is  a  monitor  ever  whispering  to  me  that  this  is  the  crisis  of  my 
country.  The  next  few  months  must  determine  the  destiny  of  millions 
of  human  beings.  In  my  judgment  the  question  of  the  independence  of 
the  Confederate  States  has  become  a  question  of  secondary  importance. 
The  greater  question  is  whether  the  people  of  this  Continent  shall  have 
good  and  peaceful  government  in  any  form  during  this  generation.  It  is 
very  certain,  the  policy  which  the  dominant  party  in  the  United  States  now 
seek  to  accomplish,  cannot  exist  with  or  under  a  free  government.  Even  if 
established,  it  can  only  be  sustained  by  absolute  power,  accompanied  with 
uniform  oppression.  This  revolution  is  the  result  of  feeling,  not  judgment  ; 
of  passion,  not  statesmanship.  Its  whole  progress  has  been  distinguished  by 
an  utter  absence  of  reason,  humanity,  and  ordinary  good  motives.  It  had 
its  origin  in  mutual  and  foolish  crimination.  Even  now,  after  three  years  of 
conflict  ;  after  four  hundred  thousand  human  beings  of  the  same  habits, 
language,  and  race  have  been  slain  by  each  other  ;  after  three  thousand 
millions  of  debt  have  been  incurred  and  five  thousand  millions  of  property 
destroyed,  the  only  staple  of  statesmanship  is  hatred  and  abuse,  and  the  only 
plan  proposed  to  terminate  the  conflict  is  to  continue  to  slaughter  and  lay 
waste.  And  all  this  by  a  people  who  have  been  taught  from  infancy  to 
venerate  a  common  ancestry  ;  whose  courage  in  a  common  struggle  gave  them 
national  existence,  and  whose  wisdom  in  a  common  council  gave  them  a 
form  of  government  which  all  the  world  was  asked  to  imitate  as  the  very 
best  form  to  secure  liberty  without  licentiousness,  and  order  without 


*  His  daughter. 


88  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA.' 

oppression  ;  by  a  people  who  were  sending  their  missionaries  to  teach  the 
gospel  of  peace  and  love  to  all  the  earth,  and  who  claim  to  excel  in  all  the 
arts  and  to  have  added  to  learning  in  every  science  ;  and  by  a  people,  let 
me  add,  who  in  very  truth,  had  made  more  rapid  progress  in  wealth,  in 
social  comfort  and  refinement,  in  general  education  and  prosperity,  than  anv 
people  whom  the  heavens  had  ever  refreshed  with  showers  or  cheered  with 
sunshine.  Behold,  how  these  disciples  of  Christ  and  boasting  exemplars  of 
free  government  abuse,  calumniate,  rob,  and  slay  each  other,  and  how  may 
the  infidel  not  mock  and  the  despot  not  laugh  ! 

In  the  midst  of  this  insane  condition  of  things,  I  am  not  only  a  grown-up 
man,  with  my  faculties  in  their  matured  strength,  but  I  am  even  a  chosen 
counselor  in  the  highest  deliberative  body  of  one  party  to  the  conflict. 
Could  I  be  alive  to  the  crushing  responsibility,  and  not  feel  anxious  ?  And 
if,  under  the  weight  of  such  responsibility,  I  am  powerless  for  good,  can  I 
feel  otherwise  than  sad  ?  Yet  my  mind  is  not  dark  or  doubtful  as  to  what 
ought  to  be  done.  From  the  beginning  my  vision  has  been  clear  as  to 
right,  duty,  and  policy.  Reason  and  not  the  sword,  discussion  and  not 
slaughter,  reform  and  not  disintegration,  compromise  and  not  defiance,  were 
the  plain  dictates  of  wise  statesmanship  for  the  solution  of  all  the  differences, 
real  and  imaginary,  between  the  two  parties.  But  these  dictates  were  made 
utterly  impracticable  by  the  furious  passions  which  preceded  and  inaugurated 
the  revolution.  Before  and  during  the  early  days  of  the  contest,  the 
Southern  people,  especially  the  politicians  and  the  press,  did  and  said  many 
indiscreet  and  unwise  things.  The  entire  temper  and  manner  of  secession 
were  wrong. 

But  step  by  step  the  dominant  party  of  the  United  States  have  passed 
from  indiscretion  to  folly,  from  folly  to  error,  from  error  to  madness,  and 
now  from  madness  to  wicked  purpose,  until  nothing  but  the  degrada 
tion,  subjugation,  and  ruin  of  the  Southern  people  will  satisfy  them.  They 
no  longer  wage  war  to  restore  the  Union  under  the  Constitution  ;  but  they 
clearly  make  union  impossible,  and  trample  upon  the  Constitution,  in  order 
that  they  may  emancipate  the  negro,  subject  the  white  man,  and  subvert  the 
entire  social  system  of  the  Southern  States.  Constitutional  government  is 
to  be — indeed,  is  already — destroyed  because  its  existence  is  incompatible  with 
the  accomplishment  of  their  despotic  and  wicked  designs.  The  reverses 
which  attended  our  arms  during  the  past  year,  and  the  consequent  partial 
despondency  of  our  people,  have  induced  their  enemies  to  believe  that  this 
end  they  propose  can  now  be  speedily  accomplished  ;  and  like  the  beast,  whose 
rage  increases  as  he  gets  nearer  his  victim,  the  prospect  seems  to  stimulate 
their  malice  and  whet  their  gluttonous  appetite  for  ruin.  Another  con 
sideration  is  urging  them  forward  to  success  in  the  ensuing  campaign. 
This  is  the  last  year  of  the  present  administration,  unless  it  can  be  renewed 
by  the  sword  or  the  ballot.  A  successful  campaign  by  the  Federal  army  in 
the  summer  will  render  it  unnecessary  for  Mr.  Lincoln  to  prolong  his  power 
by  the  sword.  He  can,  with  military  success  in  the  field,  carry  the  election 
at  the  ballot-box.  With  only  partial  success  he  may  lose  the  election,  and 
with  disaster  to  his  army  he  will  lose  his  power,  for  the  sword  will  fall  from 
his  grasp,  and  he  and  his  whole  party  will  be  driven  from  power  and  from 
respectability  for  all  time,  and  Abolitionism  will  become  a  by-word  and  a 
reproach  for  generations  to  come. 

The  defeat  of  Mr.  Lincoln  and  his  party,  then,  in   1864,  is  the  great 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,    AND   WRITINGS.  89 

objective  point  of  all  the  efforts  of  patriotism.  His  election  was  the  occasion 
for  secession,  and  disruption,  and  war.  His  defeat  alone  can  restore  concord, 
reason,  and  peace.  The  Northern  people  elected  him.  It  was  the  hour 
of  their  madness  and  infatuation.  It  is  titting  that  they  should  defeat  and 
repudiate  him.  It  will  be  the  hour  of  their  restoration  to  good  sense,  good 
feeling,  and  good  government.  We  will  then  be  in  a  condition  to  hear  and 
discuss  terms  with  honor.  Peace  will  return,  hope  will  revive,  mourning  will 
continue  only  for  the  noble  heroes  who  have  fallen  in  the  struggle  for  honor, 
and  shame  remain  only  for  the  wickedness  that  impelled  them  to  the  fight. 

What  can  we  do  to  help  in  this  defeat  of  Lincoln,  of  despotism,  and 
indefinite  war  and  immeasurable  ruin.  We  can  do  two  things  : 

First,  we  must  gather  up  all  our  energies  for  successful  battles  in  the 
spring  and  summer.  Every  man  who  can  be  spared  from  home  must  repair 
to  the  army.  Every  man  who  must  remain  at  home  must  work  to  support 
that  army.  Croakers  must  take  courage.  Speculators  must  stop  their  hoard 
ing.  Traders  must  suspend  their  gains.  Critics  must  forbear  their  com 
plaints.  The  straggler  must  return  with  new  zeal  to  his  faithful  comrade  in 
arms  ;  and  army  and  people,  with  one  accord,  must  surrender  themselves  in 
faith  to  God,  and  in  fact  to  their  country.  Let  none  plan  to  be  left  out  in 
this  fight.  Let  none  desire  to  be  left  out.  It  is  the  fight  in  whose  victory 
all  the  efforts  of  the  past  and  the  hopes  of  the  future  will  find  fruition,  and 
in  whose  defeat  all  the  glory  of  the  past  and  all  the  hopes  of  the  future  will 
find  shame  and  ruin. 

Secondly,  while  we  are  thus  fighting  this  enemy  of  all  good  government 
in  America,  let  us  recognize  the  fact  that  Mr.  Lincoln  and  his  fanatical  party 
do  not  constitute  all  the  North.  There  are  many  there  who  are  not  lost  to 
all  reason  and  who  are  willing  to  deal  justly.  We  ought  to  make  it  dis 
tinctly  known  that  when  they  shall  defeat  Mr.  Lincoln  and  his  party,  and 
drive  them  from  power,  and  repudiate  the  wild  war  policy  which  now  pre 
vails,  we  are  ready,  upon  their  invitation,  to  meet  them  in  convention  and 
settle  all  our  difficulties  by  the  rules  of  reason  and  right,  which  a  Christian 
and  civilized  people  ought  to  have  relied  on  from  the  beginning. 

Are  we,  as  a  people,  capable  of  this  high  and  manifestly  correct  position? 
God  of  our  fathers,  are  we  ?  Is  anger  appeased  ?  Is  revenge  satiated  ?  Is 
ambition  content?  Has  folly  learned  a  lesson,  or  wickedness  received  suffi 
cient  rebuke  ?  Has  the  press  discovered  that  spleen  is  not  argument,  and 
venality  is  not  patriotism  ? 

Alas,  alas  !  I  am  sad,  because  I  find  very  few  who,  in  my  judgment,  are 
wide  awake  to  the  character  of  this  crisis,  the  issues  that  hang  upon  it,  and  the 
means  of  rescue  from  its  awful  threatenings.  I  pray  God  that  the  future 
may  prove  me  to  be  blind  and  weak,  and  that  they  who  see  not  as  I  see  may 
prove  to  be  wise  and  sufficient,  for,  indeed,  I  am  almost  one,  and  they  in  truth 
are  very  many. 

Excuse  me,  dear  light  of  my  life  and  my  comfort  in  every  sorrow,  for 
wearying  you  with  the  recital  of  my  country's  troubles. 

The  causes  that  led  to  the  conflict,  and  the  sad  and  prophetic  forebodings 
outlined  in  this  letter,  show  not  more  the  writer's  wisdom  than  his  unselfish 
devotion  to  his  country. 


90  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 


LETTER    TO    HIS    WIFE. 

RICHMOND,  VA.,  February  14,  1864. 

This  day  is  like  my  own  heart-idol — bright,  sweet,  and  comforting. 
You  ought  to  be  very  happy,  if  to  bless  others  be  the  best  source  of  happi 
ness.  Recently,  I  have  found  my  thoughts  absorbed  for  hours,  studying 
your  character.  The  subject  is  certainly  not  new,  but  beauties  are  ever  de 
veloping — the  last  always  the  loveliest. 

The  de'arest  of  all  words  are  wife,  home,  and  child.  They  mean  love, 
comfort,  and  hope,  when  defined  by  my  experience.  I  have  never  found  but 
one  thought,  which  your  character  suggested,  which  troubled  me  ;  and  this 
thought  is  a  perpetual  trouble.  You  are  so  much  better  than  I  that  I  often 
feel  humbled.  I  have  often  strained  myself  to  perform  something  good  and 
noble  that  I  might  feel  worthy  to  be  your  husband.  In  qualities  that  ele 
vate  and  dignify  ;  in  virtues  that  are  pure,  sincere,  and  steadfast,  I  never 
saw  the  equal  of  my  wife.  Eighteen  years  of  companionship  have  been 
eighteen  years  of  admiration  for  your  ever-increasing  worth.  If  I  cannot 
compensate  you  with  the  return  of  a  character  equal  to  your  own  in  instrinsic 
merit,  I  have  at  least  the  very  comforting  reflection  that  it  has  ever  been  my 
business  to  serve  you,  my  delight  to  please  you,  and  my  ambition  to  be  like  you. 

It  saddens  me  to  turn  from  your  character  to  the  analysis  of  my  own. 
But  I  can  claim  some  virtues,  though  I  cannot  be  what  my  desires  would 
make  me.  I  would  be  useful  to  all  men — Heaven  knows  I  would  ;  but  alas, 
alas  !  how  feeble  are  my  efforts  and  feebler  my  powers  ?  My  sphere  is  dif 
ferent  from  yours.  You  are  equal  to  your  duties.  I  am  utterly  unequal  to 
mine.  I  see  the  storm  which  is  sweeping  over  my  country,  prostrating  in  its 
path  the  glories  of  the  past,  the  blessings  of  the  present,  and  almost  all  the 
hopes  of  the  future,  and  I  know  it  is  but  a  hurricane  of  passion,  hate,  and 
ambition,  and  I  would  lift  my  voice  to  stay  its  fury,  but  the  voice  is  sound 
less  in  the  universal  roar,  and  I  am  helpless. 

If  I  had  power  equal  to  my  wishes,  this  earth  should  be  a  paradise,  and 
no  living  creature  should  feel  pain.  The  virtue  of  universal  good-will  I  can 
claim.  I  can  also  admire  good  deeds  in  others.  I  envy  no  man,  but  I  would 
emulate  the  best.  My  energies  are  not  equal  to  my  desires,  and  seeing,  as  I 
do,  much  that  ought  to  be  done,  and  yet  doing  myself  so  little,  I  cannot  but 
feel  discontented  with  myself. 

But  if  to  appreciate  one's  companion  be  the  virtue  of  domestic  life,  then 
this  is  my  solid  merit,  for  whether  I  have  a  country  or  not,  even  a  home  or 
not,  I  expect  to  die  as  I  have  lived, — my  wife's  worshiper. 

One  week  from  to-day  and  I  shall  be  speeding  away  to  the  trysting 
place — my  wife's  home  and  my  children's  play-ground.  Never  did  a  caged 
eagle  look  to  the  clear,  bright  heavens  with  a  more  earnest  longing,  nor  the1 
famished  deer  leap  to  the  cooling  water-brook  with  a  more  cheerful  bound. 
O  God,  my  heart  is  glad  !  my  heart  is  glad  !  Home,  sweet  home  ;  children, 
good  children  ;  wife,  dear  wife.  How  like  descending  dews  on  the 
parched  grass,  do  thoughts  of  resting  there,  and  with  these,  fall  upon  my 
tired  spirit. 

Blithe  are  the  notes  of  the  singing  bluebird,  tender  the  petals  of  the 
budding  flower,  and  bright  is  the  dawn  of  the  breaking  day,  when  cold  win 
ter  ends  the  frosty  reign,  and  balmy  spring  blesses  the  earth  with  smiling 


•c. 


POKTRAIT  OF  SENATOR  HILL'S   WIFE. 

(From   a   Photograph   taken   in    1891.) 


•  i 


HIS  LIFE.   SPEECHES,   AND    WRITINGS.  Oi 

freshness  and  queenly  beauty  ;  but  far  more  blithe  and  tender  and  cheerful 
is  the  heart  of  him,  who,  when  chilling  absence  is  over,  is  permitted  to  re 
turn  to  a  home  where  love  and  confidence  make  a  perpetual  spring-time  for 
the  soul. 

Unworthy  as  I  am,  this  happiness  is  mine  ;  and  whatever  other  favors  a 
kind  and  wise  providence  may  withhold  or  grant,  for  this  alone  I  may  daily 
and  hourly  say  :  "  Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul,  and  all  that  is  within  me 
bless  his  holy  name." 

Remember  me  kindly  to  all  the  household,  and  kiss  the  dear  children  for 
the  happy  returning  father. 

Your  devoted  husband, 

B.  H.  HILL. 

He  was  ever  the  most  affectionate,  the  most  generous,  the  most 
iudulgent  parent.  I  never  heard  fall  from  his  lips  a  word  of  harshness 
to  any  one  of  his  children.  He  made  them  his  companions,  and  found  his 
highest  pleasure  in  planning  for  their  happiness.  He  magnified  their 
virtues  and  never  saw  their  faults.  Henry  Grady  gives  the  following 
personal  reminiscences  of  Mr.  Hill's  home  life  in  La  Grange. 

PERSONAL   REMINISCENCES    OF   MR.    HILL. 

"The  first  time  I  ever  saw  Mr.  Hill  was  in  the  winter  of  1867.  I  had 
gone  to  La  Grange  to  spend  my  Christmas  vacation  with  young  Ben  Hill, 
who  was  then  named  Cicero  Hill.  I  have  never  seen  a  happier  home  than 
that  into  which  I  was  welcomed  that  winter  day.  I  have  never  seen  a  man 
more  unaffectedly  happy  and  affectionate  than  was  the  husband  and  father. 
Mrs.  Hill,  lovely  no  less  in  face  and  figure  than  in  character,  was  full  of 
goodness  and  courtesy.  Miss  Hill,  now  Mrs.  Thompson,  charming, 
accomplished,  and  brilliant,  was  the  idol  of  her  father's  heart ;  the  two  sons 
were  smart,  manly  young  fellows,  and  the  youngest  daughter  interesting  and 
pretty.  As  for  Mr.  Hill,  nothing  was  too  trivial  to  engage  his  attention  if  it 
only  related  to  any  member  of  his  family.  He  was  playful,  genial,  and  af 
fectionate  always.  He  made  companions  of  his  children,  and  was  as  ready 
to  romp  with  his  boys  as  to  advise  with  them  as  to  their  future.  Emory 
Speer  and  myself  were  added  to  the  family  group  that  gathered  in  the 
library  night  after  night — and  charming  nights  they  were.  Mr.  Hill 
usually  led  the  conversation,  though  there  was  restraint  upon  no  one.  He 
was  then  deeply  interested  in  the  Reconstruction  problem,  and  would 
discuss  it  earnestly  and  eloquently — then*just  as  earnestly  interest  himself 
in  the  details  of  our  day's  hunting,  or  assist  us  in  the  plans  for  the  morrow, 
or  go  over  the  town  gossip  with  his  wife,  or  discuss  with  his  daughter  a  pair 
of  $1500  horses  that  he  had  just  had  sent  out  from  Kentucky  for  her 
especial  use.  Before  the  family  separated  for  the  night  there  were  earnest 
Christian  prayers,  at  the  close  of  which  each  son  and  daughter  kissed  the 
father  and  mother  '  good-night.' 

"Such  was  Mr.  Hill's  home  life  when  I  first  knew  him.  Never  was 
there  a  happier  family.  Surrounded  with  every  luxury,  all  in  health  and 
cheerfulness,  each  member  devoted  to  the  others,  wife  and  children  proud 
of  the  father,  who  in  turn  adored  them  all — they  made  an  impression  on  my 


92  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

1 

young  mind  that  has  never  been  effaced.  I  little  thought,  then,  that  the  first 
time  I  should  recall  its  details,  thus  particularly,  should  be  to  pay  a  passing 
tribute  to  the  father,  then  the  picture  of  health  and  strength — now  wasted 
away  and  dead  ! ' 

This  was  a  true  description  of  our  home  life  until  the  children  were 
grown  and  the  family  separated.  I  deem  it  not  inappropriate  to  insert 
here  a  letter  he  wrote  to  me  in  1881,  as  it  illustrates  his  parental  affection. 
The  language  of  praise,  while  very  precious  as  showing  in  what  regard  he 
held  me,  I  willingly  admit  is  far  beyond  my  deserts,  and  can  only  be  at 
tributed  to  the  partial  opinion  of  a  very  loving  father. 

UNITED  STATES  SENATE  CHAMBER, 

WASHINGTON,  January  9,  1881. 

My  Dear  Son :  The  snow  is  falling  rapidly  again,  and  I  cannot  go  to  church, 
so  I  will  write  you  a  letter.  In  your  last  you  alluded  to  a  position,  possibly 
to  become  vacant  in  May,  which  you  might  get.  For  two  years  past  I  have 
had  this  place  in  view  for  you,  but  did  not  so  intimate  to  you  for  two 
reasons  :  first,  because  I  did  not  wish  to  excite  expectation  that  might  not  be 
realized  ;  and  second,  because  I  hoped  to  be  able  to  surprise  you  with  a  tender 
of  the  place  if  I  could  control  it.  I  have  had  in  my  life  so  many  blessings 
that  I  ought  not  to  complain  of  anything  nor  regret  anj^thing  personal  to 
myself.  Few  men  who  have  lived  through  such  times  have  enjoyed  so 
much  real  happiness  as  I  have  enjoyed  ;  but  if  I  wTere  to  express  any  regret 
or  designate  any  great  error  of  my  life,  it  would  be  that  I  had  ever  con 
nected  myself  with  party  politics  or  accepted  a  political  office.  When  I 
began  life,  I  never  intended  to  do  either.  I  was  diverted  from  this  by  those 
political  movements  which  I  believed  tended  to  disunion  as  the  result  of 
sectional  animosities,  and  which  I  also  believed  would  eventuate  in  Southern 
defeat  and  humiliation.  I  entered  the  political  current  to  arrest  these  evils 
and  have  never  been  able  to  get  out  of  the  current.  At  two  periods  of  our 
history  I  feel  and  I  know  I  did  great  good  to  our  people,  and  this  conscious 
ness  alone  reconciles  me  to  a  step  which  changed  the  character  and  career 
of  my  whole  life.  If  you  would  be  happy  or  useful  or  self-respecting,  I 
would  advise  you  to  let  party  politics  and  political  positions  severely  alone. 
But  positions  in  the  line  of  your  profession  are  very  different.  By  devoting 
yourself  to  a  broad  and  elevated  study  of  your  profession,  you  will  find 
yourself  growing  constantly  in  knowledge,  wisdom,  usefulness,  wealth,  or 
independence,  and  real  happiness.  If  position  is  offered  as  a  reward  for 
your  professional  proficiency  you  can  properly  accept  it,  both  as  a  result  of 
previous  efforts  and  as  a  means  of  further  improvement.  If  you  were  ap 
pointed  at  your  age  to  the  place  spoken  of, — with  such  a  mind  as  you  possess, 
with  such  moral  habits  and  studious  methods,  with  such  excellent  character 
and  well  balanced  judgment,  and  last,  though  not  least,  with  a  wife  so 
happy  in  your  success,  and  so  worthy  of  companionship  in  all  the  highest 
and  best  walks  of  life, — I  do  not  see  why  you  should  not  make  a  reputation 
for  judicial  learning  and  power  quite  as  profound  as  that  of  John  Marshall. 
I  hope,  before  I  die,  to  enter  you  on  the  course  suggested  and  have  fixed  on 
the  vacancy  suggested  as  a  starting  point.  In  no  event  allow  this  or  any 
other  expectancy  to  elate  you  or  affect  your  regular  business  course,  for  we 
may  be  disappointed,  and  after  all  he  alone  can  be  successful  and  independ- 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WAITINGS.  93 

ent  who  makes  himself  the  real  source  of  success  and  independence.  Such 
a  man  positions  may  aid,  but  the  want  of  them  can  never  destroy  him.  As 
your  mother  knows  all  I  do,  and  has  been  the  mainspring  of  my  life's  suc 
cess,  I  have  allowed  her  to  read  this  letter.  Love  to  Mary. 

Your  affectionate  father, 

B.  H.  HILL. 

In  this  letter  there  are  two  facts  which  should  be  especially  emphasized. 
First,  the  high  motives  that  ought  to  influence  aspirants  for  public  station  ; 
and  second,  the  advice  to  young  men  never  to  accept  political  office.  Not 
withstanding  the  eminence  to  which  he  attained,  he  frequently  expressed 
his  regret  to  me  that  he  had  ever  accepted  office.  A  regret  that  only  a 
consciousness  of  great  service  to  his  country  alleviated.  His  conviction  that 
men  should  only  accept  position  who  were  capable  of  fully  discharging  its 
duties  and  responsibilities  was  very  strong.  He  had  a  great  contempt  for 
aspiring  incompetency,  and  on  several  occasions,  notably  in  his  Historical 
Address  and  in  his  speech  in  reply  to  Butler  and  Hampton  in  the  United 
States  Senate,  gave  utterance  to  his  views  on  this  subject.  He,  and  not  Mr. 
Cleveland,  was  the  author  of  the  patriotic  sentiment,  expressed  in  slightly 
different  language,  that  "public  office  is  a  public  trust."  As  for  himself,  he 
ever  approached  the  service  of  his  country  in  a  spirit  of  consecration. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

His  Sickness — Touching  Account  by  Mr.  Grady — Surgical  Operations — Their  Effect — 
Apparently  Restored  to  Health — Third  and  Last  Operation — A  Great  Mistake — His 
Surgeon  Abandons  Hope — Trip  to  Eureka  Springs — Incidents  Connected  with  his 
Stay  at  Eureka  Springs — Not  Benefited — Returns  Home — Reception  in  Atlanta — 
Editorial  by  Mr.  Grady — Incidents  Connected  with  his  Sickness  in  Atlanta — Won 
derful  Patience  and  Heroism — Touching  Evidences  of  Sympathy  from  the  People — 
Letter  from  Jefferson  Davis — Letter  from  Paul  H.  Hayne — Universal  Interest  in  his 
Condition — Closing  Scenes — His  Last  Words — His  Death,  August  16,  1882. 

SENATOR  HILL'S  sickness  and  death  is  one  of  the  sad  mysteries  of 
life,  which  only  Infinite  intelligence  can  make  clear.  Born  on  a  farm, 
reared  between  the  plow  handles,  with  a  physique  remarkable  for  its  robust 
strength  and  beauty,  without  hereditary  disease  in  his  family,  with  a  life 
singularly  clean  and  pure  and  free  from  any  kind  of  intemperate  habit,  yet 
in  the  very  vigor  of  his  manhood — at  a  time  when  most  potential  for  valu 
able  services  to  his  family  and  country — he  was  stricken  with  that  terrible 
disease  that  has  baffled  the  knowledge  of  science  and  the  skill  of  surgery. 
The  day  after  Senator  Hill's  death,  Mr.  Grady  published  in  the  Atlanta 
Constitution  an  account  of  his  sickness  from  data  furnished  to  him  by  the 
writer.  The  narrative  is  circumstantiallv  correct,  and  written  with  such 

*  * 

beauty  and  pathos  that  I  feel  I  can  do  no  better  than  to  publish  it  in  full. 

ME.  HILL'S  SICKNESS. 

"  When  Mr.  Hill  was  first  elected  to  the  Senate,  the  President  of  the 
Senate  announced  his  election  '  for  the  term  of  six  years.' 

"  Speaker  Gus  Bacon  added,  '  You  had  better  say  for  the  term  of  his 
natural  life.' 

"  No  one  dreamed,  as  the  speaker  made  this  flattering  amendment  in 
deference  to  the  senator's  ability,  that  he  would  not  live  through  a  single 
term.  He  was  then  in  the  very  prime  of  life — of  perfect  health  and  vigor — 
temperate  in  habit,  decorous,  lusty,  and  apparently  good  for  twenty  years  of 
active  service. 

"Just  about  four  years  ago,  Senator  Hill  noticed  a  pimple  on  the  left  side 
of  his  tongue.  It  was  not  larger  than  a  pin's  head,  if  so  large.  It  was 
hardly  so  much- a  pimple  as  a  hair-like  crack  in  the  tongue,  and  was  scarcely 
perceptible  to  the  eye.  Mr.  Hill  had  a  tooth  with  a  jagged  edge,  and 
imagined  that  this  had  abrased  the  surface  of  the  tongue,  and  that  the 
nicotine  from  smoking  had  perhaps  poisoned  the  abrasion.  He  let  the 
matter  go  on  for  a  year  without  giving  it  attention.  Finding  that  it  was  an 
obstinate  sore,  he  then  asked  the  advice  of  local  physicians.  After  treating 
it  with  astringents  awhile,  and  being  uncertain  as  to  what  it  was,  they 
advised  that  he  had  better  go  to  Philadelphia  and  consult  Dr.  Gross. 

"  On  his  trip  North,  in  response  to  this  advice,  Mr.  Hill  went  to  New  York. 
While  there,  lie  met  Mr,  A,  J.  Requier,  formerly  of  Mobile,  who,  learning 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  95 

of  his  trouble,  advised  him  at  once  to  see  a  Dr.  Bayard,  a  homoeopathic 
physician  of  distinction,  and  an  uncle  of  Senator  Bayard.  Mr.  Requier 
urged  this  point,  citing  a  remarkable  cure  that  Dr.  Bayard  had  made.  Mr. 
Hill,  upon  this  advice,  sought  Dr.  Bayard,  who  at  once  pronounced  the  sore 
a  benign  ulcer  and  treated  it  as  such. 

"  In  the  mean  time  the  public  had  become  aware  of  the  trouble.  A 
violent  campaign  was  in  progress  in  the  State,  and  Mr.  Hill  stated  that  a 
sore  on  his  tongue  would  prevent  his  taking  an  active  part  in  it.  There  was 
some  criticism  of  this  statement,  those  who  insisted  upon  the  senator's 
participation  derisively  alluding  to  it  as  l  a  campaign  cancer.'  Little  alarm 
was  felt  among  Mr.  Hill's  friends  or  the  public.  He  remained  under  Dr. 
Bayard's  treatment  for  about  eight  months,  that  gentleman  insisting  all 
the  time  that  it  was  not  epithelioma.  At  length  Dr.  Ridley  advised  Mr.  Hill 
that,  whether  the  sore  was  an  ulcer  or  cancer,  it  had  assumed  a  threatening 
shape,  and  urged  that  he  at  once  go  to  a  surgeon.  Mr.  Hill  reported  this 
advice  to  Dr.  Bayard,  who  still  insisted  that  the  disease  was  not  cancer,  and 
that  it  would  be  cured  without  resort  to  the  knife.  The  senator  urged  that 
it  was  affecting  his  general  health,  and  after  some  further  discussion  notified 
Dr.  Bayard  flatly  that  he  had  determined  to  take  decisive  steps  with 
the  disease.  Dr.  Bayard  reiterated  his  former  opinion,  but,  of  course,  could 
offer  no  further  objection. 

"  Mr.  Hill  then  went  to  New  York  for  the  purpose  of  consulting  Dr.  J. 
R.  Wood.  He  had  been  advised  by  Dr.  Walsh,  and  some  other  surgeon  of 
Washington,  that  his  trouble  was  probably  cancer,  and  that  he  should 
consult  Dr.  Wood.  While  on  his  way  to  Dr.  Wood's  office,  he  passed  the 
office  of  Dr.  Lewis  Sayre  &  Son,  and  went  in.  These  gentlemen  examined 
his  tongue,  and  pronounced  it,  probably,  epithelioma.  They  proposed  that, 
if  he  wished  it,  they  would  summon  some  professional  friends  and  have  a 
microscopic  examination  of  the  discharge  made.  Upon  learning  that  he 
intended  to  consult  Dr.  Gross  finally,  they  advised  him  to  go  at  once,  as  Dr. 
Gross  stood  at  the  head  of  the  profession.  With  an  anxiety  that  may 
be  imagined,  the  senator  went  to  Philadelphia.  Dr.  Gross  was  at  Cape 
May.  Taking  the  first  train,  Mr.  Hill  sought  him  at  the  seaside.  Upon 
ascertaining  what  was  wanted,  the  doctor  took  the  senator  to  a  private 
room. 

"  This  was  on  July  19,  1881. 

"  After  a  full  examination  Dr.  Gross  sat  down,  and  said  with  great 
deliberation  •: 

" '  Senator,  do  you  wish  me  to  tell  you  exactly  what  is  the  matter  with 
you?' 

"  <  I  do.' 

"  '  Well,  sir,  you  have  cancer  of  the  tongue.' 

"  '  What  is  the  remedy  ? ' 

"  '  There  is  only  one.' 

111  And  that  is?' 

" « The  knife.' 

"  Right  here,  I  wish  to  incorporate  one  thing  Dr.  Willis  Westmoreland 
told  me  six  months  ago.  He  said  : 

"'  When  I  first  saw  Mr.  Hill's  tongue  it  could  have  been  cured  by  the 
simplest  sort  of  operation.  The  cancer  was  not  one  fourth  as  big  as  a  small 
pea.  A  mere  clipping  of  the  tongue  would  have  removed  all  traces  of  it. 
I  was  not  then  perfectly  sure  that  it  was  a-  cancer,  but  I  should  have  subjected 


96  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

it  to  a  test  that  would  have  decided  it  in  a  week  or  two.  Had  I  dreamed 
its  true  character  would  not  have  been  ascertained  in  nearly  a  year,  Mr.  Hill 
would  never  have  left  my  office  till  I  had  removed  it.  I  heard  in  about  ten 
days  that  it  had  yielded  to  astringents,  and  was  astounded  to  hear  a  month 
or  so  afterward  that  it  was  still  troubling  Mr.  Hill,  and  being  treated  as  a 
benign  ulcer.  I  then  urged  his  friends  to  have  him  consult  a  surgeon  at 
once.  From  the  moment  of  the  first  operation  I  have  never  had  the 
slightest  hope  of  his  recovery.' 

"  To  return  to  the  scene  of  July  19.  When  Senator  Hill  understood  the 
situation,  he  insisted  that  the  knife  should  be  used  at  once.  He  was  informed 
that  the  operation  must  be  a  heroic  one,  and  that  he  might  die  while  it  was 
being  performed.  He  still  insisted  that  no  time  should  be  lost.  Dr.  Gross 
then  agreed  to  return  to  Philadelphia  on  the  ensuing  day,  and  designated 
Jefferson  Hospital  as  the  best  place  for  the  operation  on  account  of  its 
superior  light  and  facilities.  The  senator  was  entirely  alone.  He  told  me 
of  the  agony  he  endured  the  night  before  the  operation.  He  never  closed 
his  eyes.  His  Avhole  life,  with  its  bitter  struggles,  its  splendid  present,  and 
the  possibilities  of  his  future,  came  in  review  before  him.  He  said  that  as 
he  thought  of  his  vigor,  his  abounding  health  and  strength,  it  seemed  impos 
sible  that  he  should  be  doomed  to  early  and  irrevocable  death.  He  wrote 
a  letter  to  his  son-in-law,  Dr.  Ridley,  announcing  the  decision  of  Dr.  Gross. 
With  the  morning  he  was  ready  for  the  knife. 

"  None  of  his  family  knew  that  an  operation  was  to  be  performed  until 
it  was  all  over.  In  consideration  for  their  feelings  he  spared  them  the 
suffering  he  endured.  His  son,  B.  H.  Hill,  Jr.,  first  learned  of  it  in  a  Rich 
mond  paper,  which  he  read  at  Rawley  Springs.  He  at  once  started  for 
Philadelphia,  arriving  simultaneously  with  Dr.  Ridley.  They  went  together 
to  the  hospital.  Upon  seeing  them  Mr.  Hill,  still  under  prostration,  inclined 
his  head  and  burst  into  tears. 

"  It  is  needless  to  account  the  alternations  of  hope  and  despair  that  have 
moved  the  public  from  that  21st  of  July  until  the  end.  One  remarkable 
thing  is  the  confidence  of  the  physicians  who  had  charge  of  the  case.  The 
hopeful  spirit  of  the  press  was  based  on  the  opinions  of  those  who  should 
have  known,  and  on  the  insistent  hope  of  Mr.  Hill  himself.  In  fact,  among 
friend,  family,  and  physicians,  there  was  hope  to  the  very  last.  This  was 
inspired  by  the  fortitude  of  the  patient  and  his  superb  physical  strength, 
which  seemed  to  defy  the  ravages  of  the  knife,  and  to  invite  the  most  heroic 
surgery.  When  his  son  Ben  went  to  see  him  at  Atlantic  City,  he  stopped 
in  Philadelphia.  There  he  saw  Dr.  Gross,  who  assured  him  that  his  father 
was  doing  well,  that  there  was  no  trace  of  the  disease,  and  that  he  only 
needed  sea  air,  appetite,  and  confidence  to  hasten  into  perfect  health.  Ben 
told  me  afterward  how  happy  this  assurance  made  him,  and  with  what  a 
light  heart  he  started  for  the  seashore. 

"  Upon  reaching  his  father,  he  was  inexpressibly  shocked  at  his  appear 
ance.  The  wound  in  his  neck  was  fearful,  its  inflamed  and  ugly  edges  being 
emphasized  by  the  pallor  and  thinness  of  the  senator,  who  had  lost  forty 
pounds  in  less  than  as  many  days.  He  was  in  constant  pain,  and  was  unable 
to  eat  an  ounce  of  solid  food,  and  was  kept  alive  only  by  stimulants.  His 
son  sent  for  Dr.  Gross  and  had  another  examination  made.  At  its  con 
clusion  the  doctor  walked  from  the  room,  beckoning  to  Ben,  Jr.,  to  follow 
him.  Once  in  another  room  he  turned,  and  with  streaming  eyes,  for  he  had 
learned  to  IQYG  his  patient,  said  : 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  97 

" '  There  is  not  the  slightest  hope  for  your  father's  recovery.  I  feel  it 
ray  dutv  to  inform  you,  as  his  eldest  son,  of  this  fact.' 

"  This  was  on  the  20th  of  March,  and  this  was  the  first  time  that  Dr. 
Gross  had  pronounced  the  case  hopeless. 

"Mr.  Hill  never  recovered  from  the  effects  of  the  last  operation,  which 
must  be  considered  a  most  unfortunate  and  ill-advised  piece  of  surgery,  in 
view  of  what  followed  it.  The  history  of  that  operation  is  peculiar,  as  I 
had  it  from  a  member  of  the  family.  After  the  second  operation,  there  was 
a  slight  swelling  of  the  gland  that  demanded  attention.  Mr.  Hill  went  to 
Philadelphia  and  Dr.  Gross  told  him  that  the  small  lump  that  had  formed 
on  the  gland  must  be  taken  out.  For  the  third  time,  therefore,  the  senator 
was  put  under  the  knife.  He  understood  thoroughly  that  only  a  slight 
operation  was  to  be  performed.  When  he  awaked  from  the  influence  of 
the  ether,  he  said  he  felt  as  if  the  entire  side  of  his  face  and  neck  had  been 
taken  off.  He  was  horrified  to  discover  that  the  entire  glands  had  been 
removed  and  that  he  had  been  subjected  to  a  more  heroic  and  exhaustive 
cutting  than  ever  before.  From  this  shock — from  the  exhaustion  induced 
by  the  severity  of  the  operation — he  never  entirely  rallied.  His  spirits  had 
been  buoyant,  his  faith  unshaken,  up  to  that  time.  After  that  his  nervous 
system  was  shattered,  his  spirits  flagged,  and  he  resigned  himself  to  the 
worst. 

"  It  appears  that  the  surgeons  determined  on  a  change  of  plan  after  they 
had  their  patient  under  the  influence  of  ether.  They  had  intended  to  only 
remove  the  small  lumps  that  had  swollen  on  the  gland.  Upon  examination 
they  found  that  the  whole  gland  was  affected,  and  the  younger  Dr.  Gross 
insisted  that  the  whole  gland  must  be  taken  out.  The  suggestion  was 
heroic,  and  the  elder  Dr.  Gross  hesitated.  His  son  insisted,  and,  it  is  said, 
took  the  knife  and  proceeded  upon  the  terrible  work.  His  father  acquies 
cing,  it  w-as  accomplished,  the  knife  being  sent  clear  through  from  the 
outside  of  the  neck  to»the  'young'  flesh  that  had  grown  in  the  place  ravaged 
by  the  second  operation  from  the  inside  of  the  mouth.  Of  course,  the 
surgeons  acted  for  the  best.  If  the  knife  had  been  able  to  reach  beyond 
the  cancerous  taint,  as  they  hoped,  and  if  the  patient — whose  marvelous 
strength  and  fortitude  they  relied  on — could  have  stood  the  shock  and 
pain  consequent  upon  the  cutting,  he  would  have  emerged  from  that  terri 
ble  ordeal  sound  and  cured. 

"  But  it  failed.  The  wound  never  healed.  The  cancerous  taint  ate  its 
way  from  behind  the  reach  of  the  knife  to  the  front  once  more.  The 
patient  for  weeks,  unable  to  open  his  mouth  or  take  solid  food,  wasted  away. 
The  constant  and  racking  pain,  that  never  gave  him  one  instant  of  relief, 
was  deadened  by  opiates.  Between  the  keen,  relentless  agony,  the  use  of 
drugs,  the  lack  of  food,  and  the  loss  of  flesh  and  strength,  Mr.  Hill  lost  his 
nerve  and  will.  The  admirable  fortitude  that  had  sustained  him  up  to  that 
time — the  superb  calmness  with  which  he  met  all  ugly  symptoms,  and  with 
which  he  directed  the  treatment  of  his  case — all  this  was  gone.  His  whole 
system  was  shattered.  He  never  lost  his  sense  of  Christian  resignation — 
not  one  word  of  complaint  did  he  utter.  But  he  was  unable  to  control 
himself.  The  appearance  of  even  a  casual  acquaintance  would  throw  him 
into  tears.  He  could  scarcely  command  his  voice  for  ordinary  utterances. 
He  took  no  interest  in  affairs,  and  it  required  persuasion  often  to  make  him 
take  the  beef  tea  and  other  liquids  by  which  his  life  was  sustained. 

"  Had  Mr,  Hill  been  aware  of  what  was  proposed  in  this  third  operation 


98  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

he  would  not  have  submitted  to  it.  Indeed,  for  a  long  time,  he  hesitated 
as  to  whether  he  should  have  even  the  second  operation  performed.  He 
was  strongly  advised  to  go  to  Eureka  to  try  the  waters  and  abandon  the 
knife.  He  talked  with  Mr.  W.  P.  Orme  and  others  who  had  been  there, 
and  the  wonderful  stories  they  told  had  almost  persuaded  him,  when  he  met 
Mr.  Gustin,  of  Macon,  who  had  been  to  the  springs  for  cancer  and  had 
failed  to  get  relief.  He  gave  up  the  idea  of  the  springs  and  went  back  to 
Washington.  It  appears  that  there  were  two  mistakes  in  Mr.  Hill's  case. 

"  First.  He  was  kept  under  mild  treatment  for  eight  months,  which 
allowed  the  cancerous  poison  to  get  into  his  blood.  Mr.  Hill  himself  said, 
when  near  the  end,  concerning  the  mistakes  of  his  case  and  the  dogmatic 
tenacity  with  which  the  profession  clings  to  an  accepted  theory  :  '  I  am 
the  victim  of  bigotry.*  He  said  this  in  no  spirit  of  bitterness  and  hardly 
of  criticism,  but  as  one  stating  a  fact  in  sadness. 

»  c* 

"  Second.  The  third  operation,  which  hurried  the  end,  should  have  been 
omitted. 

"  On  this  last  point  Ben  Hill,  Jr.,  told  me  that  a  physician,  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  his  father's  case,  said  his  life  might  have  been  prolonged 
for  several  years,  had  it  not  been  for  this  third  operation,  which  struck  him 
down.  It  is  remarkable  to  see  how  rapidly  he  sunk  under  it.  A  full  length 
picture,  taken  just  before  this  cutting,  shows  that  he  was  in  fine  general 
health,  stalwart,  full,  and  strong.  The  face  is  clean  shaven,  and  it  is  one  of 
the  handsomest  pictures  he  ever  had  taken.  I  saw  him  just  about  this  time. 
He  was  never  ruddier,  more  hopeful  or  cheerful.  His  step  was  elastic,  his 
eye  was  bright,  his  appetite  good.  It  must  have  been  a  horrible  pain  and 
suffering  that  so  surely  slaughtered  the  strong  man  I  saw  that  day.  It  is 
but  just  to  say  that  Dr.  Westmoreland  contends  that  the  third  operation 
was  not  ill-advised.  He  sustains  the  course  of  Dr.  Gross,  and  says  if  it  had 
not  been  performed  death  would  have  come  possibly  earlier — certainly  in 
more  horrible  shape.  It  is  proper  to  say  also  that  the  family  esteem  Dr. 
Gross  highly,  as  all  Georgians  must,  for  his  devotion  to  Mr.  Hill,  and  even 
those  laymen  who  consider  the  last  operation  wrong  must  remember  that 
they  doubt  the  wisdom,  of  the  first  surgeon  of  America,  and  one  whose 
whole  heart  was  with  his  patient. 

"It  will  be  remembered  that  during  the  sickness  following  the  third 
cutting  it  was  reported  the  senator  was  dead.  This  rumor  was  caused  as 
follows  :  The  long  gash  in  the  neck  left  by  the  knife  was  sewed  up,  leaving 
a  corner  open  for  the  escape  of  the  pus.  The  pus  accumulated  under  the 
flesh,  and  swelling  very  rapidly  pressed  against  the  wind-pipe,  almost  suf 
focating  him.  Governor  Brown  called  on  him  one  afternoon  when  this  was 

•zj 

at  its  worst.  He  found  Mr.  Hill  in  high  fever,  with  rapid  pulse,  gasping 
for  breath,  and  perfectly  unintelligible  in  his  attempts  to  talk.  He  was  very 
much  alarmed,  and  told  me  since  that  he  thought  Mr.  Hill  was  dying.  Dr. 
Garnett  was  summoned,  but  said  that  he  dared  not  use  the  knife  where 
other  surgeons  had  been  cutting.  Just  as  the  pressure  was  becoming  in 
tolerable,  the  tender  young  flesh  on  the  inside  of  his  mouth  burst  under  the 
distention  and  the  pus  escaped,  giving  instant  relief.  The  fourth  and  last 
operation  was  the  simple  slitting  open  of  the  surface  wound  to  prevent  a 
recurrence  of  this  danger. 

"Shortly  after  this  it  was  determined  to  carry  Mr.  Hill  to  Eureka 
Springs.  Those  who  were  most  familiar  with  the  case  felt  that  there  was 
little  hope,  even  in  the  famed  waters  of  that  resort,  but  the  family  desired 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  99 

that  every  chance  should  be  taken.  After  a  most  trying  journey,  which, 
however,  he  bore  much  better  than  was  expected,  the  distinguished  invalid 
found  himself  at  Eureka.  He  was  accompanied  by  his  family  and  by  Dr. 
Wright — the  devoted  surgeon  who  had  charge  of  Mr.  Hill's  wound  from 
the  first  day  he  entered  the  hospital.  From  Eureka  there  came  conflicting 
news.  One  day  the  dispatches  would  indicate  that  a  cure  was  effected,  and 
the  next  day  that  death  was  impending.  It  was  soon  discovered  that  Mr. 
Hill  could  not  drink  enough  of  the  water  to  do  any  good,  if  indeed  there 
was  any  virtue  in  the  water.  His  family  was  discussing  the  policy  of 
bringing  him  back  to  Georgia,  where  he  could  have  the  comforts  of  home 
and  the  companionship  of  his  family.  He  finally  cut  this  discussion  by 
announcing  that  he  was  coming  back  to  Georgia.  Said  he  : 

"  '  Whatever  God  may  have  in  the  future,  I  am  willing  to  bear  without 
a  murmur.  But  if  I  must  die,  I  will  go  back  to  the  old  State  that  gave  me 
birth  and  die  on  her  soil  and  among  my  own  people.' 

"  Mr.  Hill  had  gained  considerable  strength  while  at  Eureka,  and  was 
buoyant  and  happy  when  he  found  himself  fairly  on  his  way  home.  As  he  got 
out  of  the  wagon  that  brought  him  to  the  train,  he  proposed  to  wrestle  for 
a  wager  with  one  of  his  companions,  and  said  :  *  I  ain't  near  being  a  dead 
man  yet.'  Even  up  to  this  time  his  disease  baffled  the  closest  observers. 
Dr.  Wright,  who  knew  more  of  it,  perhaps,  than  any  other  man,  told  Ben, 
Jr.,  that  his  father  would  be  in  the  Senate  again  within  a  month.  A  day  or 
two  afterward,  as  they  were  passing  through  Louisville,  he  said  : 

"  *  Your  father  cannot  live  much  longer.' 

"  '  How  will  death  probably  come  ?  ' 

" '  Through  inanition  and  wearing  out.' 

"  'But  how  is  that?  The  food  he  now  takes  will  sustain  him  on  indefi 
nitely.  ' 

" l  He  will  soon  acquire  such  an  aversion  to  food  that  he  will  neither 
take  it  nor  retain  it.  This,  with  the  ravage  of  the  disease,  will  soon  bring 
the  end.' 

"  No  event  in  my  memory  so  moved  Atlanta  as  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Hill 
on  his  return  from  Eureka.  The  whole  city  wore  a  funereal  aspect.  Men 
spoke  in  low  and  solemn  tones,  and  the  weight  of  a  great  sorrow  pressed  on 
the  hearts  of  young  and  old.  At  the  depot  a  great  crowd  gathered,  and  the 
streets  through  which  his  carriage  was  to  pass  were  lined  with  his  people  for 
the  entire  distance.  As  he  came  from  the  car,  way  was  made  for  him.  He 
lifted  his  hat  and  walked  steadily,  though  slowly.  Hundreds  of  strong  men 
wept  as  they  saw  this  great  man,  so  stricken  and  yet  so  gallant — but  in 
perfect  silence  he  moved  on  to  his  carriage.  Not  a  word  was  spoken  as  the 
carriage  rolled  through  the  masses  who  stood  with  bare  heads  and  dimmed 
eyes,  but  the  scene  was  impressive  beyond  comparison." 

Mr.  Grady  wrote  the  following  beautiful  editorial  on  the  day  Mr.  Hill 
arrived  at  home  : 


"  COMING    HOME   AGAIN. 


"  At  one  o'clock  to-day  Senator  Hill  will  reach  Atlanta,  accompanied  by 
his  family. 

"  The  greatest  orator  that  this  country  has  produced  since  Clay  and 
Webster3  comes  home  dumb  and  silent.  The  voice  that  a  few  months  ago 


100  SENATOR  R   H.  HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

rang  through  the  Senate  Chamber,  and  revived  the  glories  of  Southern 
eloquence,  struggles  to  lisp  a  simple  sentence.  The  handsome  form  that  was 
so  full  of  health  and  vigor,  when  it  was  last  seen  on  these  streets,  is  stricken 
and  prostrate.  The  life  that  was  a  sunburst  in  its  light  and  brilliance  but  a 
short  time  since,  is  clouded  and  dark  with  the  shadow  of  disease.  A  career 
that  was  of  the  loftiest,  and  led  to  loftier  heights,  is  checked,  perhaps 
ended, — and  the  great  man  worn  with  pain,  weary  of  wandering,  lifts  his 
dimmed  eyes  toward  his  home,  and  comes  back  to  his  people  once  more. 
God  only  knows  how  their  hearts  go  out  to  him,  and  with  what  intense 
sympathy  they  have  made  his  sorrow  their  own. 

"  He  will  find  to-day,  when  he  enters  the  depot,  thousands  of  his  friends, 
with  bowed  heads  and  earnest  faces,  awaiting  his  coming.  His  whole  people 
have  been  anxious  to  testify,  in  some  way  that  he  can  appreciate,  their  grief 
and  sympathy.  They  wished  to  take  the  horses  from  his  carriage  that  our 
oldest  and  most  venerable  citizens  might,  with  tender  and  loving  hands,  lead 
him  to  his  home.  The  fear  that  they  might  endanger  the  life  that  is  so 
precious,  or  strain  the  system  that  has  borne  so  much,  has  left  in  uncertain 
shape  what  would  have  been  the  most  remarkable  demonstration  ever  seen 
in  this  city.  Whatever  is  done,  Mr.  Hill  may  know  that  every  heart  in  the 
great  city  aches  witli  his  sorrow  ;  that  thousands  of  eyes  unused  to  tears  will 
grow  dim  to-day  as  they  look  upon  his  carriage,  and  in  the  quiet  hush  of 
our  busy  streets  he  will  find  more  profound  consideration  than  any  display 
could  show.  If  he  could  only  know  the  depth  and  earnestness  of  the  feeling 
that  pervades  the  whole  city,  he  would  find  a  consolation  deeper  than  words 
can  express.  If  the  love,  the  prayers,  the  sympathy,  and  the  sorrow  of  fifty 
thousand  citizens,  without  one  exception,  could  put  into  human  hands  the 
miraculous  power  to  cure  that  rested  in  the  finger  of  the  divine  Nazarene, 
Mr.  Hill  would  to-day  rise  from  his  bed,  and  carry  in  his  renewed  health 
the  testimony  of  the  affections  of  a  whole  people.  May  God,  in  his  infinite 
mercy,  grant  what  human  skill  cannot  achieve  or  human  hearts  command." 

"  From  the  day  of  Mr.  Hill's  arrival  in  Atlanta,  he  steadily  declined. 
The  temporary  strength  he  had  gained  at  Eureka,  the  natural  rally  of  his 
system  against  the  prostration  caused  by  the  knife  was  lost,  and  day  after 
day  found  him  weaker  than  before.  He  still  received  his  friends,  and  a 
daily  stream  of  visitors  paid  their  respects  and  tendered  their  sympathy. 
He  was  able  for  some  two  or  three  weeks  to  talk  intelligibly,  though  the 
absorbent  cotton  in  his  mouth  deadened  the  voice,  and  made  the  syllables 
indistinct.  He  was  fond  of  company,  and  his  mind  was  as  alert  and  his 
interest  in  current  affairs  as  vivid  as  ever.  He  seemed  anxious  to  impress 
upon  his  visitors  this  fact,  and  also  that  his  general  health  was  perfect  and 
his  system  undisturbed. 

"  '  I  am  as  well  as  I  ever  was,  if  it  was  not  for  this  wound,'  he  would  say, 
lifting  his  white  fingers  in  a  pitiful  way  to  his  bandaged  face.  He  was  per 
fectly  happy,  I  think,  during  those  long  sunny  days.  He  said  to  me  once, 
looking  at  the  sunshine  streaming  through  his  windows,  and  his  family 
gathered  about  him:  '  If  it  were  not  for  this  pain,  I  should  feel  that  I  were 
in  heaven.'  He  went  out  riding  twice,  and  enjoyed  the  familiar  scenes 
through  which  he  was  driven.  He  recognized  almost  every  one  who  spoke 
to  him,  and  returned  their  salutations  with  a  smile.  He  walked  about  the 
house  without  trouble,  and  one  day  I  saw  him  standing  alone  in  his  front 
yard — like  a  great  statue  of  himself — pale,  bandaged,  mournful,  with  the 


LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.   ,',„;>,  101 

•• '  ''•**' 

noonday  sun  streaming  on  his  head  and  the  flowers  springing  about  his  feet. 
As  we  saluted  him,  he  lifted  his  hand  with  the  old  royal  grace,  and,  bending 
his  body  stiffly  to  one  side,  smiled  in  a  tender  and  graceful  way.  But  these 
days  were  soon  over. 

"  When  he  reached  Atlanta  there  were  two  distinct  wounds.  One  ex 
tended  from  the  center  of  the  chin  back  an  inch  perhaps — the  other  from 
under  the  ear  toward  the  chin.  There  was  a  firm,  broad  strip  of  flesh 
between  these  wounds,  but  this  finally  gave  way  and  there  was  but  one 
wound,  extending  from  the  middle  of  the  chin  to  beneath  the  left  ear.  The 
disease  then  struck  deeper,  and  the  cancer  ate  its  way  toward  the  arteries 
and  the  lungs.  The  road  to  death  was  now  marked  by  small  epochs  that 
came  with  increasing  frequency  as  the  end  was  neared. 

"On  July  12,  it  was  discovered  that  his  speech  was  so  indistinct  he  could 
scarcely  be  understood,  and  a  writing  pad,  with  pencil  attached,  was  bought 
for  him.  From  this  time  forward  he  wrote  what  he  had  to  say,  abandoning 
the  effort  to  talk  almost  entirely.  During  his  whole  sickness  the  only 
impatience  he  showed  was  when  he  could  not  make  himself  understood  by 
speech.  And  I  have  thought  that  this  was  perhaps  the  crucial  trial  to  him. 
What  a  pitiful  travesty  it  was.  That  the  most  eloquent  of  Americans,  on 
whose  utterance  the  nation  hung  entranced,  and  the  hautboy  sweetness  of 
whose  voice  enchanted  all  hearers — should  be  so  crippled  and  gashed  that  he 
could  not  convey  to  his  family  the  simplest  message  of  love  or  inquiry. 
That  the  strong  man,  with  mind  as  alert  and  powerful  as  ever,  groaned  in 
anguish  when  he  found  himself  dumb  indeed,  and  was  forced  to  write  the 
words  he  could  not  speak. 

"  Mr.  Hill  was  first  informed,  positively,  that  his  disease  was  cancer,  and 
that  there  was  no  hope  for  his  life,  on  the  18th  of  July — on  the  day  before 
the  meeting  of  the  gubernatorial  convention.  He  had  steadily  believed,  up 
to  this  time,  that  his  disease  was  not  cancer  and  that  some  relief  would  be 
afforded.  At  last,  however,  it  was  impossible  to  disguise  its  true  nature  any 
longer.  On  the  Sunday  previous  to  the  18th  he  had  found  it  impossible  to 
swallow  even  the  liquid  food  on  which  he  had  subsisted  for  months.  Deg 
lutition,  accomplished  day  after  day  with  more  pain,  at  last  was  impossible, 
and  it  seemed  that  starvation  was  definitely  ahead  of  him.  A  tube,  how 
ever,  was  forced  down  his  throat,  and  through  this  a  few  drops  of  milk 
administered.  The  next  day  the  tube  was  taken  out  and  it  was  discovered 
that  he  could  swallow  a  little  milk  without  it.  But  it  was  feared  that  the 
throat  would  permanently  close  at  any  moment.  On  Tuesday  he  was  in 
formed  of  his  actual  condition.  It  created  no  surprise  and  was  received 
without  emotion.  Shortly  afterward,  with  great  pain  and  difficulty,  he 
swallowed  about  an  ounce  of  milk.  At  last,  impressed  with  the  agony 
caused  by  the  effort,  he  put  the  cup  to  one  side  and  said,  'That  is  the  last 
thing  I  will  ever  drink.'  He  then  busied  himself  by  making  his  will — a  duty 
that  he  had  put  off  up  to  this  time.  And  thus,  while  the  great  convention 
was  bustling  and  throbbing  a  few  squares  off,  and  politicians  were  rushing 
to  and  fro  with  their  petty  ambitions,  this  great  man  sat  in  the  shadow  of 
death  and  made  preparation  to  bid  farewell  to  the  earth  and  all  earthly 
things  at  the  very  summit  of  fame,  enjoying  all  the  honor  that  a  devoted 
people  could  give,  and  with  all  the  glory  that  eloquence  and  statesmanship 
could  bring.  What  a  lesson  of  the  folly  of  things  his  sad  fate  conveyed  to 
the  men  who  thought  that  all  in  all  was  involved  in  their  scrambles  and 
aspirations  in  the  capitol ! 


102 


V  t  *  * 

*      <  »  O 

<..  <•  tj 

•»  «  t 


.SENATOR  B.   H.  HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 


*  t      i  •  t> 

"There  were  several  reasons  that  induced  those  about  Mr.  Hill  to  believe 
that  the  end  was  fast  approaching  at  this  time.  His  alarming  weakness, 
the  sudden  but  not  unexpected  closing  of  the  throat,  the  pain  with  which 
he  swallowed  even  a  few  drops  of  milk,  the  irritation  of  his  stomach,  the 
deepening  ravage  of  his  wound,  all  combined  to  fill  this  conviction.  In 
addition  to  this  a  message  had  just  been  received  that  dispelled  the  last 
vestige  of  hope  from  even  the  heart  of  his  son,  who  had  hoped  against 
hope  for  months.  There  was  a  physician  in  Chicago  of  great  fame  and 
character,  who  had  taken  a  hopeful  view  of  Mr.  Hill's  case  from  the  begin 
ning,  and  who  had  a  remedy  or  treatment  that  had  been  very  successful 
with  cancer.  The  family  corresponded  with  him  for  months,  and  he  was 
disposed  to  believe,  while  declining  to  accept  any  compensation,  that  Mr. 
Hill's  case  was  not  hopeless.  His  remedy,  while  a  very  severe  one,  had 
effected  fine  results,  and  I  believe  was  tried  on  Mr.  Hill  for  a  few  days,  but 
abandoned  because  it  threatened  to  prostrate  him.  At  last  Ben,  Jr.,  had  a 
thorough  diagnosis  of  his  father's  condition  made  and  sent  it  to  this  Chi 
cago  surgeon,  with  the  request  that  he  would  examine  it  carefully,  and  if 
there  was  the  slightest  possibility  of  a  cure,  in  his  opinion,  that  he  would 
come  at  once  to  Atlanta.  On  the  17th  of  July  a  letter  was  received  in 
which  the  physician  stated  that  from  the  diagnosis  he  was  satisfied  that 
there  was  not  a  shadow  of  hope,  and  that,  while  he  was  willing  to  give  any 
time  or  trouble  to  the  cure  of  Senator  Hill  or  the  amelioration  of  his  con 
dition,  he  felt  that  a  journey  to  Atlanta  with  that  view  would  simply 
raise  false  hopes  and  be  without  effect.  After  this,  there  was  nothing  for 
even  those  who  were  most  devoted  to  him  to  do  except  to  sit  with  folded 
hands  and  wait  for  the  end.  Indeed,  when  they  saw  the  hourly  and  relent 
less  suffering  under  which  he  was  bowed  it  seemed  almost  a  mercy  that  his 
pain  should  be  soothed  and  his  aching  heart  be  stilled  even  though  it  was 
Death  itself  that  brought  the  relief. 

"  Up  to  the  last  Mr.  Hill  did  not  decline  to  receive  his  friends,  even 
though  the  visits  involved  the  most  affecting  consequences.  Scarcely  a 
man  ever  entered  that  awful,  but  benign  presence,  without  showing  an 
emotion  that  was  perceptible  even  to  the  dull  eyes  of  the  sufferer.  Men 
who  for  years  had  not  shed  a  tear,  and  who  might  have  thought  that  all  the 
fountains  of  tenderness  were  dried  within  their  breasts,  found  themselves 
blinded  when  they  held  Mr.  Hill's  hand  and  looked  into  his  face.  When 
Governor  Brown  called  to  see  him  it  was  several  minutes  before  either 
could  speak.  With  hands  clasped  and  heads  bowed,  the  two  senators  sobbed, 
and  their  frames  shook  with  uncontrollable  emotion.  When  Governor 
Colquitt  called  for  the  first  time,  he  sat  down  near  Mr.  Hill.  The  senator 
reached  out  his  wan  hand,  laid  it  in  the  governor's,  and  said  :  *  I  have 
wanted  to  see  you  a  long  time.'  Governor  Colquitt  was  completely  over 
come.  He  bent  his  head  in  his  hands,  while  the  tears  ran  through  his 
fingers.  Mr.  Hill  was  just  as  much  affected.  This  was  the  history  of 
almost  every  visit.  There  was  a  pathos  in  Mr.  Hill's  condition  and  circum 
stance  that  overswept  and  melted  even  the  stoutest  heart.  Men  whose 
acquaintance  with  him  was  but  slight,  when  they  saw  him  sitting  there  so 
helpless  and  yet  so  resigned,  were  unable  to  control  themselves.  He  usually 
wrote  something  for  each  visitor,  and  in  almost  all  cases  gave  them  his 
autograph.  Even  to  the  last,  this  was  written  in  a  firm,  flowing  hand. 
What  he  wrote  was  usually  of  a  religious  vein,  and  I  quote  a  sentence  given 
to  Mr.  Howard  Van  Epps — and  he  cherishes  the  scrap  of  paper  on  which  it 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  103 

is  written  as  a  precious  treasure — as  an  evidence  of  what  was  occupying  his 
mind  :  'I  am  in  perfect  health  except  my  wound.  That  pains  me  very 
much.  My  future  is  uncertain  as  to  time,  but  not  as  to  fate.  I  am  perfectly 
resigned.  God  will  take  care  of  me.  There  is  some  work  that  I  should 

^j 

like  to  finish  before  I  go,  but  God's  will  be  done.' 

"  Such,  in  brief,  is  the  story  of  this  sickness — this  never-lifting  shadow 
that  deepened  so  quickly  into  death.  It  is  but  the  merest  outline.  No  mor 
tal  pen  can  fill  out  the  picture.  The  roughest  hand  would  falter  and  the 
sternest  eye  grow  dim  in  attempting  to  write  down  the  pathos  and  the  sorrow 
of  this  Iliad.  Never,  perhaps,  was  so  much  of  gentleness  and  courage  allied 
for  endurance.  The  uncomplaining  resignation  of  a  Christian — the  engag 
ing  tenderness  of  a  child — the  lofty  calmness  of  a  philosopher — the  sturdy 
fortitude  of  a  stoic,  combined  in  the  sick  life  of  this  man,  with  a  genius  that 
had  never  halted  before  inquiry,  and  a  pride  and  a  courage  that  had  borne 
all  things  before  it,  he  never  even  challenged  the  justness  of  his  affliction,  but 
bowed  his  head  under  it  unquestioning  and  silent.  With  a  tongue  whose 
eloquence  had  been  irresistible,  and  hands  at  whose  invocation  whole  peoples 
had  risen  to  do  his  bidding,  he  raised  neither  in  supplication  that  his  impend 
ing  fate  might  be  averted;  but  with  the  one  taught  submission  to  the  God 
that  even  then  oppressed  him,  and  with  the  other  reached  out  to  his  loved 
ones,  and  gathered  them  to  his  heart.  Through  all  of  the  horrible  ordeal, 
through  pain  so  fierce  and  unrelenting  that  death  itself  was  a  blessing — 
through  long  days  and  nights  of  contemplation,  when  the  strong  man 
must  have  rebelled  against  the  Fate  that  pressed  upon  him  so  inexora 
bly — there  was  never  a  word  of  complaint  or  outcry.  The  child  that  died  un 
conscious  in  its  mother's  arms  could  never  have  left  those  who  loved  it  a  more 
perfect  assurance  of  its  ineffable  and  eternal  peace — and  those  who  with  pa 
tience  and  tenderness  faced  this  sad  tragedy  to  the  end,  found  their  hearts 
irradiated,  and  their  tears  dried  at  last,  in  a  light  at  once  divine  in  its  source 
and  splendor  !  ' 

Little  can  be  added  to  the  details  of  this  narrative,  and  nothing  to  its 
tenderness  and  pathos.  I  would,  however,  say  something  of  the  wonderful 
patience  of  the  sufferer,  and  something  of  the  loving  interest  of  the  people 
in  him,  as  he  lay  so  many  days  on  a  martyr's  couch.  As  soon  as  I  heard 
of  the  first  operation,  I  went  to  my  father,  and  from  that  day  to  the  end  I 
was  constantly  with  him.  I  witnessed  his  sufferings,  as  agonizing  as  ever 
borne  by  man,  and  I  bear  testimony  that  no  word  of  complaint,  or  murmur 
of  rebellion,  ever  escaped  his  lips.  He  was  always  full  of  consideration  for 
his  loved  ones.  The  first  operation  he  kept  entirely  from  them  until  it  was 
all  over.  I  can  never  forget  the  scene  just  before  the  second  operation. 
My  mother  and  myself  were  with  him,  and  I  never  saw  such  absolute  self- 
control,  such  nerve,  and  such  cheerfulness.  Although  he  was  about  to 
undergo  an  ordeal,  the  result  of  which  was  uncertain,  for  the  surgeons  had 
told  him  it  might  result  in  death,  yet,  up  to  the  moment  when  the  last  word 
of  farewell  was  spoken,  he  talked  brightly  and  happily  to  us.  I  wanted  to 
go  with  him  to  the  surgeon's  room,  but  to  this  he  would  not  consent.  I 
shall  never  forget  his  happy  smile  and  cheerful  voice  as  he  kissed  my 
mother  good-by,  and,  putting  his  arm  around  me,  begged  that  I  would 
remember  my  promise  to  stay  with  her.  In  a  short  time  he  was  brought 
back  to  us  speechless  and  helpless.  He  rapidly  recovered  from  the  effects 
of  this  operation,  and  in  a  few  weeks  was  apparently  in  his  usual  good 


104  SENATOR  B.   II.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

health.  He  resumed  his  seat  the  following  winter  in  the  Senate,  and 
participated  in  its  proceedings.  The  only  apparent  effect  of  the  opera 
tion  was  a  slight  lisp,  caused  by  the  tongue  growing  to  the  bottom 
of  the  mouth,  when  healing,  but  this  the  surgeons  assured  him  could 
be  easily  remedied.  As  Mr.  Grady  has  said,  he  was  never  in  better 
general  health  than  when  the  third  and  last  operation  was  performed. 
He  weighed  180  pounds,  at  least  five  pounds  more  than  ever  before 
in  his  life  ;  but  from  the  effects  of  this  operation  he  never  recovered. 
Some  members  of  his  family,  myself  among  the  number,  were  very 
much  opposed  to  such  heroic  treatment,  urging  him  to  try  other 
remedies  before  resorting  to  the  knife,  but  he  thought  the  course  he 
followed  was  the  wiser  one,  and  while  at  the  hospital  he  wrote  my 
wife  the  following  letter  on  the  subject : 

PHILADELPHIA,  October  4,  1881. 

My  Dear  Daughter:  Your  letter  was  so  sweet  and  full  of  love 
it  gave  me  great  pleasure  to  receive  it.  I  have  loved  you  better 
recently  than  ever  before,  and  feel  for  you  as  for  my  own  daughter. 
God  has  given  me  such  noble  children  that  I  should  be  wicked  in 
deed  to  complain  of  any  affliction  that  he  may  send  upon  me.  But 
his  blessings  have  been  countless.  All  along  through  the  terrible 
period  of  war,  as  well  as  through  times  of  peace,  my  pathway  has 
been  strewn  with  comfort  and  joys  which  ought  to  satisfy  any  one 
in  this  life.  Whatever  shall  befall  me  during  the  small  remnant  of  my 
pilgrimage,  I  shall  submit  without  murmuring.  "  Thy  will  be  done  "  is  the 
prayer  of  every  breath.  I  think  I  could  be  of  service  to  my  dear  children 
and  the  country  if  I  could  live  out  the  days  a  vigorous  constitution  would 
allow  me.  But  God  knows  better  than  I  can  know  what  is  in  the  future, 
and  whatsoever  He  doeth  will  be  best.  You  and  Ben  and  very  many 
friends  are  urging  me  to  go  to  Eureka  Springs.  I  think  I  owe  it  to  myself, 
my  family,  and  my  State,  to  exhaust  all  the  remedies  for  my  trouble.  I  am 
now  submitting  to  surgical  treatment,  because,  if  that  treatment  fails,  it  will 
still  be  time  enough  to  try  other  remedies  ;  whereas,  if  I  try  other  remedies 
first  and  they  fail,  it  will  then  be  too  late  to  try  surgery.  The  surgeons 
assure  me  my  disease  is  altogether  local,  and  that  there  is  no  impurity  in 
my  blood.  My  perfect  health  is  a  strong  confirmation  of  the  correctness  of 
this  theory.  Thus  far  there  is  no  symptom  of  the  return  of  the  disease,  and 
every  day  I  grow  better.  God  bless  you  and  save  you  and  your  dear 
husband  from  all  evil. 

Affectionately  your  father, 

B.  H.  HILL. 

It  was  only  after  our  last  interview  with  Dr.  Gross,  when  the  great  sur 
geon,  after  an  examination,  left  the  room  without  a  word,  and  I  followed  to 
hear  from  his  trembling  lips  the  saddest  words  that  had  ever  fallen  upon 
my  ears,  that  my  father  consented  to  go  to  Eureka  Springs.  He  realized 
the  meaning  of  Dr.  Gross's  silent  departure,  although  I  kept  the  terrible 
announcement  in  my  own  heart.  I  will  not  dwell  upon  the  particulars  of 
the  long  trip  to  Eureka,  nor  of  the  two  months  of  alternate  hope  and  de 
spair  passed  there.  During  those  long  days  he  seemed  to  be  gathering 
strength  for  the  extreme  hour.  He  rarely  spoke,  for  the  pain  of  speech  was 
very  great.  Day  by  day  he  sat  silent,  his  great  eyes,  luminous  with  thought, 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND   WRITINGS.  105 

gazing  at  the  blue  mountains  far  in  the  distance,  and  there  seemed  to  steal 
into  his  heart  the  rest  and  peace  of  the  everlasting  hills.  "  He  lifted  up  his 
eyes  unto  the  hills  from  whence  cometh  help."  What  visions  must  have 
come  before  him  as  he  thus  sat  communing  with  himself  and  his  God.  I 
doubt  little  that  his  whole  life  passed  in  review  before  him.  Visions  of  his 
pure  boyhood,  the  old  farm-house  and  the  red  hills  ;  visions  of  the  beautiful 
face  of  his  loving  mother,  and  the  proud  face  of  his  happy  father,  as  he  came 
back  to  them,  in  their  humble  home,  bearing  the  highest  honors  of  his  col 
lege.  Visions  of  his  triumphant  life  as  he  mounted  so  rapidly  into  fame  ; 
of  his  victories  at  tttfe  bar,  on  the  hustings,  in  the  Senate.  He  heard  again 
the  applause  of  listening  multitudes,  and  saw  again  the  rapt  and  grateful 
eyes  of  his  countrymen  as  they  hung  upon  the  music  of  his  words.  Blessed 
visions  of  wife,  home,  and  children.  Before  this  terrible  disease  struck 
him  down,  how  strong  he  was,  how  abounding  in  health  and  vigor,  how 
potential  for  service  to  his  country.  Ah,  sun-crowned  and  shadowless  to 
him  was  life  !  All  these  visions  and  thoughts  must  have  come  to  him,  and 
all  these  memories,  these  blessings,  and  these  aspirations  lie  must  now  give 
up  ;  and  yet,  never  a  word  of  regret  for  himself,  or  rebellion  at  the  inex 
plicable  mystery  of  his  lot,  ever  escaped  him. 

When  his  feeble  lips  uttered  any  word  of  lament,  it  was  for  his  loved 
ones,  for  his  country.  The  burden  on  his  heart  was  the  lost  power  to  serve 
them.  One  day  he  said  to  us  :  "  It  is  astonishing  how  the  horrors  of  death 
diminish  as  it  approaches.  How  riches,  honor,  position,  the  world's  applause, 
dwindle  into  insignificance.  I  should  like  to  live  ;  I  feel  that  I  could  be  of 
more  use  to  my  country  and  family  than  I  have  ever  been.  But,  after  all, 
what  does  it  matter?  A  few  years,  and  I  must  pass  away  at  best.  Those 
of  my  children  who  have  been  unfortunate,  I  would  like  to  help  more  and 
lift  them  up  over  the  rough  places,  but  if  I  am  taken  they  will  perhaps  rely 
more  upon  themselves  and  trust  more  to  Him  ;  so,  in  any  event,  I  am  sub 
missive.  I  lean  upon  the  everlasting  arm  and  my  trust  is  Christ.  If  the 
Christian  religion  is  a  fable, — a  fable  ? — how  can  it  be  ?  how  could  it  start  ? 
could  anything  be  purer,  more  beautiful,  more  unselfish  ?  I  do  not  think  I 
shall  be  saved  by  my  own  merits,  oh,  no  ! — I  have  done  a  thousand  things  I 
ought  not  to  have  done, — but  through  the  merits  of  Christ  who  died  for  me." 

And  so  every  word  he  spoke,  every  line  traced  by  his  trembling  hand, 
when  too  feeble  to  speak,  was  of  his  country,  his  family,  and  his  God. 
During  those  days  of  suffering  he  was  not  forgotten  by  his  countrymen.  As 
he  never  ceased  to  think  of  them,  so  they  never  ceased  to  think  of  him. 
From  all  over  the  land,  from  the  North  as  well  as  the  South,  came  mes 
sages  and  letters  of  love  and  sympathy.  Hundreds  of  remedies  for  his  dread 
disease  were  forwarded  to  him,  with  earnest  prayers  that  he  would  use  them. 
His  colleagues  in  the  Senate,  headed  by  his  bitterest  political  opponent,  sent 
to  him  tenderest  words  of  regret  for  his  absence,  sympathy  for  his  suffering, 
and  prayers  for  his  return.  The  great  leader  of  the  Confederacy,  from  his 
seclusion,  wrote  as  follows  : 

BEAUVOIE,  HARRISON  Co.,  Miss., 

July  19,  1882. 
HON.  B.  H.  HILL. 

My  Very  Dear  ffiiend:  I  am  so  solicitous  about  your  welfare  that  I 
write  to  ask  for  direct  information  in  regard  to  your  health.  Ever  mindful 
of  your  generous  and  cordial  support  given  to  me  in  times  of  trial  and  when 


106  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

in  deepest  adversity,  times  when  the  timid  and  self-seeking  desert,  as  rats 
fly  from  a  sinking  ship,  I  have  suffered  in  your  suffering  and  fervently 
prayed  for  your  relief.  For  my  sake,  for  your  sake,  and  that  of  your 
family  and  of  your  country,  now  so  needing  your  service,  may  Our  Father 
give  you  health  and  strength  and  length  of  days. 

Hopefully  and  faithfully  yours, 

JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

The  sweetest  singer  in  all  our  Southland  wrote  to  me  this  touching  mes 


sage 


My  Dear  Sir :  I  trust  you  received  my  answer  to  your  courteous  letter 
of  some  weeks  ago.  My  present  purpose  in  writing  is  to  express  to  you  and 
your  family,  in  far  stronger  terms  than  before,  the  sorrow  that  I  and  all  our 
neighbors  feel  in  hearing  of  the  terrible  condition  of  that  great,  good, 
heroic  man — your  father.  It  seems  incomprehensible  that  in  the  youth  of 
his  fame  and  usefulness,  such  a  calamity  should  have  come  upon  one  of  the 
few  statesmen  our  country  can  now  boast  of  ;  but  I  declare  before  God  that 
I,  for  one,  believe  his  magnificent  heroism,  his  majestic  patience,  his  Chris 
tian  faith  under  torture,  which  recall  the  fabled  sufferings  of  Prometheus, 
must  furnish  an  example  that  can  never  die,  and  in  his  death  he  shall  be  the 
means  of  calling  many  to  the  loftiest  heights,  perhaps,  of  a  long  forgotten 
belief.  Even  such  consolations  are  feeble  now  to  the  "  near  and  dear  ones," 
called  to  witness  a  husband's  and  father's  anguish.  The  sympathies  of 
Georgia,  the  South,  the  whole  United  States — are  with  them.  From  one 
who  may  soon  be  called  upon  himself  to  pass  through  the  "  valley  of  the 
shadow,"  receive  these  few  lines  of  profound  condolence.  I  am, 

Most  truly  yours, 

PAUL  H.  HAYNE. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  give  the  thousands  of  similar  messages  that 
came  to  brighten  the  darkness  of  his  sick-room.  They  came  from  high  and 
low,  from  friends  and  strangers,  from  every  section  of  this  broad  land,  and 
the  sufferer  was  deeply  touched  and  comforted  by  these  evidences  of  the 
loving  thought  of  the  people.  Some  weeks  before  his  death,  he  wrote  on  his 
pad,  to  me,  "As  my  son  and  secretary  you  ought  to  acknowledge  the  receipt 
of  every  letter,  thanking  the  writer  for  me,  and  you  ought  to  preserve  every 
letter  ;  you  may  want  them  if  I  die,  and  I  will  certainly  want  them  if  I  live." 
And  what  more  need  I  write  ?  Years  have  passed  since  that  sad  day,  and 
many  sorrows  have  entered  the  home  which  he  left  desolate.  The  shadow 
has  never  lifted,  and  for  me  will  never  lift.  I  cannot  dwell  upon  the  clos 
ing  scenes  of  this  great  life.  His  last  words,  uttered  distinctly  the  day 
before  his  death,  "  Almost  home,"  will  be  ever  treasured  in  the  hearts  of 
Christians.  As  the  sun  rose  on  the  morning  of  the  16th  of  August,  1882,  so 
his  great  spirit  went  to  meet  the  Son  of  Righteousness. 

In  the  solemn  stillness  of  the  early  dawn, 

In  the  rosy  radiance  of  the  waking  morn, 
He  slept— and  his  spirit,  winging  its  flight 

To  Heaven,  as  silently  and  softly  passed  away 
As  the  tired  twilight  falls  asleep  in  night, 

And  the  dreaming  dawn  wakes  to  day. 


HTS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  107 

lie  is  buried  in  beautiful  Oakland — the  first  of  his  family  to  rest  in  that 
silent  city.  Over  his  grave,  the  faithful  companion  of  his  life,  and  the  son, 
whose  proudest  heritage  is  his  name,  have  placed  a  simple  shaft  of  pure 
white  marble, — truest  symbol  of  his  character, — and  on  it  the  inscription  of 
his  birth  and  death,  and  the  beautiful  expression  of  that  faith  which  sus 
tained  him  until  the  end,  as,  when  too  feeble  to  speak,  he  wrote  :  "  If 
a  grain  of  corn  will  die  and  then  rise  again  in  so  much  beauty,  why  may  not 
I  die  and  rise  again  in  infinite  beauty  and  life  ?  How  is  the  last  a  greater 
mystery  than  the  first?  And  by  so  much  as  I  exceed  the  grain  of  corn  in 
this  life,  why  may  I  not  exceed  it  in  the  new  life  ?  How  can  we  limit  the 
power  of  Him  who  made  the  grain  of  corn,  and  then  made  the  same  grain 
again  in  such  wonderful  newness  of  life  ? ': 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Profound  and  Universal  Grief  throughout  the  Country  —  Memorial  Meetings  —  Action  of 
the  Governor  —  Of  the  Mayor  of  the  City  of  Atlanta  —  His  Funeral—  Scenes  and  Inci 
dents  in  the  City  the  Day  of  his  Burial  —  Movement  to  Erect  a  Monument  to  his 
Memory  —  Its  Success  —  Statue  Erected  on  Peachtree  Street  in  the  City  of  Atlanta  — 
Inscriptions  on  the  Same  —  Conclusion  of  the  Memoir. 


death  of  Senator  Hill  caused  profound  sorrow  throughout  the 
United  States.  Georgia  mourned  him  as  her  most  gifted  and  best  be 
loved  son  :  the  South  mourned  him  as  her  most  invincible  champion  ;  the 
country  mourned  him  as  its  patriotic  statesman.  In  every  city  and  town 
in  the  State,  the  citizens  met  in  mass  meetings  to  give  expression  to  their 
bereavement  and  to  bear  eloquent  testimony  of  their  love  and  admiration. 
His  long  suffering,  borne  with  such  patience  and  heroism,  drew  all  hearts  to 
him,  and  over  his  grave  love  broke  its  alabaster  vase  of  precious  ointment. 
The  loss  of  his  service  to  his  country  was  universally  regarded  as  irreparable. 
He  died  just  when  he  was  most  needed.  Although  he  had  reached  great 
fame,  it  was  felt  that  he  was  not  at  his  zenith.  It  would  be  impossible  in 
the  compass  of  this  volume,  indeed  it  would  require  several  volumes,  to  give 
the  many  tributes  from  the  press  and  people.  I  can  only  select  a  few  of 
the  many  eloquent  eulogies  pronounced  upon  him  as  citizen,  lawyer,  and 
statesman.  These  eulogies  were  confined  to  no  section  or  to  the  members 
of  one  party,  but  eloquent  orators,  North  and  South,  Democrats  and  Repub 
licans,  united  their  voices  in  praise  of  the  dead  statesman  and  in  lamen 
tation  over  his  loss.  The  day  of  his  burial  was  a  day  of  general  grief  in 
Georgia.  In  every  town  and  city  in  the  State  business  was  suspended  and 
the  grief  -stricken  citizens  gathered  in  response  to  the  tolling  of  the  church 
bells  to  give  utterance  to  their  sorrow.  In  the  City  of  Atlanta  the  public 
buildings  and  all  the  stores  were  closed,  and  every  house  was  draped  in  the 
insignia  of  mourning.  Thousands  came  from  every  portion  of  the  State  to 
be  present  at  the  funeral,  and  from  the  church  to  the  cemetery  the  streets 
were  thronged  witli  silent  and  sorrowful  multitudes.  No  such  tribute  was 
ever  paid  to  a  Georgian  before.  Governor  Colquitt,  representing  the  entire 
State,  issued  the  following  proclamation  : 

I 

EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,  ATLANTA,  GA., 
To  the  People  of  Georgia:  .  August  16,  1882. 

I  announce  with  deepest  sorrow  that  your  Senator,  Benjamin  H.  Hill, 
departed  this  life  at  five  o'clock  this  morning.  After  a  protracted  term  of 
suffering,  almost  unparalleled,  he  passed  away  to  his  rest  in  perfect  peace. 
His  life  and  fame  the  people  of  his  beloved  State  will  place  among  its 
proudest  and  dearest  treasures.  In  sympathy  with  the  profound  and  uni 
versal  grief  that  moves  the  hearts  of  our  entire  community,  I  direct  that  the 
Capitol  be  draped  in  mourning,  the  flag  thereon  be  displayed  at  half-mast, 
and  that  the  offices  of  the  Executive  Department  be  closed  on  the  day  of  the 
burial  of  the  illustrious  dead.  ALFRED  H.  COLQUITT, 

Governor. 

108  i 


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»  «  « 
*  '* 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  109 

In  obedience  to  the  call  of  the  Mayor  of  the  City  of  Atlanta,  her  citi 
zens  gathered  the  day  after  his  death  in  the  hall  of  the  House  of  Represen 
tatives,  and  while  the  body  of  the  Senator  was  lying  in  state  at  his  home, 
his  fellow-citizens  paid  beautiful  and  touching  tributes  to  his  memory. 
These  proceedings  are  given  in  another  place.  Similar  action  was  had  in 
all  the  cities  and  towns  in  the  State.  The  Legislature,  at  its  next  session, 
ordered  painted  a  portrait  to  accompany  those  of  her  sons  who  had  made 
illustrious  her  past  history,  and  the  General  Assembly,  in  joint  session,  met 
together  in  memorial  exercises,  and  eloquent  eulogies  were  pronounced  by 
the  members.  Many  of  these  were  remarkably  able  analyses  of  the  politi 
cal  character  of  the  dead  statesman,  claiming  for  him  great  wisdom,  patri 
otism,  and  consistency  in  his  career,  and  I  regret  that  I  cannot,  for  want  of 
space,  insert  them  in  this  volume. 

Soon  after  his  death  a  movement  was  started  by  the  people  to  raise  a 
fund  to  erect  a  monument  to  his  memory.  An  association  was  formed  to 
give  practical  shape  to  the  movement,  and  in  a  short  time  sufficient  con 
tributions  were  secured.  The  eminent  sculptor,  Alexander  Doyle,  of 
New  York,  was  intrusted  with  the  work.  In  1885  he  completed  his  task, 
and  the  magnificent  statue  of  Senator  Hill,  which  now  stands  on  Peachtree 
Street,  was  erected  to  his  memory  by  his  loving  countrymen.  The  statue 
is  of  Italian  marble,  of  heroic  size,  and  is  a  splendid  work  of  art,  and  a 
good  likeness  of  Mr.  Hill.  Upon  it  the  following  inscriptions  were 
placed  : 

On  the  south  side — "Benjamin  Harvey  Hill.  Born  September  14,  1823. 
Died  August  16,  1882.  This  monument  is  erected  by  his  fellow-citizens  in 
commemoration  of  the  indomitable  courage,  unrivaled  eloquence  and  de 
voted  patriotism  characterizing  the  illustrious  dead."  On  the  east  side — 
"Member  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  Georgia  during  1851  and 
1852  ;  Senator  of  Georgia  during  1859  and  1860;  Member  of  the  Conven 
tion  of  1861.  Beloved  in  private  life,  distinguished  at  the  bar,  and  eminent 
in  public  relations,  he  was  at  all  times  the  champion  of  human  liberty." 
On  the  west  side — "  Member  of  the  Provisional  Congress  of  the  Confeder 
ate  States  ;  Senator  of  the  Confederate  States  from  1861  to  1865;  Member 
of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States  from  1875  to  1877; 
Senator  of  the  United  States  from  1877  to  the  date  of  his  death."  On 
the  north  side — " '  We  are  in  the  house  of  our  fathers,  our  brothers  are 
our  companions,  and  we  are  at  home  to  stay,  thank  God.' — Amnesty 
Speech,  January  11,  1876.  'Who  saves  this  country,  saves  himself,  saves 
all  things,  and  all  things  saved  do  bless  him.  Who  lets  his  country  die,  lets 
all  things  die,  dies  himself  ignobly,  and  all  things  dying  curse  him.  — Notes 
on  the  Situation.  '  The  union  under  the  Constitution  knows  no  section,  but 
does  know  all  the  States.' — Speech  in  the  United  States  Senate,  June  11,  1876." 

The  unveiling  of  this  statue  was  a  most  interesting  and  memorable 
event  in  Georgia.  A  full  account,  taken  from  the  Constitution,  is  given 
further  on  in  this  volume,  with  the  eloquent  speeches  made  on  that  occa 
sion.  This  was  the  first  monument  erected  by  Georgians  to  one  of  her 
statesmen.  But  the  monument  which  he  himself  has  erected  in  the  hearts 
of  his  countrymen,  bv  a  life  of  faithful  service,  will  endure  when  marble 
shall  have  crumbled  into  dust. 


PART    SECOND. 

BEN  HILL'S  BURIAL — THE  GREAT  GEORGIAN  SENATOR'S  LAST  OF  EARTH — THE 
SCENES  IN  ATLANTA  DURING  THE  PROGRESS  OF  THE  FUNERAL — GEN. 
EVANS'S  ABLE  SERMON. 

EXTRACT    FROM    ATLANTA    CONSTITUTION. 

IT  is  over.  The  last  scone  in  the  calamity  has  been  enacted.  Yesterday, 
in  Georgia  soil,  was  laid  the  ashes  of  her  greatest  son.  On  the  fresh  sod 
of  his  grave  mingled  the  tears  of  the  whole  State,  for,  when  Atlanta  stood  in 
her  weeds  of  mourning,  there  came  not  only  kindly  words  of  sympathy  from 
her  sister  cities,  but  also  friends,  who  claimed  a  share  in  the  general  grief. 
Mr.  Hill  was  a  man  of  the  people,  sprung  from  their  midst,  rising  to  his 
splendid  heights  on  their  devotion,  and  placing  himself  in  their  affections 
beyond  the  love  which  mighty  men  are  wont  to  win.  For  four  days  the 
city  had  been  draped  in  the  habiliments  of  sorrow,  and  her  bells  had  tolled 
the  story  of  her  hero's  death.  Yet  the  realization  of  the  affliction  seemed  to 
come  only  in  its  last  sad  scene.  Atlanta  has  been  crowded  often  before,  but 
never  for  such  a  cause.  In  the  thronged  streets  there  was  a  sacred  silence, 
and  in  the  moving  crowds  the  countenances  of  men  told  of  the  gloom  that 
shadowed  that  great  gathering.  The  voice  of  music  was  hushed,  and  the 
sound  of  revel  was  not  heard.  Of  the  dead,  tender  and  beautiful  things 
\vere  said,  and  men  spoke  of  him  as  of  one  whose  like  they  should  never  see 
again.  A  more  genuine  tribute  has  never  fallen  on  any  grave  to  keep  its 
flowers  fresh  in  sweet  and  everlasting  remembrance.  The  streets  were 
crowded,  though  business  had  been  suspended. 

One  purpose  animated  the  great  crowd,  and  it  was  to  pay  their  last 
respects  to  the  memory  of  the  great  man  gone. 

From  the  home  to  the  church  the  procession  passed  through  long  lines  of 
people  of  all  classes.  A  more  general  outpouring  was  never  seen  in  Atlanta. 
No  political  opinion,  no  difference  in  social  caste,  and  no  artificial  distinction 
prevented  the  mingling  of  the  masses  in  their  common  sorrow.  The  city 
seemed  deserted  except  in  the  streets  which  led  toward  the  church  where  the 
sacred  rites  were  to  be  performed.  It  may  be  said  that  Atlanta  devoted 
yesterday  to  the  memory  of  Senator  Hill,  and  a  more  general  tribute  was 
never  laid  by  any  people  on  the  grave  of  a  great  man.  With  his  memory 
the  day  is  embalmed  by  the  touching  expressions  of  the  general  grief 
which  marked  it. 

* 

FUNERAL  SERMON  BY  REV.  CLEMENT  A.  EVANS. 

Religion  claims  the  illustrious  man  whose  decease  is  so  deeply  deplored, 
and  whose  name  all  men  delight  to  honor,  as  altogether  her  own,  finally  and 
forever.  Willing  that  the  plaudits  of  all  tongues  shall  be  heard,  she  reserves 

^j  f  ^j  j 

to  herself  to  say  the  best  words  about  her  departed  son.  The  fame  she  gives 
him  transcends  the  fretted  earthly  shore  where  all  human  renown  is  spent, 
and  widens  over  the  sphere  where  angels  enjoy  glory,  honor,  and  immortal 
ity.  Faith  is  jealous,  with  godly  jealousy,  of  the  luster  that  should  glow 
around  his  name.  The  transient  brilliance  which  great  temporal  achieve 
ment  lent  him  is  permitted  as  time's  appropriate  tribute,  but  for  herself  the 
religion  of  Jesus  Christ  irradiates  his  departing  presence  with  light  from 
heaven  brighter  than  all  present  splendor — a  light  that  shines  through  the 

110 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  Ill 

portals  which  admit  him  from  his  affliction  into  the  enjoyment  of  "  the  far 
more  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory." 

These  selected  scriptures  set  forth  that  faith  in  which  trusted  those  hopes 
he  felt,  the  submission  to  God  he  made  of  himself,  his  dying  testimony,  and 
the  home  he  now  enjoys.  They  arc  not  read  for  exposition  or  comment, 
but  are  set  as  chords  that  will  respond  in  sympathy  as  we  touch  here  and 
there  the  tuneful  strings  of  the  great  life  whose  music  always  aroused  and 
often  entranced,  whose  sweetest  melody  was  poured  forth  in  the  final 
strain. 

On  Wednesday  last,  as  the  sun  was  rising,  the  spirit  of  Benjamin  Harvey 
Hill  ascended  to  heaven.  The  silver  cord  was  loosed,  the  golden  bowl  was 
broken,  and  the  spirit  returned  to  God  who  gave  it.  The  subdued  sobs  of 
the  loving  household  were  followed  by  the  swift  telegram  which  informed 
the  Union  that  it  had  lost  a  great  citizen;  the  tongue  of  the  bell  above  the 
Capitol  build  ing  told  this  city  the  sad  tidings,  daily  listened  for,  that  the  State 
of  Georgia  had  lost  a  senator  ;  and  these  mournful  sounds  of  sorrow  were 
quickly  followed  by  the  mellow  cadenced  peal  from  the  aspirant  spire  of  the 
church  of  God,  which  spoke  indeed  in  grief,  but  announced  to  all  the  world 
that  a  wearied,  trusting  soul,  made  pure  through  Christ,  had  entered  home 
at  last. 

Draped  cities  deplore  his  fall  ;  commerce  clothes  itself  in  sable  ;  society 
suspends  its  appointed  pleasures  ;  flags  droop  half  way  the  mast,  and  by  all 
tokens  the  general  sense  of  bereavement  is  declared.  The  governments, 
municipal,  state,  and  national,  take  instant  and  honorable  note  of  this  death. 
The  bar  blend  their  appreciation  with  the  general  voice.  The  people,  in  mass 
meetings  throughout  the  State,  strive  in  vain  to  utter  the  popular  affection 
for  the  great  sufferer  who  had  served  them  in  his  strength  and  now  had  sunk 
in  their  midst  under  the  burden  of  a  mysterious  malady.  From  our  whole 
country  come  testimonials  of  his  broad  fame,  and  this  historic  hour  passes  on 
and  away  freighted  with  the  richest  words  that  tongues  most  gifted  can  ut 
ter  and  pens  most  felicitous  can  write.  Be  it  my  work  in  this  sacred  place 
-not  to  relate  the  well-known  biography — not  to  praise  beyond  due — but 
to  so  touch  the  great,  vibrating  life  of  Senator  Hill,  that  its  rich,  resonant 
tones  may  reach  the  living  and  make  melody  in  their  hearts  unto  the  Lord  ! 
God  speed  the  utterance  and  give  grace  to  the  hearers  ! 

It  was  home — sweet  hallowed  home,  graced  by  the  saintly  mother — which 
was  the  alma  mater  of  his  religious  life.  The  rudiments  of  Christ's  match 
less  doctrine  were  first  embedded  in  his  capacious  brain  by  the  mother's  hand. 
Then  came  the  direct  appeal  of  the  minister  of  the  church — the  consent  of 
the  young  heart,  and  his  conversion  in  Troup  when  he  was  fourteen  years  of 
age.  "  I  was  converted  there,"  is  the  testimony  of  his  own  lips.  His  ac 
ceptance  of  Christ  seems  to  have  been  without  reserve,  and  it  placed  him  on 
the  bright  roll  of  the  twice-born  children  of  God.  He  laid  his  head  in  the 
lap  of  religion,  gave  his  heart  in  early  surrender  to  its  charms,  and  conse 
crated  himself  unto  Christ  in  the  dew  of  his  youth. 

Afterward,  he  bore  his  faith  manfully  through  the  peculiar  perils  of  his 
college  course.  "  He  was  a  pure  boy,"  says  State  Commissioner  Orr,  his  col 
lege  mate,  "There  was  not  the  shadow  of  immorality  on  his  character." 
When  the  highest  honor  of  his  class  blushed  upon  him,  when  unwonted  flat 
teries  fell  thickly  around  him,  when  worldly  hope  stood  him  in  the  open 
wicket  to  the  path  of  fame  and  showed  him  the  higher  summits  accessible 
to  his  aggressive  genius, — he  was  still,  thank  God,  a  Christian, 


112  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

We  may  use  the  vivid  recollections  of  many  yet  living  men  to  show  us 
the  manly  figure,  instinct  with  oratorio  action,  and  the  speaking  face,  lit  with 
the  fires  of  eloquence,  that  now  first  drew  the  gaze  of  men  in  a  boy's  speech 
from  the  college  platform.  Two  great  senators,  Preston  and  Berrien,  lis 
tened,  looked,  saw  power  enthroning  itself,  applauded  the  youth,  and,  join 
ing  in  the  common  enthusiasm,  inspired  him  to  attempt  the  steep  ascent  to 
human  greatness.  Perhaps  it  was  by  the  inspirations  of  this  success  he 
gathered  up  the  purpose  and  powers  that  lay  within  him  in  boulders  yet  un- 
chiseled.  The  rock  was  smitten,  internal  fountains  lay  locked  within.  In 
the  double  streams  of  duty  to  God  and  country,  the  united  waters  began  to 
flow.  Earth's  highest  places,  with  never-failing  hope  of  Heaven  combined, 
was  the  possibility  of  his  coming  life. 

Marriage  came  next,  with  the  woman  ever  worthy  of  him,  always  devoted 
to  him,  ever  dear  to  him,  and  for  whom  his  trembling  fingers  traced  the  last 
word,  "  Dearest,"  and  afterward  wrote  no  more.  A  family,  fond  beyond  ex 
pression  and  proud  of  him,  even  to  idolatry,  gathered  about  him  first  and  last. 
The  home  altar  of  prayer  arose,  in  which,  as  the  priest  of  his  house,  he  con 
secrated  them  to  God.  The  church  at  La  Grange — where  he  went  to  reside 
in  the  practice  of  law— enjoyed  at  once  his  liberality  and  his  labor.  I  would 
also,  with  the  proper  emphasis,  mark  the  earliest  public  service  in  which  his 
magical  powers  of  speech  were  used  for  the  good  of  his  State.  Called  forth 
by  his  neighbors,  he  put  himself  upon  the  side  of  personal  sobriety  and  the 
duty  of  civil  government  to  give  protection  against  temptation  in  a  series  of 
speeches  made  in  Troup  immediately  after  the  close  of  his  college  life.  His 
views  were  supported  by  his  own  example.  Unpledged,  he  lived  and  died  a 
sober  man,  having  abstained  wholly  through  all  his  life.  He  reasoned  with 
Paul-like  penetration  of  a  temperance  that  stands  upon  righteousness,  and 
hoped  for  the  judgment  to  come.  This  was  more  than  thirty  years  ago. 
Ideas  on  this  momentous  subject  of  intemperance  have  moved  on  since  then. 
Statesmen  look  at  it  now  by  the  light  of  the  public  welfare,  the  judiciary 
are  wearied  by  its  breach  of  la\v  and  brood  of  crimes,  and  citizens  see  wealth, 
peace,  and  purity  wither  by  its  blast.  The  testimony  of  Senator  Hill's 
opinion  and  examples,  from  first  to  last,  was  against  a  wrong  by  which  our 
country  suffers  in  almost  every  home  in  all  its  vast  dominion. 

His  entrance  into  public  life  seems  to  have  been  imperative.  His  people, 
pleased  by  his  manners  and  proud  of  his  gifts,  pushed  him  out  into  that 
fierce  light  which  beats  upon  all  public  men.  He  found  himself,  almost  be 
fore  he  knew  it,  in  the  midst  of  the  dangerous  whirl. 

Few  men  wholly  escape  the  perils  of  public  life.  The  billowy  ocean  has 
buried  in  its  dark  unfathomed  caves  more  navies  than  it  floats.  The  haz 
ards  of  political  strife  must  be  met  by  good  men,  but  let  him  who  sets  his 
prow  seaward,  and  pushes  out  from  the  safe  bays  where  the  still  waters  are, 
take  heed  lest  his  boat  be  beaten  to  pieces  by  the  boisterous  billows,  or 
strand  on  some  rocky  coast.  Some  have  thus  ventured — lost  all — made  ship 
wreck  of  faith  in  man,  in  God,  and  every  claim  of  Heaven — then  gone  down 
between  the  jaws  of  waves  that  opened  wide  to  take  them  in.  Others  have 
suffered  themselves  to  be  tossed  about  until  the  rigging  was  rent,  spars  splin 
tered,  and  all  their  moral  machinery  tumbled  into  such  mal-adjustments 
that  they  rolled  in  helpless  drift  on  the  great  sea  of  public  life  ;  and  yet, 
after  all  have  righted  up,  renewed  their  strength,  readjusted  their  relations 
to  God  and  man,  and  gone  by  His  grace  in  glorious  beauty  into  the  haven 
of  eternal  rest.  Not  many  have  sailed  those  seas,  weathering  every  tern- 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  113 

pest,  without  the  wrenching  of  a  bolt.  Still,  some  men  have  thus  lived  in 
public  service,  and  all  men  may  so  live  as  to  preserve  their  firmness  of 
faith,  serenity  of  spirit,  and  purity  of  life  amidst  the  most  riotous  political 
turbulence. 

Senator  Hill  did  not  escape  these  perils  of  which  I  speak,  nor  would  his 
most  partial  friend  declare  that  he  was  unaffected  by  them.  His  first  error, 
however,  was  strangely  caused  by  his  reverence.  He  conceived,  as  he  told 
me,  that  public  men  should  not  be  officious  in  religion  lest  they  bring  reproach 
upon  the  cause.  His  views,  of  course,  wrere  wrong.  The  prevalence  of  his 
opinion,  and  its  extension  to  all  men  in  secular  business,  would  paralyze  the 
arm  of  the  laity  and  commit  the  administration  of  human  redemption  to 
a  close  corporation  of  clergy.  No  condition  of  religion  would  be  more 
deplorable.  But  he  formed  this  opinion  in  the  beginning  with  a  clear  con 
science,  and  declined  to  officiate  in  religion  after  his  open  entrance  into 
politics.  After  that,  I  am  sure  his  religious  joy  began  to  decline,  and  yet 
in  all  his  career,  whether  possessing  or  lacking  the  joy  of  salvation,  he  held 
fast  to  the  cardinal  doctrine  taught  by  that  Divine  Saviour  who,  with  incom 
parable  speech,  revealed  the  fathomless  truths  of  man's  only  faith.  This 
helm,  his  fixed  faith  in  all  that  Christ  is  and  taught,  kept  the  prow  of  his 
life  pointing  heavenward  even  while  it  was  tossed  about  on  the  tremulous 
waves  of  his  uncommon  career. 

I  revive  with  sincere  pleasure  the  recollection  of  a  personal  incident  that 
bears  on  this  stage  of  his  spiritual  life.  We  walked  together  one  day,  while 
in  the  old  state  capitol  at  Milledgeville,  r.nd  sat  down  on  the  bank  of  the 
Oconee  River.  It  was  in  1860,  when  the  fearful  question  of  the  Union's 
disruption  was  tossing  all  minds  in  a  tempest  of  trouble.  He  was  dreadfully 
afraid  of  secession,  and  I,  many  years  his  junior,  could  not  share  his  alarm. 
We  were  both  members  of  the  State  Senate,  citizens  of  the  State,  members 
of  the  church,  and  responsible  for  the  part  we  were  taking.  The  die,  how 
ever,  was  cast,  and  nothing  could  stay  the  calamity.  As  we  sat  and  talked, 
he  suddenly  said  to  me  :  "Is  it  not  strange  that  we,  who  are  both  Christians, 
should  trust  so  much,  in  this  matter,  to  human  wisdom  ?  We  are  praying 
men,  and  yet  how  we  differ  !  I  am  afraid,"  said  he,  "  as  much  of  the  moral 
as  of  the  political  dangers  of  secession."  Soon  after  I  went  to  war,  for  which 
I  was  most  fitted,  and  he  went  into  tli3  councils  of  the  new  government,  for 
which  he  was  so  well  adapted,  and  we  met  no  more  for  ten  dreary  years. 

Senator  Hill  never  for  a  moment  faltered  in  his  faith.  Some  great  intel 
lects  have  so  far  suffered  the  intrusion  of  doubt  as  to  suspend  their  faith  for 
a  season  contingent  on  the  result  of  research  into  the  doctrine  of  Christ. 
Thus  Sir  William  Jones,  in  the  noon  of  his  mental  power,  made  a  deep  study 
of  the  claims  of  Christianity,  ending  in  his  full  acceptance  of  all  its  great 
truth.  So  Webster  once  sought  mental  peace  by  patient  thought,  and  recorded 
his  conclusion  thus  :  "  Philosophical  argument  has  sometimes  shaken  my 
reason  for  the  faith  which  is  in  me,  but  my  heart  has  always  assured  and 
reassured  me  that  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  must  be  a  divine  reality." 
Howell  Cobb,  the  great  Georgian,  was  disquieted  in  mind,  until,  like  the 
noble  Bereaus,  he  searched  whether  these  things  averred  of  Christ  were  so, 
and  closed  his  quest  by  acquisition  of  the  pearl  of  great  price.  But  such 
men  were  never  infidels.  They  had  not  debauched  their  brains  by  lewd 
liaisons  with  doctrines  that  would  debase  society,  disrupt  government  and 
destroy  the  foundation  of  human  welfare.  They  only  indulged  in  doubt  in 
order  to  pursue  truth.  But  Senator  Hill  never  had  even  these  doubts,  nor 


114  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

the  m  cd  of  them.  "  My  conclusions  about  the  religion  of  the  Bible  came," 
said  he,  "  through  reason,  faith,  and  prayer."  With  these  three  cords  he 
constructed  the  cable  that  ever  held  him  to  "the  anchor  cast  within  the  veil." 
Which  of  the  three  can  be  dispensed  with  ?  Without  reason  in  religion  we 
have  a  blind  belief  which  is  sure  to  err — a  superstition  that  yields  all  right 
of  mind  to  find  the  will  of  God.  Without  faith  it  is  as  impossible  to  be 
religious  as  it  is  to  see  without  sight.  Without  prayer,  who  can  drive  faith 
and  reason — twin  steeds — in  the  chariot  of  religion  up  the  steps  to  heaven  ? 
But  with  these  combined,  we  may  lay  hold  on  the  great  gospel  hope  and 
bind  ourselves  there  with  a  firmness  that  nothing  can  break.  And  the 
testimony  of  such  a  witness,  who  knows  whereof  he  affirms,  is  of  more  weight 
than  the  utterances  of  ten  thousand  men  who  know  not  what  they  say.  We 
may  set  the  wisdom  of  the  august  senator,  matchless  in  eloquence,  learned 
in  law,  sagacious  in  statesmanship,  versed  in  history  and  philosophy,  noble  in 
patriotism,  of  large  knowledge  of  the  human  heart  and  rips  experience  in 
religion — we  may  set,  I  say,  his  definite  declarations  about  the  religion  of 
Christ  with  overwhelming  force  against  the  vague,  vapid  generalities  which 
now  and  then  fall  in  flippant  speech  from  the  lips  of  arrant  infidels.  Joined 
with  him  there  is  a  galaxy  of  witnesses  for  the  Christian  faith  shining  out 
from  the  firmament  of  our  national  and  State  governments.  Their  testimony, 
that  "light  is  come  into  the  world,"  cannot  be  discredited  by  the  opaque 
stars,  unlit  by  God's  glory,  which  wander  amidst  the  divine  array  of  the  uni 
verse  and  declare  that  there  is  no  God. 

Our  country  is  Christian.  It  is  not  infidel.  It  can  never  be  so  until  it 
suffers  subversion  from  the  foundation  stone.  The  great  Webster  spoke 
truly  when  he  said  that  Christianity  is  the  common  law  of  the  United  States. 
Happy  that  people  whose  rulers  are  righteous  men.  The  good  genius  of 
civil  government  smiles  with  happy  heart  upon  the  state  whose  God  is  the 
Lord  ! 

It  was  a  cheering  reflection  for  this  brilliant  statesman,  who  drew  so  much 
attention  to  himself,  that  in  all  his  life  no  sentiment  escaped  his  lips  that 
would  suggest  a  doubt  concerning  the  Christian  faith  ;  no  profane  nor  low 
word  was  ever  uttered  to  be  caught  up  and  repeated  ;  nor  revel  of  any  sort 
induced  any  to  err  from  the  strictest  morality  ;  and  he  stood,  unimpeachable 
of  offense  against  his  young  countrymen.  In  his  influence  over  young  men 
he  fulfilled  the  duty  of  a  statesman  as  laid  down  in  the  ancient  books  of  state 
craft,  that  the  rulers  teach  the  youth  by  precept  and  example  how  to  govern 
first  themselves  and  next  the  commonwealth.  I  have  seen  them  grasp  his 
hand  with  manly  emotion  and  go  away  with  his  last  words  of  Christian 
counsel.  Would  that  all  may  emulate  both  his  greatness  and  his  faith. 

In  all  this  period  of  worldly  strife  he  never  ceased  to  reverence  the 
sanctuary.  His  liberality  did  not  abate  When  I  wrote  to  him  in  Wash 
ington  for  his  subscription  to  complete  this  church,  he  replied  by  telegram  in 
a  sum  advanced  beyond  every  giver,  and  I  cut  it  down  to  equality  with  the 
foremost  contribution.  He  tendered  me,  when  he  himself  was  already  feel 
ing  the  pang  of  pain  in  his  tongue,  one  hundred  dollars  a  month  to  sustain 
a  reverend  and  eminent  sufferer  at  Eureka  Springs.  lie  would  give  to  the 
poor  whatever  amount  was  required  to  meet  a  need,  and  he  fostered  the 
charity  of  his  wife  by  his  generous  endowments.  This  church  made  him  a 
trustee,  expressive  of  its  confidence,  and  he  departed  this  life  in  the  love  of 
his  brothers  with  that  official  mantle  on  his  shoulders. 

This  traverse  with  rapid  stride  over  the  active  life  of  this  illustrious  man 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   ANT)  WRITINGS.  11«> 

has  been  made  with  scarcely  an  allusion  to  his  civic  career.  But  his  com 
rades  in  our  country's  councils,  his  brethren  of  the  bar,  his  fellow-men  of  all 
pursuits,  have  already  begun  to  utter  a  vast  volume  of  praises  descriptive  of 
his  course.  I  am  borne  by  a  single  purpose  over  those  periods  of  his  earliest 
history  on  through  the  stormy  times  of  the  Confederacy  into  the  murky 
gloom  of  the  Reconstruction  era,  in  all  of  which  I  see  his  good  angel  hover 
with  anxiety  about  him  and  seek  to  keep  him  steadfast  in  the  faith.  Still 
on,  in  State  and  national  triumphs,  evidently  ascending  in  fame  and  accumu 
lating  power  until  God,  with  a  touch  as  light  as  a  feather's  fall,  makes  a 
minute  wound  like  the  gash  of  a  cambric  needle  upon  his  wondrous  tongue, 
and  doomed  him  to  certain  death. 

Two  years  ago,  at  my  house,  he  told  me  of  this  trouble.  The  secret  was 
already  getting  out,  but  men  could  scarcely  believe.  He  was  being  urged 
to  speak  on  the  questions  of  the  hour  all  over  the  State  ;  but  he  could  not, 
must  not ;  in  very  truth  he  desired  not  to  enter  the  warm  affray  of  friends 
which  was  then  at  its  heat.  Sadly  he  contemplated,  even  then,  the  possibility 
of  being  silenced  by  disease.  The  whole  sad  story  is  now  only  too  well 
known,  and  we  are  left  the  heritage  of  wealth  which  his  sufferings  yielded. 

I  will  name  as  one  happy  result  of  this  tragic  close  of  his  life  that  Senator 
Hill's  suffering  has  developed  to  our  view  the  great  love  which  the  people 
of  his  State  had  for  him.  He  enjoyed  through  life  unmistakable  proofs  of 
popular  affection,  which  gave  me  no  surprise  after  the  first  day  in  which  it 
was  my  good  fortune  to  hear  him  speak.  I  was  just  entering  on  manhood, 
and  he  was  just  commencing  his  brilliant  canvass  for  the  chief  magistracy 
of  our  great  State.  I  stood  among  a  multitude  and  beheld  with  rising  won 
der  the  great  tides  of  eloquence  pouring  out  in  mysterious  powers  from 
thrilling  voice,  glorious  eyes,  courtly  grace  of  gesture,  mien,  and  smile,  until 
he  swept  my  heart  from  off  its  feet  and  took  it  to  himself.  He  has  not 
always  turned  my  head,  but  I  have  never  recalled  my  affection.  He  was 
not  a  man  of  the  people  in  the  common  meaning  of  that  term.  His  constitu 
tional  reserve,  his  fondness  for  thinking  alone,  his  studious  habits,  and  his 
family  attachments  kept  him  away  from  the  social  world.  But  he  was,  after 
all,  a  true  tribune  of  the  people.  He  loved  them  in  pure  benevolence.  His 
speeches  are  full  of  lofty  sentiments  concerning  the  claims  of  the  humblest 
man.  No  one  was  readier  than  he  to  render  the  lowliest  colored  man  his 
just  rights  under  the  law  as  a  fellow- being. 

There  was,  therefore,  a  generous  outflow  of  the  popular  heart  to  him. 
I  am  sure  that  in  the  first  decade  of  his  political  life  he  was  more  popular 
than  his  party  platforms.  Pie  drew  his  friends  to  him  after  the  manner  of 
Henry  Clay,  and  the  defeats  of  both  in  contests  for  popular  suffrage  arose 
from  similar  causes.  There  was  ever  a  State  pride  in  his  eloquence,  and 
now  and  then  he  was  the  idol  of  the  people.  Yet  he  suffered  his  impetuous 
thoughts  to  bear  him  beyond  all  popular  following,  and  sometimes  strangely 
dared  to  brave  the  people  he  loved  by  declaring  opinions  far  ahead  of  the 
times,  and  assuming  attitudes  that  thev  could  not  understand.  But  he 

m 

yearned  after  popular  affection  with  all  his  great  heart,  and  God  gave  him, 
by  suffering,  the  revelation  of  the  love  he  pined  to  know. 

Two  years  ripened  the  mellow  fruit  for  his  taste.  Suffering  such  as  he 
endured  with  Christian  heroism  called  unto  the  deep  of  sympathy  to  send 
forth  its  most  precious  treasures,  and  it  responded.  Friends  who  had  loved 
him  long,  loved  him  more  than  ever,  and  generous  foes  laid  down  all 
weapons  of  assault  and  wrote  in  tears  of  his  greatness,  and  the  country's 


116  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

loss.  Eminent  national  leaders,  touched  with  the  sadness  of  his  stroke, 
hastened  to  cheer  him  with  warm  assurance  of  sympathy.  He  was  followed 
from  place  to  place,  in  his  search  for  life,  with  streams  of  universal  thought 
and  feeling  and  prayer.  And  when,  at  last,  he  entered  Georgia  to  leave  it 
no  more  until  the  gate  of  Heaven  opened  for  him,  his  people  thronged  all 
stations  to  see  his  face  again.  Then,  this  capital  city  opened  her  arms  to 
him.  Uncovered,  silent,  tearful,  stood  the  people  in  sorrowful  ranks  as  he 
passed  through  them  to  his  home.  They  would  have  borne  him  in  their 
arms.  And  from  that  moment  on  until  this  hour,  the  demonstration  has  not 
ceased. 

Oh,  how  priceless  is  a  people's  love  !  The  mere  reward  of  the  majority 
vote  cast  for  a  candidate  is  insufficient  wealth  ;  the  exalted  office  that 
appears  so  tempting  to  ambition  is  often  a  barren  peak  that  topples  over  an 
abyss  ;  the  shouts  of  a  multitude  when  harangue  stirs  enthusiasm  into 
frenzy  are  poor  plaudits  unsatisfactory  to  a  great  soul.  But  the  genuine 
love  of  the  people  expressed  in  ballots  of  tears  that  vote  away  their  hearts 
to  him  who  unselfishly  serves  them,  is  the  richest,  most  radiant  glory  that 
man  can  win,  and  wear  this  side  of  heaven  !  What  epitaph  announcing 
temporal  fame  can  excel  the  simple  inscription  that  may  be  rightly  cut 
on  this  senator's  monumental  column  :  He  died  beloved  of  his  people  ! 

I  would  look  once  more  into  the  results  of  his  suffering  and  trace,  as  far 
as  possible,  the  designs  of  God  in  this  singular  and  startling  stroke  by  which 
our  noble  senator  fell.  It  is  not  curiosity,  but  intelligent  interest,  that 
prompts  us  to  ascertain  the  final  conclusions  arrived  at  by  great  minds  on  the 
subject  of  religion.  It  was  natural  that  earnest  inquiry  was  made  concern 
ing  the  dying  views  of  that  great  mind,  which  for  twenty-five  years  had 
been  engaged  in  thought  over  a  nation  imperiled,  two  great  peoples  at  war, 
a  land  disorganized,  together  with  massive  related  subjects  that  concern  the 
well-being  of  States  and  peoples.  Accustomed  to  great  thoughts  in  all  his 
life,  what  would  be  his  thoughts  in  his  dying  hour?  I  will  answer  this 
question  with  a  few  selections  from  his  dying  declarations. 

Senator  Hill  believed  that  he  suffered  in  the  kind  and  continuance  of  his 
malady  by  the  will  of  God,  for  the  good  of  men.  Men  suffer  often  as  the 
instruments  of  God.  The  Divine  Teacher  instructs  the  dull  children  of  men 
by  startling  pictures,  and  uses  conspicuous  objects  to  arrest  attention.  Had 
this  widely  known  sufferer  died  after  brief  illness,  or  by  ordinary  disease, 
the  impressive  utterances  of  his  last  days  would  not  have  been  given  to  the 
world ;  or  had  the  same  words  fallen  from  the  lips  of  one  without  his  fame, 
they  would  not  have  affected  a  continent.  His  mighty  faith — almost  Paul- 
like  in  power — is  now  the  heritage  of  the  whole  church,  and  the  knowledge 
of  his  sublime  trust  will  cheer  the  hearts  of  millions. 

The  tragical  suffering  of  Jesus  had  a  logical  purpose.  The  glory  to 
follow  was  not  the  end  aimed  at,  but  it  was  only  the  ante-advent  splendors 
that  burst  fresh  around  him  when  he  ascended  his  throne  :  the  Son  of  Man 
suffered  for  the  good  of  man,  and  the  disciple  would  not  be  above  his  Lord. 
Jesus  went  unto  death  in  order  to  fulfill  a  law  whose  strength,  whose  scope 
we  do  not  know,  and  whose  white  blazeless  fire  burns  on  in  all  the  universe 
wherever  there  is  wrong,  and  it  is  the  purpose  of  God  through  him  to  turn 
away  that  awful  tide  from  every  believing  soul. 

Senator  Hill  saw  God's  Providence  in  his  strange  affliction  and  was 
resigned.  In  response  to  one  of  my  questions,  he  wrote  these  words  of  sweet 
submission  ;  "  I  am  willing  for  God  to  have  his  own  way."  His  resignation 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  117 

to  suffering  was  not  the  submission  of  a  caged  eagle.  It  was  not  the  quiet 
of  a  lion  thralled.  It  was  the  rest  of  a  noble  heart  and  brain  upon  the 
immovable  truth  that  God  reigns.  His  subrnissiveness  was  without  reserve. 
Not  once  did  a  murmur  escape  his  lips.  We  wonder  at  the  total  absence  of 
impatience  betokened  by  gesture,  look,  or  word. 

Surely  no  other  faith  in  God  can  bring  peace  to  the  mind  of  man.  Less 
than  this  great  trust  in  Providence,  and  this  resignation  to  the  will  of  God, 
leaves  us  to  suffer  all  the  pangs  of  uncertainty,  and  to  fret  away  existence 
until  the  shock  of  death  bursts  on  our  startled  souls  the  face  of  the  ever- 
present  personal  God. 

Senator  Hill  bore  witness  often,  both  in  speech  and  writing,  of  his  un 
questioning  acceptance  of  all  the  vital  truths  of  religion.  "  Faith  in  Christ 
only,"  as  the  ground  of  human  claim  on  the  mercy  of  God,  was  clearly  seen 
by  him.  He  wrote  down  this  credo  :  "I  believe  that  God  is  a  living  God, 
and  that  Christ  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners,  and  he  will  save  me." 
Thus  he  added  assurance  to  his  faith  and  was  persuaded  that  his  soul  was 
safe  in  the  keeping  of  its  Lord.  Another  slip  of  that  pad,  whose  scattered 
leaves  will  enrich  the  minds  and  cheer  the  hearts  of  thousands,  contains  this 
cumulative  testimony  of  his  sure  hope  :  "  I  am  confident  of  a  home  in  heaven. 
I  never  had  more  faith."  He  was  on  a  summit  of  trust,  and  saw  an  inheri 
tance  assured  to  him  by  the  word  of  God,  which  endureth  forever  ! 

Once  the  conversation  was  on  the  need  of  thoroughness  in  faith  and  life 
in  order  to  usefulness  and  peace.  We  were  digging  at  the  roots  of  the  great 
question  of  godlikeness  in  man's  nature  and  actions.  Why  should  an  un 
willing  or  a  partial  service  be  given  to  God  ?  As  the  colloquy  went  on, 
the  listening  senator  signed  for  the  writing-pad,  and  this  luminous  sentence 
blazed  from  his  pen  :  "  Nothing  but  consecration  will  do." 

A  life  half -purposed,  a  love  limited,  a  service  grudgingly  given,  were 
unworthy  that  religion  whose  author  and  finisher  is  a  consecrated  Christ. 

At  another  time  I  asked  the  dying  senator  to  indicate  some  Scripture  he 
would  like  to  have  read.  Speaking  very  promptly,  he  said,  "  Read  me 
Paul's* letter  to  the  Corinthians  on  the  resurrection."  Accordingly,  I  read 
all  the  great* chapter  relating  to  that  majestic  question.  It  was  a  crucial 
question  in  the  days  of  the  apostle.  Materialists  even  then  denied  all 
resurrection  and  asked,  "  How  are  the  dead  raised  up  and  with  what  body 
do  they  come  ?  '  It  is  a  modern  issue  as  well,  and  will  be  in  debate  until 
the  trump  sound  and  the  living  are  startled  by  the  rising  of  the  dead.  I 
paused,  after  reading,  to  hear  the  great  Georgian  say  what  he  thought,  in 
this  awful  hour,  when  eternity  was  lending  its  ethereal  force  to  his  mighty 
intellect. 

And  this  is  what  he  wrote  :  "  If  a  grain  of  corn  will  die  and  then  rise 
again  in  so  much  beauty,  why  may  not  I  die  and  then  rise  again  in  infinite 
beauty  and  life  ?  How  is  the  last  a  greater  mystery  than  the  first  ?  And 
by  so  much  as  I  exceed  the  grain  of  corn  in  this  life  why  may  I  not  exceed 
it  in  the  new  life  ?  How  can  we  limit  the  power  of  Him  who  made  the 
grain  of  corn  and  then  made  the  same  grain  again  in  such  wonderful  new 
ness  of  life  ? "  I  leave  these  pointed  questions,  with  their  vast  and  rich 
suggestions,  to  be  the  comfort  of  every  one  who  is  looking  in  hope  for  the 
general  resurrection  from  the  dead  and  the  life  of  the  world  to  come 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

I  am  now  discoursing  of  the  greatest  moments  of  his  great  life,  and  come 
to  the  crowning  hour  that  became  more  and  more  sublime  to  the  close.  When 


118  SENATOR  S.   II.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

I  first  called  to  see  him,  immediately  on  his  return  from  Eureka,  I  found 
him  resting  on  his  bed,  worn  by  travel.  I  walked  in  and  took  him  by  the 
hand  a  moment.  Looking  at  me  with  his  noble  eyes  filled  with  tears, 
he  spoke  the  first  words  of  salutation  with  a  dramatic  action  of  hands  and 
a  glow  of  features  which  I  shall  never  forget.  Putting  his  hand  on  his 
heart  he  said,  with  a  difficult  but  distinct  utterance,  "  All  right  here,"  and 
then  lifting  his  hand  up  he  pointed  his  ever  eloquent  finger  heavenward,  and 
added,  "All  right  there."  He  had  answered  my  anxious  eyes,  that  looked 
the  question  which  was  on  my  heart.  It  was  an  answer  of  peace  on  earth 
between  God  and  man,  and  was  the  fitting  prelude  to  all  the  great  sayings 
which  followed. 

He  was  now  also  in  perfect  peace, — "  all  right ! '  in  his  own  heart  with  all 
men.  The  transient  animosities,  sprung  in  the  course  of  ardent  political  con 
flicts,  were  all  silenced,  subdued,  and  sunk  into  oblivion.  The  stricken  states 
man  died  without  a  trace  of  bitterness  in  his  soul.  His  eminent  antagonists, 
far  and  near,  in  state  and  nation,  disarmed  themselves  and  gave  him  friendly 
fellowship  of  heart  and  hand.  With  a  most  felicitous  gesture  of  both 
extended  outspread  palms,  and  with  his  old,  happy,  innocent  smile,  he 
responded  some  time  ago  to  my  remark  concerning  his  peace  with  men. 
With  wonderful  generosity  he  attributed  the  occasional  differences  which 
arose  between  him  and  others  to  misunderstanding  of  his  views  and  mis 
take  of  the  matters  in  question. 

But  in  all  his  life,  Ben  Hill  never  did  a  more  graceful  thing  than  when 
he  made  his  last  visit  to  the  portrait  of  his  mother,  which  hung  in  one  of 
his  rooms.  When  President  Garfield  placed  his  manly  arm  around  his 
venerable  mother  in  the  presence  of  the  vast  multitudes  that  witnessed  his 
inauguration,  and  kissed  her  with  lips  fresh  from  pronouncing  the  obligation 
of  the  presidential  office,  he  drew  unto  himself  the  warm  heart  of  American 
motherhood  forever. 

It  seemed  to  us  all  indeed  (God  bless  his  memory  !)  as  a  bow  of  promise 
clasping  in  one  all  the  mother-loving  manly  men  of  our  whole  nation,  and 
as  the  token  given  by  the  chief  magistrate  that  we,  the  brothers  of  our 
country's  mother  should  never,  never  more  have  bitterness  or  cause  of  strife. 

So  when  the  great  senator  went  as  a  child  to  gaze  upon  his  mother's 
pictured  face  and  murmured,  "  I  will  soon  see  her,"  he  left  the  sons  of 
this  State  and  the  Union  a  lesson  of  filial  love  they  should  never  forget. 
The  portrait  shows  a  dear,  old,  good  face,  well  traced  by  marks  of  intelli 
gence.  The  wrinkles  are  there,  the  stoop  of  age,  and  other  signs  of  failing 
life.  Long  since  she  went  away,  but  the  wasted  statesman  became  a  boy 
again  in  feeling,  gazed  with  a  true,  adoring  love  upon  the  portrait,  and  then 
above  the  faded  picture  looked  with  eyes  that  saw  home,  Heaven,  and 
mother — all  in  one  vision  of  transcendent  glory  ! 

Heaven  brightened  on  him  as  his  days  of  dreadful  suffering  dragged 
along.  Once  he  wrote  for  me,  "  But  for  the  good  I  had  hoped  to  do  my 
family  and  country,  I  should  regard  the  announcement  '  I  must  die '  as  joy 
ful  tidings.  I  cannot  suppress  a  certain  elation  at  the  thought  of  going." 

The  world  already  has  possession  of  his  last  words.  The  Christian  world, 
in  song  and  speech,  will  repeat  them  in  many  tongues  for  many  ages.  They 
comprehend  all  that  man  can  nobly  live  for  in  this  life  or  enjoy  in  the  world 
to  come.  It  was  a  few  hours  preceding  his  death,  when  he  was  rapidly  sink 
ing  and  had  not  written  nor  spoken  a  word  for  many  hours.  I  sat  by  his 
side,  holding  his  band.  Opening  his  eyes  and  arousing  himself  for  a  moment 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  119 

he  recognized  inc.  The  light  of  life  came  full  into  his  eyes  once  more,  and 
with  a  slight  effort  he  spoke  out  in  clear,  full,  and  even  triumphant  accent 
the  deathless  legend  of  a  soul  conquering  in  Christ  and  in  full  view  of  heaven, 
"  Almost  home  ! ' 

lean  add  nothing  that  would  display  to  advantage  the  unadorned  beauty 
of  those  final  words.  He  said  them  ascending  to  the  skies,  and  very  soon 
his  great  and  good  spirit  entered  eternity,  and  he  was  not  almost  but  alto 
gether  and  forever  home  at  last. 

He  has  heard  plaudits  sweeter  than  ever  saluted  his  ear  on  earth.  The 
King,  in  his  beauty,  has  met  him  ;  the  Father's  house  has  opened  to  him  ;  and 
in  such  a  home  as  God  can  constructor  his  faithful  human  child  he  lives, — 
immortal,  painless,  sinless,  and  in  perpetual  peace  ! 

What  power,  what  station,  what  realms  grasped  by  the  greatest  men  are 
comparable  with  this  eternal  home  !  The  loftiest  eminence  attained  on  earth 
is  only  a  diminished  pattern  of  the  heavenly  hills.  All  the  luster  of  human 
greatness  should  make  the  distinguished  princes  among  men  aspire  the  more 
after  the  glory  that  excelleth.  When  earthly  crowns  are  cast  at  the 
Redeemer's  feet  they  are  but  a  light  from  his  transfiguring  presence  that 
outblazes  all  suns.  Men  are  greatest  when  they  give  the  greater  glory  of 
all  their  achievements  to  God,  and  so  live  that  when  they  fail  on  earth  they 
find  a  home  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens.  May  the  Great 
God  and  Father  of  us  all  comfort  this  family  who  mourn  an  irreparable 
loss  ;  may  He  guide  our  government  by  the  counsels  of  His  will,  and  grant 
us  all  through  Christ  to  meet  our  brother  Hill  again  in  his  happy  heavenly 
Home. 


HON.  B.  H.  HILL,  AS  A  MAN,  A  LAWYER,  A  STATESMAN,  A 

,      CHRISTIAN. 

MEMOEIAL — BY  KEV.  E.  W.  SPEER,  D.D. 

IT  has  been  my  good  fortune  to  know  Senator  Hill  long  and  intimately. 
I  have  rambled  with  him  through  the  fields  and  woods,  when  they  were 
clothed  in  the  emerald  robes  of  spring,  or  dressed  in  the  prismatic  tints  of 
autumn.  I  have  visited  with  him  the  hovels  of  the  poor  and  needy.  I 
have  seen  him  in  the  flush  of  public  triumph,  and  in  the  unreserved  freedom 
of  the  domestic  circle.  I  have  seen  him  on  occasions  that  show  the  manly 
strength  of  character;  and,  what  is  better, on  occasions  that  show  the  manly 
weakness  of  the  human  heart  ;  and  I  can  declare  that  in  all  the  gentle 
humanities  of  life,  he  had  the  tenderness  of  a  woman  enshrined  in  the  heart 
of  a  man.  The  great  sympathies  and  virtues  of  a  noble  and  generous 
nature  were  as  strongly  developed  in  him  as  the  muscular  powers  of  his 
athletic  frame,  or  the  capacities  of  his  mighty  intellect.  He  honored  his 
parents  with  a  reverence  most  profound  and  enduring.  I  have  seen  his  lips 
quiver  with  emotion,  and  his  eyes  fill  with  tears,  when  he  spoke  of  the  sac 
rifices  of  his  father  and  mother  to  procure  for  him  the  advantage  of  col 
legiate  culture.  He  loved  his  brothers  and  sisters  with  an  energy  of  soul 
that  shrank  from  no  services  or  sacrifices  that  would  promote  their  welfare, 
or  the  welfare  of  their  children.  He  regarded  his  wife  and  children  with 
an  affection  almost  idolatrous.  Writing  from  Richmond,  Va.,  when  he  was 
a  senator  of  the  Confederate  States,  to  his  wife  in  La  Grange,  he  said  : 
"  A  caged  eagle  does  not  look  up  into  the  clear  blue  sky  and  long  for  free 
dom  to  soar  heavenward  more  than  I  long  for  home,  and  wife,  and  children." 
He  delighted  to  ascribe  his  successful  career  to  the  stimulating  influence  of 
conjugal  affection.  And  I  am.  persuaded  that  it  was  from  the  pure  fountain 
of  domestic  felicity  that  Senator  Hill  drew,  not  only  much  of  the  beauty, 
but  much  of  the  force  of  his  character.  .Every  faculty  of  his  mind  and 
every  impulse  of  his  will  deriving  added  strength  and  fervor  from  the 
warmth  and  glow  of  his  domestic  affections.  But  I  forbear  to  dwell  on  a 
topic  whose  sacredness  shrinks  from  the  most  distant  approach  to  public 
discussion. 

Had  the  Senator's  disposition  to  hoard,  equaled  his  capacity  to  acquire 
wealth,  he  might  have  been  one  of  the  richest  men  in  Georgia.  But  fortun 
ately  for  him,  and  for  others,  the  love  of  money  never  acquired  the  mastery 
over  his  higher  and  nobler  attributes.  He  ever  cultivated  a  spirit  and  a 
habit  of  the  largest  liberality  and  beneficence.  Liberal  as  he  was  to  the 
public  institutions  of  religion,  of  education,  and  of  philanthropy  ;  yet,  if  I 
mistake  not,  his  munificent  contributions  to  churches,  colleges,  and  the 
Orphan's  Home  at  Decatur,  would  make  up  but  a  small  part  of  the  history 
of  his  life-long  beneficence.  The  private  charities  which  he  dispensed  year 
by  year  and  day  by  day,  could  they  be  recalled,  would  fill  a  larger  and 
brighter  page.  Living  as  I  did  near  his  residence  in  La  Grange,  I  could, 

120 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND    WRITINGS.  121 

from  personal  observation,  say  of  him,  what  Goldsmith  so  inimitably  says  of 
the  village  preacher  : 

His  house  was  known  to  all  the  vagrant  trai*, 
He  chid  their  wanderings,  but  relieved  their  pain. 
Careless  their  merits  or  their  faults  to  scan, 
His  pity  gave  ere  charity  began. 

Inspiration  itself  declares,  "He  that  hath  pity  on  the  poor  lendeth  " — 
not  giveth — "  lendeth  to  the  Lord,  and  that  which  he  hath  given  will  He 
pay  him  again."  If  this  be  true,  how  great  will  be  the  payments  hereafter 
received  by  those  generous  philanthropists,  who,  like  Senator  Hill,  have 
given  munificent  sums  publicly  when  it  was  proper  so  to  do  by  way  of  ex 
ample,  but  whose  bounty  has  often  followed  indigent  want  to  its  most 
obscure  hiding  places,  and  relieved  misery  known  only  to  God  and  the 
stewards  of  his  bounty.  Such  deeds  of  kindness  may  never  be  known  on 
earth,  but  they  will  be  remembered  in  that  great  day  when  the  King  shall 
sit  upon  the  throne  in  his  glory,  and  before  him  shall  be  gathered  all  nations, 
and  he  shall  say  to  them  on  his  right  hand,  "  Come  ye  blessed  of  my  Father, 
inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the  world. 
For  I  was  a  hungered  and  ye  gave  me  meat,  I  was  thirsty  and  ye  gave  me 
drink,  I  was  a  stranger  and  ye  took  me  in,  naked  and  ye  clothed  me.  Inas 
much  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye  have 
done  it  unto  me." 

It  is  but  echoing  the  opinions  of  those  most  competent  to  judge,  to  say 
that  Mr.  Hill  had  few  equals,  and  no  superiors  at  the  bar.  There  may  have 
been  lawyers  more  thoroughly  conversant  with  special  departments  of  pro 
fessional  lore.  But  I  doubt  whether  there  was  another  who  united  in  a 
higher  degree,  so  comprehensive  a  knowledge  of  the  general  principles  of 
jurisprudence  with  reasoning  powers  of  such  superlative  excellence,  and 
trained  by  such  assiduous  culture. 

I  cannot  trace  in  detail  the  course  of  his  professional  life,  from  the  open 
ing  of  his  office  in  La  Grange,  in  1844,  or  convey  any  just  conception  of  the 
labor  he  performed  or  the  intellectual  ability  he  displayed,  in  reaching  the 
summit  of  his  profession. 

At  the  very  beginning  of  his  forensic  career,  he  laid  the  foundation  of 
his  legal  acquirements,  deep  and  broad,  in  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the 
Common  Law — grappling  with  and  mastering  its  most  perplexing  subtleties 
and  obsolete  technicalities. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  with  such  natural  endowments  and  indomitable 
industry,  he  achieved  instant  and  brilliant  success  among  competitors  of 
ripe  experience  and  rare  ability. 

When  he  first  came  forward,  unknown  as  yet  to  the  State,  and  scarcely 
known  to  himself,  he  grappled  with  such  champions  of  the  forum  as  Walter 
T.  Colquitt,  Seaborn  Jones,  Julius  C.  Alford,  and  Edward  Y.  Hill.  These 
veterans  of  the  law  were  not  slow  in  discovering  that  in  their  youthful  com 
petitor  they  had  a  "  foeman  worthy  of  their  steel."  They  paid  him  the  high 
compliment  of  compelling  him  to  put  forth  all  his  power  by  employing 
against  him  all  their  own. 

Time  would  fail,  even  had  I  the  requisite  data,  to  enumerate  the  impor 
tant  cases  in  which  he  was  employed.  Many  of  them  are  still  referred  to 
by  his  professional  brethren  as  examples  of  the  highest  juridical  ability. 

I  venture  the  opinion  that,  for  the  last  twenty  years,  not  only  the  people. 


122  SENATOR  R   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

but  the  lawyers  of  Georgia,  would  have  relied  upon  his  knowledge  and 
ability,  for  the  exposition  and  maintenance  of  any  legal  principle  before  any 
legal  tribunal,  in  preference  to  the  knowledge  and  ability  of  any  other 
jurist  in  the  Southern  States.  Nor  was  he  less  powerful  before  a  jury  than 
before  the  bench. 

It  was  marvelous  to  observe  the  ease  and  dexterity  with  which  he  could 
discard  the  abstruse  reasoning,  suited  only  to  men  of  professional  culture, 
and  substitute  therefor  the  robust  common  sense  and  perspicuous  statement 
of  facts  suited  to  the  comprehension  of  a  jury. 

He  was  not  surpassed  by  Stephens  in  his  luminous  analysis  of  a  case  ;  and 
he  was  more  than  the  equal  of  Toombs  in  the  skill  with  which  he  touched 
the  chords  of  human  sensibility,  until  his  hearers  responded  to  every  senti 
ment  that  he  felt  of  pity  or  of  indignation. 

But  his  record  as  a  statesman  is  not  a  whit  less  brilliant  than  his  record  as 
a  jurist.  The  mere  length  and  variety  of  the  services  which  he  rendered  the 
State — first  in  its  General  Assemblv,  then  as  a  member  of  the  Confederate 

*•   * 

Congress,  then  as  a  representative  from  this  district,  lastly  as  a  senator  of 
the  United  States — would  be  sufficient  of  itself  to  secure  him  a  permanent 
and  conspicuous  place  in  our  political  history.  But  he  has  better  titles  to 
remembrance  than  any  that  mere  official  longevity  can  impart.  Public  life 
was  not  necessary  to  his  fame,  and  he  never  held  his  title  to  consideration 
by  the  precarious  tenure  of  public  favor  or  popular  suffrage.  The  truth  is, 
Senator  Hill  had  no  talent  for  political  wire-working,  for  electioneering 
legerdemain,  for  wearisome  correspondence  with  local  great  men,  for 
franking  cart-loads  of  documents  to  the  four  winds.  Even  in  the  daily 
routine  of  legislation  he  did  not  take  an  active  part.  But  when  great  in 
terests  were  at  stake  and  strong  passions  excited,  when  some  political  Mara 
thon  or  Waterloo  had  to  be  fought,  then  he  girded  on  the  whole  panoply  of 
his  power,  and  displayed  such  moral  heroism  and  such  transcendent  gifts 
of  speech  that  a  Chatham  or  a  Mirabeau  might  have  envied  him.  It  has 
been  said  of  some  renowned  orators,  such  as  Sheridan,  Canning,  Fisher 
Ames,  and  William  Pinckney,  that  they  were  more  of  rhetoricians  than 
logicians  ;  that  they  dealt  more  in  metaphors  and  similes  than  in  facts  and 
arguments.  Such  a  criticism  could  not  be  justly  predicated  of  Mr.  Hill. 
His  positions  were  taken  clearly,  boldly,  strongly — without  wordy  amplifi 
cation  or  partisan  vehemence.  In  listening  to  him,  you  felt  that  your  under 
standing  was  addressed  in  behalf  of  a  reasonable  proposition,  which  rested 
on  something  more  substantial  than  sentimental  refinement  or  rhetorical 
exaggeration.  You  could  not  fail  to  be  impressed  with  the  soundness  of 
his  principles,  the  elevation  of  his  sentiments,  and  the  fervor  of  his 
patriotism. 

Among  what  may  be  termed  the  third  generation  of  American  states 
men  since  the  adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution — the  generation  succeed 
ing  Clay,  Calhoun,  and  Webster — there  has  been  no  man  of  a  more  marked 
character,  of  more  pronounced  qualities,  or  of  more  vigorous  powers  in  de 
bate.  Growing  up  to  manhood  an  enthusiastic  admirer  of  Henry  Clay,  he 
cherished  a  profound  reverence  for  the  Constitution  as  a  covenant  of  Union 
between  the  States.  As  a  natural  consequence,  he  was  opposed  to  secession. 
Not  that  he  was  indifferent  to  the  rights  of  the  States.  He  valued,  as  much 
as  any  man  could  possibly  value,  the  principle  of  State  sovereignty.  He 
looked  upon  the  organization  of  these  separate  and  independent  republics  of 
different  ages,  sizes,  geographical  positions,  and  social  interests,  as  furnishing 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  123 

an  organism  of  incalculable  value  for  a  wise  and  beneficent  administration 
of  local  affairs,  and  the  protection  of  local  and  individual  rights.  But  at 
the  same  time  he  regarded  the  Constitutional  Union,  which  bound  these 
separate  and  independent  sovereignties  into  a  well  compacted  nation,  as  an 
approximation  to  the  perfection  of  political  wisdom — a  Constitution  un 
matched  by  the  Amphictyonic  League  of  the  ancient  Greeks,  and  incompara 
bly  superior  to  the  confederated  governments  of  Switzerland  and  the  Nether 
lands. 

Nevertheless,  when  his  honest  and  strenuous  efforts  to  avert  the  horrors 
of  a  civil  war  proved  abortive,  he  espoused  the  cause  of  the  South  with  a 
generous  zeal  that  did  not  pause  to  calculate  how  tragic  might  be  his  fate  if 
the  conflict  should  terminate  disastrously  to  his  people. 

From  the  organization  of  the  Confederate  Government  at  Montgomery 
to  its  overthrow  at  Richmond,  we  find  Senator  Hill  intrusted  with  the  most 
important  duties,  and  discharging  those  duties  with  unwearied  diligence  and 
consummate  ability.  In  the  Confederate  Congress,  composed  of  the  ablest 
men  of  the  South,  he  stood  forth  the  acknowledged  peer  of  the  most  dis 
tinguished  of  his  associates. 

There  were  very  few  of  the  Southern  statesmen,  who  would  not  have 
confessed,  when  they  agreed  with  Senator  Hill,  that  he  expressed  their 
opinions  better  than  they  could  have  expressed  them.  And  tire  bitterest  of 
his  opponents  were  obliged  to  concede  that  he  maintained  his  own  views 
with  transcendent  ability  and  power. 

I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  he  always  escaped  censure  then,  or  that  he 
has  not,  since  then,  been  misunderstood  and  even  willfully  and  grossly  mis 
represented. 

He  has  not  escaped  the  fate  which  in  all  countries — especially  all  free 
countries, — awaits  commanding  talent  and  eminent  position,  and  which  no 
great  man  in  our  history  has  escaped — not  even  Washington  himself. 

Astronomers  tell  us  that  the  most  difficult  problem  in  that  sublime 
science  is  to  construct  a  lense  that  will  not  distort  the  object  that  it  reflects. 
They  assure  us  that  a  hair's-breadth  deviation  from  the  true  curve  in  the 
specular  mirror  will  dim  the  splendor  of  Sirius  or  disfigure  the  belts  of 
Orion.  Even  so  the  most  brilliant  stars  of  the  political  firmament  are  shorn 
of  all  their  glory  when  contemplated  through  the  distorting  lenses  of  per 
sonal  rivalry  and  partisan  prejudice. 

But  if  full  and  impartial  justice  is  not  meted  out  to  men  of  towering 
greatness  while  they  live,  it  is  very  certain  to  be  accorded  to  them  when 
they  are  dead.  There  is  not  an  intelligent  man  in  Georgia  who  will  not 
concede  that  our  dead  Senator  won  his  lofty  position  by  superb  talents, 
laborious  service,  and  patriotic  devotion  to  the  public  good. 

As  a  representative,  and  senator  of  the  United  States,  while  ever  ready 
to  defend  the  South  against  unjust  attacks  and  illiberal  imputations,  he 
proved  himself  capable  of  embracing  the  whole  country  in  the  comprehen 
sive  affection  of  his  large  and  patriotic  heart. 

But  alas  !  alas  !  he  has  fallen  ;  almost  at  the  threshold  of  his  senatorial 
career,  and  at  a  time  when  we  were  looking  to  him  for  public  services  which 
no  other  Southern  statesman  could  perform,  or,  at  least,  perform  so  well. 

'  A  solemn  and  religious  regard  to  spiritual  and  eternal  things,"  said 
Daniel  Webster,  "is  an  essential  element  in  all  true  greatness."  We  rejoice 
that  our  deceased  senator  did  not  lack  this  "  essential  element  "of  greatness. 

He  embraced  the  religion  of  the  Gospel  at  an  early  period  of  his  life,  upon 


124  SENATOR  R   H.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

studious  examination  and  sincere  conviction.  He  was  a  firm  believer,  not 
bigoted  or  boastful,  but  unswerving  in  loyalty  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Chris 
tian  faith.  The  reality  of  his  religion  was  evinced  by  the  calm  serenity 
with  which,  for  days,  and  weeks,  and  months,  he  confronted  the  King  of 
Terrors. 

At  the  most  critical  moments,  when  the  chances  in  favor  of,  and  against 
his  recovery  seemed  equally  balanced,  he  rejoiced  that  a  higher  wisdom  than 
his  own  would  determine  the  event. 

There  is  a  moral  grandeur  in  the  closing  scenes  of  his  life  that  eclipses 
the  brightest  triumphs  of  all  his  previous  career. 

His  work  is  done — nobly  done  !  Never  more  in  the  temples  of  justice, 
or  the  halls  of  legislation,  or  on  the  hustings,  will  be  heard  the  magical  tones 
of  his  voice.  But  the  lessons  of  his  successful  life  and  triumphant  death 
will  not  be  forgotten.  Of  such  as  him,  we  may  say  with  the  poet : 

The  dead  are  like  the  stars  by  day 

Withdrawn  from  mortal  eye  ; 
B"t  not  extinct,  they  hold  their  way 

In  glory  through  the  sky. 


Extract  from  the  Atlanta  Constitution. 
MEETING  OF   CITIZENS    OF   ATLANTA. 

IF  every  boy  and  young  man  in  Georgia,  or  even  in  the  whole  country, 
could  have  entered  the  solemn  presence  of  the  dead  senator  yesterday, 
and  witnessed  what  was  done  and  said  there,  what  an  influence  it 
would  have  had  in  inspiring  them  with  ennobling  thoughts  and  laudable 
ambitions.  They  could  have  seen  how  a  grand  and  beautiful  life  awakens 
love  in  the  breasts  of  the  people,  and  how  fathers  and  mothers  point  their 
children  to  lives  that  are  worthy  of  emulation.  Men  and  women,  leading 
by  the  hand  their  little  children,  carried  them  in  and  showed  them  the  cold, 
still  face  and  silent  lips  that  had  uttered  such  patriotic  sentiments  while  in 
life,  and  which  spoke  yet  so  eloquently  even  in  death. 

Yesterday,  at  twelve  o'clock,  the  hall  of  the  House  of  Representatives  was 
filled  with  a  large  assemblage  of  the  most  prominent  men  of  Atlanta,  who 
had  gathered  in  response  to  the  call  for  a  citizens'  meeting  to  take  suitable 
action  on  the  death  of  Senator  Hill.  The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by 
Mayor  English,  who  spoke  as  follows  : 


MAYOR  ENGLISH'S  ADDRESS. 


"  Fellow-citizens  of  Atlanta :  From  the  most  ancient  times  in  the 
world's  history,  it  has  been  deemed  just  and  decorous,  when  a  public  ser 
vant  is  stricken  unto  death,  for  his  people  to  assemble  and  do  honor  to  what 
was  noble  in  his  character  and  worthy  of  gratitude  in  his  career. 

"  In  obedience  to  that  unvaried  custom,  as  mayor  of  this  city,  I  have 
called  you  together  that,  through  your  representatives,  and  by  your  assent, 
you  might  publicly  pay  well-deserved  and  grateful  respect  to  the  memory 
of  your  late  senator — Hon.  Benjamin  H.  Hill. 

"  I  shall  not  attempt  to  anticipate  the  terms  in  which  that  tribute  will 
be  expressed  by  this  sympathetic  assembly  or  by  a  review  of  the  familiar 
services  of  the  great  statesman  whose  body  now  lies  in  the  icy  embrace  of 
death.  Though  they  are  interwoven  like  threads  of  gold  in  the  woof  of  our 
State  and  national  history,  they  may  be  easily  traced  by  all  who  read  its 
several  chapters  since  he  entered  upon  the  stage  of  public  life. 

'That  his  character  was  conspicuous  in  those  gracious  and  ennobling 
virtues  that  constitute  greatness  among  men,  is  testified  to  in  the  general 
sorrow  which  is  manifested  everywhere  in  this  Union  over  the  news  of  his 
death.  Looking  back  over  his  illustrious  services,  considering  the  grand 
opportunities  by  which  he  was  surrounded  when  stricken  down,  and  the 
hopes  his  fellow-citizens  had  rested  on  the  triumphs  of  his  intellect  and 
genius  in  the  future,  we  have  but  feeble  language  left  us  to  express  our 
grief  and  to  voice  our  sense  of  loss.  As  an  earnest  patriot  and  lofty  states 
man,  it  will  be  long  before  we  look  upon  another  who  can  claim  our  con 
fidence  and  admiration  as  the  peer  of  Benjamin  Harvey  Hill." 

Mr.  English  concluded  his  address  by  calling  Senator  Joseph  E.  Brown 
to  preside. 

125 


126  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 


SENATOR    BROWN'S     ADDRESS. 

On  taking  the  chair,  Senator  Brown  said  : 

"  Mr.  President :  There  are  times  when  individuals,  and  families,  and 
relatives  are  called  upon  to  mourn.  There  are  times  of  greater  importance, 
when  communities,  States,  and  nations  mourn.  Georgia  to-day  bows  her 
head  in  solemn  grief,  and  all  her  sons  and  daughters  grieve.  Her  sister 
States  tender  their  warmest  sympathies.  But  why  all  this  mourning  ? 
Georgia  has  lost  her  ablest  senator,  one  of  her  most  distinguished  statesmen, 
her  brightest  lawyer,  her  greatest  orator.  The  form — the  noble  form — of 
Benjamin  H.  Hill  has  passed  behind  the  veil  no  more  to  be  seen  in  this  life. 
His  eloquent  tongue,  hushed  in  death,  will  no  more  be  heard  by  listening 
senates  and  admiring  multitudes.  Well  may  Georgia  weep. 

"Twenty-five  years  ago  the  most  prominent  figures  in  public  life,  aye 
the  most  distinguished  public  servants  in  Georgia,  were  Robert  Toombs, 
Alexander  H.  Stephens,  Charles  J.  Jenkins,  Howell  Cobb,  Herschel  V. 
Johnson,  Hiram  Warner,  and  Benjamin  H.  Hill,  the  latter  much  the  young 
est  of  any  of  those  named.  A  few  years  after  the  war  Howell  Cobb,  one  of 
the  most  gifted  of  the  number,  and  one  most  beloved  by  his  friends,  was 
called  hence.  Two  or  three  years  ago  Herschel  V.  Johnson,  one  possessed 
of  purity  and  individuality,  not  surpassed  anywhere,  passed  away.  Not  a 
year  ago  Hiram  Warner,  the  greatest  jurist  of  Georgia,  the  distinguished 
chief  justice,  was  called  hence  to  his  final  reward.  Governor  Jenkins, 
General  Toombs,  Mr.  Stephens,  and  Mr.  Hill,  aged  in  the  order  named, 
were  left  behind.  Of  these  distinguished  men,  Hill  was  nearly  twenty 
years  younger  than  the  oldest  and  some  eleven  years  younger  than  the 
youngest  of  the  remaining  number.  His  health  was  perfect,  his  physical 
strength  was  great,  all  his  faculties  were  in  full  play,  and,  in  looking  upon 
those  men,  how  natural  to  say  that  those  older  ones  will  pass  away,  but  Hill 
will  yet  live  to  do  the  State  twenty  years  of  great  service,  and  yet  how  in 
scrutable  are  the  ways  of  Providence.  To-day,  while  the  others  are  in 
their  usual  health,  ripe  with  age  and  experience,  that  youngest,  probably 
that  brightest,  I  might  say,  and  that  most  promising,  lies  in  the  cold  em 
brace  of  death. 

"  But  we  mourn  not  as  those  without  hope.  Senator  Hill  has  passed  away 
from  the  busy  scenes  of  this  life,  but  he  has  passed  to  the  future  and  better 
world  as  we  believe.  While  he  was  a  member  of  the  church,  he  was  en 
gaged  in  the  busy  work  of  life  and  in  the  service  of  the  State,  and  as  all  in 
his  situation  do,  neglected  too  much  his  religious  privileges — one  of  the 
griefs  of  his  life.  But  before  he  was  called  away,  he  was  sanctified  by  af 
fliction  and  purified  by  suffering  in  a  manner  that  probably  falls  to  the  lot 
of  few  men  in  this  world.  We  would  not  really  have  supposed,  in  view  of 
his  fine  prospects,  that  in  view  of  his  laudable  ambition,  his  high  opportuni 
ties,  and  his  grand  talents,  that  his  mind  would  have  been  more  or  less  fixed 
upon  the  things  of  this  world,  and  he  could  not  have  met  such  a  fate  with 
out  murmur.  But  when  affliction  came,  and  its  heavy  hand  was  laid  upon 
him,  how  remarkable  it  was  to  see  him  suffer  with  all  the  patience  of  a  Job, 
and  to  see  what  sublime  faith  and  resignation  characterized  his  whole  course 
during  his  affliction.  Senator  Hill  has  passed  from  among  us,  but  he  is  not 
dead.  We  have  the  faith  to  believe  that  to-day  his  spirit  rests  in  the  para 
dise  of  God." 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND    WAITINGS.  127 

Senator  Brown's  address  was  delivered  in  a  quiet  and  most  impressive 
manner,  and  was  listened  to  with  strictest  attention.  When  he  concluded, 
the  audience  was  visibly  affected,  and  there  were  many  eyes  wet  with  tears. 
Old  men  and  young  men  wept  alike  as  the  words  of  eulogy  were  spoken  of 
the  dead  senator. 

THE    KESOLTJTIONS    PASSED. 

At  the  conclusion  of  Senator  Brown's  remarks  Major  Benjamin  Crane 
arose,  and  in  a  voice  full  of  emotion,  said  : 

"  Mr.  Chairman  :  At  a  meeting  called  yesterday  morning  by  his  honor, 
the  Mayor,  of  a  few  of  our  citizens  for  the  purpose  of  preparing  business  for 
the  consideration  of  this  meeting,  I  was  instructed  to  submit  the  resolutions 
which  I  hold  in  my  hand." 

Major  Crane  then  read  the  resolutions  as  follows,  slowly,  and  in  a  man 
ner  which  was  deeply  impressive  : 

The  citizens  of  the  city  of  Atlanta,  sorrowing  in  heart,  and  recognizing 
the  magnitude  of  their  personal  and  public  loss,  are  this  day  met  together  in 
solemn  assembly  to  do  honor  to  the  character  and  services  of  Benjahiin  Har 
vey  Hill,  late  senator  from  the  State  of  Georgia  in  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States. 

It  has  been  so  ordered,  in  the  wisdom  of  God,  that  in  the  flower  of  his 
manhood  and  the  most  hopeful  season  of  his  usefulness  to  humanity,  he 
should  be  taken  from  the  walks  of  a  noble  career,  his  body  returned  to  its 
kindred  dust  and  his  spirit  recalled  to  the  eternal  companionship  of  its  au 
thor.  By  this  dissolution  of  the  bonds  of  earthly  kinship,  friendship,  and 
service,  we  feel  that  a  deep  bereavement  has  come  upon  us  as  individuals  and 
as  a  people  ;  that  our  beloved  State  has  lost  an  illustrious  son,  a  peerless 
advocate,  and  an  unswerving  defender  of  her  rights,  her  liberties,  and  her 
honor  ;  that  the  country  has  been  deprived  of  one  of  its  wisest  counselors, 
most  eloquent  orators,  and  sagacious  statesmen.  In  the  midst  of  our  mourn 
ing  we  remember  with  gratitude  the  loyalty,  the  earnestness,  and  the  self- 
sacrificing  spirit  of  his  services  at  all  times  to  his  mother  State  and  to  the 
nation.  The  events  of  his  long  and  useful  career  are  forever  embalmed  in 
the  memories  of  the  people  and  written  upon  the  imperishable  records  of  the 
age  to  which  his  name  and  labors  gave  luster.  The  fame  of  the  one  and  the 
examples  of  the  others  will  survive  among  the  generations  yet  to  come, 
quickening  emulation,  stimulating  patriotism,  and  dignifying  public  virtue. 
For  these  exalted  purposes  his  life  has  been  conspicuous,  and  in  the  achieve 
ments  of  his  untune!}7-  finished  career  he  has  bequeathed  to  his  people  and  to 
posterity  the  richest  treasures  of  his  well-spent  years  ;  be  it  therefore 

RESOLVED,  That  we  bow  obediently  to  the  unknowable  Providence  of  the 
all-wise  God  in  removing  from  our  midst  and  from  life  our  late  fellow-citi 
zen,  friend,  and  public  servant,  Hon.  Benjamin  Harvey  Hill  ; 

Resolved,  That  in  this  season  of  public  grief,  we  mingle  our  tribute  of 
affection  with  those  expressions  of  respect  and  sorrow  that  are  universal 
throughout  the  commonwealth,  and  that  have  found  voice  among  his  com 
patriots  in  all  portions  of  the  Union  ; 

Resolved,  That  we  herewith  record  our  sincere  estimate  of  the  character 
and  services  of  the  illustrious  dead  : 

Benjamin  Harvey  Hill,  scholar,  patriot,  statesman,  Christian.  He  was  an 
early  student  of  history  and  philosophy,  that  he  might  be  useful  to  bis 


128  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

fellow-men  in  all  the  trusts  and  duties  of  a  citizen.  He  was  ever  the  friend 
and  advocate  of  the  people  in  maintenance  of  their  private  and  public  rights. 
He  was  a  champion  of  the  weak  and  humble  in  every  forum  of  law  and 
liberty,  and  his  matchless  eloquence  enforced  justice  in  the  high  tribunals, 
where  it  was  heard  to  demand  civil  and  religious  freedom  for  the  citizen, 
protection  for  the  life  and  property  of  the  individual  and  the  rights  of  sov 
ereign  States,  the  blessings  of  constitutional  government,  and  the  perpetuity 
of  the  Union  of  the  fathers.  Faithful  to  every  commission,  diligent  to 
every  trust,  and  noble  in  every  purpose,  as  well  as  wise  in  council,  dauntless 
in  peril,  magnanimous  in  triumph.  He  was  devoted  in  the  home  circle, 
lovable  in  social  companionship,  and  humble  in  the  sanctuary.  Honor  and 
integrity  were  helmet  and  shield  to  him ;  truth  his  weapon  in  every  conflict 
with  error  and  prejudice  and  oppression.  On  his  tomb  his  grateful  people 
lay  the  laurel  wreath  in  testimony  of  his  civil  glory,  and  immortelles  in 
mt  nory  of  his  Christian  graces  and  his  useful  life  ; 

'^esolved,  That  the  Mayor  and  General  Council  be  requested  to  dedicate 
a  page  in  the  records  of  the  city  to  the  memory  of  the  illustrious  dead,  and 
spread  thereon  these  resolutions,  and  that  an  engrossed  copy  be  transmitted 
to  the  family  of  the  deceased  in  token  of  the  deep  sympathy  of  this  com 
munity  with  them  in  this  hour  of  their  bereavement  and  grief. 

• 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  reading  of  the  resolutions,  Major  Crane  con 
tinued  : 

"  This  duty,  to  roe,  is  peculiarly  a  sad  one.  I  have  known  Mr.  Hill  ever 
since  I  was  a  child.  I  have  followed  with  pride  his  public  life.  I  have  re 
joiced  in  his  success.  I  have  loved  him  much  and  have  felt  honored  in  being 
numbered  among  his  friends,  and  am  gratified  at  having  the  privilege  of 
placing  my  simple  wild  flower  among  the  chaplets  which  adorn  his  bier. 

"  Death  striking  down  the  strong  man  in  the  pride  and  strength  of  his 
manhood  is  terrible.  But  when  it  takes  from  us,  in  the  very  meridian  of  his 
glory  and  usefulness,  the  most  brilliant  intellect  Georgia  has  ever  produced 
— when  it  hushes  forever  the  most  eloquent  lips  which  ever  defended  con 
stitutional  liberty  in  this  State,  if  not  in  this  Union,  it  is  appalling.  We 
can  only  stand  with  bowed  heads  in  submission  to  the  will  of  Him  who 
doeth  all  things  well,  recollecting  that  God's  ways  are  not  as  our  ways. 

"It  is  mete  and  proper  that  this  meeting  of  his  townsmen  and  friends 
should  assemble  to  express  their  sorrow  at  his  death  and  their  appreciation 
of  the  virtues  which  characterized  his  life. 

"  It  is  hard  to  realize  that  Ben  Hill  is  dead — that  we  shall  hear  no  more 
from  this  brilliant  statesman  and  matchless  orator — that  in  a  few  hours  all 
that  is  mortal  of  him  will  be  under  the  sod.  Thank  God  for  the  glorious 
boon  of  immortality.  Thank  God  that  he  has  left  a  record  which  will  be  to 
him  a  monument  more  enduring  than  that  of  brass  or  marble,  a  monument 
which  will  stand  in  his  own  loved  State  of  Georgia  as  long  as  the  green 
grass  grows  or  the  bright  waters  reflect  back  the  silver  stars  of  heaven. 

"  I  now  move  you,  sir,  the  adoption  of  the  resolutions." 

COLONEL  HAMMOND'S  ADDRESS. 

When  Major  Crane  sat  down,  Hon.  N.  J.  Hammond  arose,  and  said  : 
"Having  yesterday,  as  the  organ  of  the  bar  of  Atlanta,  presented  resolu 
tions  touching  the  death  of  Mr.  Hill,  I  might  well  be  silent  to-day.     Ex- 

C_?  f  C2  */ 

hausted  by  watching  gvertjje  corpse  last  nigbt,  silence  would  be  to  me  more 
agreeable. 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,  AND   WRITINGS.  129 

"  But  since  I  have  lived  in  Atlanta  nearly  thirty  years,  I  have  a  right  to 
speak  in  a  meeting  of  her  citizens,  and  some  about  me  think  it  my  duty  to 
say  something  on  this  occasion.  I  saw  the  forests  about  our  city  cut  away 
and  her  highways  of  commerce  laid  out  and  opened  up.  I  saw  it  built  and 
burned.  I  witnessed  its  rebuilding  and  long  have  rejoiced  that  the  '  glory 
of  the  latter  house  '  is  '  greater  than  was  the  glory  of  the  former.' 

"  I  have  studied  its  conglomerate,  composite  population,  gathered  from 
every  county  of  this  State  and  every  State  in  the  Union.  Youth  came 
with  high  hopes  and  lusty  vigor.  Mature  men  came  with  well-stored  minds, 
fixed  principles,  and  steady  purposes.  In  the  estimation  of  our  neighbors 
she  passed  from  contempt  to  admiration,  from  envy  to  pride,  from  the  rail 
road  station  of  1846  to  the  capital  of  this  grand  commonwealth. 

"  Among  all  her  treasures,  rich  and  rare,  gathered  together,  none  came 
better  or  more  beautiful  than  Hill.  He  sat  in  life  the  '  Kohinoor '  of  our 
cluster,  and  in  death  we  mourn  him  as  our  l  Pleiad  gone.'  Only  once  before 
have  I  seen  our  city  so  draped  in  mourning.  That  was  when  Garfield  died. 
His  death  was  tragic,  and  across  the  way,  in  the  theater  where  tragedy  was 
so  familiar,  it  was  fit  to  speak  of  his  '  taking  off.'  Mr.  Hill  died  from 
disease,  at  his  home,  while  he  was  the  servant  of  the  State,  and  it  is  well  to 
speak  of  his  virtues  in  the  hall  of  the  representatives  of  her  people. 

"  The  last  time  I  saw  these  two  great  men  together  was  at  Mr.  Chitten- 
den's  reception  of  General  Garfield,  a  few  days  before  his  inauguration  as 
President  of  the  United  States.  They  had  served  side  by  side  in  the 
Federal  House  of  Representatives.  Though  opposed  politically,  each  knew 
the  other's  strength  and  admired  the  other's  greatness.  On  that  evening  I  saw 
them  meet,  and  observed  their  greeting.  Our  senator,  in  courtliest  style  and 
complimentary  tone,  addressed  him  by  his  new  title,  *  Mr.  President,'  when 
he,  laying  his  hand  upon  Mr.  Hill's  shoulder,  called  him  by  his  given  name 
as  familiarly  as  he  would  have  been  addressed  by  a  life-time  associate.  I 
recalled  the  great  gulf  which  had  been  between  Mr.  Hill  and  the  late  Presi 
dent,  and  felt  that  Georgia  would  become  more  potent  in  public  affairs 
since  this  senator  and  our  Chief  Magistrate  occupied  such  close  and  confi 
dential  relations.  But  death  has  claimed  them  both.  Did  time  allow,  and 
were  I  able  to  do  so  fittingly,  we  might  profitably  review  their  characters. 
In  strength  and  beauty  they  were  alike  ;  in  all  else  in  marked  contrast. 
Garfield  feared  individual  responsibility  ;  Hill  courted  it  with  the  dash  of 
Sergeant  Jasper  and  the  cool  courage  of  Troup.  Garfield  belonged  to  clubs 
and  was  fond  of  society  ;  Hill  belonged  to  no  associations  but  the  church, 
and  cared  naught  for  company,  except  that  of  the  few  whom  he  saw  in 
timately  at  his  home.  Garfield  was  a  man  of  varied  information,  and 
familiar  with  all  the  best  literature  of  his  time  ;  Hill  read  nothing  but  law 
and  politics,  and  occasional  recreations  with  Milton  and  Shakespeare.  Each 
combined  the  rare  powers  of  speaking  well  and  writing  well.  Garfield's 
style  was  more  polished  ;  Hill's  stronger  and,  I  think,  grander. 

''Their  opportunities  were  strangely  in  contrast.  Aiding  in  a  war  where 
victory  was  sure,  Garfield  was  boomed  into  public  life  and  sailed  onward  to 
his  proper  place  l  upon  the  smooth  surface  of  a  summer  sea.'  Hill,  forced 
into  a  contest  against  his  judgment  and  his  sentiment,  struggled  with  the 
storm  of  war,  and  at  its  end  stood  heartsick  at  the  wreck  of  his  country. 
Garfield  had  the  victorious,  mighty  West  to  urge  him  onward  ;  Hill  was 
weighted  and  clogged  by  the  dead  hopes  and  prostrate  fortunes  of  the  con 
quered  South.  Yet  he  achieved  and  held  without  a  question  the  highest 


130  SENATOR  B.   H.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

niche  in  fame's  proud  temple  which  Southern  brains  and  energy  and  South 
ern  courage  and  skill  had  any  possible  right  to  claim. 

"  Let  the  contrasts  cease,  and  revert  one  moment  to  their  like  prepara 
tions  for  death.  Slow  paced  it  came  on  both  ;  the  people  feared  and  prayed 
for  both.  The  faults  of  both  were  forgotten  in  fond  admiration  of  their 
virtues,  and  the  country  will  long  cherish  their  memories  among  its  richest 
jewels. 

"I  second  the  resolutions,  so  appropriate  and  just  to  our  beloved  and 
brilliant  fellow-citizen." 

GOVERNOR  COLCJUITT'S  ADDRESS. 

"As  the  official  representative  of  the  State  of  Georgia,  and  as  an  hum 
ble  citizen  of  this  commonwealth,  proud  of  her  greatness,  proud  of  her 
great  men,  I  rise  to  unite  my  voice  in  the  cry  of  general  lamentations  that 
is  heard  over  the  State,  and  in  seconding  the  resolutions  that  have  been 
read  to-day.  The  State  is  in  mourning.  The  countenances  of  the  people 
of  this  State  are  shadowed  with  grief.  Amidst  the  activities  of  our  people 
there  is  a  hush  of  stillness,  and  men  look  inquiringly  into  each  other's  faces, 
and  the  response  is  '  Hill  is  dead.'  We  are  proud  of  our  State,  we  glory  in 
her  mountains,  and  in  her  midlands,  and  in  the  country  that  lies  upon  the 
coast.  But  that  of  which  Georgians  are  most  proud,  that  which  will  give 
her  most  character,  that  which  will  live  the  longest,  that  which  will  be  the 
example  for  future  generations,  is  to  be  found  in  the  lives  and  the  charac 
ters  of  her  illustrious  men ;  and  when  the  symbols  of  power,  and  progress, 
and  improvement  have  been  forgotten  and  gone  down  with  the  ages,  the 
men  that  have  illustrated  your  State  in  her  councils  and  in  her  social  walks, 
these  men  are  the  men  whose  memories  will  be  transmitted  to  the  genera 
tions  to  come,  long  after  the  monuments  that  are  reared  to  give  them  fame 
have  perished  from  the  earth.  Look  around  these  halls.  You  have  no  fan 
tastic  pictures  to  illustrate  art,  but  you  place  upon  these  walls  the  portraits 
of  those  whose  example  you  would  hand  down  to  the  youth  of  our  country  ; 
and  among  the  great  men,  among  the  men  that  have  stood  foremost  in 
the  councils  of  the  State,  in  the  forum,  on  the  hustings,  everywhere  where 
men's  views  are  heard  in  council,  there  is  no  man  nor  no  name  to 
which  the  future  will  point  with  more  pride  than  to  the  name  of  Benja 
min  H.  Hill. 

"  For  a  quarter  of  a  century  he  has  been  closely  allied  with  me  ;  in  all 
our  affairs,  in  every  political  campaign,  in  the  midst  of  social  revolutions, 
at  a  time  when  there  was  despair  everywhere,  his  voice  was  heard  like  a 
trumpet  to  awaken  life  and  hope,  and  in  the  day  of  triumph  no  siren  ever 
sung  a  hallelujah  that  was  sweeter  to  hear  for  Georgians  than  his  exultation 
with  our  people,  who  were  delivered  and  relieved  of  the  weight  that  was 
upon  them.  We  shall  miss  him  in  our  public  assemblies ;  we  shall 
miss  him  in  our  social  circles  ;  we  shall  miss  him  in  the  accustomed  walk, 
where  he  used  to  go  from  his  home  to  his  place  of  business,  now  hung1 
with  badges  of  mourning,  black  as  the  signia  of  our  woe,  white  as  the 
signia  of  our  hope  of  his  resurrection.  But  my  friends,  while  we,  as  citi 
zens,  as  I  said,  may  point  to  the  public  services  and  to  the  character  of 
Benjamin  H.  Hill,  that  which  touches  your  heart  and  touches  my  heart 
more  than  any  other  incident  in  his  life,  is  his  long  and  protracted  suffering 
and  the  grandness  of  the  jwan  as  illustrated  in  his  patience  and  Christian, 
resignation, 


HIS  LIFE,    SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  131 

"It  had  been  a  long  time  since  I  had  seen  him;  I  called  at  the  house  and 
we  had  some  conversation  in  relation  to  general  affairs,  but  that  to  which 
lie  turned  his  mind  more  than  to  any  other  thing  to  be  considered  was  upon 
his  condition  and  the  hopelessness  of  his  life.  I  could  see  that  he  was 
resigned  to  whatever  might  come,  and  yet  plainly  visible  in  his  countenance 
I  could  see  a  shadow  as  he  thought  of  and  looked  upon  the  dear  faces,  the 
dear  countenances  of  his  wife  and  children,  which  he  was  to  see  no  more  on 
earth  again  forever.  Yes,  and  I  discovered  still  another  shadow,  and  that 
was  the  agony  which  would  be  brought  upon  these  dear  ones,  who  were 
dearer  to  him  than  life  ;  and  yet,  sad  as  were  these  reflections,  with  hope 
and  with  animation  he  said,  *  I  am  in  the  hand  of  God.  His  will  be  done.' 
It  has  been  done,  and  my  friends,  when  all  of  his  life  and  character  of  a 
public  sort  have  been  forgotten,  the  scenes  around  his  sick  bed  and  the  last 
davs  of  Benjamin  Harvey  Hili  will  be  handed  down  as  a  token  of  the  hopes 
which  inspired  the  Christian  in  his  last  hours.  I  bring  this  humble  and 
impromptu  tribute  here  to-day,  and  among  the  fragrant  flowers  and  bouquets 
that  shall  be  cast  upon  his  bier  I  cast  this.  His  memory  will  live  when  gar 
lands  have  faded.  '  He  that  believeth  in  me  though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall 
he  live.'  He  does  live.  Ah,  could  we  but  have  the  ears  of  faith  to-day,  we 
might  hear  the  response  of  his  last  utterance  upon  this  earth :  '  Almost 
home.' 

CHIEF   JUSTICE    JACKSOx's    ADDRESS. 

"  Mr.  Chairman  :  The  wreath  of  immortelles,  which  encircle  the  brow  of 
the  illustrious  dead,  was  woven  of  flowers  culled  not  more  from  the  broad 
fields  of  political  adventure  and  civic  glory  than  from  the  narrower  gardens 
of  legal  lore  and  forensic  renown.  It  is  meet,  therefore,  that  in  response 
to  the  invitation  of  the  committee  of  arrangements,  as  Georgia's  head 

^J  7  ^j 

of  the  administration   of  her  laws,  I  add   a  few  words  to  what  has  been 
said  in  honor  of  his  memory. 

"  Less  than  twelve  months  ago  the  State  was  draped  in  weeds  of  mourn 
ing,  and  with  the  circle  of  entire  sisterhood  she  bowed  her  head  in  sorrow 
and  wept  over  the  fresh  grave  of  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  Union.  The 
rude  and  ruthless  manner  of  his  taking  off,  the  protracted,  weary,  and  sad 
footsteps  of  the  great  sufferer  through  the  *  dark  valley  of  the  'shadow  of 
death,'  the  patient  heroism  with  which  he  endured  the  anguish,  and  the 
painful  suspense  with  which  the  people  breathlessly  watched  the  event — all 
struck  the  great  chords  of  the  American  heart  with  almost  unutterable 
sympathy,  and  its  sobbing  vibrations  made  a  spontaneous  and  indignant 
wail  throughout  the  land.  It  was  fit,  sir,  that  Georgia  officially  take  her 
place  intthat  funeral,  and  she  did  so  from  her  heart.  In  this  chamber  her 
legislative,  executive,  and  judicial  departments  of  government — the  mayor 
and  council  of  this  her  capital  city,  and  her  citizens  generally,  assembled, 
and  Georgia's  voii'e  was  heard  in  the  general  lamentation. 

'  But  Garfield,  Mr.  Chairman,  was  not  Georgia's  child.  He  was  the  son 
of  one  of  her  sisters,  and  as  one  of  a  great  family  she  sorrowed  then.  To 
day  she  grieves  with  a  mother's  love  and  a  mother's  anguish.  She  stands 
now  by  the  bier  of  her  own  boy — the  offspring  of  her  womb,  whose  cradle, 
she  rocked,  whose  early  footsteps  she  watched  as  only  a  mother  can  watch, 
a  son,  in  whose  growth  she  expanded,  too,  in  parental  pride,  and  in  the  alti 
tude  of  whose  fame  she  gloried  as  her  own. 

<*  Well  may  she  weep,     <  Can  a  mother  forget  her  sucking  child  ? '  is 


132  SENATOR  B.   II.    HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

the  question  Jehovah  put  to  manifest  his  unspeakable  love  for  the  children 
of  men.  Mr.  Hill  sucked  everything  which  made  him  great  from  the 
breast  of  Georgia.  He  was  all  Georgian.  Physically,  intellectually, 
morally  he  was  Georgia's  own  son.  In  the  midst  of  the  great  red  belt 
which  encircles  the  body  of  the  State  from  Savannah  to  the  Chattahoochee — 
her  rich  red  zone,  near  the  geographical  center — the  very  core  of  her 
heart — his  eves  first  saw  the  light,  and  the  blood  which  fed  his  magnificent 

«x  *~J  *ir3 

physique  flowed  from  that  heart  which  now  throbs  with  anguish  over  his 
remains.  Intellectually,  he  was  her  own  son.  An  alumnus  of  her  university, 

•/     7  11 *    7 

there  he  sucked  intellectual  nourishment,  and  Athens  is  in  tears  now  while 
Atlanta  weeps.  If  honey  hung  upon  his  lips,  Georgia  bees  gathered  it 
from  her  own  flowers  and  hoarded  it  there.  If  the  silver  ring  of  his  elo- 

C5 

quence  fascinated  attention  and  moved  all  hearts  with  the  magic  of  its 
music,  that  silver  was  dug  from  Georgia  mines  beneath  her  own  red  hills.  If 
the  sword  of  his  logic,  wielded  for  her  in  the  Senate  chamber  of  the  Union, 
flashed  and  cut  like  a  Damascus  blade,  the  material  was  Georgia  steel,  manu 
factured  and  tempered  in  her  own  workshops.  If  the  broad  shield  which 
he  raised  in  her  defense,  and  in  that  of  all  the  South,  averted  every  blow 

«/ 

and  blunted  the  point  of  every  javelin  her  traducers  hurled  at  her  honor 
and  her  heart,  the  material  of  it  was  sturdy  oak  and  the  granite  mountain 
native  to  Georgia's  soil.  Oh,  sir,  this  great  Georgian  was  altogether  Geor 
gian,  and  while  his  patriotism  did  expand  and  compass  the  Union  in  its 
wide  embrace,  his  hearstrings  clustered  close  to  the  mother  who  was  all 
in  all  to  him. 

"  True  patriotism  always  did,  and  always  will  burn  brightest  at  the  fire 
side.  Thence  its  rays  will  shine  over  all  the  land  and  warm  all  the  homes 
within  the  reach  of  its  radiance  to  the  remotest  verge  of  the  whole  country. 
If  it  burn  not  there  at  home,  it  will  warm  nothing.  Morally,  Mr.  Hill  was 
Georgia's  own  son.  In  a  Georgia  church,  under  Georgia  preaching,  a  spark 
from  heaven  fell  into  his  soul  and  kindled  that  humble  faith  in  Christ  which 
adhered  to  him  through  life  and  made  him  grand  in  death.  Well  might  he 

^j  ^j  *^ 

say  with  the  Psalmist,  *  Thy  gentleness  hath  made  me  great.'  And  that 
gentle  flow  of  God's  spirit  into  his  own  made  the  greater  grandeur  of  the 
evening  of  a  grand  day. 

"Sir,  his  career  was  not  unlike  the  course  of  the  sun  in  the  heavens, — its 
morning,  its  noon,  its  setting  in  a  cloudy  west.  "When  it  arose,  the  broad 
beams  of  its  light,  as  they  brightened  the  morning  sky,  gave  early  promise 
of  a  glorious  zenith.  Well  do  I  remember  how  the  prophetic  eye  of  Judge 
Charles  Dougherty — clarum  et  venerable  nomen — watched  those  beams  and 
delighted  in  their  promise.  Steadily  it  rose  higher  and  higher.  The  bar, 
the  forum,  the  hustings,  legislative  and  congressional  halls,  all  were  flooded 
with  the  illumination,  and,  when  full  orbed,  it  culminated  in  the  zenith. 
When  all  eyes  looked  at  Georgia's  senator  in  the  American  Senate — not 
Crawford  or  Troup,  not  Forsyth  or  Berrien,  illustrated  Georgia  with  a 
richer,  I  had  almost  said,  sir,  with  so  rich  a  radiance. 

"  '  There  he  shone,  a  sun  with  no  spot  upon  its  disk.'  But  evening  came, 
and  the  sun  set  to  rise  no  more  on  earthly  scenes.  It  is  not  the  clear,  tranquil 
sun  that  is  most  beautifully  grand.  It  is  when  clouds  encompass  the  king  of 
day  that  he  draws  the  richest  drapery  around  his  couch,  and  more  beautiful 
than  morning's  beams,  grander  than  noontide  glory,  is  the  light  the  sinking 
sun  sheds  on  the  clouds  which  skirt  the  horizon  he  has  left. 

Hill  sank  among  the  clouds  of  deep  affliction,  and  the  twilight  was 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND   WRITINGS.  133 

long,  but  oh,  how  surpassingly  beautiful  that  lingering  glory  !  God  seems 
to  have  brought  the  clouds  around  that  dying  chamber  that  the  glory  of 
Heaven  might  sweeten  the  sorrows  of  earth,  and  that  the  world  might  see,  as 
Addison  wrote  to  his  young  friend,  how  a  Christian  could  die.  Mr.  Chair 
man,  it  was  my  fortune  to  be  at  Eureka  Springs  when  Mr.  Hill  was  there. 
Though  in  feeble  health  myself,  it  was  a  pleasure  as  well  as  a  duty  to  visit 
him  often.  There  he  sat  afflicted,  yet  patient  and  lamb-like.  There  was 
the  wife,  whose  widowed  heart  now  is  groaning  in  that  residence  on  Peach- 
tree  Street,  and  there  the  noble  son,  who  laid  all  he  had — time,  property, 
business,  home,  everything  at  his  father's  feet.  Well  might  the  great  suf 
ferer  say,  as  he  said  to  me,  never  had  husband  a  better  wife,  never  father  a 
better  son. 

"  I  looked  from  the  outward  to  the  inner  man,  and  asked  how  was  all 
within.  '  I  should  like  to  live  for  my  family  and  my  country,  but  I  make  no 
prayer  to  God  without  saying  to  Him  from  my  heart,  "  Thy  will  be  done."  I 
know  he  is  wiser  and  better  than  I  am  and  Avill  do  best  for  me  and  mine.' 

"  That  was  his  reply,  and  every  time  I  saw  him, — thus  trustingly,  humbly, 
confidently,  he  talked. 

«/  •* 

'  On  my  return  I  saw  him  again  at  his  home  and,  when  he  could  not  talk, 
he  wrote  again,  in  reply  to  a  question  as  to  the  inner  man,  while  his  body 
was  wasting  away  and  death  before  him  : 

"  '  The  growth  of  grace  is  constant,  indubitable,  unmistakable.' 

"  To  General  Evans  he  said,  laying  his  hand  on  his  breast  and  pointing  to 
Heaven,  '  All  is  right  here,  all  is  right  there.'  And  to  him,  when  no  longer 
:ible  to  write  or  talk,  when  almost  gone,  with  a  supernatural  effort,  his  dy 
ing  whisper  muttered  the  words,  '  Almost  home,'  while  a  smile  lighted  up 
the  emaciated  face. 

"Mr.  Chairman,  a  death  like  this  is  worth  more  to  Georgia's  youth  than 
all  the  triumphs  of  Mr.  Hill's  genius.  May  they  prosper  by  the  wondrous 
example. 

"  Would  that  I  could  add  a  word  of  comfort  to  yonder  withered  and 
widowed  heart  ;  and  I  know  you,  sir,  and  all  here,  respond  to  that  prayer.  I 
believe  it  is  Washington  Irving  who  compared  the  man  to  the  strong,  mas 
sive  oak,  his  wife  to  the  sinuous  and  tender  vine  that  clasps  all  the  tendrils 
of  her  love  around  him.  The  higher  this  great  man  grew,  the  higher,  cling 
ing  to  him,  still  grew  this  loving  vine  ;  and  when  he  fell,  she  fell,  too.  And 
sfill  the  tendrils  clasp  the  dead  trunk.  Poor  broken,  bruised,  bleeding  vine. 
Unclasp  that  embrace.  The  noble  tree  is  not  there.  A  divine  hand  has 
transplanted  him  to  a  richer  soil,  a  purer  atmosphere.  Lift  those  tendrils  up 
ward.  Ere  long  the  same  divine,  gentle,  loving  hand  will  move  thee  again 
to  his  side,  and  he  who  pronounced  you  one  here,  will  reunite  you  there,  to 
grow  together  forever  in  the  hearts  of  holiness  in  the  garden  of  the  Lord.  " 


Memorial  Addresses  on  the  Life  and  Character  of  Benjamin  Harvey  Hill  (a  Senator 
from  Georgia),  delivered  in  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  Forty-seventh 
Congress,  Second  Session,  January  25,  1883. 

rriHE  greater  part  of  Senator  Brown's  address  was  biographical  and  is 
I      not  therefore  published.     The  conclusion  of  his  elaborate  speech  is  as 
follows  : 

Mr.  President:  In  the  demise  of  Senator  Hill  the  whole  Union  has  sus 
tained  a  severe  loss.  But  the  affliction  of  the  people  of  Georgia  is  greater 
than  any  other  can  be  ;  they  knew  him  ;  they  loved  him  ;  they  honored  and 
trusted  him  ;  they  almost  idolized  him.  And  when  it  was  announced  that 
Benjamin  H.  Hill  was  no  more,  they  bowed  their  heads  in  sorrow,  and  will 
long  mourn  their  irreparable  loss. 

But,  Mr.  President,  Senator  Hill  possessed  intellectual  qualities  of  the 
highest  order.  His  genius  was  acknowledged  by  all.  In  debate  he  was 
surpassingly  grand  and  convincing.  As  a  logician  he  had  few  equals  ;  as  an 
impassioned  orator  he  had  no  superior  ;  as  a  lawyer  he  occupied  the  first 
rank  ;  as  an  advocate  at  the  bar  he  was  absolutely  overwhelming  ;  as  an 
American  senator  he  was  the  peer  of  any  one. 

When  I  reflect  upon  the  great  oratorical  powers  of  Senator  Hill,  the 
splendor  of  his  genius,  the  simplicity  of  his  heart,  and  the  patriotic  impulses 
of  his  nature,  as  I  had  learned  in  later  life  to  know  them,  I  conclude  that 
the  day  is  not  distant  when  some  great  American  poet,  burning  with 
patriotic  zeal  as  well  as  poetic  fire,  will  weave  into  verse  a  tribute  to  his 
memory  as  glowing  and  as  just  as  the  immortal  English  bard  paid  the  great 
Irish  orator  when  Byron  sang  : 

Ever  glorious  Grattan  !  the  best  of  the  good  ! 

So  simple  in  heart,  so  sublime  in  the  rest  ; 
With  all  which  Demosthenes  wanted  endued, 

And  his  rival  or  victor  in  all  he  possessed. 

ADDRESS    OF    MR.    INGALLS,    OF    KANSAS. 

Ben  Hill  has  gone  to  the  undiscovered  country. 

Whether  his  journey  thither  was  but  one  step  across  an  imperceptible 
frontier,  or  whether  an  interminable  ocean,  black,  unfluctuating,  and  voice 
less,  stretches  between  these  earthly  coasts  and  those  invisible  shores — we 
do  not  know. 

Whether  on  that  August  morning,  after  death,  he  saw  a  more  glorious 
sun  rise  with  unimaginable  splendor  above  a  celestial  horizon,  or  whether  his 
apathetic  and  unconscious  ashes  still  sleep  in  cold  obstruction  and  insensible 
oblivion — we  do  not  know. 

Whether  his  strong  and  subtle  energies  found  instant  exercise  in  another 
forum,  whether  his  dexterous  and  disciplined  faculties  are  now  contending  in 
a  higher  senate  than  ours  for  supremacy,  or  whether  his  powers  were  dissi 
pated  and  dispersed  with  his  parting  breath — we  do  not  know. 

134 


IIIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  135 

Whether  his  passions,  ambitions,  and  affections  still  sway,  attract,  and 
impel,  whether  lie  yet  remembers  us  as  we  remember  him — we  do  not  know. 

These  are  the  unsolved,  the  insoluble  problems  of  mortal  life  and  human 
destiny,  which  prompted  the  troubled  patriarch  to  ask  that  momentous  ques 
tion  for  which  the  centuries  have  given  no  answer — "  If  a  man  die  shall  he 
live  again  ?'! 

Every  man  is  the  center  of  a  circle  whose  fatal  circumference  he  cannot 
pass.  Within  its  narrow  confines  he  is  potential,  beyond  it  he  perishes  ; 
and  if  immortality  be  a  splendid  but  delusive  dream,  if  the  incompleteness 
of  every  career,  even  the  longest  and  most  fortunate,  be  not  supplemented 
and  perfected  after  its  termination  here,  then  he  who  dreads  to  die  should 
fear  to  live,  for  life  is  a  tragedy  more  desolate  and  inexplicable  than  death. 

Of  all  the  dead  whose  obsequies  we  have  paused  to  solemnize  in  this 
chamber,  I  recall  no  one  whose  untimely  fate  seems  so  lamentable,  and  yet 
so  rich  in  prophecy  of  eternal  life,  as  that  of  Senator  Hill.  He  had  reached 
the  meridian  of  his  years.  He  stood  upon  the  high  plateau  of  middle  life,  in 
that  serene  atmosphere  where  temptation  no  longer  assails,  where  the  clam 
orous  passions  no  more  distract,  and  where  the  conditions  are  most  favorable 
for  noble  and  enduring  achievement.  His  upward  path  had  been  through 
stormy  adversity  and  contention,  such  as  infrequently  falls  to  the  lot  of  men. 
Though  not  without  the  tendency  to  meditation,  reverie,  and  introspection 
which  accompanies  genius,  his  temperament  was  palestric.  He  was  competi 
tive  and  unpeaceful.  He  was  born  a  polemic  and  controversialist,  intellect 
ually  pugnacious  and  combative,  so  that  he  was  impelled  to  defend  any 
position  that  might  be  assailed  or  to  attack  any  position  that  might  be 
intrenched,  not  because  the  defense  or  the  assault  were  essential,  but  because 
the  positions  were  maintained  and  that  those  who  held  them  became  by  that 
fact  alone  his  adversaries.  This  tendency  of  his  nature  made  his  orbit  erratic. 
He  was  meteoric  rather  than  planetary,  and  flashed  with  irregular  splendor 
rather  than  shone  with  steady  and  penetrating  rays.  His  advocacy  of  any 
cause  was  fearless  to  the  verge  of  temerity.  He  appeared  to  be  indifferent 
to  applause  or  censure  for  their  own  sake.  He  accepted  intrepidly  any  con 
clusions  that  he  reached,  without  inquiring  whether  they  were  politic  or 
expedient. 

To  such  a  spirit  partisanship  was  unavoidable,  but  with  Senator  Hill  it 
did  not  degenerate  into  bigotry.  He  was  capable  of  broad  generosity,  and 
extended  to  his  opponents  the  same  unreserved  candor  which  he  demanded 
for  himself.  His  oratory  was  impetuous  and  devoid  of  artifice.  He  was 
not  a  posturer  nor  phrasemonger.  He  was  too  intense,  too  earnest,  to 
employ  the  cheap  and  paltry  decorations  of  discourse.  He  never  reconnoit- 
ered  a  hostile  position  nor  approached  it  by  stealthy  parallels.  He  could 
not  lay  siege  to  an  enemy,  nor  beleaguer  him,  nor  open  trenches,  and  sap 
and  mine.  His  method  was  the  charge  and  the  onset.  He  was  the  Murat 
of  senatorial  debate.  Not  many  men  of  this  generation  have  been  better 
equipped  for  parliamentary  warfare  than  he,  with  his  commanding  presence, 
his  sinewy  diction,  his  confident  and  imperturbable  self-control. 

But  in  the  maturity  of  his  powers  and  his  fame,  with  unmeasured  oppor 
tunities  for  achievement  apparently  before  him,  with  great  designs  unac 
complished,  surrounded  by  the  proud  and  affectionate  solicitude  of  a  great 
constituency,  the  pallid  messenger  with  the  inverted  torch  beckoned  him  to 
depart.  There  are  few  scenes  in  histoiy  more  tragic  than  that  protracted 
combat  with  death.  No  man  had  greater  inducements  to  live.  But  in  the 


136  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 


struorjrle  against  the  inexorable  advances  of  an  insidious  and  mortal 

v^  *  «T* 

malady  he  did  not  falter  nor  repine.  He  retreated  with  the  aspect  of  a  vic 
tor  ;  and  though  he  succumbed,  he  seemed  to  conquer.  His  sun  went  down 
at  noon,  but  it  sank  amid  the  prophetic  splendors  of  an  eternal  dawn. 

With  more  than  a  hero's  courage,  with  more  than  a  martyr's  fortitude, 
he  waited  the  approach  of  the  inevitable  hour  and  went  —  to  the  undiscovered 
country. 

ADDRESS    OF    MR.    VEST,    OF    MISSOURI. 

Mr.  President:  In  November,  1861,  I  first  met  Mr.  Hill  in  the  Pro 
visional  Congress  of  the  Confederate  States. 

^j 

The  Confederacy  was  just  entering  upon  its  brief  and  stormy  existence. 
Its  capital  had  recently  been  removed  from  Montgomery  to  Richmond,  and 
Jefferson  Davis,  by  a  majority  of  only  one  vote  in  the  Provisional  Congress, 
had  been  elected  president  over  Robert  Toombs. 

Surrounded  by  unexampled  difficulties,  moral  and  physical,  isolated  and 
alone,  with  the  prejudices  of  the  entire  civilized  world  against  them,  and 
confronted  in  battle  with  overwhelming  odds,  the  Confederate  Congress 
was  called  upon  to  meet  not  only  the  ordinary  questions  and  emergencies 
attending  the  formation  of  a  new  government,  but  to  grapple  also  with  the 
exigencies  and  demands  of  a  great  war,  a  war  not  for  conquest  or  policy, 
but  for  existence. 

Mr.  Hill  had  earnestly  opposed  secession  up  to  the  last  moment,  but,  find 
ing  that  the  people  of  Georgia  were  determined  to  separate  from  the  Union, 
he  surrendered  his  personal  opinion,  and  pledged  himself  fully  and  unre 
servedly  to  the  cause  of  the  Confederacy. 

Opposed  to  secession,  with  habits  of  thought  and  education  utterly  averse 
to  revolution,  the  strange  vicissitudes  of  this  stormy  period  soon  found  him 
the  leader  of  the  administration  party  in  the  Confederate  Congress. 

Within  the  limits  of  an  address  like  this  it  would  neither  be  possible  nor 
proper  for  me  to  attempt  an  analysis  of  the  causes  which  placed  Mr.  Hill  in 
this  position  ;  but  chief  among  them  was  the  fact  that,  having  once  pledged 
himself  to  the  Confederacy,  he  could  see  no  hope  of  success  except  in  sup 
porting  the  President  chosen  by  the  people  ;  and  having  so  declared  himself, 
his  great  ability  naturally  made  him  the  exponent  and  defender  of  the  policy 
of  the  administration. 

Although  surrounded  by  difficulties  and  dangers  almost  without  parallel, 
and  confronted  by  a  common  peril,  it  was  very  soon  evident  that  personal 
rivalry,  the  attrition  of  diverse  opinion,  and  the  fierce  passions  of  a  revolu 
tionary  era,  had  built  up  most  determined  opposition  to  Mr.  Davis  among 
the  leaders  of  the  South. 

That  the  President  of  the  Confederate  States  was  loyal  to  the  people  he 
led,  in  every  fiber  of  his  nature,  cannot  be  doubted  save  by  the  blindest 
prejudice  ;  and  this  being  granted,  whether  he  was  mistaken  in  the  conduct 
of  the  war  or  in  the  policy  of  his  administration,  should  be  a  sealed  book  to 
all  those  who  sympathized  and  suffered  with  him.  It  is  enough  to  say  now 
that  never  was  any  public  man  assailed  by  opponents  so  formidable  as  those 
who  attacked  the  President  of  the  Confederate  States. 

Toombs,  the  Mirabeau  of  the  revolution  ;  Yancey,  whose  lips  were 
touched  with  fire,  now  the  honey  of  persuasion,  and  then  the  venom  of  in 
vective  ;  Wigfall,  brilliant,  aggressive,  and  relentless  —  this  was  the  great 
triumvirate  which  assailed  Mr.  Davis's  administration.  No  power  of  de- 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES.    AND    WRITINGS.  137 

scription  can  do  justice  to  the  ability,  eloquence,  or  bitterness £>f  the  debates 
in  \vhich  Mr.  Hill,  single-handed  but  undaunted,  met  his  great  opponents. 
As  the  war  progressed  and  the  fortunes  of  the  Confederacy  became  eacii 
\ far  more  desperate,  the  bitterness  and  violence  of  this  parliamentary  con 
flict  increased,  until  scenes  of  actual  personal  collision  occurred  on  the  floor 
of  the  Confederate  Senate. 

The  participants  have  passed  beyond  this  world's  judgment,  and  the 
issues  which  stirred  those  tierce  passions  are  dead,  with  the  government 
they  affected,  but  the  few  who  heard  these  debates  can  never  forget  the 
matchless  eloquence  and  logic  that  mingled  with  the  roar  of  hostile  guns 
around  the  beleaguered  capital  of  the  Confederacy. 

Reluctant  to  embrace  the  Confederate  cause,  Mr.  Hill  was  the  last  to  leave 
it,  and  I  well  remember  that  on  my  way  from  Richmond,  after  preparations 
had  been  made  to  abandon  the  capital,  and  it  was  well  known  that  the  cause 
was  lost,  I  met  him  in  Columbus,  Georgia,  engaged  in  the  task  of  rallying 
the  people  of  his  State  in  what  was  then  a  hopeless  struggle.  When  I  told 
him  of  recent  events,  of  which  he  had  not  heard,  he  said,  "All  then  is  over, 
and  it  only  remains  for  me  to  share  the  fate  of  the  people  of  Georgia." 

How  well  he  redeemed  this  pledge  the  hearts  of  his  people  will  answer. 
Thrown  into  prison,  stripped  of  all  except  life,  his  courage  never  failed;  and 
in  the  darkest  hour,  when  the  wolves  were  tearing  the  victims  of  the  Avar  as 
the  coyote  the  wounded  deer,  his  eloquent  voice  was  never  for  one  instant 
silent  until  Georgia,  torn  and  bleeding  but  yet  splendid  and  beautiful,  once 
more  stood  erect  in  the  sisterhood  of  sovereign  States.  Nor  did  he  ever  under 
any  temptation  so  far  forget  his  manhood  and  honor  as  to 

Crook  the  pregnant  hinges  of  the  knee 
Where  thrift  may  follow  fawning. 

Accepting  fully  and  without  reservation  all  the  legitimate  consequences 
of  defeat,  and  resolutely  turning  to  the  future  with  its  duties  and  obligations, 
he  still  retained  his  self-respect,  and  never  did  he 

Bend  low,  and  in  a  bondsman's  key, 

With  'bated  breath,  and  whispering  humbleness, 

Say  this — 

Fair  sir,  you  spit  on  me  on  Wednesday  last; 

You  spurn'd  me  such  a  day  ;  another  time 

You  called  me — dog  ;  and  for  these  courtesies 

I'll  lend  you  thus  much  moneys. 

I  knew  Mr.  Hill  well,  and  under  circumstances  which  enabled  me  to 
judge  accurately  his  attributes  and  qualities.  Like  all  men  of  great  intel 
lect,  he  was  often  accused  of  inconsistency  because  he  absolutely  refused  to 
be  governed  by  the  routine  thought  of  others,  and  had  always  the  courage 
to  change  an  opinion  if  he  believed  it  erroneous.  His  courage,  indeed,  both 
of  conviction  and  expression,  was  not  excelled  by  that  of  any  man,  and  his 
fortitude  under  the  greatest  misfortunes  extorted  the  admiration  of  even  his 
enemies. 

In  an  age  when  calumny  and  slander  are  the  ordinary  weapons  of  politi 
cal  warfare,  and  personal  scandal  the  most  delicate  morsel  for  the  public 
appetite,  Mr  Hill  was  not  exempt  from  the  attacks  of  the  foul  and  loathsome 
creatures  who  crawl  about  the  footsteps  of  every  public  man,  but  he  bore 
himself  always  with  a  dignity  which  commanded  the  respect  of  all. 


138  SENATOR  it.  if.  SILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 


And  what  can  be  said  of  the  heroism,  the  uncomplaining  and  unfaltering 
courage,  with  which  he  met  the  irony  of  fate  that  brought  him  the  torture 
of  a  lingering:  death  in  the  destruction  of  that  tongue  and  voice  which  had 

•J  C7  C.7 

so  often  awakened  with  their  eloquence  the  echoes  of  this  hall  ! 

In  all  public  and  private  history  there  is  no  sadder  page  than  this,  and 
from  it  we  turn  away  in  silent  awe  and  reverence. 

»' 

In  his  political  opinions  Mr.  Hill  was  governed  by  the  teaching  of  Madi 
son,  and  no  one  who  heard  his  speech  in  the  Senate  on  May  10,  1879,  the 
greatest  speech,  in  my  judgment,  delivered  here  within  the  last  quarter  of  a 
century,  will  ever  forget  his  tribute  to  the  statesman  who  can  be  justly 
termed  the  father  of  the  Constitution.  Said  Mr.  Hill  : 

Sir,  I  want  to  say  here  now  —  and  I  feel  it  a  privilege  that  I  can  say  it  —  I  believe  all 
the  angry  discussions,  all  the  troubles  that  have  come  upon  this  country,  have  sprung 
from  the  failure  of  the  people  to  comprehend  the  one  great  fact  that  the  government  under 
which  we  live  has  no  model  ;  it  is  partly  national  and  partly  Federal  ;  an  idea  which  was 
to  the  Greeks  a  stumbling  block,  and  to  the  Romans  foolishness,  and  to  the  Republican 
party  an  insurmountable  paradox,  but  to  the  patriots  of  this  country  it  is  the  power  of 
liberty  unto  the  salvation  of  the  people.  And  if  the  people  of  this  country  would  realize 
that  fact,  all  these  crazy  wranglings  as  to  whether  we  live  under  a  Federal  or  a  national 
government  would  cease  ;  they  would  understand  that  we  live  under  both  ;  that  it  is  a 
composite  government  ;  that  it  was  intended  by  the  framers  that  the  Union  shall  be  faith 
ful  iu  defense  of  the  States,  that  the  States  shall  be  harmonious  in  support  of  the  Union, 
and  that  the  Union  and  the  States  shall  be  faithful  and  harmonious  in  the  support  and  the 
maintenance  of  the  rights  and  the  liberty  of  the  people. 

Mr.  Hill  was  not  only  an  orator,  but  a  lawyer  in  the  front  of  his  profes 
sion.  His  mind  was  broad  yet  analytical  ;  and  he  was  averse  to  all  radical 
and  revolutionary  methods.  In  my  conception  of  his  intellect  and  eloquence, 
I  always  associate  him  with  Virgniaud,  the  leader  of  the  French  Girondists. 
While  neither  will  stand  in  history  with  the  greatest  party  leaders,  yet  as 
orators  and  parliamentary  debaters  they  are  entitled  to  places  in  the  first 
rank. 

Ended  are  his  conflicts,  his  triumphs,  and  defeats.  The  strong,  aggressive 
intellect  is  at  rest.  The  clarion  voice,  which  could  "  wield  at  will  the  fierce 
democracy  "  is  hushed  forever. 

Out  upon  the  shoreless  ocean  his  bark  has  drifted  ;  but  it  has  not  carried 
away  all  of  the  life  that  has-  ended.  Never  to  mortal  hands  was  given  a 
legacy  more  precious  than  that  left  to  the  people  of  Georgia  in  the  memory 
of  her  great  son  who  gave  his  life  to  her  service  and  his  latest  prayer  to  her 
honor  and  welfare. 

Orator,  statesman,  patriot,  farewell  !  Let  Georgia  guard  well  thy  grave; 
for  in  her  soil  rest  not  the  ashes  of  one  whose  life  has  done  more  to  illustrate 
her  manhood,  whose  genius  has  added  such  glory  to  her  name. 

ADDRESS  OF  MR.  MORGAN,  OF  ALABAMA. 

Mr.  President:  Alabama,  the  eldest  daughter  of  Georgia,  approaches 
this  sad  occasion  with  a  proud  but  stricken  spirit.  I  will  utter  no  word  in 
praise  of  the  late  senator  that  all  the  people  of  that  State  and  of  the  South 
will  not  sanction  with  heartfelt  responses. 

This  is  an  occasion  when  the  pure  serenity  of  truth  need  not  be  clouded 
with  undeserved  eulogy  of  the  dead.  It  would  be  an  injustice  to  the  sin 
cerity  of  his  character,  which  his  own  history  and  example  would  condemn, 
to  speak  of  the  deceased  senator  in  terms  that  would  be  misleading. 

A  strong  and  rugged  character,  such  as  belonged  to  Benjamin  H.  Hill, 


iffS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  139 

cannot  be  correctly  portrayed  in  the  soft  light  of  adulation,  or  by  mere 
smoothness  of  expression,  or  in  speech  tempered  with  hesitancy  and  caution. 
He  \vas  a  bold,  daring,  and  powerful  man  in  his  intellectual  and  physical 
organism;  and  his  convictions,  when  they  were  settled  after  due  considera 
tion,  were  always  the  guide  to  his  action  and  the  measure  of  his  duty.  He 
thought  much,  and  examined  with  carefulness  every  important  question  that 
engaged  his  attention. 

When  he  was  in  error,  he  was  dangerous  because  of  the  fertility  of  his 
resources  in  argument,  his  zeal  and  firmness,  his  tact  in  debate,  and  the 
aggressive  energy  of  his  mind.  When  he  was  right,  he  was  almost  in 
vincible. 

These  qualities  naturally  fitted  him  for  the  highest  range  of  achieve 
ments  as  an  advocate  and  leader  ;  but  such  was  his  independence  of  all  con 
trol  by  the  thoughts  of  others,  that  he  sometimes  sacrificed  the  leadership  of 
men  whom  he  could  have  controlled  had  he  made  concessions  that  were  not 
of  vital  consequence  to  him  or  to  them. 

The  people  often  made  concessions  to  him  to  avoid  controversy  with  one 
whom  they  in'eatlv  admired,  and  were  attached  to  with  affectionate  regard. 

•/      O  «/  '  ^  D 

The  following  of  the  people  under  his  leadership  did  not  always  result  from 
their  approval  of  his  views,  even  on  great  questions. 

He  was,  in  the  American  sense,  a  great  popular  orator,  whose  powers 
were  best  adapted  to  great  questions  and  important  occasions  in  which  the 
rights  and  liberties  of  the  people  were  concerned  or  the  honor  of  the  coun 
try  was  at  stake.  In  such  discussions,  he  sometimes  rose  to  astonishing 
heights  of  sublimity  of  thought  and  speech,  which  carried  his  audience  with 
him  until  they  seemed  to  lose  control  of  themselves.  He  had  no  faculty  of 

•'  •> 

imitation,  and  his  style  of  oratory  was  all  his  ow^n.  He  had  no  model  in 
rhetoric  or  logic  that  he  was  willing  to  copy.  He  seemed  to  have  no 
thoughts  that  were  his  merely  by  adoption  ;  they  were  the  offspring  of  his 
own  mind.  His  eloquence  was  little  more  than  a  fervid  statement  of  the  facts 
or  reasoning  which  had  brought  his  mind  to  the  conclusions  which  he  was  sup 
porting  ;  but  it  was  so  intense  as  to  become  almost  irresistible. 

When  speaking  to  the  people,  in  the  period  just  preceding  the  war,  when 
the  argument  was  closed  and  a  resort  to  other  methods  of  defense  had  be 
come  a  necessity,  as  they  viewed  the  situation,  he  turned  their  thoughts  to 
the  duties  and  dangers  of  the  people  of  the  South  and  of  their  posterity. 
He  reviewed  with  pathetic  fervor  their  fidelity  to  the  Constitution  and  the 
Union  in  all  former  times  of  danger  and  trial — in  the  second  war  of  Inde- 

^j 

pendence  with  Great  Britain  ;  in  the  wars  with  the  Indians  who  were  sup 
ported  by  British  and  Spanish  emissaries,  and  inspired  by  the  savage  elo 
quence  of  Tecumseh  ;  and  in  the  war  with  Mexico  ;  and  feeling  that  they 
were  threatened  with  servile  insurrection  and  ultimate  degradation  and  the 
loss  of  all  protection  under  the  Constitution,  he  urged  them  to  their  duty  with 
such  power  that 

Each  ravaged  bosom  felt  the  high  alarms, 
And  all  their  burning  pulses  beat  to  arms. 

Mr.  Hill  was  a  lawyer  of  great  ability,  but  his  self-reliant  habits  of 
reasoning  led  him  to  seek  for  arguments  rather  than  for  precedents  to  sup 
port  the  cause  he  was  advocating.  The  special-jury  system  of  Georgia  was 
productive  of  great  alertness  and  skill  in  forensic  discussion  among  the 
lawyers  of  Georgia,  and  in  these  he  excelled.  Senators  will  remember  how 


140  SENATOR  R   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

much  lie  relied  on  this  faculty  even  in  the  discussion  of  questions  of  the 
most  intricate  character.  He  always  spoke  extemporaneously,  and  seldom 
made  any  use  even  of  notes  of  reference  to  authorities. 

V 

Iii  the  strenuous  controversy  of  high  debate  he  was  sometimes  severe, 
but  never  with  willful  injustice  to  those  opposed  to  him. 

The  only  soil  of  his  fair  virtue's  gloss 

Was  a  sharp  wit,  match'd  with  too  blunt  a  will ; 

Whose  edge  none  spurned  that  came  within  his  power. 

His  political  career  was  shaped  by  the  events  of  the  most  difficult  and 
momentous  period  in  American  history.  The  success  of  the  rebellion  of 
1776,  by  the  strength  of  the  Union  it  established,  made  the  success  of  the 
rebellion  of  1860  impossible.  But  the  questions  that  were  left  open,  after 
the  first  rebellion,  to  rankle  in  the  bosoms  of  the  people  made  the  second 
rebellion  and  the  war  that  followed  it  unavoidable. 

Mr.  Hill,  in  common  with  other  men  of  that  period,  understood  that  the 
third  generation  of  American  citizens  was  forced  to  settle  by  arms  the 
questions  that  the  first  generation  could  not  settle  in  the  beginning  without 
giving  up  all  hope  of  uniting  the  States  in  a  Federal  government,  under  the 
new  Constitution.  He,  like  many  others,  was  compelled  by  a  sense  of  duty 
to  change  his  attitude  on  questions  of  policy  to  meet  the  dangers  as  they 
arose  and  drifted  with  the  current  of  events.  His  fated  duty  and  purpose 
forced  him  into  resistance  to  the  inevitable,  but  the  least  destructive 
measure  of  resistance  was  what  he  always  sought  to  adopt.  Under  such 
circumstances  he  was  then,  and  more  recently,  charged  with  reckless  incon 
sistency. 

That  was  not  a  just  criticism  either  of  his  character  or  his  conduct.  He 
was  so  far  free  from  that  weakness  which  is  dignified  with  the  title  of  pride 
of  opinion  that  he  did  not  hesitate  to  abandon  his  opinions  and  to  disprove 
their  soundness  when  subsequent  reflection  satisfied  him  of  the  error.  It 
was  this  trait  that  gave  color  to  the  idea  that  he  was  vacillating  in  his  politi 
cal  convictions. 

If  he  were  here,  and  I  could  render  to  him  in  person  the  justice  which  he 
would  most  appreciate,  as  I  render  to  his  memory  what  I  believe  to  be  most 
true,  I  would  say  of  his  course  in  the  beginning  of  the  civil  war  and  during 
the  discussion  of  the  events  that  led  to  it,  that  no  man  then  living  was  more 
sincerely  devoted  to  the  American  Union  than  he  was  ;  no  man  gave  up  the 
hope  of  its  perpetuity  with  more  intense  sorrow  than  he  did  ;  no  man  more 
firmly  believed  than  he  did  that  the  Southern  States  had  just  grounds  for 
their  secession  ;  no  man  deplored  more  sincerely  than  he  did  that  secession 
and  war  were  made  inevitable  by  the  very  provisions  of  the  Constitution 
that  men  were  sworn  to  support,  and  that  could  not,  in  fact,  be  supported  in 
its  provisions  relating  to  slavery  except  by  the  power  of  the  sword  as 
against  the  will  of  a  great  majority  of  the  American  people  ;  and  when  the 
crisis  came,  no  man  was  firmer  than  Mr.  Hill  in  supporting  with  his  vote  in 
the  Convention  of  Georgia  the  ordinance  of  secession,  against  which  he  had 
entered  his  protest,  but  to  which  he  gave  his  assent  when  his  brethren  had 
resolved  that  it  was  the  only  remedy  left  open  to  them. 

This  is  the  true  history  of  his  motives  and  feelings  in  that  time  of  severe 
trial,  which  so  honorably  explain  his  conduct.  In  the  light  of  these  facts 
there  is  a  moral  heroism  in  his  course  which  raises  his  fame  even  to  a  higher 
eminence  than  that  which  is  so  freely  accorded  to  him  for  his  acknowledged 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND   WRITINGS.  141 

abilities.  His  fidelity  to  the  Confederate  States  could  not  have  been  greater 
if  he  had  been  the  sole  responsible  author  of  the  secession  of  each  of  the 
States.  His  devotion  to  that  cause  after  he  had  espoused  it,  and  to  the 
people  after  they  were  involved  in  war,  appeals  to  their  hearts  for  a  tribute, 
which  they  freely  render  to  his  memory,  far  exceeding  eulogy  and  praise,— 
the  tribute  of  gratitude  enriched  by  love.  None  but  the  truest  of  men 
could  have  won  this  high  distinction  from  the  people  of  the  South.  He  has 
won  it  worthily,  and  it  will  continue  to  bloom  amid  the  leaves  of  the  chaplet, 
with  which  they  have  crowned  him  for  immortality. 

The  people  of  the  South  withdrew  from  the  Union  because  they  believed 
that  the  government  of  the  United  States  had  no  longer  the  will  or  the 
power  to  protect  their  constitutional  rights.  They  went  out  by  the  separate 
and  independent  action  of  each  of  the  eleven  seceding  States.  Their  union 
into  a  Confederacy  was  itself  a  great  task  upon  the  statesmanship  of  the 
leadinor  men  of  the  South.  Along1  with  the  task  came  this  instant  and 

+Z3  £3 

inevitable  work  of  preparing  for  a  great  war. 

In  all  these  high  duties  Mr.  Hill  was  an  active  and  leading  participant,  as 
a  representative  of  the  State  of  Georgia. 

The  condition  of  these  eleven  States  was  perilous  in  the  extreme,  and  re 
quired  the  highest  order  of  capacity  for  government  to  direct  them  through 
these  dangerous  straits.  The  individual  States  had  armies  in  the  field  engaged 
in  conflicts  of  arms  before  the  Confederacy  could  be  organized  under  a  pro 
visional  government. 

Then  immediately  came  the  great  struggle,  in  which  all  the  people  of  all 
races,  with  only  a  few  individual  exceptions,  were  united  for  weal  or  for  woe. 
There  was  nothing  on  which  the  Confederacy  could  rely  for  success  except 
the  devotion  of  the  people  to  the  cause  which  united  them.  Nothing  was 
organized,  and  the  material  of  war  consisted  only  of  resolute  men.  With- 

*/ 

out  a  military  chest,  or  arms,  munitions,  equipments,  transportation,  or  sup 
plies,  the  military  resources  of  the  Confederacy  consisted  of  ten  millions  of 
people,  of  whom  more  than  a  third  were  slaves,  whose  release  from  bondage 
depended  on  the  success  of  the  arms  of  the  United  States. 

This  population  could  not  furnish  and  keep  in  the  field  more  than  a  half 
million  of  men,  even  for  a  short  campaign.  Its  total  arms-bearing  strength 
could  not  exceed  a  million  of  men,  within  the  extreme  limits  of  military  lev- 

• 

les,  during  the  whole  period  of  a  four  years'  war.  Their  arms  and  ordnance 
stores,  munitions,  provisions,  and  transportation  were  to  be  dug  from  the 
mines  and  the  fields,  and  hewn  from  the  forests,  and  constructed  from  the 
native  material.  They  had  to  raise  the  cotton  and  wool  for  clothing  their 
armies,  and  to  build  factories  to  convert  them  into  cloth.  There  was  not 
a  thousand  thoroughly  educated  soldiers  in  these  eleven  States.  They 
had  little  money  and  no  credit  abroad.  They  were  shut  in  on  land  and  sea 

•  **  * 

by  great  armies  and  navies.  They  had  no  fleet  and  no  commerce.*  They 
had  not  the  genuine  sympathy  of  any  nation  in  the  world. 

Their  adversaries  were  men  of  their  own  blood;  powerful,  warlike,  rich, 
determined  ;  aroused  with  enthusiastic  zeal  for  the  Union  and  the  suprem 
acy  of  its  laws  ;  supplied  with  every  resource  of  warfare,  and  supported  by 
the  sympathy  and  assistance  of  many  other  great  nations,  whose  people  re 
cruited  their  armies.  They  could  put  in  the  field  as  many  soldiers  as  the 
Confederacy  could  possibly  muster,  and  still  have  a  reserve  of  population  of 
20,000,000  from  which  to  draw  other  armies. 

This  brief  view  of  the  situation  will  sufficiently  show  the  general  outline 


142  SENATOR  B.   II.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

of  the  labors  that  Mr.  Hill  and  his  colleagues  in  the  Confederate  Congress 
were  called  to  perform.  They  courageously  took  up  the  task,  which  seemed 
too  great  for  human  endeavor. 

Their  debates  are  not  published,  but  the  tradition  that  has  reached  us  is 
that  they  were  never  excelled  in  ability  and  majestic  eloquence.  It  may  be 
better  that  they  have  faded  from  human  recollection. 

There  was  little  of  personal  rivalry  in  the  Confederate  Congress.  The 
weight  of  responsibility,  resting  upon  all  alike,  kept  each  individual  equal 
upon  the  common  plane  of  duty.  It  was  the  performance  of  duty,  and  not 
daring  enterprise  or  moving  eloquence,  that  was  the  test  of  a  man's  devotion 
to  the  common  cause  and  of  his  ability  to  serve  it  in  that  Congress. 

According  to  this  standard,  Mr.  Hill  was  honorably  distinguished  among 
his  colleagues,  and  was  applauded  by  the  people.  The  regard  of  the  people 
for  him  far  exceeded  mere  admiration.  There  was  a  strong  bond  of  affec 
tion  between  them.  All  the  sympathies  of  his  high  nature  were  aroused  by 
their  sufferings,  and  grew  into  homage  for  their  virtues  as  he  witnessed 
their  fortitude  and  patience  in  the  terrible  trials  of  the  war.  He  saw  that 
their  wealth  was  freely  given  to  the  Confederacy;  that  they  fed  and  clothed 
the  army  without  the  hope  of  compensation  ;  that  the  poor,  the  widowed, 
and  the  orphaned  took  refuge  and  found  comfort  in  their  cheerful  benevo 
lence  ;  that  they  gave  up  their  houses  for  hospitals,  and  gathered  from  the 
fields  and  forests  the  simple  remedies  for  the  wounded  and  sick  which  took 
the  place  of  the  ordinary  hospital  supplies  and  medicines  which  were  denied 
to  them.  He  saw  that  the  women  raised  bread  in  the  sun-beaten  fields,  with 
plow  and  hoe,  and  divided  it  between  their  children  at  home  and  their  hus 
bands  and  children  in  the  army.  He  saw  the  mothers  sending  their  sons 
forth  to  recruit  the  armies  as  soon  as  they  were  able  to  bear  arms,  and  often 
times  to  take  the  places  of  fathers  and  elder  brothers  who  had  fallen  in  bat 
tle.  He  rejoiced  in  the  heroic  spirit  of  the  people,  and  they  felt  that  he  was 
true  to  them. 

The  end  came  ;  and  with  it  came  the  dawn  of  a  new  hope,  only  to  spread 
its  wings  of  light  for  a  moment,  and  then  to  fold  them  again  in  darkness. 

With  peace  came  the  promise  of  restoration  to  civil  liberty,  as  it  is 
proudly  impersonated  in  the  character  of  the  American  citizen.  That  prom 
ise  contained  the  essential  part  of  all  for  which  the  Southern  people  had 
fought  for  four  weary  and  sorrow-burdened  years.  They  gave  up  the  insti 
tution  which  was  the  provoking  cause  of  the  great  conflict  of  arms,  and  felt 
assured  that  there  would  no  longer  be  occasion  or  excuse  for  a  denial  to 
them  of  the  equal  rights  enjoyed  by  other  American  citizens.  They  laid 
down  their  arms  and  gave  their  paroles  upon  these  express  conditions.  But 
they  were  grievously  disappointed,  and,  having  disarmed,  they  had  no 
longer  the  privilege  of  making  honorable  sacrifices  to  vindicate  their  rights. 
They  brooded  in  the  darkness  of  a  hopeless  doom  over  a  loss  that  was  seem 
ingly  irreparable. 

On  such  occasions  men  have  often  come  forward  who  seem  to  have  been 
fitted  and  prepared  beforehand  for  the  work.  They  ask  the  confidence  of 
the  people,  and  if  they  have  the  faith  to  give  it  and  the  courage  to  follow, 
they  are  led  by  them  into  a  happy  deliverance. 

Among  this  class  of  leaders  in  the  South,  Mr.  Hill  was  conspicuous.  In 
the  events  which  followed  the  surrender  of  1865,  his  courage  and  eloquence 
were  displayed  in  their  grandest  power  as  a  leader  of  the  people.  He  was 
maddened  with  the  thought  that  the  surrender  of  a  people,  who  had  struggled 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND    WRITINGS.  H3 

so  gallantly  and  suffered  so  much,  but  were  yet  able  to  have  protracted  the 
war  indefinitely,  did  not  brin<r  to  them,  the  rights  which  were  expressly  in 
cluded  in  the  capitulation.  With  anguish  of  soul  he  witnessed  the  wrongs 
and  humiliation  inflicted  on  them  under  the  policy  of  the  reconstruction  of 
the  seceding  States,  by  which  they  were  held  subject  as  vassals  under  the 
laws  of  war  when  they  had  been  promised  restoration  under  the  laws  of 
peace. 

When  the  military  power  was  thus  made  to  supplant  the  civil  power  in 
Georgia,  and  the  disarmed  people  were  incapable  of  resistance,  he  did  not 
despair.  He  felt  that  there  was  in  the  American  heart  a  forum  where  the 
plea  for  justice  could  still  be  heard,  and  he  boldly  demanded  an  audience 
there.  Through  such  assistance  he  determined  that  Georgia  should  be  set 

CJ  d? 

free  from  military  despotism  and  foreign  rule.  He  united  the  people  of 
Georgia  in  a  crusade  against  tyranny.  They  broke  their  chains,  and  he  led 
them  in  a  triumphant  march  to  victory.  With  no  other  weapon  but  the 
freeman's  ballot  they  drove  out  their  oppressors. 

His  strength,  when  thus  called  into  action,  was  a  sublime  expression  of 
the  depth  of  feeling  and  suffering  of  a  great  spirit  maddened  by  a  sense  of 
cruel  wrong. 

As  when  Alcides  ....  felt  the  envenom'd  robe,  and  tore 
Through  pain  up  by  the  roots  Thessalian  pines  ; 
And  Lichas  from  the  top  of  (Eta  threw 
Into  the  Euboic  sea — 

It  is  not  appropriate  to  utter  all  the  praises  our  hearts  would  fain  bestow 
upon  him.  We  prefer  to  leave  something  unsaid  and  undone  for  the  pres 
ent  time  to  signify  a  tenderness  of  feeling  for  our  dead,  who  were  great  and 
good,  that  does  not  now  admit  of  complete  expression. 

I  witnessed  the  burial  of  Benjamin  H.  Hill  in  the  bosom  of  his  native 
State.  The  people  were  there  in  observant  masses,  looking  sadly  on  at  the 
simple  cortege  that  escorted  his  remains  to  the  cemetery.  They  seemed  to 
feel  that  he  had  died  much  too  soon  to  gather  the  full  wealth  of  his  own 
fame  or  to  confer  on  them  the  full  riches  of  his  counsels.  They  seem  to 
think  of  him.  as  of  a  warrior  slain  by  chance  when  he  had  put  on  his  armor 
to  win  his  greatest  victories  ;  as  an  easfle  stricken  in  its  boldest  flight :  as  an 

tJ  9  ^j  ^j  J 

oak  riven  with  lightning  in  the  fullness  of  its  beauty  and  strength,  while 
spreading  its  leaves  to  welcome  the  summer  showers.  They  were  proud 
that  their  sorrow  was  honoring  alike  to  the  living  and  the  dead  ;  but  they 
were  grieved  that  the  sad  occasion  had  so  soon  arrived.  They  believed,  and 
I  do,  that  he  had  not  attained  to  the  fullness  of  his  growth  in  intellectual 
power,  and  that  he  left  unfinished  many  noble  plans  for  the  good  of  the 
country. 

Mr.  Hill  was  not  always  wise,  yet  few  were  wiser  than  he.  It  cannot 
be  said  of  him  that  he  was  always  right,  but  it  can  be  truly  said  that  he  was 
never  wrong  from  willfulness,  for  lack  of  courage,  or  from  inattention  to 
the  requirements  of  duty. 

Discarding  all  blind  confidence  in  fate,  and  deeply  sensible  of  responsi 
bility  to  God,  his  noble  and  just  spirit  left  this  brief  existence  for  one  that 
is  eternal,  satisfied  with  the  past  and  confident  of  the  future. 

Though  his  work  here  was  not  finished,  as  we  view  such  matters,  he  was 
not  reluctant  to  lay  down  the  great  charge  intrusted  to  him  by  a  fond  con 
stituency  ;  for  he  believed  that  the  Master  had  called  him  to  Other  duties, 
which,  as  compared  with  his  duties  in  the  Senate,  would  confer  on  him  "a 


144  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

far  more  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory,"  and  so  assured,  he  departed 
hence  with  rejoicing. 

ADDRESS     OF     MR.     SHERMAN,     OF     OHIO. 

Mr.  President :  We  are  often  called  upon  in  the  midst  of  our  public 
duties  to  commemorate  the  death  of  an  associate  who  has  shared  with  us  in 
the  labor  and  responsibility  of  official  trust.  But  it  rarely  happens  that  the 
fatal  shaft  falls  upon  a  senator  of  such  physical  strength  and  mental  vigor 
as  Senator  Hill.  He  had  scarcely  yet  attained  the  full  measure  of  national 
reputation  to  which  his  admitted  abilities  would  have  raised  him.  The 
insidious  disease  which  sapped  his  life  not  only  filled  his  home,  his  family, 
and  his  State  with  pain  and  sorrow,  but  caused  a  sigh  of  sadness  and 
respectful  sympathy  in  every  household  where  his  patient  suffering  and 
premature  death  were  known. 

I  am  not  able  to  speak  of  Senator  Hill  with  the  fullness  of  information 
that  his  colleagues  and  personal  associates  have  done.  They  tell  us  how  he 
won  and  held  in  the  highest  degree  the  respect  and  esteem  of  his  associates, 
that  he  has  been  honored  with  the  confidence  of  the  people  of  his  native 
State,  and  by  their  suffrages  for  years  has  filled  with  credit  many  positions 
of  public  trust.  We  knew  him  as  he  appeared  among  us, — a  ready  debater, 
an  ardent  but  courteous  antagonist ;  strong,  earnest,  and  convincing. 

He  came  into  the  House  of  Representatives  with  a  high  reputation,  and 
both  there  and  in  the  Senate  maintained  and  advanced  it  so  that,  when  the 
premonition  of  death  came  upon  him,  he  stood  as  high  in  the  respect  and 
confidence  of  his  associates  as  any  member  of  this  body. 

He  was  a  native  of  Georgia,  educated  in  one  of  her  universities,  and 
learned  in  the  practice  of  law  in  her  courts.  He  was  distinctly  a  type  of 
the  Southern  mind  in  its  best  relations  to  the  affairs  of  life. 

Though  his  early  life  was  spent  under  the  influences  of  the  institutions 
of  his  native  State,  and  though  its  industries  were  then  confined  mainly  to 
the  pursuits  of  agriculture,  yet  in  his  early  manhood  he  appreciated  the  im 
portant  position  which  Georgia  holds,  as  containing  within  her  bounds  the 
chief  elements  for  manufacturing  industries  as  well  as  a  fruitful  soil  for 
agricultural  products. 

He  was,  as  I  understood  him,  in  early  life  attached  to  the  Whig  party, 
and  mainly,  on  account  of  the  well-known  position  of  that  party,  in  favor  of 
the  protective  policy.  He  sympathized  heartily  with  the  present  prospects 
that  in  Georgia  there  will  be  a  rapid  development  of  her  natural  mineral  re 
sources,  and  that  the  cotton  grown  on  her  genial  soil  and  that  of  the  "  Sunny 
South"  will  be  made  ready  for  her  Southern  looms  and  spindles. 

He  had  no  regrets  for  the  past  in  the  brightening  prospects  of  the 
future,  but  looked  to  his  State,  often  called  the  "  Empire  State  of  the 
South,"  as  likely  to  be  improved  and  advanced  by  the  results  of  the  war  to  a 
higher  plane  of  wealth,  strength,  and  population. 

His  hope  was  that  his  State  would  rise  with  fresh  vigor  from  the  mis 
fortune  and  devastation  of  war  by  the  building  of  railroads,  the  opening  of 
mines  of  coal  and  iron,  and  by  the  tide  of  immigration  and  labor  from  other 
States  as  well  as  from  foreign  lands. 

Senator  Hill  was  consistently  a  Union  man  before  the  war.  He  resisted 
the  secession  of  his  State  until  after  the  ordinance  of  secession  was  passed. 
While  his  views  of  the  construction  of  the  Constitution  in  later  years  dif 
fered  widely  from  my  own,  yet  I  never  doubted  the  sincerity  of  his  opin- 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND    WRITINGS.  145 

ions.  To  the  questions  that  grew  out  of  the  war  I  do  not  feel  at  liberty  even 
to  allude,  because  on  these  questions  we  were  widely  apart  in  opinion. 

Whatever  his  views  on  any  subject,  he  always  put  them  forth  with  the 
utmost  vigor  and  clearness  of  expression.  Endowed  by  nature  with  an 
ardent  temperament,  and  cultivated  by  education  in  the  use  of  all  the  gifts 
of  speech,  he  defended  his  opinions  with  consummate  ability.  Whether  in 
attack  or  in  defense,  he  was  an  adversary  to  command  respect  in  any  form 
of  debate.  He  represented  in  a  marked  degree  that  first  quality  of  an 
orator — earnestness.  His  training  in  the  practice  of  the  law  made  him 
ifamiliar,  to  a  wide  extent,  with  precedents  and  decisions,  upon  which  he 
drew  copiously  in  his  arguments  upon  questions  involving  constitutional 
law  and  legislative  and  judicial  power.  His  speeches  were  more  remark 
able  for  their  clear  reason  than  for  their  rhetorical  felicity,  and  it  may  be 
said  that  the  bent  of  his  mind  was  in  the  direction  of  dialectics  rather  than 
of  literary  effort. 

As  a  man  of  fine  natural  gifts  and  high  accomplishments,  his  loss  will  be 
felt  not  only  in  his  own  State  and  neighborhood,  but  in  the  councils  of  the 
nation  ;  and  after  more  than  half  a  century  of  a  well-spent  life,  his  country 
men  will  recognize,  even  in  its  close,  the  elements  of  a  welJ.-roiinded  career. 

ADDRESS  OF  MR.  VOORHEES,  OF  IXDIAXA. 

Mr.  President:  We  halt  to-day  for  a  few  moments  in  the  great  journey 
to  say  the  last  farewell  words  over  a  new-made  grave.  A  comrade  in  the 
battle  of  life  has  fallen  in  this  high  forum.  The  skeleton  foot  of  death 
enters  with  familiar  step  the  loftiest  as  well  as  the  humblest  stations  of 
human  life,  and  again  it  has  invaded  the  floor  of  the  Senate.  But  vesterdav 

»/  « 

a  commanding  presence  moved  in  our  midst  which  we  shall  see  no  more  ;  a 
voice  of  powerful  eloquence  was  heard,  which  is  now  hushed  forever  ;  a 
towering  intellect  shed  its  light  on  human  affairs,  which  now  has  joined 
other  councils  than  those  of  earth.  A  great  and  living  force  has  gone  out 
from  this  body  and  from  every  scene  of  mortal  concern. 

Others  have  more  fully  spoken  of  Senator  Hill's  life  and  public  career 
than  will  be  expected  from  me,  but  of  his  intellectual  strength,  his  will,  and 
his  courage,  I  have  deep  and  lasting  impressions.  I  first  met  him  during  the 
reconstruction  of  the  Southern  States  which  followed  the  war.  As  a  mem 
ber  of  an  investigating  committee  appointed  by  Congress  I  visited  Atlanta, 
and  there  met  Mr.  Hill  for  the  first  time.  His  appearance  and  bearing 
strongly  attracted  my  attention.  The  still  intensity  of  his  pale,  strong  face  ; 
his  firm,  determined  features,  and  the  clear  light  of  his  steady,  inquiring, 
and,  as  it  seemed  to  me  then,  somewhat  distrustful  blue  eyes,  combined  to 
niake  on  my  mind  the  vivid  and  striking  portrait  of  a  remarkable  man.  I 
recall  vividly  now  the  self-poise,  the  reserve,  the  circumspection,  with  which 
he  spoke  of  public  questions,  and  sought  to  shelter  from  hurtful  legislation 
all  the  interests  of  his  people.  He  was  not  then  taking  part  in  national 
politics,  and  I  doubt  if  such  was  his  intention  ;  but  when  he  was,  some  time 
afterward,  elected  to  the  House  of  Representatives,  my  opinion  of  his  abili 
ties  and  force  was  only  confirmed  when  he  immediately  took  a  conspicu 
ous  leadership  in  that  body. 

Of  the  merits  of  the  heated  controversies  in  which  he  eno-a^ed.  of  course, 

II  i  ^^ 

do  not  speak  in  this  presence,  but  that  he  was  the  peer  of  the  ablest  whom 

he  met  no  one  will  deny.  His  fame  was  at  once  national,  and  his  State  only 
waited  for  the  first  opportunity  to  bestow  upon  him  its  highest  honor. 


146  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

After  Mr.  Hill  became  a  member  of  this  body,  his  daily  movements  and 
every  word  he  uttered  were  marked  and  scrutinized  as  those  of  a  leading  and 
important  actor  in  public  affairs.  He  had  been  a  representative  man  under 
an  order  of  things  and  an  attempted  government  which  had  crumbled  to  the 
dust,  and  he  could  not  be  less  than  a  representative  character  here.  To  me 
it  was  always  a  curious  and  most  interesting  study  to  watch  the  workings  of 
his  brilliant  and  fertile  mind,  while  he  grasped  the  duties  and  the  ideas  of 
the  living  present,  and  at  the  same  time,  with  reverent  care  and  devotion, 
protected  the  motives  and  the  memory  of  a  cause  into  which  he  had  poured 
the  whole  ardor  of  his  earlier  manhood.  His  mind  wras  essentially  daring 
and  progressive,  and  he  did  not  seek  to  cling  to  principles  and  methods 
which  had  been  tried  and  failed  ;  he  simply  guarded  well  the  honor  of  that 
vast  cemetery  in  which  the  dead  past  lies  buried. 

Standing,  as  I  once  heard  him  say,  in  the  ashes  of  desolation,  he  still 
looked  forward  with  an  unfaltering  trust  to  the  dawn  of  a  new  day  of  glory 
for  his  section,  and  of  union  and  progress  for  the  entire  country.  He  was  a 
ready  mounted  knight,  not  looking  back  to  past  fields  of  encounter,  but 
prompt  to  enter  the  lists  whenever  or  wherever  opened.  He  believed  with 
Edmund  Burke  that  statesmanship  was  the  science  of  circumstances,  and  he 
addressed  himself  with  wisdom  and  courage  to  the  situation  in  which  he 
found  himself  placed.  This  sometimes  caused  him  to  be  accused  of  incon 
sistency  by  those  who  forget  that  the  circumstances  which  govern  the  con 
duct  of  the  statesman  are  themselves  inconsistent  from  day  to  day.  The 
law  of  the  world  is  mutation. 

History  is  a  never  ending  panorama,  in  which  the  pictures  are  never  the 
same.  The  same  grand  purposes  and  facts  of  progression  are  there,  but  the 
methods  of  public  policy,  the  ways  and  means  whereby  governments  are 
created  and  sustained,  the  measures  which  from  time  to  time  best  promote, 
foster,  and  encourage  the  welfare  of  the  people,  are  as  various  as  the  differ 
ent  conditions  of  mankind  which  have  called  them  forth.  The  principles 
which  have  governed  one  generation  may  have  to  be  discarded  for  the 
safety  and  prosperity  of  the  next.  The  wisdom  of  to-day  may  be  the  folly 
of  to-morrow  in  the  administrative  measures  of  peace  as  well  as  in  the  tac 
tics  and  strategy  of  war. 

Senator  Hill  always  appeared  as  much  alive  to  this  great  fact  as  any  man 
I  ever  met  in  public  life.  He  was  always  found  on  the  skirmish  line  of  ad 
vanced  and  advancing  ideas,  and  in  the  constant  encounters  which  neces 
sarily  take  place  on  that  line  in  the  field  of  thought,  the  lightning  as  it  leaps 
from  the  sky,  is  hardly  more  brilliant  or  rapid  than  were  the  operations  of 
his  mind.  Indeed,  so  prolific  was  his  genius,  when  heated  by  the  combat  of 
discussion,  that  it  seemed  at  times  to  partake  of  the  eccentricity  of  the 
lightning  as  well  as  of  its  brilliancy  and  power.  But  he  wras  never  allured, 
in  his  most  daring  flights,  so  far  that  he  could  not  upon  the  instant  return  to 
meet  his  adversary  at  the  precise  point  in  issue.  It  was  this  quality,  in  great 
measure,  and  the  intensity  with  which  he  could  identify  himself  with  the 
actual  matter  in  hand,  regardless  of  what  the  past  had  demanded  of  him, 
which  made  him  the  formidable  antagonist  and  the  resistless  orator  at  the 
bar,  on  the  hustings,  and  in  the  halls  of  legislation. 

Sir,  a  character  such  as  I  speak  of,  has  never  in  any  age  failed  to  encoun 
ter  determined  opposition  and  deep-seated  hostility.  The  overthrown  an 
tagonist,  the  routed  adversary,  never  forget  and  are  often  slow  to  forgive. 
The  impetuous  assault  in  debate,  the  fierce  invective,  the  merciless  sarcasm. 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECH KS,  AXD   WRITINGS.  147 

leave  wounds  which  seldom  altogether  heal.  This  was  doubtless  true  of  the 
public  career  of  the  bold,  aggressive  senator,  whose  loss  we  deplore;  and 
yet  to  those  who  knew  him  well  in  private  life,  how  gentle,  considerate,  and 
'kind  were  his  words  and  his  ways!  A  simple  circumstance, of  an  accidental 
character,  brought  about  relations  between  us  which  revealed  him  to  me  in 
a  light  I  did  not  expect,  although  I  had  been  acquainted  with  him  for  years. 

I  saw  the  self-absorbed,  distant  manner,  melt  away  into  the  gentlest  sun 
shine.  I  realized  that  when  he  gave  his  confidence  at  all,  he  gave  it  entire ; 
that  when  he  trusted,  he  did  so  without  reservation,  and  with  an  unlimited 
faith.  While  perhaps  "  he  was  lofty  and  sour  to  those  who  loved  him  not," 
yet  he  had,  in  a  bountiful  degree,  those  elements  of  nature  toward  friends 
which  make  man  "  sweet  as  summer  "  to  his  fellow-man.  As  the  world  saw 
him  during  his  active  career,  he  was  a  warrior  with  his  armor  on,  his  lance 
in  rest,  and  his  visor  down  ;  but  away  from  the  scenes  of  conflict,  and  in  the 
midst  of  those  who  came  close  to  him,  he  was  the  unassuming,  generous, 
confiding  friend.  At  such  times  he  always  spoke  with  singular  gentleness 
and  charity  of  those  from  whom  he  differed  and  with  whom  his  debates  had 
been  most  heated  and  determined  ;  nor  do  I  think  I  ever  heard  him  speak 
with  a  show  of  personal  resentment  of  such  even  as  had  dealt  most  harshly 
and  unjustly  with  his  name  and  fame. 

Sir,  the  combination  of  rare  and  high  qualities  of  mind  and  heart  pos 
sessed  by  Senator  Hill,  not  only  account  for  the  mourning  of  Georgia  over 
his  loss,  but  also  for  the  fact  that  his  death  is  regarded  in  every  section  as  a 
national  calamity.  His  power  for  great  public  usefulness  was  recognized  in 
every  quarter  of  our  vast,  expanded  country.  He  had  a  glorious  cause  at 
heart,  the  construction  and  development  of  a  grand,  harmonious  future  for 
the  whole  country,  adjusting  his  own  and  the  kindred  States  and  people  of 
the  South  to  the  existing  conditions  of  the  present  day,  and  insuring  them 
their  full  proportion  of  the  honor  and  the  wealth  of  the  nation.  What 
nobler  purpose  ever  animated  the  human  breast?  But  in  the  full  meridian 
splendor  of  his  mental  vigor  and  his  ripe  experience  the  unfinished  task  fell 
from  his  hands.  That  summons  to  which  every  ear  shall  hearken  and  all 
mortality  obey,  reached  him  at  the  zenith  of  his  powers,  and  with  his  plans 
of  future  work  all  spread  out  before  him. 

When  the  light  of  the  sun  fades  away  at  nightfall,  we  behold  the  har 
monious  fulfillment  of  nature's  law  ;  but  when  darkness  comes  at  noonday, 
we  are  struck  with  awe  at  the  mysteries  of  the  universe.  When  eternity 
beckons  to  one  whose  labors  are  ended  here,  and  who  walks  wearily  under 
the  burden  of  years,  we  see  him  sink  down  to  his  rest  with  resignation  to 
the  decrees  as  they  are  written  ;  but  when  death  claims  the  great  and 
strong,  in  all  their  pride  of  power  and  place,  we  break  forth  in  grief,  and 
question  the  ways  of  heaven  and  earth,  which  are  past  finding  out. 

The  hand  of  the  reaper 

Takes  the  ears  that  are  hoary  ; 
But  the  voice  of  the  weeper 

Wails  manhood  in  glory. 

How  capricious  and  various  are  the  ways  of  death  !  On  the  first  day  of 
the  new  year  there  had  gathered  at  the  White  House  a  vast  assemblage  to 
pay  honor  to  the  President  of  the  Republic.  Talent,  beauty,  official  distinc 
tion,  all  were  there.  Heroes  of  the  army  and  the  navy,  in  the  brilliant 
decorations  of  their  rank,  made  their  official  obeisance  to  their  Commander- 


148  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

in-Chief  ;  the  ambassadors  of  distant  courts,  blazing  in  scarlet  and  gold, 
paid  friendly  congratulations  to  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  foremost  com 
monwealth  on  the  globe  ;  thoughtful  legislators  and  ermined  judges,  men  of 
letters  and  professors  of  science,  stood  in  the  same  presence  ;  female  loveli 
ness  lent  its  enchantment  to  the  scene  ;  soft  music  charmed  all  the  air  ;  the 
rich  odor  of  flowers  came  with  every  breath,  and  the  lofty  old  halls  and 
promenades  were  vocal  with  exclamations  of  happy  enjoyment.  Immedi 
ately  at  my  side,  in  the  midst  of  this  radiant  throng,  stood  one  who  was  full 
of  years  and  of  honors.  But  the  spirit  of  the  glass  and  scythe  was  hover 
ing  even  there,  and  at  the  touch  of  its  icy  hand  I  saw  the  venerable  man  of 

9  m/ 

four  score  sink  down  like  an  infant  to  gentle  sleep.  Without  moan  or  sigh 
or  pain  he  passed  in  an  instant  from  the  light,  the  music,  and  the  perfumes 
of  earth  to  the  world  of  eternal  beauty  beyond  the  sun. 

Fortunate  man  ;  fortunate  in  life,  and  still  more  fortunate  in  death  ! 
Not  a  moment  in  the  dark  valley  or  the  shadow  between  the  two  worlds,  he 
closed  his  aged  eyes  upon  the  joys  of  time  to  open  them  upon  the  brighter 
visions  of  eternity.  But  how  shall  the  dreadful  contrast,  which  flashes  on 
every  mind,  be  spoken  ?  To  the  dead  senator  whom  we  mourn  to-day,  death 
came  in  its  most  appalling  form,  wearing  its  most  cruel  and  ghastly  mien. 
No  circumstance  of  torture  or  of  horror  was  omitted  from  the  awful  ordeal 
through  which  he  slowly  passed.  He  sought  the  aid  of  science,  for  life  w^as 
sweet  to  him;  but  after  he  turned  his  face  homeward,  to  abide  the  will  of 
God,  as  he  said,  among  his  own  people,  the  pages  of  human  history,  in  all 
their  wide  range,  present  no  more  striking  instance  than  he  did  of  un- 
quailing,  lofty  heroism  and  of  sublime  submission  to  the  decrees  of  Provi 
dence. 

The  stoic  philosopher  of  antiquity  would  have  taken  refuge  in  self-murder 
from  the  frightful  aspect  worn  by  the  King  of  Terrors,  on  which  the  dying 
American  statesman  looked  from  hour  to  hour,  from  day  to  day,  and  from 
month  to  month,  with  unbroken  composure.  A  little  more  than  a  year  ago, 
the  world  watched  around  the  death-bed  of  the  slowly  dying  President  of 
the  United  States,  and  wondered  at  his  calmness  and  courage  ;  but  to  him 
there  was  administered  daily  hope.  Not  a  whisper  of  earthly  hope  sustained 
Senator  Hill,  as  he  looked  long  and  steadily  at  his  inevitable  doom.  And  yet 
no  murmur,  wail,  or  lament  ever  escaped  his  lips;  he  uttered  no  word  of  grief 
or  disappointment  that  the  end  of  his  pilgrimage  was  so  near;  no  agony  of 
suffering  was  ever  so  terrible  as  to  extort  a  single  cry  of  pain  ;  he  never  ap 
peared  so  great,  so  calm  and  strong,  as  face  to  face  with  the  mighty  mon 
arch,  before  whom  all  must  bow.  And  why  was  this?  Able,  self-reliant, 
and  intrepid  as  he  was,  could  he,  unaided  and  alone,  sustain  with  unclouded 
serenity  of  mind  such  a  conflict  with  approaching  and  painful  dissolution  ? 
Was  there  no  one  with  him  to  soothe  and  to  comfort  as  he  passed  through  the 
furnace  seven  times  heated  ? 

Sir,  we  learn  that  Mr.  Hill's  father  was  a  minister  of  the  Christian  religion, 
and  that  he  educated  his  son  in  the  principles  and  the  practices  of  his  own 
faith.  It  is  a  fact,  also,  that  when  the  son  grew  to  manhood,  and  at  every 
period  of  his  brilliant  and  at  times  stormy  career,  this  faith  abided  with  him. 
The  good  seed  sown  in  the  morning  may  have  seemed  scorched  by  the  sun, 
or  choked  by  the  thorns  and  cares  of  the  day,  but  it  never  lost  root  in  his 
mind;  and  in  his  hour  of  trial  it  brought  forth  fruit  more  than  a  hundred 
fold.  It  enabled  him  to  realize  a  home  of  peace  and  jo}'  beyond  the  reach 
of  disease  or  death;  it  enabled  him  to  smile  amid  his  sufferings,  as  martyrs 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  149 

liave  smiled  in  flames  at  the  stake.  Though  of  approaching  death  it  might 
be  said  : 

Black  as  night. 

Fierce  as  ten  furies,  terrible  as  hell, 

He  shook  a  dreadful  dart ; 

yet  the  pale  and  wasted  orator  could  for  himself  truthfully  exclaim,  "Death 
is  swallowed  up  in  victory."  His  heart  could  utter,  if  his  tongue  could  not, 
that  loftiest  paean  of  human  triumph  ever  chanted  on  the  shores  of  time  : 

O  Death  !  where  is  thy  sting  ? 
O  Grave  !  where  is  thy  victory  ? 

Sir,  it  is  a  deep  and  never-ending  pleasure  to  know  that  in  the  midst  of 
physical  wreck,  decay,  and  pain  there  came  to  our  lost  comrade  in  full  abund 
ance,  and  in  compensation  for  all  he  endured,  those  rich  and  precious  conso 
lations  which  this  world  can  neither  give  nor  take  away. 

*j  \> 

lie  sleeps  well  in  the  soil  of  his  native  State.  His  memory  will  remain 
fresh  and  green  in  the  hearts  of  his  people.  Distant  and  rising  generations 
will  point  out  his  name  in  the  books  which  record  these  times  as  they  would 
point  out  one  of  the  brightest  stars  in  the  sky.  And  this  is  all  of  earth  that 
remains  for  him.  No  more  will  this  great  pulsating  world,  with  its  high,  stern 
battle-cries  of  conflict,  arouse  his  eager  spirit  to  action.  The  world  moves 
on  without  him,  as  the  ocean  rolls  in  unbroken  and  heedless  majesty  over  the 
wreck  which  has  gone  down  in  her  bosom.  Great  lives  have  perished  at 
every  step  in  the  eternity  of  time,  but  the  giant  march  of  events  has  not 
faltered  nor  the  progress  of  the  world  been  defeated. 

The  duties  of  the  dead  senator  are  all  finished.  Even  this  solemn  occa 
sion,  with  his  name  on  every  lip,  is  nothing  to  him.  His  silent  dust  is  alike 
indifferent  to  praise  or  blame,  and  his  immortal  presence  has  passed  far 
beyond  the  call  of  human  voices.  But  to  us,  the  living,  who  stand  where 
he  so  lately  stood,  this  hour  is  freighted  with  interest  and  admonition.  We 
are  walking  with  unerring  steps  to  the  grave,  and  each  setting  sun  finds  us 
nearer  to  the  realms  of  rest.  The  fleetness  of  time,  our  brief  and  feeble 
grasp  upon  the  affairs  of  earth,  the  certainty  of  death,  and  the  magnitude 
of  eternity  all  crowd  upon  the  mind  at  such  a  moment  as  this.  They  warn 
us  to  be  in  readiness,  for  no  one  knows,  in  the  great  lottery  of  life  and  death, 
on  whose  cold,  dead,  pathetic  face  we  may  next  look  in  this  narrow  circle. 
They  call  upon  us  to  think  and  speak  and  live  in  charity  with  each  other, 
for  the  last  hours,  that  must  come  to  all,  will  be  sweetened  bv  recollections 

»/ 

of  such  forbearance  and  grace  in  our  own  lives  as  we  invoke  for  ourselves 
from  that  merciful  Father  into  whose  presence  we  hasten. 

ADDRESS  OF  MR.  EDMUNDS,  OF  VERMONT. 

Mr.  President :  Others  more  nearly  connected  with  the  late  senator  by 
ties  of  location,  political  sympathy,  and  personal  intimacy  have  spoken  of 
him  as  only  those  so  situated  can  well  do. 

I  will  speak  of  him  chiefly  as  he  appeared  to  me  in  his  public  career. 
He  was,  I  think,  of  the  very  highest  order  of  intellectual  strength,  both  in 
his  perceptive  and  reflective  faculties.  He  was  able  to  perceive  with  clear 
ness  the  relations  of  public  questions,  and  the  remote,  but  not  less  certain 
effects  of  occurring  events,  when  to  many  others  the  horizon  was  entirely 
clouded  and  indefinite,  or  clothed  with  a  distorted  and  illusory  promise.  A 
W  big  and  American  down  to  the  time  of  the  attempted  secession  of  the 


150  SENATOR  B.   II.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

Southern  States  in  1861,  he  foresaw  something  of  the  future  ;  and  opposed 
with  earnestness  and  power,  in  the  conventions  of  his  native  State,  the  move 
ment  for  secession.  But  when  it  was  resolved  upon  and  undertaken,  he 
gave  himself  up  to  what  he  considered  his  duty  to  his  State,  and  was  thence 
forth  among  the  foremost  in  sustaining  the  Southern  cause. 

The  notion  of  fidelity  to  one's  own  State,  whether  her  course  be  thought 
wise  and  right  or  not,  is  almost  a  natural  instinct  ;  and  whether  it  be 
defensible  on  broad  grounds  or  not,  who  does  not  sympathize  with  it  1 
Even  in  this  body,  whose  members  are  senators  of  the  United  States,  and 
are  not,  in  a  constitutional  sense,  any  more  representatives  of  the  particular 
States  that  elected  them  than  of  all  the  other  States  and  the  people,  it  is 
extremely  difficult  to  free  ourselves  from  the  feeling  that  we  are  the  repre 
sentatives  of  particular  States  merely,  and  that  we  are  bound  to  defend  and 
promote  the  interests  of  their  inhabitants  without  responsibility  for  the 
effect  of  what  we  do  upon  the  people  of  other  States.  Is  it  not  clear  that 
the  fundamental  unity  of  all  the  States,  as  well  as  the  security  of  the  rights 
of  each,  will  be  much  more  secure,  and  the  national  government  much 
better  administered,  if  we  remember  that  our  obligations  and  our  solicitudes 
should  be  bounded  by  no  arrangements  of  political  geography  ?  So  think 
ing,  I  look  with  large  interest  and  sympathy  upon  the  scenes  and  events  in 
which  the  late  senator  from  Georgia  bore  so  conspicuous  a  part,  and  upon 
the  affection  and  confidence  that  the  great  mass  of  the  people  of  that  State 
felt  toward  him.  And,  differing  widely  from  him  in  respect  of  very  many 
of  his  acts  and  opinions,  I  felt  deeply  for  him,  for  his  family,  and  for  his 
people  in  the  calamity  that  came  upon  him.  And  how  much  more  tender 
our  sympathy  and  admiration  grew  when  we  saw  him  bearing  the  greatest 
of  human  suffering  with  the  calmness  of  manly  fortitude  and  the  supreme 
happiness  of  Christian  faith,  and  when  we  saw  that  all  the  evils  of  this 
weary  life  were  powerless  to  affect  his  soul,  that  rose  "  over  pain  to 
victory." 

Such  events  as  we  now  commemorate,  interesting  and  solemn  as  they  are 
and  must  be  to  each  one  of  us,  are  the  most  common  and  the  most  certain  of 
all.  The  life  of  man,  did  it  end  with  this  earthly  career,  would  be  the  most 

•/ 

miserable  of  phantasms  ;  but  to  those  who  see  with  the  eye  of  faith  beyond 
the  narrow  border  of  our  mortal  life  "  the  yoke  is  easy  and  the  burden  light." 
On  this  great  stage  of  government  the  actors  appear  and  act  their  parts, 
and  disappear  to  come  again  no  more  ;  but  the  grand  drama  goes  on  without 
interruption.  When  the  greatest,  and  apparently  the  most  important,  ad 
ministrators  of  government  suddenly  depart,  there  always  comes  forward 
from  the  body  of  an  intelligent  people  some  one  to  fill  the  vacant  place,  and 
who  is  equal  to  the  emergency  of  the  time.  While,  then,  we  are  touched 
with  the  suddenness  of  these  separations,  let  us  take  comfort  in  the  knowl 
edge  that  our  country's  institutions  flourish  in  larger  and  larger  security, 
and  that  all  our  people  feel  more  and  more  the  depth  and  strength  of 
mutual  interest,  sympathy,  and  good-will. 

ADDRESS    OF    MR.    JONES,  OF    FLORIDA. 

Mr.  President :  It  is  not  my  intention  to  weary  the  Senate  at  this  hour 
by  rehearsing  the  story  of  Mr.  Hill's  fame.  Everything  interesting  in  his 
public  life  has  been  graphically  set  forth  by  his  able  colleague  and  the 
senators  who  followed  him,  so  that  there  is  nothing  left  for  me  to  do  except 
to  put  on  record  my  humble  testimony  of  the  value  of  a  man  like  Mr.  Hill  to 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  15 1 

/ 

this  country,  and  my  sense  of  the  loss  which  tins  Senate  and  the  nation  have 
sustained  in  our  deceased  brother's  sad  and  untimely  death.  In  surveying 
the  Great  field  of  life,  and  noting  the  progress  which  has  been  made  in  everv 

Zj  *j  1  •/ 

science  and  almost  every  department  of  knowledge,  it  would  seem  from  tho 
little  advance  or  change  that  has  taken  place  in. the  affairs  of  government 
that  we  have  reached  a  point  of  perfection  in  the  art  of  ruling  States  and 
peoples  ;  that  it  is  beyond  the  power  of  human  genius  to  do  more  than  main 
tain  the  spirit  and  integrity  of  our  existing  establishments. 

The  best  labors  of  the  great  minds  of  this  country  have  been  devoted  to 
the  work  of  settling  in  the  public  mind  the  great  principles  of  our  admirable 
systems  of  government,  so  that  at  all  times  the  great  body  of  the  people 
could  comprehend  the  line  of  separation  which  divides  authority  from  popu 
lar  rights,  and  thus  secure  a  loyal  support  of  government  on  the  one  hand  and 
a  steady  and  intelligent  devotion  to  liberty  on  the  other.  In  those  unhallowed 
despotisms  of  the  earth,  where  man  is  crushed  and  oppressed  by  excessive 
public  power,  it  is  the  mystery  which  surrounds  the  segis  and  exercise  of 
governmental  authority  that  sustains  the  unfortunate  relations  of  tyrant  and 
stave.  There  nothing  is  defined,  limited,  or  comprehensible,  but  all  is  dark, 
complicated,  and  forbidding.  The  popular  mind,  long  enslaved  by  super 
stitious  devotion  to  slavish  names  and  maxims,  never  sees  anything  of  the 
light  of  truth  ;  and  power  and  authority,  united  with  ignorance  and  submis 
sion,  keep  millions  in  bondage  and  chains. 

You  mav  ask,  what  has  all  this   to  do  with  the  character  or  merits  of 

ff 

the  deceased?  I  answer  that  in  making  up  my  estimate  of  the  loss  of 
our  distinguished  brother,  I  cannot  overlook  the  quality  which,  above  all 
others,  made  him  both  eminent  and  useful.  If,  as  I  said  awhile  ago,  we 
have  made  no  progress  in  government  of  late,  and  have  added  nothing  to 
the  discovery  of  the  fathers  for  the  security  or  happiness  of  the  people,  it  is 
of  the  highest  importance  that  the  work  which  has  been  accomplished  shall 
be  maintained.  The  gifted  man  whom  we  mourn  to-day  was  especially 
fitted  for  the  great  duty  of  keeping  before  the  people  the  beacon-light  of 
political  truth  to  teach  them  their  obligations  to  themselves  and  their  gov 
ernment  ;  to  impress  upon  their  minds  true  conceptions  of  political  liberty, 
allegiance,  and  loyalty  to  the  demands  of  just  authority,  and  the  preserva 
tion  of  every  power  and  authority  which  belong  to  the  people  and  the  States. 
His  capacity  for  this  great  duty  made  him  a  leader  of  public  opinion.  In 
little  matters  he  was  not  as  great  as  little  men.  But  where  the  magnitude  of 
the  question  rose  to  the  level  of  his  great  ability,  his  power  of  argument  was 
felt  here  and  in  the  country. 

The  ordinary  routine  worker  had  then  to  stand  aside,  and  every  one  ad 
mired  the  workings  of  his  original,  incisive  mind  as  it  put  forth  its  powerful 
.arguments  in  terse  and  pointed  speech.  This,  after  all,  is  the  highest  posi 
tion  a  public  man  can  occupy  in  a  country  like  this.  Men  of  detail  and 
method  and  labor  can  be  found  anywhere,  and  at  all  times  ;  but  even  at  a 
time  when  everything  is  in  a  state  of  improvement,  these  grand  qualities  of 
mind  which  immortalized  Fox,  Pitt,  Canning,  Grattan,  Webster,  Clav, 
and  Calhoun  are  as  rare,  and  far  more  important,  than  they  ever  were.  It 
was  Mr.  Hill's  great  ability  as  an  argumentative  speaker  and  writer  which 
gave  him  his  fame. 

He  was  often  called  a  great  orator,  but  he  was  more  than  an  orator  in 
fhe  popular  sense.  He  always  addressed  himself  to  the  minds  of  his 
bearers.  I  rrever  knew  a  speaker  of  the  same  reputation  who  drew  less 


152  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

upon  his  imagination  than  Senator  Hill.  In  his  over-anxiety  to  fasten  con 
viction  on  the  mind,  he  would  often  labor  for  the  accuracy  and  precision  of 
the  mathematician.  While  his  vocabulary  was  always  strong  and  simple, 
in  my  judgment,  it  often  fell  short  of  the  vigor  and  the  depth  of  his  thoughts. 
Like  all  truly  .great  men,  he  attached  more  consequence  to  his  ideas  than  to 
his  language.  He  was  in  no  sense  a  wordy,  but  always  a  thoughtful 
speaker.  His  views  of  the  Constitution  were  broad  and  liberal.  In  his 
expositions  of  our  great  organic  law  he  did  not  run  into  the  extreme  maxims 
of  unlimited  power  on  the  one  hand,  nor  seek  to  abridge,  by  too  narrow 
bounds,  the  authority  of  the  Union  on  the  other.  While  he  always  admitted 
that  the  Constitution  of  the  Union  was  created  by  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  he  ever  contended  that  this  was  accomplished  through  separate 
State  agencies — the  people  of  each  State  acting  for  themselves  in  the 
matter  of  ratification,  independent  of  the  people  of  every  other  State. 

But  this  view  did  not  affect  in  the  least  his  opinion  of  the  supremacy  of 
tl:e  Federal  Constitution.  He  always  contended  that  the  powers  granted 
by  the  people  of  the  several  States,  acting  as  organized  political  factions,  to 
the  general  government,  were  as  irrevocable  and  as  binding  upon  the  people 
and  the  States,  as  though  they  emanated  from  the  people  of  the  Union  with 
out  regard  to  State  organizations.  The  great  argument  which  he  drew  from 
the  mode  of  ratification  was  that  the  States  and  the  government  of  the 
Union  were  parts  of  one  system  ;  that  there  could  be  no  question  of  divided 
allegiance  between  them  ;  that  the  Union  could  not  exist  without  the  States, 
although  the  States  did  exist  before  the  Union.  He  always  advocated  a 
free  and  liberal  exercise  of  the  powers  granted  this  government,  but  his 
nature  was  hostile  to  everything  that  had  the  appearance  of  usurpation. 
He  was  one  of  the  few  men  in  public  life  who  combined  high  abilities  as  a 
political  leader  with  pre-eminent  legal  talents.  Lord  Chatham  at  one  time 
deprecated  the  presence  of  the  mere  lawyer  in  Parliament,  and  he  said  that 
you  might  shake  the  constitution  of  the  land  to  its  center  and  the  lawyer 
would  sit  tranquil  in  his  cabinet,  but  just  touch  a  cobweb  in  the  corner  of 
Westminster  Hall  and  the  exasperated  spider  would  crawl  out  in  its 
defense. 

But  this  was  not  the  case  with  Senator  Hill.  He  did  not  sacrifice  the 
Constitution  to  the  profession.  He  brought  to  the  one  all  the  support  of  an 
enlightened  statesman  and  patriot,  full  of  devotion  for  the  whole  country 
and  its  institutions,  and  the  other  he  adorned  with  legal  learning  and  pro 
fessional  abilities  that  will  long  be  remembered  by  the  bar.  Like  all  men 
of  strong  convictions  and  great  prominence,  he  was  supported  by  devoted 
friends,  and  was  not  without  some  enemies.  Although  he  was  fondly  at 
tached  to  his  high  position,  where  his  talents  had  full  play,  and  tenderly 
bound  by  the  ties  of  affection  to  his  devoted  family,  the  world  does  not. 
furnish  an  example  more  sublime  than  that  which  he  has  left  us  in  all  the 
qualities  of  moral  and  physical  courage,  true  Christian  and  manly  resig 
nation,  patient  and  uncomplaining  submission  to  the  will  of  God  during  the 
long,  tedious  months  that  he  awaited  in  agony  and  suffering  the  period  of 
his  mortal  dissolution.  All  the  glory  of  the  Senate  and  the  fame  of  the 
hustings  fade  into  insignificance  before  the  grand  spectacle  presented  by 
this  Christian  man  when  the  time  arrived  which  tested  the  weakness  of 
human  nature.  Whether  bleeding  under  the  operations  of  the  surgeon's 
knife,  or  silently  feeling  the  gradual  but  sure  inroads  of  the  monster  that 
\vas  preying  upon  him,  he  never  murmured  or  complained,  but  accepted 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,    AND   WHITINGS.  153 

the  terrible  situation  as  evidence  only  of  Divine  pleasure,  and  with  the 
firm  conviction  that  his  sufferings  would  be  rewarded  by  a  happier  life  be 
yond  the  grave. 

Who  can  deny  the  value  and  efficiency  of  strong  Christian  faith  with 
such  an  example  of  its  power  and  influence  before  him?  With  all  the  glory 
and  renown  of  the  world  fading  away  before  the  shadow  of  eternity,  this 

**  * 

strong  man,  accustomed  to  all  the  processes  of  reason,  under  the  inspiration 
of  Christian  hope  was  able  to  leave  an  example  of  true  heroism,  more  valu 
able  and  sublime  than  any  left  by  the  unbelieving  philosophers  of  antiquity. 

ADDRESS    OF    MR.    TUCKER,    OF    VIRGINIA. 

Mr.  Speaker :  In  the  natural  grief  which  Georgia  feels  for  the  loss  of 
her  great  son,  it  is  not  fitting  that  Virginia  should  manifest  her  sympathy 
in  silence  at  the  tomb  of  one  who  often  said  he  felt  like  standing  in  her 
presence  ever  with  uncovered  brow.  In  this  public  calamity,  which  touches 
the  whole  country,  Virginia  begs  to  lay  the  tribute  of  her  respect  on  his 


grave. 


My  acquaintance  with  the  late  Senator  Hill  began  with  our  entrance  into 
this  hall  as  members  of  the  Forty-fourth  Congress.  It  ripened  into  inti 
macy  from  an  association  as  members  of  the  Committee  on  Ways  and 
.Means.  That  relation  has  no  doubt  made  it  seem  appropriate  that  I  should 
have  been  invited  to  say  something  on  this  occasion 

In  January,  1876,  the  debate  on  the  amnesty  bill  was  opened  with  such 
a  display  of  political  excitement  and  sectional  bitterness  as  I  have  never 
seen  since  that  time,  and  which  I  am  glad  to  hope  will  never  be  seen  again 
in  this  hall. 

In  that  debate  no  one  who  heard  it  can  ever  forget  the  parliamentary  elo 
quence  and  ability  of  Mr.  Blaine  and  of  General  Garfield,  and  the  no  less 
skillful  and  powerful  speech  of  Mr.  Hill.  It  was  the  battle  of  giants,  and 
Mr.  Hill  was  the  equal  of  any  man  who  took  part  in  it.  It  placed  him  at 
once  in  the  front  rank  of  debaters  in  the  American  Congress. 

^j 

Whether  in  the  labors  of  the  Committee  on  Ways  and  Means,  on  the 
questions  of  tariff  and  finance,  or  in  the  discussions  in  the  House,  Mr.  Hill 
continued,  while  a  member  of  this  body,  to  rise  higher  and  higher  in  public 
estimation  until  his  election  to  the  Senate  in  the  winter  of  1877. 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  as  a  senator  he  fully  maintained  his  high 
reputation,  and  measured  swords  in  debate  on  few  occasions  in  which  he 
was  not  victor,  and  in  none  in  which  he  was  vanquished. 

A  mortal  disease,  insidious  in  its  progress  and  painful  in  its  nature, 
ended  his  life  in  the  summer  of  last  year,  and  the  grave  has  closed  upon  a 
career  which,  though  not  prolonged  to  old  age,  was  one  of  the  most  brilliant 
and  memorable  in  our  parliamentary  history. 

The  elements  which  make  up  the  character  of  a  remarkable  man  it  is 
interesting  to  analyze  and  portray.  I  feel  incompetent  to  do  so  satisfactorily 
in  this  case;  for,  while  our  intercourse  was  always  familiar  and  cordial,  our 

i  ** 

relations  were  not  so  close  and  confidential  as  to  have  enabled  me  to  judge 
and  measure  him  with  critical  accuracy. 

His  tall  and  striking  person,  his  in'ave  and  thoughtful  face,  his  clear  but 

_  \J       1  '  C7  d? 

dreamy  eye,  and  the  gleam  of  sunshine  which  lit  up  his  countenance  when 
friendly  intercourse  detached  his  thoughts  from  the  subject  in  which  his 
mind  was  absorbed,  all  combined  to  interest,  attract,  and  impress  every  per- 


154  SENATOR  R   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

son  who  came  in  contact  with  him.  His  ringing  voice  ;  his  earnest,  some 
times  vehement,  manner ;  his  bold  and  aggressive  style  ;  his  strong,  clear, 
and  logical  reasoning  ;  his  exalted  and  eloquent  declamation,  and  withal  his 
self-reliant  and  confident  assertion  of  his  views,  made  him  one  of  the  most 
powerful  and  impressive  speakers  of  his  time. 

He  worked  with  intense  and  concentrated  energy.  His  mind  was  capable 
of  great  abstraction.  In  the  companionship  of  his  own  thoughts  he  became 
often  unconscious  of  all  around  him,  and  his  intellectual  powers  then  glowed 
with  the  fires  of  his  own  enthusiasm. 

He  was  an  intellectual  athlete.  His  strength  was  not  mere  dead  force, 
but  his  sinewy  frame  enabled  him  to  turn  an  adversary  in  the  decisive  wres 
tle,  w^hen  he  himself  seemed  to  be  overthrown.  He  was  not  technical  in  his 
reasoning,  but  cut  down  to  the  root  of  the  matter  of  debate.  His  nature 
was  bold  and  aggressive.  If  his  foe  was  in  ambush,  he  uncovered  him  and 
forced  him  into  the  open  field.  His  tactical  method  was  assault.  He  struck 
for  his  enemy's  center  and  rarely  attacked  his  flank.  But  when  assailed  and 
in  retreat,  he  would  suddenly  turn  upon  his  foe,  retrieve  his  loss,  attack  on 
flank  or  center  as  best  he  might,  and  snatch  victory  from  the  jaws  of  defeat. 
He  was  formidable  in  the  opening  of  battle,  chiefly  for  attack,  but  he  was  as 
dangerous  in  retreat  at  its  close,  when  pressed  by  a  too  confident  oppo 
nent.  Disaster  did  not  dismay — mishap  did  not  demoralize  him.  His 
ample  resources  were  adequate  to  any  emergency,  and  he  would  convert 
what  seemed  a  fatal  mistake  into  the  source  of  a  final  triumph  by  his  quick 
and  bold  repulse  of  his  assailant,  which  he  often  pushed  to  a  complete  rout  of 
his  forces.  He  argued  from  the  workshop  of  his  own  brain.  He  intensified 
thought  upon  the  issue,  and  discarding  authority  and  extrinsic  aids,  drew 
from  the  well -furnished  armory  of  his  own  mind  the  weapons  and  munitions 
for  the  conduct  of  his  warfare. 

These  qualities  made  him  a  great  advocate  at  the  bar,  whether  before 
juries  or  courts,  and  a  great  debater  in  the  halls  of  legislation  ;  indeed  as  for 
midable  in  these  respects  as  any  man  of  his  day. 

I  believe  he  thought  best  on  his  feet.  The  fervor  of  his  intellect  made  his 
arguments  present  convictions  which  might  pass  away  and  give  place  to 
others  as  strong  under  mental  action  at  another  time.  To  this  peculiarity  in 
his  mental  operations  was  due  what  seemed  a  lack  of  consistency  sometimes 
in  the  conclusions  he  reached.  His  intellectual  activity  was  so  powerful  as 
to  make  him  seem  intolerant  to  his  opponents  ;  but  I  do  not  believe  it 
touched  his  heart.  He  struck  the  shield  of  his  foe  as  a  knight  in  the  tourna 
ment, — vigorously,  but  without  animosity  ;  and  when  the  strife  was  ended  he 
could  lift  up  the  adversary  he  had  struck  down  and  clasp  him  in  friendly  re 
gard  with  the  hand  which  dealt  the  blow. 

In  his  social  life,  while  often  abstracted  by  the  thoughts  which  absorbed 
him,  he  was  genial,  kind,  and  loving.  Generous  and  brave,  lie  grappled  to 
him  friends  with  hooks  of  steel.  Honest  in  his  dealing,  sincere  and  truthful 
in  his  intercourse,  and  cordial  in  his  friendships,  he  died  mourned  by  hosts  of 
warm  admirers  and  followers. 

He  was  not,  I  think,  a  great  reader  of  books.  For  works  of  fiction  lie 
had  no  taste.  He  told  me  once  he  had  never  read  one  of  Scott's  novels, 
after  I  had  playfully  called  him  in  debate  a  Dalgetty,  of  whose  name  and 
character  he  was  ignorant.  But  his  reading  was  such  as  strengthened  his 
powerful  mind,  and  furnished  his  style  with  the  materials  which  gave  grace 
and  beauty  to  the  solid  and  simple  Doric  of  his  severe  and  classic  oratory. 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND   WRITINGS.  155 

It  was  natural  for  such  a  man  to  have  ambition.  The  eaglet  in  his  home 
nest  on  the  mountain  cliff  feels  in  his  unfledged  wing  the  power  to  soar 
toward  the  object  on  which  he  ever  looks  with  unblenched  eye.  So  genius, 
with  prophetic  instinct,  aspires  to  achieve  its  conscious  destiny.  It  seeks,  or 
at  least  may  not,  without  fault,  put  aside  the  opportunity  which  will  enable 
it  to  do  so.  When  Lord  Selborne  reached  the  woolsack,  some  friend  con 
gratulated  him  on  attaining  the  summit  of  his  ambition.  In  substance  he 
replied,  "  Not  so  ;  I  have  gained  the  opportunity  to  serve  my  country  ;  the 
summit  of  my  ambition  is  to  serve  her  well,  and  to  do  good." 

Such  ambition  is  a  noble  virtue.  The  aspiration  to  uphold  the  right,  to 
destroy  the  wrong,  and  to  do  good,  is  all  of  human  glory  which  it  is  tit  for 
human  life  to  aspire  to  win.  That  passion  for  place  and  office,  without  con 
sciousness  of  ability  to  fill  it  well  and  for  the  public  good,  is  base  and  mean  ; 
it  is  a  vice,  the  vice  of  our  day,  and  leads  to  crime. 

Mr.  Hill  aspired  for  public  positions  from  the  self-consciousness  of  his 
fitness  to  serve  his  country  in  and  through  them.  In  him  it  was  a  noble 
virtue. 

He  bore  his  prolonged  and  painful  illness  with  patience,  fortitude,  and 
resignation.  As  the  hopes  of  continued  life  faded  away,  the  light  of  immor 
tality  gleamed  upon  his  latter  days  with  the  assurance  of  peace  and  eternal 
joy.  The  tongue  which  had  thrilled  the  multitude  and  electrified  the  forum 
and  the  Senate,  palsied  by  his  mortal  disease,  faltered  and  was  almost  still. 
Yet  it  cheers  us  to  know  that  in  the  death  valley  through  which  his  great 
soul  was  called  to  pass,  God  gave  that  tongue  the  power  to  whisper  in  tones 
of  touching  tenderness  and  faith,  as  his  eagle  eye  gazed  upon  the  opening 
glories  of  the  immortal  life,  *'  Almost  home  !  ' 

The  paths  of  glory  lead  but  to  the  grave. 

No  farther  ?  Ay  !  through  the  grave,  where  human  glory  ends,  the 
Christian  hope  plants  our  feet  upon  that  path  which  leads  to  celestial  glory 
in  the  bosom  of  our  Father  and  our  God  ! 

ADDRESS    OF    MR.    HOUSE,    OF    TENNESSEE. 

Mr.  Speaker :  When  the  hand  of  death  struck  the  name  of  Benjamin  H. 
Hill,  of  Georgia,  from  the  roll  of  senators,  the  sad  event  was  deplored  not 
only  by  the  State  that  had  honored  him,  but  by  the  whole  country.  All 
realized  the  fact  that  a  man  of  great  intellectual  power  had  fallen,  and  that 
a  vacancy  had  been  made  in  the  national  councils  which  could  not  be  readily 
supplied. 

I  well  remember  the  first  time  I  ever  met  him.  It  was  at  a  mass-meeting 
during  the  presidential  campaign  of  1860,  at  Knoxville,  Tennessee.  His 
fame  even  at  that  time,  when  he  was  comparatively  a  young  man,  had 
traveled  beyond  the  limits  of  his  own  State.  I  recall  most  vividly  the 
impression  he  made  on  me  on  that  occasion,  as  one  of  the  most  eloquent  and 
powerful  popular  orators  to  whom  I  had  ever  listened.  The  crowd  was 
numbered  by  the  thousand,  and  the  speaking  took  place  in  the  open  air  in  a 
beautiful  grove  near  the  town.  Without  much  seeming  effort  on  his 
part,  he  held  the  undivided  attention  of  the  vast  assembly  during  an  address 
of  some  two  or  three  hours.  I  can  never  forget  the  trepidation  and  mis 
givings  with  which  I  arose,  according  to  the  program  of  the  day,  to  address 
the  audience  on  the  same  side  of  the  question,  through  fear  that  it  would  be 


156  SENATOR  R   II.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

impossible  for  me  to  say  anything  that  would  interest  a  crowd  that  had 
listened  to  his  magnificent  effort. 

I  saw  him  no  more  until  I  met  him  at  Richmond,  in  the  fall  of  1861,  as  a 
member  of  the  Provisional  Congress  of  the  Confederate  States.  At  the  end 
of  the  Provisional  Congress  our  paths  diverged.  He  entered  the  Confederate 
Senate,  where  he  served  during  the  remainder  of  the  war. 

The  next  time  I  met  him  was  in  this  hall  as  a  member  of  the  Forty-fourth 
Congress.  That  Congress  was  the  first  one  after  the  war  to  which  full  dele 
gations  of  representative  men  were  admitted  from  the  Southern  States. 
They  came  to  Washington  fully  impressed  with  the  difficulties  and  complica 
tions  that  surrounded  them.  They  felt  that  the  people  whom  they  represented, 
greatly  impoverished  by  the  war  and  struggling  to  repair  their  ruined  fortunes, 
would  be  held  to  a  strict  accountability  for  the  actions  and  utterances  of 
their  representatives.  Thus  impressed  and  thus  appreciating  the  dangerous 
ground  on  which  they  stood,  and  the  delicate  relations  which  they  sustained 
to  the  government,  they  determined  to  tread  the  path  of  patriotic  duty  so 
plainly  and  firmly  that  none  could  fail  to  see  that  they  fully  and  honestly 
acquiesced  in  the  results  of  the  war,  and  were  prepared  to  discharge  in  good 
faith  every  demand  imposed  by  the  conditions  of  a  restored  Union  and  the 
common  welfare  of  a  reunited  people.  I  think  I  know  the  animus  of  the 
Southern  men  who  took  their  seats  in  this  hall  as  representatives  in  the 
Forty-fourth  Congress.  Whether  I  have  stated  it  truly  and  fairly  I  con 
fidently  leave  the  records  they  have  made  here  to  determine. 

Soon  after  the  assembling  of  that  Congress  a  general  amnesty  bill  was 
introduced  in  the  House  by  Hon.  Samuel  J.  Randall,  of  Pennsylvania,  being 
similar  in  all  respects  to  a  bill  which  had  on  two  previous  occasions  passed 
the  House  of  Representatives  but  failed  in  the  Senate.  The  question  arose 
of  admitting  Jefferson  Davis  to  the  benefits  of  the  act.  A  distinguished 
representative  from  Maine,  in  the  course  of  his  remarks,  used  this  strong  and 
emphatic  language  : 

And  I,  here  before  God,  measuring  my  words,  knowing  their  full  extent  and  import, 
declare  that  neither  the  deeds  of  the  Duke  of  Alva  in  the  Low  Countries,  nor  the  massacre 
of  St.  Bartholomew,  nor  the  thumb-screws  and  engines  of  torture  of  the  Spanish  In 
quisition,  begin  to  compare  in  atrocity  with  the  hideous  crime  of  Andersonville. 

Up  to  this  time  no  Southern  man  had  taken  any  part  in  the  proceedings. 
The  discussion  had  not  proceeded  far  before  it  became  evident  that  it  was 
destined  to  provoke  more  or  less  of  sectional  bitterness.  The  representatives 
from  the  South  deprecated  and  deplored  the  agitation  of  questions  growing 
out  of  the  war.  They  felt  that  all  such  agitation  was  mischievous  in  its 
tendency  and  could  be  productive  of  no  good  to  their  section  of  the  country, 
and  they  were  anxious  that  all  such  questions  should  be  relegated  to  the 
tribunal  of  histoiy.  But  as  the  discussion  progressed  it  assumed  a  character 
which  in  their  opinion  demanded  that  a  reply  should  be  made  from  a  South 
ern  standpoint.  Mr.  Hill,  from  his  known  intimate  relations  with  Jefferson 
Davis  during  the  war,  as  well  as  from  his  acknowledged  ability,  was  gener 
ally  recognized  as  the  most  appropriate  Southern  man  to  speak  for  his 
section  in  a  debate  which  all  felt  was  destined  to  become  historic.  But  little 
time  for  preparation  was  allowed  him,  as  the  discussion  arose  rather  unex 
pectedly.  I  know  he  felt  deeply  the  responsibility  and  delicacy  of  his 
position.  To  defend  the  Confederate  government  against  the  charges  brought 
against  it,  and  maintain  the  honor  of  the  Southern  name,  without  saying  any- 


HIS  LIFE,    SPEECHES,   AND   WRITINGS.  15" 

thing  that  would  militate  against  the  interests  of  the  Southern  people  in  tlm 
prevailing  temper  of  the  public  mind  of  the  North,  required  the  exercise  oi 
the  coolest  judgment  and  the  nicest  discrimination.  Thus  restrained  and 
shackled  by  the  grave  considerations  which  surrounded  the  situation,  he  felt 
that  he  could  not  indulge  the  usual  freedom  of  debate,  and  was  therefore 
forced  to  meet  his  adversaries  upon  unequal  terms.  When  he  arose  to  address 
the  House,  he  faced  a  most  attentive  audience  upon  the  floor  and  in  the 
crowded  galleries.  It  was  an  occasion  of  deep  solicitude  and  dramatic  interest. 
I  will  not  risk  the  imputation  of  intruding  improper  and  unwelcome  sugges 
tions  upon  this  occasion  by  even  a  reference  to  the  points  or  details  of  the 
discussion.  It  was  watched  with  the  keenest  interest  by  both  sides  of  this 
Chamber,  and  in  fact  by  the  whole  country.  It  aroused  feelings  which,  I  am 
happy  to  say,  time  has  softened  and  tempered,  and  which  I  would  be  the  last 
to  recall  from  the  shades  of  the  unhappy  past.  But  justice  to  the  dead  re 
quires  that  I  should  not  omit  to  say  that,  difficult  as  were  the  requirements 
of  the  occasion,  Southern  representatives  and  the  Southern  people  felt  that 
their  good  name  suffered  no  detriment  from  want  of  ability  in  its  defender. 

Mr.  Speaker,  I  recall  another  prominent  figure  in  that  memorable  debate. 
James  A.  Garfield,  of  Ohio,  replied  to  Mr.  Hill.  If  any  one  had  been  called 
on  at  that  time  to  point  out  two  men  on  this  floor  whose  robust  health  and 
vigorous  manhood  gave  the  greatest  promise  of  a  long  life,  the  selection 
could  not  have  fallen  upon  any  two  members  more  appropriately  than  upon 
James  A.  Garfield  and  Benjamin  H.  Hill.  How  little  we  know  or  can  know 
of  what  the  future  has  in  store  for  us.  How  soon  were  these  two  distin 
guished  men,  who  encountered  each  other  in  that  debate,  doomed  to  leave 
this  world  under  circumstances  of  lingering  and  protracted  suffering  that 
stirred  the  sympathies  of  all. 

The  former,  in  a  short  while,  was  transferred  by  the  voice  of  his  State  from 
this  House  to  the  Senate,  and  before  he  could  assume  the  duties  of  a  Senator 
the  voice  of  the  American  people  called  him  to  the  Presidency.  Honors  were 
showered  upon  him  with  a  profusion  that  left  ambition  but  little  to  desire, 
lie  was  inaugurated  amid  the  well-wishes  of  the  whole  country.  But 
while  the  thickly  clustered  laurels  upon  his  brow  were  yet  wet  with  morning 
dew — at  a  moment  least  expected,  in  the  heart  of  a  populous  city,  in  sight  of 
the  Capitol — the  bullet  of  a  beastly  and  vulgar  assassin  laid  him  low.  The 
national  heart  stood  still  with  horror  when  the  first  shock  of  the  great  crime 
was  felt.  As  the  distinguished  sufferer  lay  upon  his  bed  of  pain,  the  hearts 
of  his  countrymen,  of  all  parties  and  all  sections,  visited  the  chamber  where  he 
struggled  with  death,  breathing  sympathy  for  his  condition  and  hope  for 
his  recovery.  This  painful  solicitude  was  merged  into  universal  sorrow 
when  the  telegraph  bore  the  news  to  every  part  of  the  country  that  the 
struggle  was  over.  The  Democrat  forgot  that  he  was  a  Republican  Presi 
dent,  and  the  Southern  man  that  he  belonged  to  the  North.  All  party,  all 
sectional  feeling  was  lost  in  the  profound  gloom  that  pervaded  the  whole 
country.  He  had  met  his  fate  and  borne  his  great  sufferings  with  a  patient 
fortitude  and  lofty  courage  which  silenced  all  criticism  and  melted  all  hearts, 
while  it  intensified  the  universal  horror  with  which  the  assassin's  crime  was 
regarded.  For,  Mr.  Speaker,  whatever  maybe  true  of  other  peoples  and  other 
lands,  the  crime  of  assassination  can  never  be  looked  upon  by  the  American 
people  with  other  feelings  than  those  of  execration  and  abhorrence.  It  is  a 
noxious  plant  that  can  never  flourish  in  our  soil.  General  Garfield  reached 
the  highest  position  to  which  human  ambition  can  aspire  ;  but  the  grandest 


158  SENATOR  B.   II.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

proportions  which  his  character  ever  assumed  were  displayed  in  the  heroism 
of  his  death-bed. 

Mr.  Hill  was  likewise  called  by  the  voice  of  his  State  to  a  seat  in  the 
Senate.  This  was  a  field  much  better  suited  for  the  exercise  of  his  great 
gifts  than  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  he  soon  gained  in  that  body 
the  front  rank  as  a  debater  and  a  statesman  of  great  and  varied  attainments. 
His  speech  in  the  Senate  in  the  debate  on  the  bill  prohibiting  the  use  of 
troops  at  the  polls  was  recognized  by  all  who  heard  it  or  read  it  as  an  effort 
of  transcendent  ability.  His  analysis  and  exposition  of  our  dual  system  of 
government,  defining  the  powers  that  belonged  to  the  States  and  those  that 
belonged  to  the  Federal  government  under  the  Constitution,  were  thorough 
and  profound.  That  speech  alone  was  sufficient  to  rank  him  in  the  first 
class  of  American  statesmen,  and  to  that  class  he  undoubtedly  belonged. 
As  a  debater  he  had  few  equals,  even  among  the  distinguished  men  whose 
learning  and  ability  dignify  and  adorn  the  American  Senate.  Whether  on 
the  hustings,  addressing  the  masses  of  the  people  ;  in  the  forum  before  judges 
and  juries,  or  in  the  halls  of  Congress  discussing  great  questions  of  national 
importance,  he  never  failed  to  impress  himself  upon  those  who  heard  him  as 
a  man  of  great  power  and  ability.  No  antagonist,  whatever  his  fame  or 
prowess,  ever  encountered  him  upon  any  of  those  fields  of  intellectual  gladia- 
ture  without  feeling  that  he  stood  in  the  presence  of  a  foeman  worthy  of 
his  steel.  But  in  the  prime  and  plenitude  of  his  great  powers,  when  he  felt 
the  solid  ground  of  a  well-earned  national  reputation  beneath  his  feet  and  a 
long  and  a  brilliant  career  of  honor  and  usefulness  opening  up  before  him, 
the  admonition  of  death  came,  not  it  is  true,  in  the  guise  of  an  assassin's 
bullet,  but  in  a  form  almost  as  tragic  and  no  less  certain. 

Soon  after  the  meeting  of  the  present  Congress,  I  visited  the  court-room 
where  President  Garfield's  assassin  was  being  tried  for  his  life.  On  leaving, 
I  met  Senator  Hill,  and  we  walked  some  distance  together.  On  the  way  I 
inquired  as  to  the  condition  of  the  malady  that  had  excited  his  fears  and 
the  apprehension  of  his  friends.  I  found  him  hopeful  and  cheerful,  and  even 
buoyant,  under  the  conviction  that  he  had  experienced  the  worst  and  that 
he  was  now  in  a  sure  way  to  permanent  and  final  recovery.  But  not  a  great 
while  afterward  I  heard  that  he  had  been  compelled  to  again  seek  the  offices 
of  his  surgeon.  I  felt  then  that  he  was  a  doomed  man — doomed  to  excru- 
tiating  suffering  and  certain  death. 

With  his  robust  constitution  and  great  strength  of  will  he  made  a  brave 
fight  for  his  life,  and  sought  all  the  means  within  his  power  to  preserve  and 
prolong  it.  But  all  efforts  proved  unavailing,  and  at  last  he  went  home  to 
die.  Within  its  peaceful  bosom,  surrounded  by  his  family  and  friends,  and 
by  the  people  who  admired  and  loved  and  honored  him,  he  looked  death 
calmly  in  the  face  as  he  watched  its  approaches  day  by  day,  and  knew  that 
nothing  could  avert  the  inevitable  hour.  How  less  than  nothingness  must 
have  appeared  to  him  all  the  glories  of  this  world  as  he  passed  through  his 
terrible  ordeal  of  suffering  to  the  grave  that  he  saw  opening  to  receive  him. 
Distinguished  as  was  his  life,  all  the  honors  that  clustered  around  it  fade 

C-7  9  i 

into  insignificance  in  the  presence  of  the  sublime  courage  and  Christian 
patience  and  resignation  that  crowned  his  death. 

Men  in  the  whirl  of  busy  life  and  the  carnival  of  earthly  ambition  may 
treat  with  a  sneer  or  a  jest  the  power  of  the  Christian  religion  to  sustain  the 
struggling  soul  amid  the  agonies  of  dissolving  nature  and  the  gloorn  of  ap 
proaching  death  ;  but  that  sneer  is  robbed,  of  its  sting,  and  that  jest  loses 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  159 

its  point,  beside  the  beds  of  protracted  suffering  and  lingering  death  from 
which  the  victorious  spirits  of  James  A.  Garfield  and  Benjamin  II.  Hill  left 
their  wasted  tenements  of  clay. 

Mr.  Speaker,  sooner  or  later  our  struggle  with  the  last  enemy  must 
come  ;  for  whatever  may  be  our  hopes,  our  ambition,  our  schemes  for  the 
future,  or  may  have  been  our  achievements  in  the  past,  we  may  be  assured 
of  one  fact — time  will  overlook  and  death  forget  none  of  us.  And  in  that 
solemn  hour  which  witnesses  the  exchange  of  worlds,  the  obscurest  Christian 
that  has  honestly  endeavored,  during  an  unobtrusive  life,  to  do  his  duty 
toward  God  and  man  is  more  to  be  envied  than  the  tallest  son  of  intel 
lectual  pride,  though  he  may  have  walked  the  mountain  ranges  of  human 
thought,  without  God  and  without  hope  in  the  world. 

ADDRESS  OF  MR.  WELLBORN,  OF  TEXAS. 

Mr.  Speaker  :  "How  peaceful  and  how  powerful  is  the  grave  !  r 

The  qualities  here  ascribed  to  humanity's  final  resting-place  are  none  the 
less  true  because  poetically  asserted.  The  grave  is  an  abode  of  peace  and 
an  instrumentality  of  power.  In  both  essentials  it  is  above  the  vicissitudes 
of  time,  "  Bulwarked  around  and  armed  with  rising  towers,"  earthly  forces 
cannot  break  through  nor  raze. 

Whether  the  sun  shines  in  brightness,  or  the  clouds  droop  murkily  ; 
whether  gentle  breezes  touch  lightly,  or  the  storm  king  rides  upon  the 
whirlwind,  the  condition  of  the  grave  is  always  that  of  repose.  Enraged 
elements  may  beat  down  the  monument,  remorseless  earthquakes  swallow 
up  the  vault,  but  in  the  ideal  grave,  of  which  the  monument  and  vault  are 
but  unsubstantial  types,  peace  abideth  ever. 

Tranquil  is  the  sleep  of  him  upon  whose  honored  grave  the  representa 
tives  of  millions  of  people,  arrested  for  awhile  in  their  ordinary  labors,  are 
now  laying  the  merited  tributes  of  a  nation's  esteem  ;  tranquil  will  it 
remain  until  after  the  latter  days,  when  the  promised  summons,  spoke  by 
angel  tongue,  shall  awake  from  the  embrace  of  death  and  call  forth  the 
released  captive  to  those  awards  of  brightness  and  joy,  which,  on  the  testi 
monies  of  time,  have  already  been  entered  up  in  the  record-book  of 
eternity. 

It  is  not  the  peace,  however,  but  the  power  of  the  grave  which  the 
memorial  services  of  this  hour  most  strongty  proclaim.  Opportunities 
neglected  and  opportunities  abused  have  caused  thousands,  in  dying,  to 
leave  behind  them  but  few  evidences  of  their  having  been  ;  or  if  manv, 

ij  u        ' 

only  sad  proofs  of  misspent  and  mischievous  lives.  Hence,  "  Lived  to  little 
purpose,"  or  "  Lived  to  a  bad  purpose,"  would  be  inscribed  on  many  tomb 
stones  if  they  were  truly  epitaphed. 

Not  so  of  the  marble  column  which  will  point  coming  generations  to  the 
consecrated  spot  where  lie  entombed  the  ashes  of  Georgia's  great  senator. 
The  matchless  talents  nature  gave  him  were  early  dedicated  to  high  aims, 
and  the  fruitful  opportunities  the  wise  improvement  of  those  talents  afforded 
shaped  to  their  best  uses.  From  the  peace  of  his  grave,  therefore,  rises  in 
power  an  example  worthy  of  all  imitation,  grandly  illustrating  how  native 
talents,  usefully  employed  and  properly  directed,  can  achieve  wide  and  lasting 
renown  in  different  and  difficult  walks  of  life,  and  how,  in  the  supreme 
solemnity  of  the  last  hour,  when  earth  and  time  are  fast  fading  from  view, 
they  can  nerve  the  soul  of  a  feeble,  wasted  frame  to  bravely  and  trium- 


160  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

phantly  cross  over  the  dark  borders  of  that  mysterious  land  before  whose 
veiled  terrors  strong  manhood  is  wont  to  tremble. 

The  example  thus  presented  for  our  contemplation  is  made  up  from  the 
experiences  of  Mr.  Hill  in  private,  professional,  and  public  life.  Of  the  last 
two  only  will  I  speak,  leaving  to  others  more  familiar  with  it  the  portrayal 
of  the  first.  It  is  not  my  purpose  to  undertake  a  narrative  of  events,  but 
simply  a  hurried  statement  of  traits  of  character  which  distinguished  him  in 
the  public  walks  to  which  fortune  or  inclination  called  him.  And  in  this  \ 
shall  not  aim  at  completeness,  but  only  give  a  few  of  the  impressions  made 
on  my  mind  by  a  general  observation  of  him  as  a  lawyer,  an  orator,  a  states 
man,  and  a  patriot  ;  nor  shall  I  communicate  these  impressions  in  words  of 
studied  panegyric.  Too  well  do  I  recognize,  as  applied  to  Mr.  Hill,  the 
truth  of  the  apostrophe  : 

Nature  doth  mourn  for  thee.     There  is  no  need 
For  man  to  strike  his  plaintive  lyre  and  fail, 
As  fail  he  must,  if  he  attempt  thy  praise. 

The  splendid  triumphs  of  Mr.  Hill's  maturer  years  at  the  bar  show  that 
he  must  have  mastered  the  law  as  a  science  during  the  period  of  his  pro 
fessional  pupilage.  His  attainments  were  not  limited  to  a  few  scattering 
rules  and  forms  picked  up  from  particular  decisions  used  in  cases  with 
which  he  was  connected,  but  were  opinions  and  convictions  formed  from  a 
searching  and  comprehensive  study  of  jurisprudence  as  a  grand  system  of 
principles  resting  on  immutable  foundations  of  right  and  justice.  For  the 
discovery  of  these  principles  he  looked  to  the  exercise  of  his  own  reason, 
and  in  forensic  contests  relied  mainly  on  a  conscious  knowledge  of  the  prin 
ciples  thus  discovered.  Adjudicated  cases  he  regarded  as  but  instances 
illustrating  and  applying  principles.  In  other  words,  his  own  reason, 
strengthened  and  equipped  by  the  pupilage  before  mentioned,  discovered 
and  applied  general  principles  ;  precedents  were  invoked  largely,  if  not 
only  to  support  and  confirm  the  conclusions  of  his  own  mind.  This  view 
accounts  for  the  singular  readiness  and  accuracy  with  which  he  could  meet 
the  various  and  often  unexpected  exigencies  which  complicated  suits  are 
liable  to  develop  during  the  processes  of  trial. 

Mr.  Hill  combined  within  himself  the  jurist  and  the  advocate.  He  was 
gifted  with  perception  to  discern  and  judgment  to  apply  appropriate  princi 
ples  to  given  states  of  facts.  Pie  had  also  a  logical  and  perspicuous  style. 
The  union  of  these  qualities  made  him  clear  and  forcible  in  the  statement 
and  proof  of  his  premises,  and  powerful  if  not  resistless  in  the  conclusions 
he  sought  to  establish.  In  law,  as  in  politics,  he  was  distinguished  for  orig 
inality  of  thought  rather  than  scholarship.  His  was  the  grander  power  to 
originate,  not  the  lesser  faculty  of  appropriating  the  creations  of  others.  He 
was  a  model,  not  a  type.  However  so  great  the  excellency  he  may  have 
attained  unto  in  other  pursuits,  the  judicial  history  of  Georgia,  as  well  as 
the  traditions  of  her  people,  will  always  claim  his  legal  attainments  and  fo 
rensic  triumphs  as  among  the  most  brilliant  experiences  of  his  brilliant  life. 

To  intellectuality  Mr.  Hill  added  the  power  to  feel  and  to  will.  These 
mental  endowments,  with  his  fluency  of  language  and  at  times  impassioned 
delivery,  formed  for  him  what  he  became — one  of  the  great  orators  of  his 
day. 

Eloquence  is  defined  to  be  "the  utterance  of  strong  emotion  in  a  man 
ner  adapted  to  excite  correspondent  emotion  in  others.  It  ordinarily  implies 


HIS  LIFE,    SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  161 

elevated  and  forcible  thought,  well-chosen  language,  an  easy  and  effective 
utterance,  and  an  impassioned  manner."  Those  who  ever  heard  Mr.  Hill  at 
the  bar,  in  legislative  halls,  or  on  the  stump,  when  the  energies  of  his  nature 
were  thoroughly  aroused,  could  not  have  failed  to  recognize  in  his  effort 
marvelous  and  unmistakable  manifestations  of  all  these  qualities.  I  remem 
ber  to  have  heard  a  speech  he  once  made  on  a  noted  occasion,  characterized 
by  a  critical  auditor  as  "  logic  on  fire."  And  it  was  logic,  burning  logic  ; 
not  the  formal  disputation  of  a  schoolman,  but  the  power  of  passionately 
expressed  thought,  unto  the  conviction  and  moving  of  his  hearers  : 

And  each  man  would  turn 
And  gaze  on  his  neighbor's  face, 
That  with  the  like  dumb  wonder  answered  him. 

You  could  have  heard 

The  beating  of  your  pulses  while  he  spoke. 

The  traits  and  acquirements  which  made  Mr.  Hill  renowned  as  a  lawyer 
and  an  orator  fitted  him  for  greatness  in  the  arts  of  government.  In  these, 
after  political  engagements  and  official  station  brought  his  mind  to  bear  upon 
them,  he  soon  became  deeply  versed,  and  took  rank  with  the  foremost  states 
men  of  his  day.  The  question  "  How  can  men  be  best  governed  ?  "  was  with 
him  a  subject  of  profound  thought  and  philosophic  research.  He  rightly  looked 
upon  it  as  a  problem  whose  perfect  solution  the  great  minds  of  the  wrorld  on 
memorable  trials  had  failed  to  work  out.  The  records  of  history,  which  he 
widely  and  usefully  explored,  instructed  him  that  philosophy,  with  all  its 
achievements  in  the  realms  of  political  science,  had  not  been  able  to  impart 
perfection  or  permanency  to  any  civil  fabric  yet  built,  and  that  even  the 
testimonies  to  its  mightiest  triumphs  were  chiefly  chronicled  in  the  disman 
tled  wrecks  of  the  institutions  it  founded.  He  had  fully  learned  the  great 
lesson  taught  by  ages  of  experience,  that  human  infirmities  will  always  im 
press  their  images  on  political  as  well  as  other  human  establishments,  and 
that  the  Utopia  of  fiction  could  never  exist  in  fact. 

The  Constitution  of  the  American  Union,  to  which  his  best  thought  was 
long  and  profitably  given,  he  considered  the  nearest  approach  to  perfection 
in  governmental  structure  human  effort  had  yet  attained.  Under  the  meth 
ods,  however,  which  even  this  instrument  provided,  he  was  prepared  to 
see  measures  consummated  which  his  judgment  condemned  as  errors  and 
told  him  were  fraught  with  disaster  and  woe.  Emergencies  of  this  kind, 
the  crucial  tests  of  character,  did  not  confound  his  faculties,  but  rather 
stimulated  them  to  the  most  reliable,  if  not  highest  exertions  of  statesman 
ship,  namely,  to  see  when  a  thing  was  inevitable,  and,  accepting  it  as  such, 
to  make  the  best  of  the  situation,  however  bad  it  might  be.  He  lost  no 
time,  therefore,  in  bewailing  accomplished  facts,  but  when  proposed  meas 
ures  against  which  he  warred  became  irreversible  policies,  his  quick,  com 
prehensive  perception  took  in  the  whole  situation,  and  he  at  once  applied 
himself  not  to  a  continuance  of  vain  resistance  but  the  more  sensible  work 
of  so  controlling  these  policies  as  to  avert,  as  far  as  possible,  the  ruin  they 
threatened,  and  bring  out  of  them  the  best  attainable  results.  This  quality 
of  statesmanship,  which,  on  close  analysis,  will  be  found  to  be  nothing  more 
nor  less  than  the  power  of  judicious  selection  between  evils,  Mr.  Hill  notably 
exhibited  in  his  political  course  prior  to  and  during  the  late  war. 

From  1855  up  to  the  passage  of  the  declaratory  resolution  by  the  Con 
vention  of  Georgia,  January  18,  1861,  he  combated  the  disunion  sentiment 


162  SENATOR  R    II.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

with  all  the  force  and  earnestness  of  his  nature.  The  motives  which  in 
fluenced  him  were  his  attachment  to  the  Union  under  the  Constitution,  and 
his  desire  to  avert  the  calamities  he  profoundly  believed  war  would  bring 
upon  the  South. 

For  years  he  did  all  man  could  do  to  stay  the  swelling  tide  of  popular 
sentiment,  drifting  his  State  and  section,  as  he  firmly  believed,  into  a  night 
of  storm  and  tempest  whose  starless  gloom  would  prove  intenser  than  Mem- 
phian  darkness.  His  efforts  were  ineffectual.  The  declaratory  resolution 
before  referred  to,  against  which  he  voted,  fixed  and  determined  Georgia's 
policy. 

The  die  was  cast.  Then  it  was,  under  a  high  sense  of  duty  to  his  State, 
he  accepted  as  inevitable  what  he  had  struggled  to  prevent,  and  recorded  his 
vote  in  favor  of  the  ordinance,  believing  this  to  be  the  initial  and  an  impor 
tant  step  to  the  unification  of  his  people  in  the  course  they  had  determined, 
against  his  judgment,  to  adopt.  Of  the  conspicuous  part  he  bore  during  the 
convulsive  throes  that  ensued  I  shall  not  speak  further  than  to  say  that  all 
investigations  and  researches  thus  far  made  into  that  period  of  storm  and 
gloom  have  but  served  to  confirm  and  draw  out  in  bolder  lines,  as  his  shining 
characteristics,  an  intellect  equal  to  every  emergency  in  which  he  was  placed, 
a  fidelity  to  conviction  nothing  could  swerve,  a  resolution  difficulties  could 
not  unsettle,  a  courage  dangers  could  not  appall,  and  a  fortitude  whose  en 
durance  no  adversities  could  exhaust.  This  chapter  of  manly  virtues  will 
ever  be  held  in  warm  remembrance  by  his  associates  in  misfortune  and  de 
feat,  and  can  but  be  read  with  respectful  attention  even  by  those  who  con 
demn  the  cause  in  which  these  virtues  were  displayed. 

Mr.  Hill's  abilities  as  a  lawyer,  an  orator,  and  statesman  were  subjected, 
while  he  was  in  public  life,  to  the  guidance  of  one  grand  sentiment  :  "  The 
noblest  motive  is  the  public  good." 

He  loved  his  country  with  an  intensity  and  ardor  only  lofty  and  generous 
natures  can  know.  Good  government  he  considered  the  highest  boon  that 
could  be  bestowed  on  a  people.  For  this  he  sought  and  studied 'long  and 
diligently.  The  result  of  this  search  and  study  was  one  of  the  profoundest 
and  most  valued  convictions  of  his  life,  namely,  that  there  was  no  other  form 
of  government,  nor  had  there  ever  been  one,  comparable  to  the  Union  under 
the  Constitution.  Hear  him  as  he  tells  to  a  listening  Senate,  in  stately 
phrase,  the  excellency  of  this  government: 

It  is  the  noblest  government,  the  greatest  government  that  human  wisdom  ever  de 
vised,  and  it  could  not  have  been  framed  by  human  wisdom  alone.  The  human  intellect 
never  existed  in  this  world  that  could  from  its  own  evolutions  have  wrought  out  such  a 

thing  as  this  Constitution  of  the  United  States It  is  a  government  such  as  Roman 

never  dreamed  of,  such  as  Grecian  never  conceived,  and  such  as  European  never  had  the 
power  to  evolve.  When  the  American  people,  either  for  the  purpose  of  dismembering 
rthe  States  or  of  destroying  them,  shall  destroy  this  unparalleled  government,  this  govern 
ment  without  a  model,  this  government  without  a  prototype,  they  will  have  destroyed  a 
government  which  seems  to  have  been  wisely  adapted  to  the  peculiar  condition  of  the  time 
and  to  all  their  future  wants,  and  they  will  launch  out  on  a  sea  of  uncertainty,  the  result 
of  which  no  man  can  forecast. 

Hear  him  again,  as  he  declares  to  a  vast  multitude  at  his  own  home,  in 
rapid,  beautiful  utterance,  his  admiration  for  the  American  system  of  gov 
ernment  : 

My  countrymen,  have  you  ever  studied  this  wonderful  American  system  of  free  gov 
ernment  ?  Have  you  compared  it  with  former  systems  and  noted  how  our  fathers  sought 
to  avoid  their  defects  ?  Let  me  commend  this  study  to  every  American  citizen  to-day. 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  163 

To  him  who  loves  liberty  it  is  more  enchanting  than  romance,  more  bewitching  than 
love,  and  more  elevating  than  any  other  science.  Our  fathers  adopted  this  plan  with 
improvements  in  the  details  which  cannot  be  found  in  any  other  system.  With  what  a 
noble  impulse  of  patriotism  they  came  together  from  different  States  and  joined  their 
counsels  to  perfect  this  system,  thenceforward  to  be  known  as  the  "  American  system  of 
free  constitutional  government."  The  snows  that  fall  on  Mount  Washington  are  not 
purer  than  the  motives  which  begot  it.  The  fresh  dew-laden  zephyrs  from  the  orange 
groves  of  the  South  are  not  sweeter  than  the  hopes  its  advent  inspired.  The  flight  of  our 
own  symbolic  eagle,  though  he  blow  his  breath  on  the  sun,  cannot  be  higher  than  its 
expected  destiny. 

Mr.  Speaker,  the  voice  of  patriotism  calls  to  us  to-day  from  the  grave  of 
the  great  Georgian.  In  silence  more  eloquent  than  stirring  language  it 
points  us  to  the  "American  system  of  free  constitutional  government"  as 
the  "  noblest  government,  the  greatest  government,  that  human  wisdom 
ever  devised."  It  impresses  upon  us  that  this  system  is  the  one  founded  by 
\Yaslrington  and  other  patriots  of  the  Revolution  ;  that  it  is  hallowed  by 
sacred  memories  and  freighted  with  precious  hopes  ;  that,  though  the  right 
ful  inheritance  of  one  people,  humanity  everywhere  has  an  interest  in  its 
preservation  ;  that,  if  in  an  evil  hour  it  should  perish,  its  ruins  would  en 
tomb  forever  the  institutions  of  freedom  and  give  a  new  birth  to  the  estab 
lishments  of  despotism. 

By  all  these  high  considerations  it  pleads  for  the  perpetuation  of  this  in 
comparable  system  of  government,  "this  government  without  a  model,  this 
government  without  a  prototype,"  and  points  out  the  path  of  public  duty, 
by  urging  as  the  measure  of  public  worth,  "  that  he  shall  be  the  greatest 
patriot,  the  truest  patriot,  the  noblest  patriot,  who  shall  do  most  to  repair 
the  wrongs  of  the  past  and  promote  the  glories  of  the  future." 

Mr.  Speaker,  the  touching  scenes  and  incidents  of  Mr.  Hill's  last  sick 
ness  were  a  fitting  close  to  the  illustrious  labors  of  his  active  life.  The 
intellect,  the  resolution,  the  courage,  the  fortitude  which  had  sustained  him 
in  the  latter  did  not  desert  him  in  the  former.  But,  added  to  these,  was  a 
fuller  reliance  than  ever  on  that  unseen  arm  which  alone  can  guide  through 
the  dark  valley  and  shadow  of  death.  So  composedly  did  he  contemplate 
his  near  dissolution  that  he  was  able  to  say,  "  But  for  the  good  I  had  hoped 
to  do  my  family  and  country,  I  should  regard  the  announcement,  'I  must 
die/  as  joyful  tidings." 

Above  all,  how  entrancing  the  vision  it  was  granted  him  to  see  just  be 
fore  death  took  him  away,  and  which  he  pictured  so  aptly  in  the  last  two 
words  he  ever  spoke, — "Almost  home!'1  Home!  A  magic  word.  The 
English  language  has  no  brighter,  the  English  tongue  can  speak  no  sweeter. 
It  names  the  best  spot  on  earth,  the  radiant  center  of  pure  sentiments  and 
heaven-approved  attachments.  Thitherward  the  wanderer  in  distant  lands 
ever  turns  his  eye  in  bright  expectancy  ;  and  when  he  has  been  long  and 
tar  away,  and  at  last  nears  the  loved  place,  and  familiar  objects  begin  to 
gladden  his  eye,  the  tired  limbs  may  almost  give  out,  but  the  hope-buoyed 
spirit  exclaims,  "  Almost  home  !  " 

The  end  was  at  hand.  The  wanderings  of  time  were  over.  Eternitv's 
glories  were  breaking  around.  The  dying  senator  "spoke  out  in  full  and 
even  triumphant  accent,  'Almost  home  !'"  The  pulse  throbbed  its  last 
beat,  and  the  spirit  flew  to  its  God  and  immortal  destiny. 


164  SENATOR  R   II.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

ADDRESS    OF    MR.    KASSON,    OF    IOWA. 

Mr.  Speaker :  I  deeply  regret  that,  contrary  to  well-ordered  custom,  I 
am  obliged  to  speak  to-day  touching  the  honored  dead  without  the  prepara 
tion  which  properly  characterizes  such  an  occasion.  I  learn  to-day  that 
those  of  my  colleagues  on  this  side  of  the  House  who,  from  old  association 
with  Mr.  Hill,  late  senator,  were  best  fitted  to  speak  of  his  character  and  to 
make  just  appreciation  of  those  qualities  which  attracted  the  attention  of 
the  whole  country,  were  by  illness  and  other  special  causes  prevented  from 
taking  part  in  the  ceremonies  of  this  day. 

Unwilling  that  this  side  of  the  House,  which  had  also  been  a  witness  of 
the  distinguished  ability  of  Senator  Hill  while  he  was  a  member  of  this 
body,  should  be  unheard  on  this  occasion,  I  venture  to  trespass  on  the  kind 
ness  of  my  colleagues  while  I  say,  extemporaneously,  a  few  words  upon  his 
character  and  his  services. 

We  from  the  States  of  the  North  had  only  that  opportunity  to  become 
acquainted  with  Mr.  Hill,  which  was  offered  by  his  comparatively  brief 
public  career  upon  this  floor.  Some  of  us,  including  myself,  were  on  the 
floor  at  the  time  of  that  great  debate  to  which  so  frequent  reference  has 
been  made  by  my  colleagues  upon  the  other  side.  Few  men  had  a  higher 
appreciation  of  the  intellectual  qualities  developed  by  Mr.  Hill  in  that  dis 
cussion  than  myself.  My  sympathy  with  the  views  which  he  combated 
could  not  blind  me  to  his  power  in  debate. 

I  am  obliged  to  speak  of  his  qualities  chiefly  from  my  memory  of  that 
session,  and  especially  of  that  occasion.  There  were  in  him  certain  traits  of 
character  which  have  led  me  to  compare  him  with  Oliver  Cromwell  among 
persons  of  English  history,  and  with  but  few  known  to  American  history. 
He  combined  great  self-poise  and  apparent  consciousness  of  power  with  a 
certain  solid,  adamantine  honesty  of  purpose  which  gave  to  the  movements 
of  his  intellect  unusual,  extraordinary  strength.  Earnest  in  countenance, 
he  expressed  in  that  respect  only  the  earnestness  of  his  nature.  He  moved 
with  solidity  in  the  development  of  his  intellectual  forces.  He  could  not  be 
cast  off  his  balance  by  any  light  attack  whatever.  He  kept  the  main  objec 
tion  point  always  in  view.  His  mind,  like  Cromwell's,  was  impregnated 
with  a  sense  of  the  obligations  of  religion.  No  man  can  be  a  great  power 
in  a  Christian  country  without  this  inward  sense  of  responsibility  to  a  greater 
power, — a  power  greater,  higher  than  the  people,  and  to  whom  the  people 
themselves  owe  allegiance  and  acknowledge  responsibility.  It  is  the  strong 
rock  in  human  character  to  which,  above  all  other  qualities,  the  people 
themselves  attach  their  confidence. 

While  I  recognize  these  great  controlling  elements  of  the  human  mind  in 
him,  I  did  not  fail  to  see  that  he,  like  most  of  us,  was  still  animated  chiefly  by 
his  great  sense  of  responsibility  to  that  part  of  the  country  which  he  repre 
sented.  I  recognized  that  same  honesty  of  character  when  he  determined 
that  the  sentiments  of  those  who  elected  him  should  be  also  fairly  mani 
fested  on  this  floor,  and  should  be  maintained  by  all  the  force  of  debate. 

And  while  from  our  point  of  view  we  often  thought  we  discovered  in 
him  a  strength  of  prejudice  which  was  ineradicable,  we  also  were  obliged  to 
remember  that  our  opponents,  bearing  the  same  relation  to  us  as  we  to  him, 
would  find  for  the  same  reason,  for  identically  the  same  cause,  ground  to 
believe  that  our  views  also  were  influenced  or  controlled  by  prejudice  of 
section  and  of  association. 


BIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  165 

Sir,  I  cannot  speak  of  Mr.  Hill's  character  prior  to  his  entrance  into  the 
Forty-fourth  Congress.  We  knew  him  to  be  a  man  of  power.  We  in  the 
North  rejoiced  when  we  heard  that  his  voice  was  lifted  to  save  us  from  the 
disasters  that  followed  the  opening  era  of  secession.  We  mourned  when 
we  found  that  naturally,  if  not  logically — for  we  appreciated  that  it  was 
natural — he  cast  in  his  lot  with  his  own  State  for  disunion  and  separate 
government.  But  we  rejoiced  again  when  at  the  close  of  that  great  strug 
gle,  as  shown  by  the  gentleman  from  Georgia  who  first  spoke  to-day  [Mr. 
Hammond],  he  again  presented  himself  in  the  front  of  that  column  which 
sought  to  return  to  the  Union  with  honesty  of  purpose,  with  perfect  integ 
rity  of  heart,  and  with  an  earnest  desire  to  do  their  duty  to  the  whole 
country  as  faithfully  as  they  had  done  it  to  their  own  section.  I  prefer  to 
remember  Mr.  Hill  from  such  utterances  in  that  speech,  to  which  reference 
has  been  made,  as  this  : 

"We  had  well  hoped  that  the  country  had  suffered  long  enough  from  feuds,  from 
strife,  and  from  inflamed  passions  ;  and  we  came  here,  sir,  with  the  patriotic  purpose  to 
remember  nothing  but  the  country  and  the  whole  country,  and,  turning  our  backs  on  the 
horrors  of  the  past,  to  look  with  all  earnestness  to  find  glories  for  the  future. 

When  a  man  like  Mr.  Hill  returns  to  what  we  may  fairly  call  his  first 
love  and  his  first  devotion,  it  means  more  than  the  flippant  remark  of  one 
who  desires  to  turn  a  phrase  in  oratory.  He  was  of  that  rugged  honesty  of 
nature  that,  whether  or  not  wholly  justified  by  an  impartial  judgment  in 
the  course  he  took  upon  any  question,  he  never  failed  to  impress  his  audi 
ence  with  the  certainty  and  honesty  of  his  conviction  and  of  the  opinion  he 
professed  to  entertain.  I  mourn  when  such  a  man  passes  from  the  midst  of 
us.  I  regret  deeply  that  the  Senate  will  no  longer  hear  his  voice  nor  have 
the  benefit  of  his  sound  judgment. 

Sir,  among  the  many  sorrows  which  death  inflicts  upon  the  human  breast, 
it  carries  with  it  one  blessing.  It  is  the  disposition  which  then  comes  to  us 
all,  to  give  to  charity  and  justice  their  due  dominion  over  intellect  and  heart 
as  we  stand  by  the  grave  of  the  dead.  Would  to  God  that  while  all  are 
alive  we  could  equally  feel  and  exercise  those  qualities  in  regard  to  our 
associates,  whether  opponent  or  friend. 

I  take  to  myself,  I  think  we  can  all  take  to  ourselves,  from  the  comments 
made  upon  such  a  character  as  Mr.  Hill's,  the  thought  how  much  more  prof 
itably,  how  much  more  agreeably,  more  patriotically,  our  duties  on  this  floor 
would  be  discharged  if  we  could  carry  from  his  grave  to  our  work  here  the 
sentiments  with  which  we  all  find  ourselves  inspired  as  we  look  into  the  face 
of  the  dead.  No  higher  tribute  to  the  character  which  we  now  commemo 
rate  could  be  given  than  that  each  of  us  should  attempt  to  exercise,  in  all  our 
relations,  those  virtues  which  we  here  celebrate  as  the  ennobling  qualities  of 
him  to  whose  memory  we  this  day  render  the  final  honors. 

ADDRESS  OF  MR.  HOOKER,  OF  MISSISSIPPI. 

Mr.  Speaker :  Having  been  invited  by  my  friend  from  Georgia  [Mr. 
Hammond],  who  sits  beside  me,  to  say  something  on  this  occasion,  I  have 
felt  it  my  duty  to  accept  that  invitation,  because  of  the  relations  which  have 
existed  between  the  people  of  my  own  State  and  the  great  State  of  Georgia, 
to  whose  distinguished  senator  we  have  assembled  here  to-day  to  pay  the 
last  solemn  obsequies  ;  for  while  the  daughter  has  somewhat  outgrown  the 


166  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

mother  in  many  respects,  she  has  not  ceased  to  feel  filial  affection  for  that  great 
country  which  supplied  so  man}?"  of  her  early  citizens.  As  it  is  not  my  cus 
tom  to  write  speeches,  on  any  occasion,  I  am  constrained  to  speak  to-day,  so 
far  as  affection  for  the  dead  is  concerned,  rather  from  the  heart  than  from 
the  head. 

With  reference  to  the  private  life  of  the  great  statesman  whose  death  we 
mourn,  I  can  say  but  little  except  what  I  gather  from  the  friends  who  lived 
closer  to  him  than  it  was  my  fortune  to  do.  But  in  regard  to  his  public 
character,  and  the  two  aspects  in  which  it  presents  itself  to  the  world  at 
large,  I  will  say  a  few  words. 

Benjamin  H.  Hill  underwent  as  a  part  of  his  education  the  severe  train 
ing  of  a  lawyer.  It  was  in  this  aspect  that  he  first  presented  himself  to  the 
people  of  his  own  State.  His  mind  was  formed  by  that  vigorous  discipline 
which  belongs  to  the  profession  of  the  law.  It  made  him  logical.  He  is  said  to 
have  excelled  especially  in  that  great  power  of  the  lawyer,  the  statement  of  his 
case.  This  he  made  so  simply,  so  briefly,  so  lucidly,  that  the  most  unintelli 
gent  court  must  seize  the  salient  facts  of  the  case.  It  was  in  his  capacity  as 
a  lawyer  that  Mr.  Hill  was  first  known  to  the  people  of  his  own  State  for  his 
distinguished  ability  as  a  reasoner  and  an  orator.  I  have  heard  from  a 
friend  of  his  an  incident  of  his  early  life,  when  he  was  employed  to  defend  a 
man  charged  with  murder.  That  defense  was  assumed  by  him  in  the  courts, 
and  he  failed. 

At  that  time  in  the  State  of  Georgia  it  was  within  the  power  of  the  de 
fendant  in  a  case  of  this  kind  to  appeal  to  the  Senate  of  the  State.  Mr.  Hill 
made  that  appeal,  not  so  much  in  behalf  of  the  defendant  himself  as  of  the 
aged  and  widowed  mother,  from  whose  heart  he  wished  to  avert  the  blow 
which  would  fall  upon  the  head  of  her  son.  He  went  into  the  State  Senate 
with  his  case,  with  a  widowed  mother  leaning  on  his  arm. 

This  gentleman  describes  the  scene  as  he  witnessed  it — one  in  which  Mr. 
Hill  looked,  for  the  first  time  in  his  life,  pallid  with  excitement,  because  of 
the  great  responsibility  which  rested  upon  him  ;  for  in  all  his  advocacy  at  the 
bar  he  was  impressed  with  the  sentiment  of  the  great  responsibility  resting 
upon  the  advocate  and  the  intimate  relation  between  the  advocate  and  his 
client ;  a  sentiment  which  has  been  beautifully,  though  perhaps  somewhat  too 
strongly,  expressed  by  one  of  the  greatest  of  English  lawyers  and  English 
premiers,  Lord  Brougham,  when  he  declared  that  it  is  the  duty  of  a  lawyer 
to  stand  by  the  interest  of  his  client  even  to  the  upturning  of  the  govern 
ment.  Mr.  Hill  walked  into  that  Senate  Chamber  and  made  his  appeal  to  the 
Senate  on  the  ground  of  the  insanity  of  the  man  who  had  committed  the  al 
leged  murder.  He  spoke  for  hours,  and  he  obtained  from  the  Senate  a  ver 
dict  which  relieved  the  widowed  mother,  and  spared  the  life  of  the  son. 

In  all  his  relations  as  a  lawyer  Mr.  Hill  achieved  distinction  because  he 
was  inspired  with  fidelity  to  the  great  duties  which  devolved  upon  him. 
But  his  oreat  intellect  was  not  destined  to  be  confined  in  its  exercise  to  the 

^3 

bar,  though  it  was  the  shaping  and  the  fashioning  of  that  intellect,  by  close 
attention  to  his  profession,  that  prepared  him  for  a  new  and  different  arena. 
I  had  the  pleasure  of  first  meeting  him  here  as  we  entered  together  the 
Forty-fourth  Congress.  He  leaped  into  this  errand  arena  of  debate  like 

•'  c^  1  O  m 

Minerva  from  the  brain  of  Jove,  armed  cap-d-pie  for  any  contest  that  niignt 
occur.  He  was  prepared  to  take  rank  among  the  first  in  this  hall  of  debate 
of  the  American  Commons. 

I  remember  especially  an  occasion  a  short  time  after  the  convening  of 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  167 

the  Forty-fourth  Congress,  when  he  spoke  here  almost  from  the  position  in 
which  I  now  stand.  The  magnanimous,  generous-hearted  representative 
from  Pennsylvania  [Mr.  Randall],  then  the  leader  of  this  side  of  the  House, 
had  introduced  his  bill  for  universal  amnesty,  thinking  that  the  time  had 
come  when  there  should  be  a  restoration  of  the  Union,  not  in  name  and 
word,  but  in  deed  and  in  truth  ;  that  amnesty  should  be  extended  to  every 
citizen,  from  the  humblest  subaltern,  animated  by  a  sense  of  duty,  to  the  lofty- 
plumed  chief  who  led  the  Confederate  forces  ;  that  all  the  memories  of  the 
war  should  be  blotted  from  the  hearts  and  the  minds  of  the  entire  people. 

In  this  spirit  the  gentleman  from  Pennsylvania  introduced  that  resolution 
upon  which  Mr.  Hill's  voice  was  first  heard  in  this  hall,  as  has  been  so  beauti 
fully  described  by  my  friend  from  Virginia  [Mr.  Tucker],  He  encountered 
on  that  occasion  an  orator  on  the  other  side  of  the  chamber  who  had  been 
for  years  the  leader  of  his  party,  who  had  at  one  time  occupied  the  seat 
which  you  now  occupy,  who,  as  a  debater,  as  a  stater  of  facts,  as  a  parlia 
mentary  tactician,  had  propably  no  equal  at  that  time  on  either  side  of  this 
hall. 

It  was  a  conflict,  as  the  gentleman  from  Virginia  [Mr.  Tucker]  has  well 
remarked,  of  giants,  which  took  us  back  to  the  older  days  in  these  halls, 
when  Hayne  and  Webster,  and  Calhoun  and  Clay,  and  other  orators  of  the 
past,  rendered  illustrious  the  days  in  which  they  lived.  As  has  been  well 
said,  it  was  a  battle  of  the  giants,  and  both  giants  fought  with  Damascus- 
like  blades. 

But,  Mr.  Speaker,  it  was  a  somewhat  unequal  contest,  for  he  who 
represented  one  side  of  the  question  was  the  victor  and  wore  the  laurel 
wreath  which  crowns  the  victor's  brow,  while  the  other  represented  what 
has  become  known  in  history  as  the  "  lost  cause,"  and  wore  the  melancholy 
cypress,  which  is  the  emblem  of  defeat  and  death.  Therefore,  I  say,  it  was 
a  somewhat  unequal  contest  ;  but  those  of  us  for  whom  he  spoke,  and  spoke 
with  so  much  clearness,  so  much  precision,  so  much  wisdom,  so  much 
patriotism,  felt  that  he  could  appeal  to  the  magnanimity  of  his  great 
opponent,  great  he  was  and  still  is, — we  felt  that  we  could  appeal  to  the 
magnanimity  of  his  great  opponent  in  that  contest,  that  Mr.  Hill  had  stated 
his  side  of  the  question  as  no  other  man  could  have  stated  it  in  this  hall. 

During  the  time  he  was  here  as  our  colleague,  we  all  remember  him  with 
the  tenderest  affection  and  esteem.  We  venerate  his  great  ability.  We 
deplore  his  loss  to  the  State  who  called  him  son,  and  to  the  country  who 
honored  him  for  his  patriotism  and  fidelity. 

It  was  not  long,  Mr.  Speaker,  before  the  people  of  his  State,  in  1877, 
called  on  him  to  occupy  a  higher  position.  I  remember  his  being  seated  in 
that  portion  of  the  hall,  from  which  he  had  delivered  his  powerful  and  elo 
quent  speech  a  few  minutes  before,  and  receiving  a  tek'grarn  conveying  to 
him  the  intelligence  that  the  State  of  Georgia  had  transferred  him  to  the 
other  end  of  the  Capitol. 

He  went  there,  Mr.  Speaker,  as  he  came  here,  and  at  once  took  his  rank 
in  that  graver,  more  dignified  body,  that  body  of  loftier  debate  ;  took  his 
seat  there  when  that  chamber  was  filled  with  men  of  the  highest  intellect  in 
this  country  ;  when  the  gigantic  intellectual  form  of  Thurman  sat  on  one 
sid  -,  and  on  the  other  the  equally  gigantic  intellectual  form  of  Conkling. 
Benjamin  II.  Hill  took  his  place  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  as  he 
had  done  in  this  hall,  as  the  peer  and  equal  of  any  man  there.  He  had 
achieved  great  triumph  in  every  position  of  life, — as  lawyer,  as  representa- 


168  SENATOR  £.   K   HILL,   OF  G&ORGTA. 

•  ' 

tive,  as  senator.  He  had  strewed  along  the  pathway  of  that  life  memorable 
acts  and  wondrous  intellectual  efforts,  "as  the  giant  oak  of  the  forest  sheds 
its  foliage  in  a  kindly  largess  to  the  soil  it  grows  on."  He  has  passed  from 
us  to  another  scene  of  action.  He  has  passed  from  us  to  that  "  home  "  to 
which  he  looked  so  fondly. 

Whether  speaking  to  his  people  in  the  State  of  Georgia,  or  addressing 
the  representatives  in  this  hall  on  the  most  delicate  questions,  or  debating 
in  the  Senate  Chamber  of  the  United  States,  there  never  fell  from  his  lips 
any  other  words  than  words  of  wisdom  and  patriotism.  His  were  : 

Not  such  words  as  flash 
From  the  fierce  demagogue's  unthinking  rage 
To  madden  for  a  moment  and  expire — 
Nor  such  as  the  rapt  orator  imbues 
With  warmth  of  facile  sympathy,  and  molds 
To  mirrors  radiant  with  fair  images, 
To  grace  the  noble  fervor  of  an  hour  ; 
But  words  which  bear  the  spirits  of  great  deeds 
Winged  for  the  future  ;  which  the  dying  breath 
Of  Freedom's  martyr  shapes  as  it  exhales, 
And  to  the  most  enduring  forms  of  earth 
Commits — to  linger  in  the  craggy  shade 
Of  the  huge  valley,  'neath  the  eagle's  home, 
Or  in  the  sea-cave  where  the  tempest  sleeps, 
Till  some  heroic  leader  bid  them  wake 
To  thrill  the  world  with  echoes. 

\ 

Wherever  he  spoke  and  whatever  he  said,  all  was  for  his  country's  good. 
He  rose  superior  to  all  partisanship  because  he  was  a  statesman,  looking 
always  to  the  best  interests  of  his  people 

It  may  be  said  of  him,  Mr.  Speaker,  as  was  said  by  the  great  Marshall  of 
his  friend  Menafee,  when  he  was  describing  him  after  death  : 

"  His  escutcheon  is  broad,  spotless,  bright,  and  beautiful  as  Bayard's  ori- 
flamme  adorned  with  the  lilies  of  France." 

ADDRESS    OF   ME.    COX,    OF   NEW   YORK. 

Mr.  Speaker  :  When  a  great  French  leader  of  opinion  died  the  other  day, 
it  was  queried  whether  French  institutions  would  survive.  "  The  republic  is 
Leon  Gambetta,"  was  the  sententious  phrase.  Wherever  the  signs  of  sor 
row  were  displayed  over  the  death  of  the  great  Frenchman,  from  San  Fran 
cisco  to  Syria,  the  powerful  tribune  of  the  people,  the  vehement  orator,  the 
energetic  patriot  was  mourned  as  if  France  herself  were  lost.  The  very 
floral  offerings  were  shaped  into  the  tricolor  of  France.  Not  so  in  other 
lands.  Disraeli  dies,  and  though  his  party  goes  on,  sadly  lacking  his  genius, 
the  English  government  in  form  and  structure  receives  no  detriment.  I  saw 
nobles  of  ancient  lineage  and  peasants  of  the  country  he  had  so  long  repre 
sented,  follow  his  remains  to  its  sepulcher.  All  that  was  mortal  of  the  dead 
Hebrew  and  brilliant  minister  received  the  last  rites  of  the  established  church, 
but  the  English  constitution  and  English  society  received  no  shock. 

So,  too,  in  these  cis- Atlantic  republican  commonwealths — statesmen  and 
presidents  come  and  go  like  rainbows,  but  the  State  survives.  It  is  more 
permanent  because  of  the  monumental  service  of  the  departed  statesman  it 
has  nourished. 

The  eloquent  Georgian  and  senator  whom  we  honor  to-day  rounded  an 
active  life  of  rarest  mold.  No  glamor  of  the  soldier  was  his.  He  was  the 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  169 

peerless  citizen  who  led  men  by  voice  and  thought  in  perilous  times,  through 
troubles  and  tyrannies,  with  a  foresight  and  wisdom  all  too  rare  in  this  land 
of  mercenary,  grasping,  and  unrelaxing  excitement.  He  dies  ;  but  his  State 
and  the  nation  grow  better  by  the  emphasis  of  his  life  and  the  virtue  of  its 
lessons. 

It  was  my  privilege  to  know  Senator  Hill,  even  before  he  became  a  mem 
ber  here.  It  is  because  of  a  delightful,  almost  intimate  friendship,  that  his 
friends  have  assigned  to  me  a  part  in  these  sad  obsequies. 

The  dates  and  events,  the  links  connecting  such  details,  which  make  the 
chain  of  his  personal  history,  and  serve  to  illustrate  the  individual  feeling 
and  life,  the  character  of  the  man — these,  others  have  touched  with  mag 
netic,  loving  hand. 

This  chain  was  fashioned,  as  all  character  is,  by  surrounding  circumstances. 
Those  who  knew  him  in  his  early  days  love  to  trace  the  main  elements  of 
his  character  to  his  parentage.  His  father  was  of  slender  education,  but  of 
robust  virtue.  He  was  remarkable  for  his  invincible  will  and  force.  His 
mother  was  of  an  earnest,  gentle  nature,  full  of  reflective  and  religious  quali 
ties.  These  made  up  the  rudiments  of  that  character  which  enabled  him  to 
overcome  obstacles  by  endurance  and  palliate  them  by  persuasion.  The 
sturdy  oak  was  garlanded  with  tenderest  flowers.  Like  a  Grecian  or  Doric 
fane,  to  which  the  gentleman  from  Virginia  [Mr.  Tucker]  likened  it,  his 
character  combined  beauty  with  strength. 

The  old  farm-house  and  the  red  hills  where  he  passed  the  scenes  of  his 
boyhood  modified  these  inborn  elements  of  his  nature,  and  gave  fresh  vigor 
to  his  healthful  life  and  added  grace  to  his  gentleness. 

In  his  college  experience  the  development  and  discipline  of  his  mind  was 
prodigious.  His  shyness  and  awkwardness,  born  of  the  country,  soon  gave 
way  before  his  energy  and  ambition.  From  the  rustic  boy,  in  his  long- 
jeans  coat  and  scant  trousers,  he  at  once  became  a  thoughtful  student.  His 
habit  of  abstraction  began  thus  early.  Whether  in  the  Dernosthenian 
Society,  or  as  its  anniversarian  orator,  or  delivering  the  valedictory  of  his 
class,  he  impressed  those  who  listened  with  his  unequaled  power  of  debate 
and  the  rare  felicity  of  his  eloquence.  One  index  of  the  gentle  side  of  his 
character  may  be  noted.  His  theme  at  the  junior  commencement  was  the 
"  Life,  Love,  and  Madness  of  Torquato  Tasso,"  into  which  he  threw  all  his 
mother's  poetic  sensibility  with  his  scholarly  warmth. 

Soon  the  scholar  ripened  into  the  advocate.  Here  was  his  field.  He  had 
a  legal  mind.  He  drove  the  logic  of  the  law  bravely  through  every  obstacle 
of  fancy  and  fact.  His  fluency  of  speech  and  fertility  of  expedient, 
together  with  his  power  of  application  and  study,  gave  him  a  forensic  power 
which  Lord  Coke  said  a  good  lawyer  should  have  for  the  "occasion 
sudden  ";  a  power  which  partial  friends  have  compared  with  that  of  Erskine. 
As  a  lawyer  few  men,  even  in  our  largest  cities,  have  had  such  success. 
Although  diverted  again  and  again  from  his  jealous  mistress,  the  law,  to 
canvass  for  Congress,  legislature,  elector,  and  governor,  he  was  still  em 
ployed  in  all  the  leading  cases  of  the  State.  It  is  estimated — if  such 
estimates  may  be  quoted  here  and  now — that  Ire  had  made  a  million  dollars, 
as  fees,  by  the  time  he  was  fifty.  He  was  as  lavish  in  the  expenditure  and 
as  improvident  in  the  investment  of  his  earnings,  as  he  was  indefatigable 
with  head  and  voice  in  their  accumulation. 

There  is  another  phase  of  his  life  which  gave  its  impress  to  the  scholar, 
the  citizen,  the  orator,  the  advocate,  the  statesman,  and  the  man.  It  is  the 


1VO  SENATOR  B.   H.    HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

sectional  or  Southern  aspect  of  his  life.  Without  this  place,  he  would  not 
have  made  the  mark  which  he  so  indelibly  did  upon  his  State.  He  had  no 
act  of  the  demagogue,  no  party  tactics  at  command,  no  storied  lore  racy  of 
the  soil  such  as  made  the  "  Georgia  Scenes r  so  whimsical  and  humorous, 
and  little  or  no  conversational  loquacity  ;  but  he  had  the  reserve  which 
carries  the  battle,  and  thus  armed  he  was  dauntless. 

Yet  there  seems  to  be  an  unevenness  and  inconsistency  in  his  career  and 
character.  This  unevenness  may  have  been  the  result  of  the  vicissitudes  of 
the  eventful  times  when  the  best  of  men  were  distracted  as  to  duty.  In 
consistency  ?  Gladstone,  the  young  Tory,  becomes  the  venerable  Liberal, 
and  Palmerston  laughed  at  the  vanity  of  consistency. 

Call  it  what  you  will,  State  pride  or  local  affection,  and  say  it  is  irrecon 
cilable  with  a  larger  love  of  country,  yet  is  it  not  the  same  patriotic  impulse 
which  made  Tell  love  the  mountains  of  Switzerland,  and  Webster  the  rock- 
bound  shores  of  New  England  ?  Besides,  is  it  necessary  to  reconcile  the 
love  one  bears  the  mother  with  that  one  bears  the  wife  ?  When  one  is  true 
to  his  bridal  troth,  is  he  less  true  to  the  mother  who  bore  him  ? 

It  was  this  State  pride  which  led  the  youth  to  prefer  his  own  State  university 
at  Athens  for  his  education  rather  than  follow  the  advice  of  his  teacher,  who 
was  a  graduate  of  Yale.  It  was  the  same  sentiment  which  colored  his  after 
life  and  gave  glow  and  glory  to  his  oratory.  Even  while  protesting  against 
secession  ordinances  on  the  hustings  and  in  convention  he  followed  with  no 
laggard  step  his  State  into  revolt  against  the  Federal  domination.  When 
the  question  came  home  to  him  whether  he  would  have  the  unity  of  his 
Georgian  people  or  the  unity  of  all  the  States,  he  chose,  and  honestly  chose, 
the  unity  of  his  home. 

Herein  lies  that  seeming  unevenness  and  inconsistency  which  some  have 
observed  in  his  character.  I  shall  rather  call  it  the  tough  fiber  of  his  native 
robust  being,  its  nature  gnarled  by  soil  and  tempest,  but  none  the  less 
beautiful  because  it  had  the  hard  intertwisted  knot  of  local  devotion. 

True,  he  contended  for  "  the  Union,  the  Constitution,  and  the  enforce 
ment  of  the  laws."  He  left  his  lawyer's  desk  and  sought  legislative  honors, 
to  champion  constitutional  Federal  unity.  It  was  because  he  thought  the 
mother  was  the  loving  friend  of  his  bride. 

The  first  test  of  the  young  statesman,  thirty  years  ago,  was  in  the  con 
test  for  the  compromise  of  1850.  He  desired  to  signalize  the  end  of  slavery 
agitation,  which  he  foresaw  would  end  in  civil  war  and  Southern  disaster. 
Hence  his  entrance  upon  political  life  in  1851  as  a  Union  man. 

Throughout  his  subsequent  life,  up  to  the  signing  of  the  secession  ordi 
nance,  he  was,  in  its  best  sense,  an  ardent  Federalist.  He  was  of  such 
moderate  views  and  so  opposed  to  the  ultraists  of  his  State  that  he  traversed 
Georgia,  proclaiming  fealty  to  the  Union.  He  sounded  the  tocsin  of  revolt 
against  the  leaders  of  revolution.  Never  was  a  crisis  met  so  courageously. 
At  a  time  when  Yancev's  sentences  thrilled  the  South,  and  when  even 

«.• 

Howell  Cobb  was  the  coadjutor  of  Senator  Iverson,  the  silver  voice  of  Ben 
jamin  H.  Hill,  joining  that  of  Alexander  H.  Stevens,  was  a  trumpet,  not  of 
sedition,  but  of  loyalty  to  the  Union. 

In  his  speeches,  full  of  the  fervor  of  that  wild  dny,  and  in  a  minority,  he 
was  to  Southern  Unionism  what  Gnmbetta  was  to  distracted  France.  Both 
were  too  late  to  save,  but  both  lived  to  rebuild  and  restore. 

It  is  not  for  me  to  inquire  why  the  late  senator  gave  his  voice  only  for 
secession  and  not  his  arm.  It  was  not  from  lack  of  courage,  physical, 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS. 

mental,  or  moral  ;  but  he  was  doubtless  continually  shadowed  by  his  own 
prophecy.  "  Take  care,"  he  said,  "  that  in  endeavoring  to  carry  slavery 
where  nature's  laws  prohibit  its  entrance  you  do  not  lose  the  right  to  hold 
slaves  at  all ! ' 

The  senator  had  no  love  for  the  secrecies  and  ritual  of  Know-nothingism, 
and  when  that  semi-religious  and  anti-American  crusade  was  preached  it 
was  condemned  by  him.  But  from  his  conservative  habitude  he  defended 
the  Fillmore  administration,  and  in  1860  he  became  a  Bell  and  Everett 
Union  elector.  Georgia  rang  from  side  to  side  with  his  elegant  and  urgent 
phillipics  against  radicalism,  North  and  South,  and  his  fervent  patriotism 
for  the  Union  of  our  fathers. 

It  is  impossible  to  analyze  a  life  so  full  of  incident  or  a  mind  so  well  dis 
ciplined,  and  an  oratory  so  alert  and  brilliant,  without  drawing  upon  the 
language  of  high  encomium. 

All  the  virtues  and  genius  as  well  as  faults  of  the  man  and  senator  center 
around  the  love  he  bore  to  his  own  State  of  Georgia. 

He  was  a  native  of  Georgia,  and  had  he  lived  till  now  would  have  been 
three-score  years  of  age.  He  was  born  at  the  center  of  that  "  old  red  belt 
which  encircles  the  State  from  Savannah  to  the  Chattahoochee."  To  bor 
row  the  language  of  a  friend  in  the  days  of  my  first  service  here,  Judge 
James  Jackson  : 

He  was  all  a  Georgian.  The  robust  physique  of  the  man  sprang  from  the  soil  of  our 
beloved  State,  and  the  giant  intellect  which  so  distinguished  him  was  equally  Georgian. 
If  honey  was  upon  his  lips,  the  Georgia  bee  gathered  it  from  Georgia  flowers.  If  the 
silver  ring  of  his  eloquence  touched  all  hearts,  the  silver  was  dug  out  of  the  red  old  hills 
we  love  so  much. 

Georgia,  geologically  and  picturesquely,  under  and  above  the  genial 
soil,  has  natural  advantages  and  beauties,  which  along  with  her  liberal  insti 
tutions  early  attracted  such  adventurous  minds  as  the  Hebrew  Mendez,  the 
English  soldier  Oglethorpe,  and  the  Methodist  Wesley.  Even  the  mounds 
are  yet  pointed  out,  in  the '"county  where  our  senator  was  born,  into  which 
De  Soto  delved  for  gold.  Her  mountains  dip  and  curl  in  crested  grandeur 
toward  the  west,  while  her  savannas  add  their  greenery  and  wealth  to  her 
shores. 

General  James  Oglethorpe,  who,  as  Burke  said,  had  called  a  province 
into  existence  and  lived  to  see  it  an  independent  State,  was  the  epitome  of 
Georgia  history.  Oglethorpe's  life  was  so  full  of  achievement  and  variety 
that  it  is  a  romance.  Pope  eulogized,  Dr.  Johnson  admired,  and  Thompson 
celebrated  him.  He  was  not  only  ready  to  defend  his  honor  in  the  duel, 
but  was  the  prisoner's  friend  and  the  founder  of  an  "empire  State."  Sir 
Robert  Montgomery  called  the  new  colony  which  the  gallant  general 
founded  "  the  most  delightful  country  of  the  universe."  Even  the  poet  of 
the  Seasons,  Thompson,  in  his  "  Liberty,"  sang  of  the  swarming  colonists 
who  sought  the  "gay  colony  of  Georgia."  He  eulogized  it  as  the  calm  re 
treat  of  undeserved  distress,  the  better  home  of  those  whom  bigots  chased 
from  foreign  lands.  It  was  not  built  on  rapine,  servitude,  and  woe.  The 
V'"-y  history  and  literature  of  England  thus  imbound  with  this  colony  is 
•:-)^t,  unknown  to  the  North.  Other  States,  it  seems,  attracted  more 

oro-'ia,  th<-  asylum  and  hope  of  man,  and  founded  in  honor, 
.  ;ivery,  that  our  senator  loved.     Even  John  Wesley's  raotherv 


172  SENATOR  B.   H.   BILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

wlion  the  higli  church  Methodist  asked  her  whether  he  should  proceed  to 
Georgia,  said  :  "  Had  I  twenty  sons,  I  should  rejoice  if  they  were  all  so  em 
ployed."  The  very  religion  of  Georgia  had  in  it  a  courage  which  does  not 
belong  to  our  time,  when  the  voyage  across  the  Atlantic  is  robbed  of  most 
of  its  terror. 

In  the  center  and  heart  of  this  historic  State,  and  in  a  county  which 
bears  the  name  of  the  bravest  soldier  that  ever  bore  a  banner  to  victory, — 
Jasper, — and  with  the  heroic  and  religious  associations  of  its  founders,  young 
Hill  was  born.  At  an  early  age  he  followed  his  family  and  its  fortunes  to 
the  Alabama  border,  near  the  Chattahoochee  River.  The  town  of  La 
Grange,  to  which  they  removed,  is  the  county  seat  of  Troup.  It  was  then, 
and  is  yet,  noted  for  its  love  of  education  and  its  school  facilities.  There 
are  many  associations  in  this  county,  and  even  connected  with  its  very  name, 
which  might  well  attune  a  young  mind  to  thoughts  of  ambition  in  the  forum 
of  law  and  politics.  Giants  were  arrayed  in  Georgia  in  those  days,  and  their 
efforts,  especially  about  1833,  when  force  bills  and  nullification  were  rife, 
gave  impassioned  tone  as  well  as  high  temper  to  political  discussion. 

Doubtless,  the  mind  of  young  Hill  took  its  hue  from  these  surroundings  ; 
but  in  a  State,  the  very  name  of  whose  counties  betokens  a  lofty  division  of 
sentiment — where  Washington,  Jackson,  Jefferson,  Franklin,  and  Madison 
speak  of  the  Federal  Constitution,  and  Henry,  Randolph,  Troup,  and  Craw 
ford  speak  of  State  sovereignty  and  local  liberty  ;  but  where,  above  all,  the 
names  of  Pulaski,  De  Kalb,  Morgan,  and  Carroll  shine  like  primal  virtues, 
all  starry  with  our  Revolutionary  radiance,  it  could  not  be  otherwise  than 
that  men  of  earnest  thought  should  perceive  a  divided  duty,  and  that  great 
controversial  acumen  and  power  should  enter  the  arena  and  inspire  conten 
tious  oratory. 

Doubtless,  Senator  Hill  was  greatly  influenced  in  his  pursuits  and  char 
acteristics  by  such  rare  men  and  events  as  Georgia  has  produced.  These 
names  may  not  be  as  familiar  to  Northern  ears  now  as  in  the  days  of  Jack 
son  and  Calhoun,  but  they  are  still  potential  to  start  a  spirit  in  Georgia, 
where  State  pride  has  lost  but  little  of  its  prestige  by  the  result  of  the  civil 
war.  Read  the  roster  of  Georgia's  forum — the  brilliant  lights  of  her  bench, 
bar,  literature,  and  Senate  :  Beall,  Crawford,  Berrien,  Mclntosh,  Clayton, 
Colquitt,  Cobb,  Tripp,  Davvson,  Forsythe,  Lumpkin,  Lamar,  Jackson,  Shorter, 
Reid,  Warner,  Johnson,  Wilde,  and  Baldwin, — not  to  speak  of  men  who  yet 
survive,  like  her  present  wonderful  chief  magistrate, — and  his  contrast  in 
stature  and  mate  in  intellect,  Robert  Toombs. 

A  State  like  this,  so  grand  in  its  beginning  and  so  splendid  in  its  hun 
dred  and  fifty  years  of  prosperous  history,  must  be  proud  of  its  heroes, 
whether  fit 

For  arms  and  warlike  amenance, 
Or  else  for  wise  and  civil  governance, 
To  learn  the  interdeal  of  princes  strange  ; 
To  mark  the  intent  of  councils,  and  the  change 
Of  States. 

Her  annals  are  shining  with  the  names  of  De  Soto,  Raleigh,  and  Ogle- 
thorpe  ;  and  the  names  of  their  successors,  under  conditions  of  later  days,  de 
tract  nothing  from  the  luster  of  their  worth  and  renown. 

To  emulate  the  fame  of  Hortensius,  king  of  the  forum,  Cicero  never 
ceased  his  efforts  till  he  ascended  the  throne  of  oratory.  So  in  this  unrivaled 
galaxy  of  gifted  Georgians.  Emulation  made  ambition  reach  high.  From 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  173 

sire  to  son  the  names  of  eminent  Georgians  appear  again  and  again,  show 
ing  the  elevating  incentives  which  enlivened  and  exalted  this  imperial  State 
of  the  South.  The  gold  in  her  hills,  the  silver  on  the  cotton-pod,  the  sun 
with  its  balm,  the  rivers  which  flow  from  her  mountains,  the  opulence  of  her 
soil,  are  not  more  Georgian  and  imperial  than  the  high  standard  of  those 
who  gave  Georgia  to  the  world  as  a  colony,  preserved  her  independence  of 
England,  brought  her  through  fire  into  the  federation  of  States,  and  after 
the  vicissitudes  of  a  great  civil  trial  rescued  her  first,  among  the  recusant 
States,  from  the  chaos  of  war. 

The  senator  we  meet  to  honor  was  no  exception  to  the  emulation  and 
exaltation  of  his  surroundings.  His  natural  ardors  and  ambitions  thus  re 
ceived  their  stimulus  and  food.  But  the  massive  mind  which  made  the 
sjreat  advocate,  and  the  moral  heroism  which  made  the  defender  of  individual 

£j  ' 

and  civil  liberties — these  are  of  no  soil  ;  they  belong  to  no  time.  They 
illustrate  the  age  of  Aristides  and  given  a  glory  to  the  fame  of  Rienzi. 
They  made  Samuel  Adams  and  Patrick  Henry  possible,  not  as  provincial 
men,  but  as  enlarged  and  loving  patriots. 

He  who  would  best  portray  the  salient  features  of  Benjamin  Harvey 
Hill  must  remember  that  his  devotion  to  Georgia  was  but  the  stepping-stone 
to  a  broader  and  loftier  devotion  to  that  Union  which  he  loved  to  serve  in 
our  councils  here. 

The  people  of  New  York  City  have  not  yet  forgotten  the  ringing  pe 
riods  of  Senator  Hill,  in  one  of  her  halls,  as  he  discoursed  of  the  Magna 
Charta  and  other  precious  monuments  of  popular  liberty.  To  his  impas 
sioned  utterance,  his  fine  frame  and  musical  voice  gave  a  charm  beyond  the 
reach  of  art. 

His  State  love  was,  sir,  after  all,  the  golden  key  which  unlocked  the 
secrets  of  his  grand  elocution  and  opened  the  casket  wherein  were  the  jew 
els  of  his  splendid  imagery. 

When  the  war  had  ended,  and  his  State  was  in  the  grasp  of  unprinci 
pled  adventurers  and  under  the  heel  of  an  unbridled  satrapy,  and  in  the  chaos 
wrought  by  the  war,  he  gave  to  the  reconstruction  acts  his  defiance,  and 
hurled  his  anathemas  against  its  spoilers. 

In  1868  he  went  among  his  people  with  the  stride  of  a  demi-god.  He 
fired  their  hearts,  and,  though  surrounded  by  bayonets  and  threatened  by 
bastiles,  he  uttered  such  sarcasm,  scorn,  and  dauntless  defiance  that  the  sa 
traps,  who  outraged  every  canon  of  law  and  impulse  of  liberty,  shrank  from 
their  hateful  work  in  the  very  midst  of  a  conquered  people. 

Since  the  war  ended  we  know  something  of  his  Federal  service  and 
career.  The  gentleman  from  Iowa  [Mr.  Kasson]  has  truly  given  us  some 
rare  sentences  of  fidelity  to  the  Union.  One  sentence  he  did  not  quote, 
which  I  well  remember  :  "This  is  our  father's  house.  We  have  returned  to 
it — to  stay  ! '  In  hope  and  despair  ;  in  and  out  of  his  party  ;  in  his  place 
of  business  ;  in  the  forum  of  his  love,  the  bar,  and  outside  upon  the  platform, 
the  same  heroic  altitude  he  illustrated  to  the  end  gave  him  power  to  com 
bat  the  enemies  of  local  and  constitutional  liberty.  No  weakness  called  on 
him  for  championship  that  he  did  not  respond.  His  State  was  lifted  up 
out  of  the  reconstruction  mire  into  the  life  and  vigor  of  a  new  birth  under 
the  impulses  of  his  eloquence.  He  gave  her  beauty  for  ashes.  Under  his 
magic  wand  a  new  Atlantis — such  as  Bacon  loved  to  picture — arose  above 
the  tide  of  desolation  ;  and  a  new  Atlanta,  with  its  goblin  of  steam  and  its  ener 
gies,  was  recreated  under  the  ribs  of  death.  Matchless  in  his  winged  words, 


SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

and  fearless  in  his  consummate  bravery,  he  stopped  at  no  post  of  trust  until 
he  became  the  foremost  Georgian  at  this  Federal  center  ;  and  in  the  flower 
of  his  genius  he  laid  down  his  eventful  life  with  a  Christian  resignation  and 
devotion  only  next  to  that  of  the  martyred  Polycarp. 

I  doubt,  Mr.  Speaker,  if  ever  man  suffered  in  the  flesh  as  this  man.  It 
would  not  be  fitting  here  to  describe  the  details  of  that  mortal  malady 
and  those  surgical  agonies  that  racked  him  so  long  and  so  terribly.  He  per 
ished  day  by  day,  hopelessly  perishing  with  a  pain  which  only  his  Christian 
fortitude  relieved.  Out  of  his  torture  at  length  came  deliverance  ;  and  in 
the  middle  of  August  last  his  courage  yielded,  but  jdelded  only  to  death. 

When  the  great  Frenchman  Gambetta  was  agonized  by  his  disease  he 
cried  out,  "  It  is  useless  to  dissemble.  I  welcome  death  as  a  relief."  This 
was  the  end  of  one  of  Plutarchian  mold  ;  but  it  was  not  the  end  of  our  beloved 
American  statesman.  Amid  the  tender  farewells  of  his  wife  and  family, 
with  a  patience  sanctified  on  high  and  a  faith  which  "endured  as  seeing 
Him  who  is  invisible,"  this  more  than  classic  hero,  this  gentle  follower  of 
the  meek  and  lowly  One,  sought  consolation,  courage,  and  hope  in  his  faith. 
His  last  words,  as  given  to  his  pastor,  and  repeated  by  my  friends  from  Vir 
ginia  [Mr.  Tucker]  and  from  Texas  [Mr.  Wellborn],  were,  "Almost  home." 

It  is  an  illustration  of  the  sympathy  and  loving  kindness  which  make  the 
comforts  of  home  so  tender  and  eloquent  that  two  gentlemen  have  most 
touchingly  referred  to  these  last  words.  But  to  me  they  have  a  double,  al 
most  personal,  meaning. 

I  remember  after  the  war,  with  a  tenderness  all  too  gentle  for  words,  the 
first  greetings  I  received  from  this  senator.  He  was  pleased  that  I  had 
aided  to  defeat,  by  a  speech  based  on  the  constitutional  clause  as  to  attainder 
of  treason,  the  attempt  to  take  more  than  the  life  estate,  i.e.,  the  fee-simple, 
which  belonged  to  the  innocent  children  of  the  South.  I  had,  he  said, 
thought  of  the  future  homes  of  the  South.  That  was  our  first  bond  of 
friendship. 

Home  !  best  of  all  solaces,  without  whose  social  benignities  and  affec 
tionate  sweetness  all  the  learning,  eloquence,  \vit,  lore,  and  renown  of  men 
fade  away.  His  own  sweet  home  !  In  the  midst  of  his  own  beloved  circle, 
the  immortal  spirit  looked  to  that  home  beyond  in  the  mansion  not  made 
with  hands.  Yes  !  oh,  yes  !  he  was  almost  there — his  heavenly  home — where 
pain  no  longer  tortures,  where  the  world  has  no  temptation  and  the  grave 
no  terror;  where,  with  the  loved  ones  gone  before  and  the  loved  ones  to  fol 
low,  he  would  join  in  the  song  of  the  Lamb  forever  ! 

In  conclusion  :  It  remains  for  us  that  we  should  so  live  that  we  be  neither 
surprised,  nor  leave  our  duties  imperfect,  nor  our  sins  uncanceled,  nor  our 
persons  unreconciled,  nor  God  unappeased  ;  but  that  when  we  descend  to 
our  graves  we  may  rest  in  the  bosom  of  the  Lord  till  the  mansions  be  pre 
pared,  where  we  will  sing  and  feast  eternally.  Amen!  Te  Deum  laudamus. 

This  would  be  the  language  of  our  departed  friend  from  his  home  above, 
as  it  is  the  admonition  of  sweet  Jeremy  Taylor  in  his  "  Holy  Living  and  Dy 
ing."  It  comes  from  beyond  the  tomb. 

To  the  dead  lie  sayeth,  Arise  ! 

To  the  living,  Follow  Me  ! 
And  that  voice  still  soundeth  on 
From  the  centuries  that  are  gone, 

To  the  centuries  that  shall  be. 


TRIBUTES  FROM  THE  PRESS. 


EXTRACTS  FROM  THE  PRESS  OF  GEORGIA. 

ATLANTA    CONSTITUTION. 

FOR  weeks  and  months  the  public  mind  has  been  preparing  itself  for  the 
announcement  of  Mr.  Hill's  death,  and  yet  all  the  preparation  has 
been  of  no  avail.  The  shock  is  almost  as  great  as  if  the  whole  State  had 
been  taken  by  surprise,  for,  as  Mr.  Grady  has  suggested  in  his  sketch  of  the 
dead  senator,  behind  all  the  apprehension  aroused  by  the  various  statements 
in  regard  to  Mr.  Hill's  condition,  there  has  always  existed  a  lively  hope  that 
the  medical  experts  might  here  be  brought  face  to  face  with  another  of  the 
many  illusions  conjured  up  in  a  period  of  make-believe  science.  This  hope 
was  vain  as  it  was  vague,  but  it  existed,  nevertheless,  and  it  was  natural  that 
it  should  exist.  It  is  the  fate,  or  the  fortune,  of  but  few  men  to  be  recog 
nized,  while  they  are  yet  alive,  as  a  definite  part  of  the  institutions  of  the 
people.  Mr.  Hill  received  this  recognition  from  the  people  of  Georgia,  and 
hence  no  degree  of  apprehension  or  anticipation  could  prepare  them  for  or 
reconcile  them  to  his  death. 

They  know  that  a  few  months  ago  he  was  in  the  full  vigor  of  a  mature 
manhood,  with  the  prospect  of  many  years'  of  usefulness  before  him,  and 
they  know  now  that  he  is  dead.  It  is  impossible  for  the  human  mind  to 
reconcile  these  two  facts  in  connection  with  a  man  whose  personality  was 
powerful  enough  to  arouse  the  interest  of  the  public  and  gain  the  confidence 
and  affection  of  the  people. 

We  can  add  nothing  to  the  elaborate  sketch  of  the  dead  Georgian  to  be 
found  elsewhere  in  to-day's  Constitution,  but  his  character  and  his  career 
may  be  studied  from  various  points  of  view.  Mr.  Hill  was  about  as  near  to 
the  standard  of  statesmanship  established  by  Webster,  Clay,  and  Calhoun 
as  our  modern  conditions  will  allow.  He  was  a  great  constitutional  law}7er. 
He  had  made  a  profound  study  of  our  system  of  government,  and  he  under 
stood  it  as  thoroughly  as  any  American  who  ever  lived  ;  he  was  a  great 
orator ;  he  was  an  original  thinker  ;  he  was  passionately  devoted  to  his 
State  and  his  country  ;  he  was  a  patriot  whose  fearless  sincerity  was  fre 
quently  misunderstood  and  misinterpreted.  In  the  federal  Legislature  his 
speech  was  fettered  by  the  circumstances  that  fetter  the  speech  of  every 
Southern  man  ;  but  had  he  lived  in  the  days  of  Clay,  he  would  have  taken 
rank  with  that  remarkable  man.  He  was  vigorous,  aggressive,  and  brilliant ; 
he  was  profound,  earnest,  and  fluent.  He  was  attached  to  republican  insti 
tutions  and  was  thoroughly  impressed  with  their  efficacy.  There  was  no 
room  in  his  mind  for  sectionalism  ;  he  was  an  American.  He  was  sensitively 
opposed  to  those  political  methods  that  look  to  sectionalism  for  their  inspira 
tion,  and  he  dreaded  the  success  of  such  methods. 

Some  public  men  seem  to  lead  the  people  by  divining  their  wishes  and 

175 


U6  SENATOR  B.  If.  HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

carrying  them  out.  Mr.  Hill  was  really  a  leader.  He  was  sure  to  carry  the 
people  with  him  in  the  end,  but  he  sometimes  progressed  more  rapidly  than 
some  of  the  more  timid  thought  necessary.  Thus,  until  toward  the  closing 
years  of  his  life,  he  always  found  himself  obliged  to  fight  a  strong  faction. 
Some  of  these  fights  were  very  bitter,  but  in  all  essential  particulars  Mr.  Hill 
was  sure  of  a  vindication.  It  has  been  said  that  he  lacked  judgment,  and 
the  idea  involved  in  this  suggestion  tickled  those  who  found  it  impossible  to 
relish  the  complacency  with  which  he  upheld  his  own  opinions.  What  Mr. 
Hill  really  lacked  was  policy.  He  was  no  politician  ;  perhaps  he  was  not 
even  discreet,  so  far  as  his  own  interests  were  concerned.  He  never  paused, 
for  instance,  to  consider  whether  this  or  that  opinion  would  be  popular.  The 
world  was  welcome  to  whatever  opinion  he  entertained  ;  welcome  to  com 
bat  it  if  it  chose  to  take  the  risks  of  controversy. 

This  confidence  in  his  own  opinions  was  mistaken  by  his  opponents  for 
egotism.  If  his  opponents  were  right,  it  was  a  very  high  order  of  egotism. 
It  was  the  result  of  the  most  profound  investigation  and  meditation,  and  it 
was  not  the  least  attractive  quality  of  a  grand  intellectual  equipment.  What 
Mr.  Hill  lacked  was  not  judgment,  but  policy.  He  was  by  no  means  infal 
lible,  but  he  generally  vindicated  his  judgment  by  waiting  until  the  public 
was  ready  to  take  charge  of  his  opinions  and  follow  where  he  had  led.  Mr. 
Hill  also  lacked  that  humor  which  is  the  shield  and  protection  of  genius. 
Perhaps  humor  is  too  broad  a  term  here.  He  lacked  that  qualification  or 
modification  of  earnestness  which  relieves  and  sweetens  its  aggressiveness, 
and  which  quickens  and  convenes  the  popular  appreciation.  At  the  last,  no 
Georgian  ever  possessed  the  love  and  confidence  of  his  people  to  a  greater 
degree  than  Mr.  Hill,  and  it  may  be  that  the  manifestations  of  these  were  all 
the  more  sincere  because  of  the  severity  with  which  he  dealt  with  those  who 
opposed  his  convictions. 

Mr.  Hill's  greatest  effort  in  behalf  of  the  people  of  Georgia  was  not  in  the 
Senate  nor  in  the  House.  It  was  his  remarkable  campaign  in  1868  against 
the  reconstruction  measures.  Perhaps  we  ought  to  call  it  a  crusade  instead 
of  a  campaign.  The  man  and  the  opportunity  met,  and  no  other  Georgian 
ever  had  the  advantage  of  such  an  opportunity.  First  came  the  well-re 
membered  "  Notes  on  the  Situation."  It  was  the  voice  of  one  crying  in  the 
wilderness.  Never  before  did  political  essays  attract  such  instant  attention. 
"  Out  of  the  depths  of  desolation  a  trumpet  was  blown."  It  is  only  by  an 
effort  that  one  can  remember  the  awful  despair  of  that  period.  The  people 
were  supine  ;  utter  apathy  had  taken  possession  of  all  their  faculties  and  activi 
ties  ;  they  were  disfranchised  ;  their  slaves  had  been  placed  over  them  ; 
aliens  were  rioting  in  high  places  ;  the  social  organization  was  in  danger  ; 
bayonets  gleamed  everywhere. 

At  this  moment  Mr.  Hill  pressed  his  way  to  the  front  and  made  his  voice 
heard  in  his  "  Notes  on  the  Situation."  He  stirred  the  hearts  of  the  people 
and  aroused  them  to  a  sense  of  their  duty.  And  then  he  went  upon  the 
hustings  and  made  a  campaign  through  the  State.  It  is  a  campaign  which 
must  remain  without  a  parallel  in  the  history  of  the  State.  The  circum 
stances  under  which  it  was  made  can  never  be  repeated,  and  if  they  could 
there  is  no  longer  a  Ben  Hill  to  take  advantage  of  them.  His  soul  and  his 
intellect  were  both  aflame.  He  went  through  the  State  with  the  ardor  of  a 
prophet.  He  met  the  people  face  to  face  and  lifted  them  upon  their  feet. 
He  could  not  go  into  every  hamlet,  but  his  influence  went.  He  was  the 
Greatheart  to  whom  the  new  Pilgrim  turned.  What  fire,  what  fluency, 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  177 

what  tenderness  was  his  !  How  terse,  how  simple  his  language  ;  how  glow 
ing  his  periods  ;  how  terrible  his  denunciation.  He  had  set  himself  to  the 
task  of  revolutionizing  a  revolution,  and  he  was  equal  to  every  demand 
made  upon  him.  He  was  surrounded  by  bayonets  ;  he  walked  amid  the  ruins 
of  a  peculiar  civilization  ;  upon  every  hand  doubt,  fear,  and  despair  had  pos 
session  of  the  people.  He  attracted  the  attention  of  the  government.  John 
Pope,  a  satrap  whose  career  is  pronounced  ignominious  by  Northern 
writers,  was  in  command  of  the  State,  and  he  proposed  that  Mr.  Hill  be 
arrested  and  banished  from  the  State.  In  the  midst  of  all  the  confusion,  and 
uncertainty,  and  doubt  of  that  trying  period,  the  great  orator  went  among 
the  people,  and  bade  them  lift  their  lips  from  the  dust.  Few  of  his  speeches 
I  during  that  campaign  have  been  preserved,  but  it  is  impossible  to  remember 
them  without  a  thrill.  The  remedies  he  proposed  were  the  remedies  of 
peace,  but  with  what  marvelous  eloquence  he  denounced  the  oppressors  ! 
How  suave  his  passion,  how  serene  his  scorn  !  He  was  charged  with  incon 
sistency  some  years  afterward,  but  his  purpose  throughout  was  grandly  con 
sistent.  He  knew  that  any  attempt  to  defeat  the  reconstruction  acts  would 
be  hopeless,  but  he  desired  to  arouse  the  people  from  their  apathy  and  put  in 
motion  that  machinery  of  peaceful  resistance  to  oppression  that  exists  in  all 
republican  communities.  It  was  his  purpose  to  divert  the  attention  of  the 
people  from  their  grief,  and  to  remind  them  that  they  were  still  men.  In 
this  he  succeeded,  and  to  his  campaign  in  1868  is  due  in  a  great  measure  the 
present  political  prosperity  in  Georgia. 

It  all  seems  like  a  dream  ;  a  dream  of  life — an  awakening  to  the  reality 
of  death.  Happy  are  they  who  die  young,  but  happier  they  who  die 
mourned  by  old  and  young.  Worn  with  sickness  and  disease,  the  great 
Georgian  has  found  peace  and  rest. 

It  all  seems  like  a  dream — a  dream  of  life  curiously  confused  with  an  ex 
perience  of  the  reality  of  death.  And  yet,  when  death  exalts,  as  its  gradual 
approach  and  presence  exalted  this  man,  it  is  no  longer  to  be  feared. 
Months  ago,  when  the  great  Georgian  was  in  the  very  prime  of  life,  in  the  full 
maturity  of  perfect  manhood,  the  dread  shadow  placed  itself  at  his  side.  It 
brought  no  terrors  then,  and  at  the  last  it  was  a  welcome  guest.  It  took  the 
senator  from  the  tumult  of  politics,  where  the  eloquent  tongue,  the  grand  in 
tellect,  and  the  fiery  magnetism  of  a  high  and  earnest  purpose  carried  him 
always  to  the  front,  and  bore  him  gently  into  the  bosom  of  his  family,  where 
peace,  comfort,  and  utter  devotion  awaited  him.  It  gave  him  an  oppor 
tunity  to  test  the  love  of  his  people  ;  an  opportunity  to  discover  be 
fore  he  died  that  he  had  not  lived  in  vain.  He  beheld,  in  some  meas 
ure,  the  fruition  of  his  life's  purpose.  He  saw  Georgia  prosperous, 
contented,  and  free,  and  he  was  satisfied  ;  nay,  more,  life  was  happy.  He 
was  hopeful,  not  for  himself,  but  for  the  people.  He  had  no  troubles  of 
his  own.  The  complacency  of  profound  rest  fell  upon  him  and  wrapped 
him  round  about ;  so  that  his  sufferings  seemed  to  come  to  him  as  angels 
and  ministers  of  peace. 

And  yet,  in  the  midst  of  the  serenity  that  surrounded  him,  there  was 
one  trouble  that  obtruded  itself.  He  had  a  message  to  deliver  to  the  people 
that  could  not  be  delivered.  Communicating  with  a  friend,  he  wrote  out 
his  desire.  If  he  could  only  gather  the  strength  that  remained  he  would 
write  out  his  reflections,  which  he  was  confident  would  be  of  greater  service 

^^ 

to  the  people  than  all  the  acts  of  his  life.     This  desire  was  the  burden  of  his 
thoughts.     His  own  personality,  his  own   suffering,  he  had  placed  aside  ; 


178  SENATOR  B.   H.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

waking  or  dreaming,  his  thoughts  were  of  his  country,  his  State.  He  had 
measured  the  spirit  of  sectionalism,  and  he  feared  it ;  he  appreciated  the 
social  and  political  problems  which  the  South  inherited  from  the  chaos  of 
war.  He  desired,  as  a  last  effort,  to  give  the  people  the  benefit  of  his  ma- 
turest  thoughts.  But  it  was  not  to  be.  His  strength  ebbed  away  and  his 
last  thoughts  remained  unwritten. 

Nevertheless,  his  best  thoughts  and  his  high  purposes  live  in  the  hearts 
of  the  people.  Though  he  is  dead,  yet  the  day  has  never  been  when  he  was 
a  more  potent  influence  in  Georgia.  Happy  are  they  who  die  young,  but 
happier  they  who  die  mourned  by  old  and  young. 

ATLANTA    POST   APPEAL. 

To-day  the  eloquent  lips  of  the  South's  greatest  orator  are  cold  in  death. 
The  sad  intelligence  has  been  so  long  expected  and  dreaded  by  a  sorrowing 
people,  that  there  will  be  no  shock  of  surprise  when  it  is  announced  that 
Benjamin  Harvey  Hill  is  no  more. 

In  this  hour  of  universal  grief,  no  tribute  to  the  illustrious  dead  could 
adequately  voice  the  deep  feeling  of  the  people.  A  history  of  Senator 
Hill's  life  would  be  a  history  of  the  most  stirring  period  in  the  existence  of 
our  commonwealth.  No  Georgia  statesman  was  ever  more  closely  identified 
with  his  native  State,  and  no  Georgian  ever  served  her  more  faithfully  or 
with  more  signal  brilliancy  and  success. 

With  the  leading  incidents  in  the  career  of  Senator  Hill  the  country  is 
familiar.  His  triumphs  at  the  bar,  on  the  hustings,  and  in  the  Senate  are 
matters  of  current  history.  His  talents  were  so  conspicuous,  his  character 
so  colossal,  and  his  devotion  to  his  people  so  steadfastly  loyal  that  they  re 
quire  no  mention  here. 

The  closing  months  of  the  great  senator's  life  were  months  of  untold 
physical  agony,  but  the  sufferer  bore  it  all  so  grandly,  with  such  sublime 
resignation  and  with  such  perfect  trust  in  "  Him  who  doeth  all  things  well," 
that  the  admiration  of  the  world  was  excited  and  its  sympathy  stirred  to 
its  deepest  depths.  It  will  be  time,  when  the  first  shock  of  popular  grief 
has  passed  away,  to  speak  at  length  of  the  dead  statesman,  his  life,  character, 
and  works.  At  present  we  cannot  do  it.  The  lamentations  of  the  bereaved 
people  speak  louder  than  any  studied  panegyric. 

ATLANTA   HERALD. 

The  hand  of  disease  was  never  laid  upon  a  son  of  Georgia  more  truly  and  . 
universally  beloved  ;  the  shaft  of  death  never  struck  down  a  leader  to  whom 
his  people  were  mftre  implicitly  devoted  and  for  whom  their  eyes  could 
yield  more  copiously  the  tearful  tributes  of  affection.  It  will  be  many  long 
years  before  that  poignant  sorrow  is  assuaged,  arid  two  generations  must 
pass  over  to  the  "other  side  "  before  Georgia  can  forget  the  influence  of  hia 
great  example  or  feel  unmoved  by  recollections  of  his  words  and  deeds. 
No  man  could  leave  to  his  people  a  brighter,  purer,  grander  legacy  of  ex 
alted  ambition  and  unselfish  public  service  than  Benjamin  Harvey  Hill  has 
bequeathed  to  Georgia.  In  the  very  early  stages  of  his  useful  life,  his 
character  took  form  and  crystallized  around  those  principals  of  honor,  integ 
rity,  courage,  independence,  purity  of  person,  and  cleanliness  of  methods  that 
are  the  aids  and  inseparable  elements  to  all  high  and  noble  careers.  How 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS. 

well  he  adhered  to  and  exemplified  those  grand  attributes  is  judged  in  the 
profound  respect  of  the  nation  and  the  unalterable  affection  of  his  immediate 
people. 

CHRONICLE    AND    SENTINEL. 

Before  the  day  of  steam  or  telegraph,  a  message  was  mysteriously  left  at 
the  house  of  Lady  Holland,  in  London,  simply  containing  these  words  : 
"  The  great  man  is  dead."     She  knew  immediately  that  this  was  a  voice 
from  St.  Helena  proclaiming  that  the  discrowned  and  exiled  Napoleon  was 
no  more.     Of  all  English  persons  she  had  been  his  most  constant  friend,  and, 
though  her  country's  most  redoubted  foeman,  she  had  a  soul  to  appreciate 
his  wonderful  gifts  and  to  bewail  his  melancholy  end  "  on  that  lone,  barren 
isle  of  the  ocean."     Yesterday  the  swift  lightning  sent  all  over  the  earth 
the  sad  tidings  that  "  The  great  man  is  dead  " — that  Benjamin  H.  Hill,  the 
pride  of  Georgia,  the  most  eloquent  of  the  children  of  men,  the  profound 
lawyer,    the   brilliant   statesman,   the    suffering    Christian    gentleman    had 
passed  the  gates  of  pain  and  entered  the  kingdom  where  the  weary  rest 
from  their  labors.     His  death  has  left  a  gap  in  the  State  that  cannot  soon  be 
tilled,  but  who  that  saw  his  changed  physical  condition  can  grieve  that  the 
martyr  has  laid  down  the  cross  and  received  the  crown  in  higher  worlds  than 
this  ?     He  did  not  expire,  like  that  other  marvelous  man  already  alluded  to, 
far  from  country,  home,  and  friends,  baffled,  disappointed,  and  Promethean- 
like.     His  latter  days  were  the  most  victorious,  most  splendid,  most  dazzling, 
most  worthy.     He  had  love  by  his  bedside  to  the  last,  and  even  ancient  hate 
had  grown  to  be  an  affection  when  his  doom  was  sealed.     If  he  had  sinned, 
as  all  men  do,  his  repentance  was  vaster  than  the  imperfection.     If  he  had 
gone  astray  for  a  season  from  the  All-Father,  he  came  back  with  a  child-like 
faith  and  surrendered  himself  to  cruel  wounds  and  unspeakable  torments 
without  a  murmur,  for  the  sake  of  him  who  died  on  Calvary.     Nothing  in 
life  became  him  so  well  as  the  act  of  leaving  it.     Future  ages  may  forget 
the  advocate  and  the  senator  and  the  wizard  of  the  hustings,  but  never  shall 
the  story  of  his  pathetic  descent  into  the  Valley  of  the  Shadow,  and  glori 
ous  emergence  into  the  Mountain  Land  of  Mystery,  cease  to  be  a  record  of 
undying  fame.     Less  than  a  week  ago  the  writer  of  these  poor  words,  who 
feels  that  language  fails  him  at  the   supreme  moment,  received  from  the 
hands  of  the  dying  Hill  lines  that  must  have    been  among  the  last  ever 
traced  by  his  fingers.     The  agony  of  that  moment  left  an  impression  that 
then  found  vent  in  words  appropriate  to  the  occasion  ;  but  now  that  the 
mighty  spirit  is  emancipated  and  the  breath  is  gone  and  the  husk  of  human 
ity  alone   remains,  words  fail,  and   language  itself  becomes  bankrupt  to 
utter  what  he  would  like  to  say.     Just  as  our  friend  could  only,  in  a  dumb 
eloquence,  convey  his  welcome,  so,  in  some  such  way,  the  pen  is  paralyzed 
that  would  so  gladly  speak  of  him  as  it  never  was  at  a  loss  to  do  in  the  days 
that  are  gone.     The  painter  who  veiled  the  face  of  Agamemnon  because  he 
could  not  adequately  express  on  canvas  the  grief  of  the  father  at  the  sacri 
fice  of  his  daughter,  appealed  most  irresistibly  to  the  sympathies  of  all  the 
world  that   gazed    upon  the   picture.     Let  the  powerlessness  of  our  pen 
betoken  the  grief  that  cannot  grow  vocal.     In  the  struggle  to  give  utter 
ance  to  the  thought  that  is  in   us  we  feel  that  if  Prospero's  wand  were 
ours  it  would  be   broken  and  cast   into  the  grave  where   the  most    cele 
brated  Georgian  of  the  century  is  so  soon  to  be  laid  down   to  pleasant 
dreams, 


180  SENATOR  B.   H.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 


TELEGRAPH    AND  MESSENGER. 

A  telegram  from  Atlanta  gives  the  mournful  message,  Benjamin  H.  Hill 
is  dead.  The  sad  intelligence  was  not  unexpected.  For  weeks  the  people 
of  Georgia  have  been  conscious  of  the  fact  that  their  great  senator  had  re 
ceived  his  summons,  and  that  he  was  hastening  out  in  obedience  to  it.  At 
first  they  clung  to  the  hope  that  the  magnificent  physique  of  the  great 
Georgian  would  enable  him  to  rally,  and  put  the  destroyer,  at  least  tempo 
rarily,  under  his  feet.  But  it  was  one  of  those  soft  illusions  of  hope  that  leave 
one  only  the  more  desolate  for  having  entertained  them.  The  destroyer  had 
come  to  stay,  and  there  was  no  relenting  from  his  purpose  to  strike  at  the 
great  man,  and  lay  him  low.  Death  has  never  found  a  more  "  shining  mark," 
nor  struck  a  more  fateful  blow.  The  death  of  Mr.  Hill,  while  yet  in  the  vigor 
of  manhood  and  scarcely  at  the  prime  of  his  mental  powers,  is  an  irreparable 
loss.  Georgia  could  ill  have  afforded  to  give  him  up,  had  he  been  an  old 
man,  tottering  on  his  staff  and  trembling  on  the  boundary  of  the  borderland; 
for  none  like  him  has  gone  forth  from  her  midst  into  the  shadowland.  And 
there  is  no  present  promise  that  his  mantle  shall  be  worthily  worn  by  any 
one  who  will  come  after  him. 

It  would  be  something  worse  than  useless  to  murmur  at  this  sad  dispensa 
tion.  There  is  nothing  of  future  gain  or  of  present  contentment  in  a  spirit 
that  does  not  bend  under  the  blow  of  bereavement  dispensed  by  the  All-Wise 
One.  The  shadow  of  this  loss  may  in  some  unseen  way  embody  the  promise 
of  some  future  life  of  sunshine,  like  that  of  the  sleeping  patriot. 

There  are  lessons  in  the  life  of  Mr.  Hill,  and  there  is  a  lesson  in  his  death 
which  should  not  be  lost  on  the  people  of  this  State.  He  was  an  orator,  a 
statesman,  a  patriot,  a  Christian.  He  illustrated  in  his  remarkable  career  the 
great  truth  that  courage — true  courage — constitutes  the  foundation  of  every 
virtue.  The  courage  of  conviction  marked  all  that  he  said  and  did.  A  life 
less  earnest  than  his  could  not  have  won  such  triumphs  as  make  up  his 
record. 

As  an  orator  he  was  without  a  peer.  The  eloquence  that  fell  from  his 
lips  was  of  the  purest,  sweetest  character.  In  some  of  his  grandest  flights, 
it  would  have  been  easy  to  imagine  the  words  in  which  he  clothed  his 
thoughts  to  be  little  less  than  inspired.  • 

Mr.  Hill's  statesmanship  has  been  often  decried  by  his  political  antago 
nists  ;  but  it  will  stand  a  test  of  comparison  with  that  of  Clay,  Calhoun,  and 
Webster  ;  his  equals,  perhaps,  but  not  his  superiors.  In  purity  of  purpose, 
and  clearness  of  insight,  and  breadth  of  view,  he  has  never  had  a  superior 
among  all  the  public  men  who  have,  at  any  time,  adorned  the  civic  records 
of  the  country. 

As  a  jurist  he  had  no  superior,  perhaps  no  equal,  in  the  United  States. 
His  legal  arguments,  at  various  times  in  the  Senate,  were  worthy  of  the 
greatest  men  of  the  Republic,  in  the  day  when  there  were  giants  in  the  land. 
Georgia  will  be  better  able  now  to  appreciate  his  matchless  gifts  in  this  de 
partment  of  usefulness.  Joys  brighten  as  they  take  their  flight. 

No  man  ever  loved  Georgia  with  truer,  more  constant,  more  unquestion 
ing  devotion  than  Ben.  Hill.  He  was  always  ready  to  fight  her  battles,  and 
to  spend  and  be  spent  in  her  cause.  His  record,  from  boyhood  down  to 
1861,  was  one  unmarred  by  the  shadow  even  of  selfish  disregard  of  the  high 
duties  of  citizenship.  From  1801  to  the  day  of  his  death,  there  was  not  a 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  181 

moment  in  which  he  claimed  for  self  what  he  denied  to  duty.  His  war 
record  will  be  the  pride  of  his  children's  children,  and  every  true  Georgian 
will  count  them  blessed  in  such  an  inheritance.  In  the  fearful  days  that 
followed  the  close  of  our  heroic  though  unavailing  struggle,  he  towered 
above  the  mean  herd  that  trembled  and  cowered  and  skulked — a  king  among 
men,  and  a  very  eagle  amid  the  inaccessible  crags.  Ben  Hill  was  a  hero  then ; 
a  hero  for  the  sake  of  Georgia,  not  for  fame.  Personal  ease,  personal  secur 
ity,  personal  popularity  were  to  him  but  meaningless  considerations  in  com 
parison  with  the  claims  that  Georgia  had  upon  him  for  the  labor  of  his  hand 
and  mind,  and  the  devotion  of  his  heart. 

There  is  still  another  phase  in  the  character  of  this  wonderful  man  which 
is  worthy  of  mention  in  this  brief  outline.  So  far  as  concerns  the  fame  and 
honors  of  this  world,  no  one  will  deny  that  the  life  of  Mr.  Hill  was  one  of 
more  than  ordinary  success.  The  highest  offices  in  the  gift  of  Georgia  were 
his  for  the  asking  ;  and  he  discharged  every  duty  growing  out  of  his  official 
relations  to  the  people  with  unsurpassed  skill,  wisdom,  and  fidelity.  But 
there  is  another  life  beyond  the  hopes,  fears,  ambitions,  and  strife  of  the 
present — a  life  often  lost  to  the  view  of  the  great  of  earth.  Mr.  Hill  began 
public  life  as  an  humble  follower  of  the  lowly  I^azarene.  How  far  the  wan 
derings  of  a  long  and  eventful  life  may  have  carried  him  to  the  right  or  to 
the  left  of  "  the  straight  and  narrow  path  "  of  Christian  duty,  we  do  not 
know.  Sure  it  is  the  wandering  great  man  returned  again  in  the  deep 
ening  shadows  of  life's  twilight  ;  and  ended  a  glorious  career,  as  he  had 
begun  it,  leaning  upon  the  arm  of  Omnipotence.  Thus  sustained,  he  bore  the 
frightful  sufferings  that  fell  to  his  lot  without  a  murmur  ;  and  went  out 
into  the  sunshine  of  the  great  Beyond,  as  an  infant  sinks  to  slumber  in  its 
mother's  arms. 

Benjamin  H.  Hill's  last  victory  was  his  greatest  victory.  Let  the  young 
men  of  the  State  remember  this  when,  in  laying  their  plans  for  a  life  of  pub 
lic  endeavor,  they  seek  a  model  in  the  glorious  man,  now  silent  in  death  in 
Georgia's  capital.  The  great  as  well  as  the  lowly  have  need  of  rest  when  the 
struggle  of  life  is  ended. 

COLUMBUS    ENQUIRER. 

Senator  Benjamin  H.  Hill  is  dead.  The  long  suspense  is  over  and  the 
South  mourns.  All  the  States  of  the  Union,  responding  to  that  touch  of 
sympathy  which  makes  the  whole  world  akin,  stand  uncovered  in  the  pres 
ence  of  calamity.  In  every  home  in  the  South  sits  his  personal  mourner. 
Their  grief  and  affection,  poured  out  without  stint,  could  not  save  him,  but 
it  must  have  been  comforting  to  him,  beyond  expression,  to  know  how  pre 
cious  was  his  life  in  the  sight  of  the  people.  The  suspense  of  the  early  days, 
when  it  was  seen  that  the  cancer  was  eating  his  life  away,  succeeded  by  con 
fidence  and  a  happy  hope,  has  made  the  blow  still  harder,  it  seems,  to  bear. 
For  by  these  days,  that  now  seem  so  long  ago;  by  this  watching  and  painful 
anxiety  from  hour  to  hour,  the  country  grew  to  love  Senator  Hill  more  and 
more.  It  seems  that  death  was  kept  waiting  until  the  full  measure  of  his 
noble  life  was  meted  out,  giving  all  a  chance  to  know  him  closer  and  better. 
As  we  scan  and  learn  by  heart  every  feature  of  the  dying  face  of  our  loved 
ones,  so  these  days  gave  the  world  an  insight  to  Senator  Hill's  character. 
Not  forgetful  of  his  human  weakness,  men  began  to  see  him  in  his  activity,  as 
he  stood  before  heads  of  party,  a  zealous  leader,  a  generous  foe.  They  pic 
tured  him  on  the  floor  of  the  House  and  in  the  Senate  Chamber,  his  gauge 


182  SENATOR  £.   ff.  HILL,   Of1  GEORGIA. 

of  statesmanship  so  broad,  his  judgment  so  direct,  his  argument  so  cour 
teous  as  to  win  regard  even  from  his  adversaries.  Eminently  a  fair  man  in 
legislative  controversies,  while  foremost  in  earnestness  on  the  side  he  es 
poused,  and  full  of  zeal  for  his  view  of  public  affairs.  No  lukewarm  advo 
cate  was  he  ;  his  beliefs  were  the  sober  passion  and  maturity  of  his  life. 

SAVANNAH     TIMES. 

Let  Georgia  and,  in  fact,  the  entire  South  mourn,  for  death  has  robbed 
her  of  her  brightest  and  most  valued  jewel.  Senator  Benjamin  H.  Hill  is 
no  more.  He  died  at  his  residence  in  Atlanta  after  a  long  and  terrible  suf 
fering,  which  he  bore  with  a  patience  and  fortitude  that  was  truly  sublime. 
Senator  Hill  was  the  shining  light  in  the  bright  constellation  of  Southern 
statesmen.  His  great  intellect,  coupled  with  his  indomitable  energy  and 
keen  forethought,  commanded  the  unbounded  respect  and  admiration  of  even 
his  bitterest  political  enemies.  In  the  United  States  Senate,  where  he  was 
ever  ready  to  aid  and  defend  the  South,  he  was  well  recognized  as  a  man  of 
a  powerful  intellect,  the  peer  of  any  in  that  assemblage  of  statesmen.  But 
he  has  gone  ;  no  more  can  the  South  claim  his  valuable  aid.  No  more  will 
the  hall  of  the  Senate  ring  with  his  eloquent  appeals  in  behalf  of  his  beloved 
people.  No  more  can  Georgia  look  to  his  valued  advice  or  claim  his  strong 
influence.  He  has  left  us  to  join  a  council  above,  where  dissensions  are 
unknown. 

DAWSON    JOURNAL. 

No  man,  since  the  days  of  Clay,  Webster,  and  Calhoun,  has  illustrated  the 
true  statesman  more  nobly  than  the  Hon.  Benjamin  Hill,  and  in  his  death 
Georgia  will  sustain  a  loss  that  can  never  be  repaired. 

COVINGTON    (OA.)     ENTERPRISE. 

Words  cannot  express  the  sorrow  felt  at  the  loss  of  such  a  statesman. 
His  name  and  fame  will  live  on  and  on  forever.  Our  pen  fails  to  convey 
the  sentiments  of  a  heart  that  deeply  mourns  for  the  deceased.  May  he 

sleep  sweetly  in  the  silent  city  of  the  dead. 

' » 

WEST    POINT  (GA.)  ENTERPRISE. 

His  biography  is  as  familiar  as  the  alphabet  to  all  Georgians,  and  it  is 
needless  to  write  it  here.  His  was  a  life  of  unbroken  brilliancy  from  the 
cradle  to  his  death.  Georgia  can  never  fill  his  place.  There  was  one  Shake 
speare,  one  Cicero,  one  Napoleon,  and  there  can  be  but  one  Ben  Hill.  But 
he  is  dead,  and  in  common  with  a  bereaved  people  we  mingle  our  grief,  our 
sympathy,  and  our  sorrow. 

ALBANY  (GA.)  NEWS. 

Although  the  death  of  Senator  Hill  has  been  expected  for  several  weeks 
past,  the  news  which  came  by  telegraph  from  Atlanta  that  he  had  breathed 
his  last  was  a  great  shock  to  our  community  and  a  sorrow  that  entered  the 
hearts  of  our  people  like  a  sudden  shaft  from  a  cruel  hand. 

His  death  is  to  the  people  of  the  South  what  Stonewall  Jackson's  was  to 
the  Southern  Confederacy — an  irreparable  loss,  and  there  is  no  man  in 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  183 

Georgia  who  can  be  to  us  what  he  was  up  to  the  time  the  fatal  hand  of 
affliction  was  laid  so  heavily  upon  him,  and  he  was  compelled  to  quit  his 
post  of  duty  at  Washington  a  few  months  ago.  He  was  the  peer  of  any 
man  in  the  American  Congress,  and  had  the  courage  to  defend  his  people 
and  the  South  whenever  and  by  whomsoever  assailed. 

MARIETTA   JOURNAL. 

Thus  Georgia  loses  one  of  the  greatest  men  that  ever  was  born  within 
her  limits.  Our  people  will  mourn  his  death  with  sincere  sorrow,  for  we 
shall  never  see  his  like  again.  Georgia  has  lost  a  noble  son,  democracy  a 
true  friend,  and  constitutional  government  a  staunch  defender.  May  his 
soul  rest  in  peace. 

AUGUSTA   NEWS. 

Benjamin  H.  Hill  is  at  rest.  As  goes  down  the  stately  ship  in  a  quiet 
sea,  after  the  storm  is  over,  but  scarred  on  the  surface  and  broken  by  the 
fury  of  the  flood,  wrecked  in  mid  ocean  and  waiting  to  be  engulfed,  he 
sinks  beneath  the  waves  ;  and  the  great  ocean  of  humanity  is  troubled  and 
distressed.  But  although  his  wonderful  frame  has  gone  down,  his  strong 
and  faithful  heart  outlasted  the  tempest,  and  he  carried  into  eternity  the 
well-preserved  freight  of  love  and  happiness  and  the  itying  white  sail  of  a 
great  name  and  a  proud  record. 

SAVANNAH  (GA.)  RECORDER. 

He  was  known  throughout  this  broad  land  as  a  man  of  towering  intel 
lect,  of  undoubted  genius  ;  a  ready  debater  and  brilliant  writer ;  a  fluent 
speaker,  and  an  orator  who  could  enter  the  forum  and  entrance  the  listening 
thousands.  The  South  possessed  no  more  stalwart  defender  and  her  enemies 
always  found  in  him  a  foeman  worthy  of  their  steel.  His  lofty  strains  of 
eloquence,  however,  are  now  hushed  forever,  and  the  music  of  his  voice  will 
no  more  be  heard.  He  has  gone  the  way  of  all  earth,  and  Georgia  to-day 
mourns  the  loss  of  a  faithful  son  and  a  truly  great  man,  and  one  whose  place 
can  scarcely  be  filled. 

ROME  (GA.)  BULLETIN. 

From  the  day  that  it  was  ascertained  that  his  disease  would  terminate 
fatally,  a  gloom  has  rested  over  the  State  that  gave  him  birth,  and  that  has 
ever  been  proud  to  do  .him  homage.  To-day,  although  the  blow  was  ex 
pected,  Georgia  mourns  for  her  favorite,  gifted  son,  as  a  mother  mourns  for 
her  best  loved  child,  who  is  rudely  and  suddenly  stricken  down  by  the  fell 
destroyer.  In  his  death  a  bright  light  has  been  extinguished,  and  the  void 
created  by  his  removal  from  our  midst  may  never  be  filled  by  another.  His 
loss  is  not  his  family's  nor  the  State's,  but  the  loss  is  a  national  one,  and 
will  be  so  regarded  throughout  the  United  States  of  America. 

SUNNY  SOUTH,  ATLANTA. 

The  great  suffering  spirit  has  had 
Another  morn  than  ours, 

passing  away  resignedly,  surrounded  by  his  devoted  family;  thus  closing  at 
once  a  splendid  career  and  an  ordeal  of  pain  such  as  has  seldom  fallen  to  the 


184  SENATOR  B.  H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

lot  of  mortal  to  bear.  With  burning  ulcers  eating  up  his  throat  and  tongue, 
unable  to  enjoy  food  or  drink,  to  converse  with  friends,  or  even  to  breathe 
freely,  his  life  had  long  been  a  burden,  and  when  to  this  is  added  the  con 
sciousness  (so  bitter  to  an  active,  ambitious  spirit)  that  he  was  dying  while 
in  his  prime,  with  genius  and  energy  still  strong  within  him,  and  much  good 
work  to  be  accomplished,  we  can  partly  realize  the  sadness  of  this  affliction. 

HOME  (GA.)  COURIER. 

President  Davis  pronounced  him  a  powerful  pillar  of  his  administration, 
and  relied  upon  his  great  talents  and  his  eloquent  tongue  for  his  defense  in 
the  Confederate  Congress.  When  that  ill-fated  cause  went  down  in  defeat 

Cr? 

and  disaster,  Mr.  Hill  was  the  first  politician  of  distinction  to  arouse  the 
people  from  their  state  of  despondency  and  demoralization,  to  a  heroic 
rally  for  the  preservation  of  their  remaining  constitutional  rights  against 
the  encroachments  and  the  usurpations  of  the  party  in  power.  If  his  life 
afforded  no  other  proof  of  his  innate  greatness  and  heroism,  his  resolute 
stand  on  that  momentous  occasion  would  have  endeared  his  memory  to  a 
people  capable  of  appreciating  patriotic  courage  and  unflinching  devotion 
to  a  conquered  section  and  its  rights.  In  this,  as  in  every  other  political 
emergency,  he  was  found  "  great  on  great  occasions." 

His  record  in  the  Senate  is  one  of  which  his  State  may  well  be  proud, 
for  he  was  the  admitted  peer  of  any  senator  North  or  South,  and  by  many 
regarded  as  the  most  eloquent  man  who  had  held  a  seat  in  that  body  since 
the  days  of  Henry  Clay.  Representing  a  State  still  laboring  under  political 
disadvantages,  he  was  a  foeman  whom  every  senator,  hostile  to  her  interests 
or  rights,  dreaded  to  meet  in  debate,  and  a  champion  upon  whom  the  people 
of  Georgia  could  aiwavs  relv  for  the  vindication  of  their  honor  or  the  main- 

O  «.  «/ 

tenance  of  their  rights. 

Such  was  the  man  whom  we  mourn  to-day — the  statesman,  the  orator 
and  patriot,  whose  life  was  devoted  to  one  long  struggle  for  principle  and 
right  against  whatever  odds  or  reverses.  He,  more  truly  than  any  other 
man  of  late  years,  fulfilled  Pollok's  description  of  the  faithful  legislator. 

The  man  who  in  the  Senate  house, 
Watchful,  unhired,  unbribed,  and  unseduced, 
In  virtue's  awful  rage  battled  for  right. 

In  the  relations  of  private  life,  as  a  citizen,  a  friend,  or  the  head  of  a  de 
voted  family,  he  was  equally  reliable,  sincere,  and  pure.  Living  in  an  era 
of  public  corruption  and  individual  greed,  the  breath  of  suspicion  was  never 
raised  against  his  private  honesty  or  public  integrity.  He  was  the  soul  of 
honor,  love,  and  fidelity  in  all  his  relations  to  his  country  and  to  his  fellow- 
men.  The  void  caused  by  his  death  in  the  large  circle  of  his  relations  and 
friends  can  never  be  adequately  filled,  and  Georgia  can  hardly  replace  in  the 
Senate  a  statesman  and  orator  of  whom  she  can  be  so  justly  proud  ;  for,  as 
Lady  Percy  said  of  her  slain  lord,  it  may  be  said  of  Benjamin  H.  Hill,  intel 
lectually  :  ' 

The  earth  that  bears  him  dead  bears  none  alive  so  stout. 

BANNER    WATCHMAN. 

There  is  sorrow  in  the  land.  As  the  news  was  flashed  over  the  wires 
announcing  that  Senator  Benjamin  H.  Hill,  one  of  nature's  noblemen,  one  of 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND   WRITINGS.  185 

the  country's  greatest  and  grandest  men,  was  no  more,  a  whole  nation  was 
bowed  in  sorrow,  while  the  silent  tear,  the  voiceless  anguish  of  aching 
hearts  gave  utterance  to  those  emotions  which  lie  forever  beyond  the 
domain  of  human  language.  To  attempt  the  eulogy  of  one  so  well  and 
widely  known,  one  whose  nature  was  so  grand,  whose  statesmanship  was  so 
matchless,  whose  eloquence  was  so  sublime,  and  whose  oratory  was  so  peer 
less,  would  be  as  useless  as  we  are  incompetent  to  the  task.  Equipped  for 
the  duties  of  this  life,  with  an  intelligence  as  strong  as  it  was  ever  active, 
with  an  eloquence  as  powerful  as  it  was  pleasing,  to  the  full  measure  did  he 
discharge  those  duties,  making  himself  known  and  felt  throughout  the 
length  and  breadth  of  the  land.  Well  and  truly  may  it  be  said,  that,  as  a 
patriot,  as  a  statesman,  and  as  an  orator,  one  more  highly  honored  and 
esteemed  never  lived,  one  more  lamented  never  died  ;  that : 

A  nobler  and  a  grander  man, 
Framed  in  the  prodigality  of  nature, 


The  spacious  world  could  not  again  afford. 


How  strange  and  how  sad  is  that  dispensation  of  Providence  which  has 
closed  to  this  great  and  grand  man  a  career  so  useful,  so  distinguished,  and 
so  brilliant,  while  yet  in  the  full-orbed  vigor  and  splendor  of  manhood's 
high  meridian  ?  Although  it  is  true  that  the  distinguished  deceased  has 
been  called  hence,  while  yet  in  the  full  maturity  of  his  powers,  yet,  the 
splendor  of  his  intellect,  the  power  of  his  eloquence,  and  the  sublimity  of 
his  patriotism  was  given  to  the  country  and  to  his  people  during  the  most 
eventful  and  trying  periods  of  their  history. 

How  the  memory  of  this  great  man  will  ever  be  cherished  by  Southern 
people,  when  they  recall  with  what  undaunted,  and  with  what  reluctantly 
yielding  patriotism  he  held  on  to  their  cause,  for  which  he  was  ready  and 
willing  to  sacrifice  his  all,  and  which  was  the  cause  of  that  people  with  whom 
he  was  reared  and  whom  he  so  much  loved.  Never  will  the  Southern  people 
cease  to  forget  those  dark  days  of  reconstruction,  when  this  departed  states 
man,  this  lamented  patriot  and  hero,  with  a  magnetic  presence,  with  a  vigor 
of  intellect,  with  a  love  of  justice  that  knew  no  compromise,  with  an  elo 
quence  and  an  utterance  as  strong  and  as  fearless  as  it  was  persuasive  and 
convincing,  and  with  a  love  of  country  which  was  the  inspiration  of  his 
every  effort, — his  every  ambition  did  quicken  into  new  life  the  dormant 
patriotism  of  others,  thus  dispelling  the  dark  clouds  which  overshadowed  an 
outraged  and  oppressed  people,  and  causing  the  bright  sun  of  peace  and 
prosperity  to  again  gladden  our  sunny  South.  Never  will  a  nation  cease 
to  forget  that  fervid  eloquence,  that  able  and  earnest  advocacy  of  constitu 
tional  law  and  government,  with  which  Mr.  Hill  electrified  the  halls  of  Con 
gress,  commanding  for  him  the  respect,  the  confidence,  the  consideration, 
and  the  esteem  of  both  friend  and  foe,  and  which  made  him  the  peer  of  the 
grandest  of  all  his  predecessors.  While  these  and  all  these  grand,  heroic, 
and  patriotic  events  in  the  life  of  Senator  Hill  go  to  make  up  the  life  of  a 
great  man,  yet  there  was  in  the  closing  scenes  of  a  life  so  full  of  history  and 
so  full  of  all  that  is  great,  that  which  ever  induce  the  belief  that  a  kind 
Providence,  which  had  so  endowed  this  noblest  type  of  man,  spared  unto 
him  that  length  of  day,  that  fullness  of  manhood,  and  that  concentration  of 
his  powers,  which  made  his  last,  his  greatest,  his  grandest,  his  best  days. 
Yes,  that  true  love  of  Him  who  doeth  all  things  well ;  that  Christian 


186  SENATOR  R   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

patience,  fortitude,  and  heroism  ;  that  meek  and  humble  submission  to  the 
Master's  will,  which  so  beautified  the  last  long-suffering  days  of  Senator 
Hill,  will  ever  show  forth  the  closing  scenes  in  the  life  of  this  Christian 
hero,  patriot,  and  statesman  with  a  glory,  a  grandeur,  and  a  resplendency 
that  will  far  eclipse  all  that  may  be  said  or  written  of  a  life  so  renowned. 
Farewell  to  him,  so  great,  so  renowned,  so  beloved,  and  so  lamented. 

LA    GRANGE    REPORTER. 

The  agony  is  over  and  Senator  Hill  is  at  rest.  For  two  or  three  days  be 
fore  his  death  it  had  become  evident  to  his  physicians  and  family  that  his 
sufferings  would  not  be  protracted  much  longer.  He  had  not  only  lost  the 
power  of  utterance,  but  his  hand  was  also  powerless  to  indite  his  thoughts 
on  paper.  Almost  to  the  last,  he*  retained  consciousness.  His  patient  hero 
ism,  his  uncomplaining  fortitude  through  his  long  and  agonizing  illness, 
were  a  wonder  to  all  but  those  who  realized  that  his  strength  to  endure  was 
derived  from  Omnipotence  and  was  his  through  Christian  faith  and  love. 
More  lustrous  than  his  oratory,  more  resplendent  than  his  statesmanship, 
and  more  grand  than  his  matchless  fame,  shone  those  Christian  virtues  which 
the  night  of  his  suffering  brought  out  like  stars  in  the  firrnanent.  Truly,  the 
night  reveals  beauties  never  dreamed  of  in  the  day. 

And  now,  how  shall  we  describe  our  loss  ?  Georgia,  speechless  with  grief, 
stands  by  the  bier  of  her  mightiest  child.  Since  the  days  of  the  glorious 
"  Harry  of  the  West,"  no  orator  equaling  Hill  has  appeared  on  this  conti 
nent.  The  power  of  his  eloquence  was  matched  by  the  brilliancy  of  an  intel 
lect  that  towered  in  majesty  above  all  his  contemporaries.  On  the  hustings, 
in  the  forum,  and  in  the  halls  of  Congress,  he  was  the  peerless  orator,  the 
irresistible  advocate,  the  powerful  champion  of  whatever  cause  he  espoused. 
His  celebrated  reply  to  Blaine,  his  arraignment  of  the  Louisiana  iniquity, 
and  his  denunciation  of  Mahone,  stand  alone  in  the  annals  of  Congress  and 
have  made  him  a  reputation  that  will  live  in  the  history  of  his  country. 

But  here  in  Georgia  he  will  be  missed  most  keenly.  A  Georgian  of 
Georgians,  he  loved  his  State  with  all  the  ardor  of  his  great  nature.  When 
others  quailed  in  the  presence  of  a  military  despotism,  Ben  Hill  advanced 
fearlessly  to  the  front  and  raised  the  cry  whose  reverberation  awoke  the  en 
thusiasm  that  saved  the  State  from  negro-radical  domination.  We  owe  him 
a  debt  of  gratitude  second  only  to  that  due  the  founder  of  our  commonwealth, 
for  he  went  into  the  "  imminent  deadly  breach,"  and  "  plucked  the  flower 
safely  from  the  nettle  danger." 

Troup  County  mourns  her  illustrious  son  as  no  other  part  of  the  State  can. 
Here  he  grew  to  greatness  ;  here  are  the  friends  who  watched  most  intensely 
the  development  of  his  genius,  and  whose  suffrages  first  wreathed  his  daunt 
less  brow  with  civic  honors.  Capturing  the  imagination  of  our  youth  by 
his  political  prowess,  and  stirring  the  blood  of  age  by  his  wonderful  oratory, 
he  was  first  borne  in  the  halls  of  legislation  on  a  tide  of  popular  enthusiasm, 
which,  mounting  still  higher,  almost  landed  him,  a  few  years  later,  into  Con 
gress  over  the  barrier  of  a  tremendous  opposition.  Again  Troup  boomed 
him  for  governor,  and  the  contest  which  ensued,  though  ending  in  defeat  of 
her  youthful  champion,  revealed  to  the  whole  State  his  marvelous  gifts  and 
prepared  the  way  for  his  subsequent  promotion.  The  memory  of  Ben  Hill 
will  be  handed  down  as  a  tradition  from  father  to  son  by  our  citizens  who 
knew  him  in  his  prime. 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  187 

But  he  is  gone,  How  hard  to  realize  the  fact.  His  long  identification 
with  our  politics  will  cause  him  to  be  missed  as  few  public  men  of  this  gen 
eration  have  been. 

CARTERSVILLE    COUKANT. 

Benjamin  Harvey  Hill  is  dead.  A  brilliant  intellectual  light  has  faded 
from  this  world,  only  to  shine  more  transcendently  beyond  the  skies.  A 
colossal  mind  has  left  its  tenement  of  clay  to  find  rest  beyond  "  the  beauti 
ful  river."  A  grand  soul  has  taken  its  flight  to  bask  in  the  eternal  realms  of 
light  and  bliss.  The  athletic  form  must  slumber  with  the  dust  of  his  native 
State  he  loved  so  well.  Grand  old  Georgia,  the  mother  of  so  great  and  so 
good  a  man,  in  whose  bosom  he  must  be  laid  away  to  rest.  No  more  shall 
we  hear  his  clarion  voice  venting  words  of  matchless  eloquence,  forming 
sentences  that  sprang  from  a  genius  of  unparalleled  brightness.  The  mas 
terly  mind  will  never  again  express  its  great  wisdom  to  an  admiring  and 
loving  people.  Nor  shall  we  again  witness  the  coruscations  of  as  bright  a 
genius  as  the  world  ever  produced. 

It  is  sad  to  think  that  Ben  Hill  is  no  more  to  be  seen  by  the  people 
of  Georgia,  who  loved  him  so  well  and  honored  him  so  confidingly.  The 
simple  announcement  of  his  demise  will  cast  the  shadow  of  a  great  sorrow, 
a  poignant  grief,  over  the  hearts  of  all  true  Georgians.  But  he  is  gone. 
Virtually,  the  people  of  Georgia  are  t(  clothed  in  sackcloth  and  ashes,"  for  a 
prince  of  mighty  mind,  with  a  magnanimous  heart,  the  Christian,  the  neigh 
bor,  and  the  statesman  is  no  more. 

For  more  than  twenty-six  years  the  writer  of  this  feeble  tribute  to  his 
memory  has  known  personally  and  intimately  the  honored  deceased.  For 
many  years  we  lived  as  his  neighbor  and  friend  in  beautiful  La  Grange, 
where  we  know  every  heart  to-day  is  bo  wed  down  in  sorrow  and  grief ;  where 
he  was  beloved  as  no  other  man  was  ever  loved  by  those  people,  who  almost 
worshiped  him. 

GAINESVILLE    EAGLE. 

At  his  home  in  Atlanta,  Hon.  Benjamin  Harvey  Hill,  Georgia's  gifted 
son  and  senator,  the  statesman,  orator,  and  patriot,  has  breathed  his  last. 
A  great  light  has  gone  out  in  the  starry  firmament  of  genius  ;  a  grand  soul, 
strong  in  a  noble  faith,  has  gone  to  greet  the  God  who  gave  it ;  the  most 
eloquent  tongue  in  all  this  land  has  been  stilled  in  death  ;  the  finest  eyes 
that  ever  windowed  a  soul  of  fire  are  glazed  in  dissolution. 

Georgia  weeps  to-day.  Words  of  tenderest  sympathy  will  tremble  on 
ten  thousand  tongues.  Ten  thousand  eyes  will  shed  tears,  those  jewels  with 
which  affection  decks  its  loved  ones.  But  words  will  be  hollow,  tears  will 
not  glitter  as  is  their  wont,  and  dumb  sorrow  will  stand  round  about  the 
hearthstones  of  the  Empire  State  of  the  South.  In  the  presence  of  a  great 
sorrow  like  this,  when  the  leaden  wing  of  woe  hangs  low  its  sable  shadow 
athwart  the  pathway  of  life,  we  can  only  stand  still,  wring  our  helpless 
hands,  wonder,  and  weep. 

ROME    TRIBUNE. 

To-morrow  the  lifeless  body  of  Benjamin  Harvey  Hill  will  be  consigned 
to  the  cold  and  silent  tomb.  Atlanta,  the  home  of  the  great  patriot-states 
man,  is  in  sack-cloth.  Emblems  of  mourning  greet  the  eye  in  whatever 


188  SENATOR  B.  H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

direction  it  may  be  turned.  The  capitol,  the  public  buildings,  the  stores, 
and  the  residences  of  the  devoted  city,  are  draped  in  somber  black,  a  fit 
emblem  of  the  darkness  and  solitude  which  prevades  the  entire  community. 
Atlanta  is  not  alone  in  the  burden  of  grief  which  is  weighing  her  down. 
Not  a  city,  not  a  town,  not  a  village  or  hamlet  within  the  boundaries  of  the 
commonwealth,  but  what  is  equally  afflicted  in  the  death  of  Benjamin  H. 
Hill.  From  his  earliest  manhood  he  has  enjoyed  the  love  and  the  confidence 
of  the  people  ;  and  how  richly  he  deserved  this  homage  of  a  community,  a 
commonwealth,  a  life  of  labor  and  devotion,  such  as  has  been  rarely  given 
to  men  to  bestow,  best  attests.  Lying  on  his  bier  to-day,  thousands  upon 
thousands  of  eyes  will  moisten  with  sorrowful  tears  as  they  behold  for  the 
last  time  their  worshiped  senator.  To-morrow  will  ever  be  memorable  as 
the  day  of  that  funeral  at  which  our  entire  State  was  the  mourner.  Although 
every  bosom  to-day  heaves  with  grief  and  sorrow,  every  heart  bleeds  at  the 
loss  forever  of  our  idol  ;  yet  the  full  measure  of  the  calamity  sustained  can 
not  yet  be  realized.  It  will  require  time  and  reaction  from  the  excitement 
which  to-day  prevails,  time  to  think  and  consider  before  the  people  of 
Georgia  can  realize  to  its  full  extent  the  magnitude  of  the  calamity  which 
has  befallen  them.  The  ways  of  Providence  are  mysterious,  and  our  re 
ligion  teaches  us  to  bow  submissively  to  its  decrees.  Yet  how  difficult  to 
acquiesce  in  this  injunction.  In  the  zenith  of  his  manhood,  in  the  prime  of 
his  glory,  he  is  called  away  to  that  bourn  whence  no  traveler  returns, 
mourned  by  a  State  and  a  nation. 

HARTWELL    (GA.)   SUN". 

The  blow  has  fallen,  and  Georgia's  grandest  citizen  is  dead.  Our  pen  is 
too  weak  to  write  a  suitable  tribute  to  the  illustrious  dead,  and  we  will  not 
attempt  it.  But  every  heart  is  saddened  at  the  news  of  his  death.  A  grand 
man,  he  died  calmly,  grandly  ;  his  last  words  showing  the  grandeur  of  his 
faith  in  his  Heavenly  Father. 

WASHINGTON    (GA.)     GAZETTE. 

What  an  irreparable  loss  to  Georgia  and  the  Union — the  end  of  this 
grand  man,  whose  thrilling  eloquence  no  orator  has  ever  surpassed,  and 
whose  magnificent  intellect  has  left  its  indelible  impress  on  the  history  of  the 
world.  The  life  of  Ben  Hill  will  pass  into  the  classics.  He  was  a  man  who 
preserved  his  integrity  through  all  the  vicissitudes  of  an  upheaving  revolution 
and  a  disastrous  defeat  in  a  country  around  which  his  heartstring  were  bound 
so  closely.  Georgia  weeps,  and  well  she  may,  over  the  bier  of  her  noble  son. 

ALBANY    (GA.)    NEWS    AND    ADVERTISER. 

Although  the  death  of  Senator  Benjamin  Harvey  Hill  has  been  expected 
for  several  weeks  past,  the  news  which  came  by  telegraph  from  Atlanta  that 
he  had  breathed  his  last  was  a  great  shock  to  our  community,  and  a  sorrow 
that  entered  the  hearts  of  our  people  like  a  sudden  shaft  from  a  cruel  hand. 

Ben  Hill,  Georgia's  silver-tongued  orator,  the  South's  ablest  defender,  is 
no  more.  No  more  will  his  eloquent  voice  be  heard  upon  the  hustings,  nor 
in  defense  of  his  beloved  South,  in  the  halls  of  the  United  States  Senate. 
His  death  is  to  the  people  of  the  South  what  the  death  of  Stonewall  Jackson 
was  to  the  Southern  Confederacy — an  irreparable  loss;  and  there  is  no  man 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WAITINGS.  189 

in  Georgia  who  can  be  to  us  what  he  was  up  to  the  time  the  fatal  hand  of 
affliction  was  laid  so  heavily  upon  him,  and  he  was  compelled  to  quit  his  post 
of  duty  at  Washington  a  few  months  ago.  He  was  the  peer  of  any  man  in 
the  American  Congress,  and  had  the  courage  to  defend  his  people  and  the 
South  whenever  and  by  whomsoever  assailed. 

There  are  few  pens  capable  of  paying  a  just  tribute  to  Ben  Hill.  Ours 
will  not  presume  to  try.  We  can  only  mingle  our  tears  with  those  of  the 
thousands  who  weep  for  him  to-day,  and  embalm  his  virtues  and  brilliant 
career  in  life's  memory. 

EATONTON    MESSENGER. 

Ben  Hill  requires  no  eulogy  at  our  hands.  Our  pen  is  totally  unequal  to 
the  task  of  paying  just  tribute  to  one  whose  life  presented  in  every  attitude 
a  spectacle  of  grandeur  seldom  witnessed  in  an  age  like  this,  and  his  best 
panegyric  must  come  from  the  broken  words  of  love  for  his  life  and  sorrow 
for  his  death  that  escape  the  lips  of  every  Georgian.  The  past  few  decades 
have  presented  no  such  event  of  sorrow,  and  the  death  of  no  one  man  has 
so  solemnized  the  hearts  of  a  people  among  whom  he  lived  and  to  whom  he 
gave  his  almost  superhuman  powers.  The  assassination  of  President  Gar- 
tield  aroused  to  a  unit  the  sympathies  and  the  indignation  of  Georgians  ; 
but  the  silence  of  the  most  eloquent  tongue  in  American  politics,  the  decay 
of  an  intellect  that  has  seen  few  equals  and  met  no  superiors,  and  the  loss  of 
one  of  the  most  potential  powers  for  good  that  has  made  its  impress  upon 
the  footprints  of  the  nineteenth  century  must  constitute  a  sorrow  and  calam 
ity  that  cuts  deeper  among  his  own  people  than  the  death  of  a  President. 

The  Republic  will  mourn  the  death  of  Senator  Hill  as  a  calamity  over 
spreading  the  entire  country.  His  devotion  to  the  Union  and  his  states 
manlike  career  in  behalf  of  the  Union's  prosperity  and  good,  entitles  him  to 
the  respect  and  homage  of  an  American  people. 

The  South,  his  native  section,  must  mourn  him  as  a  man  who  has  been 
unceasingly  devoted  to  her  existence.  He  was  a  Southerner  in  the  days  of 
our  prosperity  ;  his  devotion  rose  to  the  summit  of  grandeur  in  the  days  of 
our  misfortune. 

Georgia,  the  State  of  his  nativity  and  his  love,  bows  under  the  calamity  of 
his  death.  His  place  in  our  highest  position  of  honor  will  be  supplied,  but 
as  long  as  two  generations  exist  it  will  not  be  filled.  We  must  look  to  some 
marvel  of  coming  generations  for  the  man  who  can  fill  Senator  Hill's  shoes. 


EXTRACTS  FROM  THE  SOUTHERN  PRESS  OUTSIDE  OF 

THE  STATE. 


NEW    ORLEANS    (LA.)    TIMES-DEMOCRAT. 

SOME  months  ago  Georgia's  great  orator,  whose  eloquence  had  spoken 
out  so  nobly  for  our  people,  and  whose  brave  and  courageous  defense 
of  Louisiana  in  the  hours  of  her  greatest  need,  of  her  suffering  and  her 
misery,  had  endeared  him  so  much  to  us,  found  that  his  tongue,  with 
which  he  had  lashed  hypocrites  and  defended  right  and  justice,  was 
threatened  with  that  fatal  and  mysterious  disease  of  cancer.  Ever  since, 
Senator  Ben  Hill,  the  foremost  statesman  that  the  South  ever  produced,  and 
among  the  ablest  and  strongest  men  in  Union,  has  been  dying. 

BALTIMORE    DAY. 

It  was  not  until  the  villainies  and  oppressions  of  Reconstruction  began 
in  the  South  that  the  name  of  Ben  Hill  became  familiar  to  the  whole  coun 
try.  From  that  time  until  long  after  a  care  for  his  physical  condition 
should  have  forbidden  his  attendance,  he  continued  at  Washington  in  the 
service  of  his  State,  the  most  prominent  of  her  representatives  in  either 
House,  making  for  himself  a  reputation  exceeded  by  none  of  the  great 
Georgians  whom  the  Empire  State  of  the  South  has  from  time  to  time 
commissioned  as  her  public  servants.  When  Blaine,  with  the  craftiness 
for  which  he  is  famous,  made  charges  against  the  honor  and  humanity  of 
the  Southern  people,  Ben  Hill  would  not  sit  silently  and  hear  those  he  loved 
\illified,  traduced,  and  libeled,  but  with  burning  words  of  indignation  he 
met  the  accusations  and  proved  their  falsity  without  stopping  to  ask  whether 
fools  or  fanatics  in  the  North  should  find  in  his  words  fuel  with  which  to 
feed  fat  the  grudge  of  their  hate.  The  people  of  his  State  and  the  whole 
South  will  look  back  now  with  gratitude  to  the  so-called  rashness  with 
which  he  ever  sprang  to  defend  them  from  charges  which  involved  their 
honor  and  good  name  ;  but  bravely  as  he  lived,  the  metal  of  his  courage 
was  never  fully  shown  until,  all  illusive  hopes  abandoned,  he  turned  and 
faced  the  torture  of  his  lingering  death.  The  annals  of  our  race  present  no 
higher  spectacle  of  courage  than  that  seen  in  the  quiet  home  in  which  this 
man  of  eager  words  and  earnest  deeds,  while  yet  in  the  years  which  should 
have  been  those  of  his  strength,  gave  up  activity,  honors,  and  life,  without 
a  murmur  or  regret  or  one  vain  struggle,  with  dignity,  cheerfulness,  and 
resignation. 

VICKSBURG  (MISS.)  COMMERCIAL. 

He  has  been  the  ablest  champion  of  democratic  principles  and  the  most 
earnest  advocate  and  eloquent  defender  of  the  ex-President  of  the  Confed 
erate  States  and  the  rights  of  the  South. 

190 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND    WRITINGS.  191 

• 

NEW  ORLEANS  (LA.)  PICAYUNE. 

Not  yet  fifty-nine  years  of  age,  the  foremost  lawyer  in  Georgia,  the  idol 
of  the  people,  whom  his  oratory  always  charmed  and  controlled,  it  seemed 
but  the  other  day  as  though  there  yet  remained  before  him  many  years  of 
zealous  service  in  the  national  forum  where  real  service  is  worth  something 
to  the  country. 

CHARLOTTE  (N.  C.)    OBSERVER. 

The  public  career  of  Mr.  Hill  is  well  known,  for  but  few  men  in  public 
life  had  attracted  more  attention  in  the  councils  of  the  nation  or  made  a 
more  brilliant  record,  honorable  alike  to  himself  and  to  the  State  which 
proudly  pointed  to  him  as  one  of  her  representatives.  Georgia  has  had  and 
may  have  other  great  men,  but  she  has  never  had  a  son  who  has  done  her 
more  honor,  or  in  whom  her  trust  was  more  worthily  bestowed,  than  in  the 
honest,  incorruptible,  fearless,  eloquent,  and  brilliant  Benjamin  H.  Hill, 
whose  death  she  mourns  to-day,  and  in  which  she  has  the  sympathy  of  all 
who  admire  chivalric  devotion  to  duty  and  honor  and  virtue.  Such  men 
die,  but  are  not  often  forgotten. 

LOUISVILLE  (KY.)   COURIER- JOURNAL. 

The  strong  man  has  gone,  with  the  brilliant,  alert  mind,  and  he  leaves  a 
vacancy  difficult  to  fill  in  the  really  small  group  of  our  public  men  posses 
sing  genuine  oratorical  talent.  Senator  Hill's  speeches  in  Congress  were 
always  good,  keen,  and  incisive.  He  met  and  parried  the  assaults  of  the 
Northern  demagogues  during  the  days  of  sectional  bitterness,  a  few  years 
back,  with  marked  ability.  He  had  great  distinction  as  a  lawyer,  and  no 
man  in  Congress  surpassed  him  in  legal  ability.  The  South  loses  in  him 
one  of  the  most  judicious  and  patient  of  champions,  and  the  country  cer 
tainly  loses  one  of  her  most  talented  and  patriotic  citizens. 

NASHVILLE  (TENN.)  WORLD. 

He  ranked  first  among  the  ablest  debaters  in  Congress,  and  his  ready 
wit,  caustic  and  scathing  sarcasm,  and  brilliant  eloquence  gained  for  him 
the  soubriquet  of  the  "  silver-tongued  orator  of  the  South."  His  services  to 
his  country  were  manifold  and  his  connection  with  the  political  history  of 
his  times  and  the  fortunes  of  his  section  gained  for  him  pre-eminent  ascen 
dency.  Georgia  will  long  mourn  her  dead  hero  and  embalm  his  memory  in 
the  innermost  shrine  of  her  heart. 

BALTIMORE  (»ID.)  SUN. 

Senator  Benjamin  H.  Hill,  whose  death  occurred  at  Atlanta,  Ga.,  will 
be  sincerely  mourned  throughout  the  whole  country.  He  was  greatly 
admired  in  the  North  as  well  as  in  the  South  for  his  brilliant  talents, 
while  his  courtesy  and  kindness  of  heart  won  for  him  hosts  of  friends 
among  those  who  differ  most  widely  from  him  in  political  opinion.  He 
was  a  man  of  strong,  earnest  convictions,  and  had  the  courage  to  express 
them  without  regard  to  immediate  consequences,  but  he  was  also  one  of 
the  most  generous  and  tolerant  of  men  toward  those  whose  opinions  did 
not  accord  with  his  own. 


192  SENATOR  B.   ff.   HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

In  the  Confederate  Senate  he  was  a  conspicuous  figure,  and  his  defense 
of  Jefferson  Davis  brought  him  into  sharp  antagonism  with  a  number  of  the 
leading  men  of  that  body.  In  the  House  of  Representatives  he  won  a 
national  reputation  as  a  ready  debater  and  courageous  party  leader,  and  when 
transferred  to  the  Senate  he  fully  sustained  the  fame  which  he  had  won  in 
the  House. 

MONTGOMERY  (ALA.)  TIMES. 

• 

An  orator  and  a  statesman,  he  led  men  and  molded  events  by  the  powers 
of  his  peerless  intellect,  for  the  prowess  of  his  arm  played  no  part  in  beating 
out  his  way  to  fame.  He  was  none  the  less  a  hero,  a  citizen  hero,  out  of 
whose  eloquent  eyes  a  great  soul  looked  upon  the  world  and  spoke  just 
enough  of  kinship  with  its  weakness  and  its  sin  to  make  men  love  him  as  a 
brother  while  they  venerated  him  as  a  leader.  His  heart  was  full  of  human 
nature,  its  joys  and  its  sorrows,  its  passions  and  its  aspirations,  and,  as  one 
grasping  his  birthright,  he  won  the  admiration  as  he  captured  the  hearts  of 
all  men.  His  crowning  virtue  was  his  wealth  of  patriotism.  The  word  has 
become  the  mouthing  cant  of  cheap  demagogues  and  mercenary  placemen, 
and  the  world  is  forgetting  its  primitive  truth  and  beauty.  But  in  him  it 
was  a  breathing  life,  instinct  with  freshness,  and  purity,  and  beauty,  as  in 
the  old  Roman  days  when  patriots  died  for  the  heritage  of  the  name.  He 
wrapped  his  country  in  his  heart  of  hearts  and  joyed  with  all  her  joys  and 
wept  with  all  her  sorrows,  and  trembled  at  the  thought  of  harm  to  her.  To 
make  his  country  rich,  and  prosperous,  and  great  ;  to  preserve  his  people's 
liberties  and  promote  their  happiness,  was  his  thought  by  day  and  dream  by 
night,  and  the  last  study  of  his  priceless  wisdom  was  to  solve  the  great  prob 
lem  that  threatens  her  future  of  to-day. 

NASHVILLE  (TENN.)  BANNER* 

His  public  life  was  teres  atque  rotundus — a  completed  volume.  His 
faults,  as  his  virtues,  were  those  of  a  sincere,  frank,  impulsive  man,  whose 
impulses  were  just  and  under  control  of  a  ripe  judgment.  Short  sight  called 
him  impracticable,  because  he  would  plant  for  to-morrow  where  short  sight 
demanded  instant  fruition,  and  sordidness  looked  only  to  the  usufruct  of 
politics.  He  was  willing  to  labor  for  the  coming  years  without  present 
returns,  and  it  is  a  credit  to  Georgia,  the  only  truly  progressive  State  in  the 
South,  that  he  has  been  uniformly  sustained.  Georgia  is  the  only  Southern 
State  which  preserved  the  seed  of  true  statesmanship  in  the  wreck  of  war 
and  the  scenes  which  followed  war.  Hill  was  the  best  of  her  statesmen. 
He  was  broad,  liberal,  progressive.  He  held  firmly  by  as  much  of  the  past 
as  should  be  ever  cherished.  He  allowed  no  man  to  asperse  the  honor  and 
the  patriotism  of  his  country  and  his  people.  He  met  with  stern  rebuke 
every  foul  imputation  upon  the  honor  of  those  who  did  well  to  fight,  did 
well  in  the  fight,  and  did  well  to  fail  in  securing,  but  gathered,  nevertheless, 
glorious  fruits  of  all  their  work.  He  never  paraded  these  memories  in 
politics.  He  forgot  the  past  in  the  duties  of  the  present,  while  treasuring 
them  as  a  people's  noblest  heritage.  He  was  the  noblest  champion  of  his 
people  attacked,  the  most  liberal  and  progressive  of  Southern  statesmen. 
He  was  not  a  Bourbon,  obstinate  fossil,  like  Toombs,  nor  a  charlatan  pro 
gressive,  like  Mahone,  or  Joe  Brown,  in  some  respects.  He  was  a  philo 
sophical  statesman,  who  recognized  the  present  as  descending  from  the  past, 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,   AND   WAITINGS.  193 

not  one  of  those  shallow  blabblers  who  think  oblivion  of  all  the  past  is 
necessary  to  progress;  who  would  sweep  away  the  very  foundation  beneath 
them  upon  which  their  progress  must  be  built  ;  nor  yet  one  of  those  who  sit 
hugging  the  delusive  phantoms  of  a  fading  past,  lost  to  all  realities  of  the 
living  present,  having  no  care  for  the  increasing  future.  Conservative  pro 
gressive  aptly  describes  Senator  Ben  Hill  as  a  public  man.  The  only  true 
conservatism  is  progressive  :  the  only  true  progressivism  is  conservative. 

SHELBINA    (MO.)    INDEX. 

After  a  living  death  of  several  months,  the  pure,  noble  soul  of  I£en  Hill 
took  its  flight  to  the  great  unknown  eternity  beyond.  His  death  was  re 
gretted  by  every  living  soul  save  himself,  who  gladly  welcomed  the  eternal 
rest  of  death. 

As  a  statesman  he  was  brave  and  sagacious  ;  as  a  political  opponent  he 
was  aggressive  and  daring  ;  and  when  his  large  heart,  which  ever  beat  in 
true  Southern  chivalry,  felt  the  jabs  and  insults  of  some  Northern  prostitute 
in  politics,  the  words  and  eloquence  of  Ben  Hill  were  all  fire  ;  as  a  senator, 
statesman,  counselor,  and  friend  his  words  were  full  of  wisdom  and  calm 
ness  ;  when  the  miseries  of  the  afflicted  and  the  sorrows  of  his  oppressed 
people  appealed  to  him  as  an  advocate,  his  tones  were  so  loving  and  tender 
as  to  touch  the  tenderest  chords  of  every  true  heart.  In  his  own  terrible 
suffering  with  that  dread  disease  (cancer),  for  which  human  science  has 
never  found  a  remedy,  he  displayed  that  Christian  forbearance,  faith,  and 
fortitude  possessed  only  by  the  true,  noble,  and  brave.  People  used  to 
praise  the  forbearance  of  Garfield  during  his  long  months  of  intense  suffer 
ing  ;  here  we  have  one  even  greater  than  he.  In  prosperity,  just  reaching 
the  years  of  usefulness,  surrounded  by  a  loving  family,  and  with  fame  at  his 
feet,  he  is  greatest  in  suffering  ;  as  a  few  hours  before  his  death  he  told  his 
son,  "  Of  all  his  days,  his  days  of  suffering  were  his  happiest."  Truer 
philosophy  or  "  grander  words  were  never  uttered  by  a  Plato  or  a  Socrates." 

Noble,  generous,  great-hearted  man.  Little  can  this  nation  spare  such  as 
thee.  His  silvery  tongue  is  forever  hushed  ;  his  kind,  generous  heart  has 
ceased  to  beat ;  his  words  of  wisdom  and  comfort  will  be  heard  no  more — 
Ben  Hill  is  dead.  But  his  pure  example,  his  honesty  of  purpose,  his  great 
faith  under  such  torturing  mental  sufferings  will  live  as  a  shining  example 
long1  after  his  mortality  has  crumbled  to  dust. 

HOUSTON  (TEX.)  DAILY  POST. 

The  long  agony  is  over  and  Benjamin  Harvey  Hill  is  dead.  One  of  the 
greatest  and  purest  men  that  America  has  ever  produced  has  departed  from 
his  earthly  scene  of  labor  and  has  entered  upon  the  experiences  of  that 
higher  sphere  for  which  he  was  well  prepared.  Since  the  days  of  Webster, 
Calhoun,  and  Clay,  the  country  has  seen  no  nearer  approximation  to  their 
forensic  altitude.  Men,  of  course,  will  be  swayed  in  their  judgments  as  to 
the  comparative  excellence  of  representative  characters  by  circumstances 
and  feeling,  but  at  the  South,  at  least,  the  opinion  of  the  pre-eminence  of 
Mr.  Hill  as  a  political  orator  will  be  but  slenderly  questioned,  while  his 
noble  purity  and  force  of  character  is  revered  throughout  the  land  that  he 
loved  so  well  and  served  so  well.  Indeed,  Mr.  Hill  was  a  man  of  so  intense 
and  magnetic  force,  that,  had  not  his  lot  been  cast  in  times  of  sectional 
strife,  his  reputation  would  have  been  as  wide  as  Clay,  and  his  death  would 


194  SENATOR  B.   H.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

have  been  as  sincerely  mourned  in  New  York  and  Boston,  as  at  Athens  and 
Houston. 

MOBILE  (ALA.)  BEGISTEB. 

Among  the  great  men  of  this  land,  and  especially  among  those  of  the 
South,  the  name  of  Benjamin  Harvey  Hill  will  ever  find  a  place.  His  career 
as  a  statesman  was  characterized  by  fearlessness  in  defense  of  what  he  felt 
to  be  the  right,  by  devotion  to  his  country,  and  by  an  eloquence  that  was 
matchless  in  the  Senate.  He  was  ever  foremost  in  defense  of  the  South  when 
attacked,  and  the  people  of  our  section  will  not  soon  forget  his  eloquent 
utterance.  But  Mr.  Hill  was  by  no  means  a  bitter  partisan.  He  believed 
in  the  Democratic  party  and  earnestly  sought  its  success,  and  he  loved 
Georgia  and  the  South  ;  but  in  addition  he  was  an  American  and  a  patriot. 
But  it  was  the  close  of  Mr.  Hill's  life  that  gave  it  its  chief  grandeur. 
Clouds  were  about  his  pathway  on  earth,  but  his  soul  was  bathed  in  the 
waves  of  light  that  flowed  from  the  golden  city.  Rarely  has  there  been 
witnessed  such  a  complete  resignation  to  the  will  of  the  Almighty,  such 
patience  under  suffering, — an  evidence  of  a  meek  and  quiet  spirit. 

MEMPHIS  (TENN.)  APPEAL. 

The  lightning  has  smitten  the  eagle  upon  his  cliff.  Benjamin  Harvey 
Hill,  United  States  Senator  from  Georgia,  died  at  his  residence  in  Atlanta,  and 
the  event  will  cause  a  profound  sensation  throughout  the  Union,  as  the 
deceased  was  one  of  the  greatest  of  American  intellects  and  was  a  conspicu 
ous  figure  in  the  Senate  and  before  the  whole  country.  His  life  was  pros 
perous  and  his  home  was  happy.  He  never  betrayed  a  friend.  He  never 
struck  an  enemy  in  the  back.  In  the  history  of  his  time  he  will  stand 
out  conspicuously.  His  name  will  be  associated  with  a  period  of  gigantic 
corruptions,  which  he  did  not  share.  He  was  surrounded  by  a  cluster  of 
politicians  whose  baseness  and  hypocrisy  he  did  not  emulate.  He  fought 
his  own  battle  right  out  from  the  shoulder,  giving  no  quarter  and  asking 
none.  He  died  in  the  midst  of  the  splendors  which  encircled  his  name. 
The  death  of  such  a  man  is  an  event.  He  was  a  power  in  the  land,  and  if 
he  had  lived  ten  years  longer,  his  statue  would  have  been  placed  in  the 
highest  niche  in  the  Pantheon  of  fame,  for  age  had  mellowed  a  nature  natu 
rally  fierce,  and  he  was  rapidly  developing  into  a  wise  counselor.  The 
political  enemies  of  Benjamin  H.  Hill  feared  him  more  than  any  man  in  the 
Senate,  and  they  will  be  the  first  to  acknowledge  his  greatness  and  join  in 
weaving  a  garland  to  his  fame.  The  Southern  people  have  lost  a  powerful 
arm  in  his  death,  and  an  eloquent  voice  ever  ready  to  defend  them.  The 
body  of  the  dead  senator  will  return  to  dust,  but  his  name  and  his  glory  will 
be  transmitted  to  the  remotest  generation. 

CHATTANOOGA  (TEISTN.)  TIMES 

i 

The  country  is  familiar  with  the  public  figure  of  the  dead  senator.  He 
was,  in  some  respects,  the  ablest  and  most  conspicuous  personage  in  Congress 
from  the  South.  As  a  debater  he  had  no  superior  and  few  equals  on  the 
floor  of  either  House.  His  "  smoking  out "  of  JVf ahone  is  still  fresh  in  recol 
lection  and  was  a  masterpiece  of  logic,  ridicule,  invective,  and  pathos,  under 
which  the  "  Virginia  Lucifer  "  writhed  and  fretted  for  weeks.  Mr.  Hill  was 
not  what  might  be  called  a  "  thoroughly  reliable >:  partisan.  His  head  and 
heart  were  both  too  large  and  active  for  true  blue  thick  and  thin  party  work. 


EXTRACTS  FROM  THE  PRESS  OF  THE  NORTH. 


BOSTON    POST. 

WHEN  the  war  was  over,  the  arena  of  public  debate  was  virtually  closed 
to  Southern  men,  for  confidence  was  a  plant  of  slow  growth,  and 
they  had  to  more  than  deserve  it  before  receiving  it.  Perhaps  it  is  not 
too  much  to  say  that  the  war  took  from  Senator  Hill's  career  at  least  a  dozen 
of  its  best  years,  and  yet  he  was  a  commanding  figure  in  the  Upper  House 
of  Congress  from  the  day  when  he  first  obtained  a  hearing  there  to  the  day 
when  he  left  it,  ringing  with  his  eloquent  voice  for  the  last  time.  His 
death  robs  the  councils  of  the  nation  of  a  brilliant  advocate  and  command 
ing  individuality. 

WASHINGTON    POST. 

During  the  past  few  years,  Mr.  Hill  has  had  a  steady  growth  in  the 
respect  of  the  whole  country.  His  patriotic  bearing  in  the  House  and  Sen 
ate  ;  his  calm,  clear,  convincing  statements  of  the  views  and  feelings  of  the 
Southern  people,  of  their  desire  to  do  their  full  share  in  promoting  national 
harmony  and  prosperity,  made  a  deep  impression  on  the  public  mind.  Ani 
mosity  died  out,  and  respect  came  in  its  place,  and  since  the  stricken  senator 
retired  to  his  home,  there  to  certainly  await  the  final  scene,  the  hearts  of 
the  people  have  been  deeply  touched.  Mr.  Hill's  public  services  as  states 
man  were  great,  but  they  were  not  lost  benefactions  to  mankind.  He  has 
shown  the  world  how  a  great  mind  can  conquer  most  awful  surroundings, 
and  pass  away  from  earth  in  such  sweet  dignity  as  has  rarely  graced  the 
end  of  any  man.  . 

PHILADELPHIA    TIMES. 

Not  the  State  of  Georgia  alone,  nor  the  South  alone,  if  sectional  divis 
ions  must  still  be  recognized,  but  the  whole  country  suffers  a  loss  in  the 
death  of  Benjamin  H.  Hill.  He  was  one  of  the  strongest  men  of  his  gener 
ation,  with  capacities  of  public  usefulness  that  were  not  bounded  by  sec 
tional  lines.  Earnest,  eloquent,  impulsive,  and  always  true  of  heart.  The 
South  might  well  be  content  to  recognize  him  as  a  representative  man.  He 
was  never  a  wire  worker.  He  opposed  secession,  while  he  could  ;  went  with 
his  State  and  served  it  and  the  Confederacy  wisely  while  the  Confederacy 
lasted,  and  then  accepted  the  inevitable  and  frankly  devoted  his  ability, 
experience,  and  eloquence  and  influence  to  the  restoration  of  peace,  pros 
perity,  and  cordial  union.  That  he  should  find  himself  opposed  and  mis 
represented  by  jealous  partisans  was  inevitable,  and  scheming  politicians 
did  what  they  could  to  drive  him  back  into  Bourbonism  ;  but  through  all  the 
controversies  of  the  last  few  years  "  Ben  "  Hill  has  steadily  made  his  way 

195 


196  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

in  the  public  esteem  and  confidence,  and  in  this  last  year  of  his  patient  suf 
fering  has  added  to  this  large  measure  of  affectionate  admiration.  Georgia 
will  treasure  his  memory  as  one  of  the  most  brilliant  of  her  many  brilliant 
sons,  and  in  her  loss  she  will  have  the  cordial  sympathy  of  the  whole  Ameri 
can  people. 

NEW   YORK    MAIL   AND    EXPRESS. 

A  great  and  heroic  soul  has  been  released  from  the  intense,  constant,  and 
prolonged  agonies  of  an  incurable  disease,  Senator  Hill,  of  Georgia,  found 
happy  escape  from  his  body,  early  this  morning.  His  disease,  cancer  of  the 
throat,  had  for  several  months  been  of  the  most  painful  character.  The 
only  relief  he  got  was  that  obtained  by  the  constant  use  of  opiates.  The 
only  consolation  he  had,  aside  from  the  tenderest  of  loving  care  and  the 
sympathies  of  political  friends  and  foes  all  over  the  country,  was  that  which 
he  found  in  the  Christian's  faith  and  hope.  The  consolation  has  never  been 
stronger  in  any  recorded  case  of  modern  times  that  we  know  of.  The  most 
brilliant  and  ablest  of  the  Southern  senators,  one  of  the  most  successful  of 
her  politicians,  one  of  the  ablest  lawyers  and  judges  of  evidence,  found  that 
at  the  time  when  he  knew  that  only  constant  suffering  remained  between 
him  and  the  end  of  earth,  he  could  say,  with  as  much  assurance  as  any 
apostle  or  martyr,  "  I  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth,"  and  this  faith  car 
ried  him  triumphantly  through  an  ordeal  even  more  severe  and  prolonged 
than  that  which  Garfield  bore  so  heroically  and  with  the  same  faith. 

Mr.  Hill's  public  career  is  known  to  the  whole  country.  Few  were  his 
equals  in  debate.  He  met  few  peers  as  a  lawyer.  He  stormed  the  highest 
pinnacles  of  success  by  pure  force  of  will,  pluck,  and  brains.  He  accepted 
in  good  faith  the  results  of  the  war.  He  was  a  progressive  man  in  his  in 
stincts.  But  the  noblest  part  of  his  career  was  just  that  which,  to  a  selfish 
materialist,  would  have  afforded  sufficient  provocation  for  self-destruction. 
With  death  staring  him  constantly  in  the  face,  disabled,  arrested  in  the  full 
ness  of  his  career  and  laid  aside,  tortured  by  indescribable  agonies,  the  faith 
of  Ben  Hill  in  his  Redeemer  made  him  the  victor,  and  made  his  example  a 
powerful  antidote  to  the  specious  unbelief  and  materialism  that  are  so 
prevalent  at  present.  He  still  lives.  And  the  country  is  incalculably  the 
better  for  a  career  so  nobly  ended. 

TJTICA    OBSEEVER. 

Inexpressibly  sad  and  touching  have  been  the  last  days  of  the  Georgia 
tribune,  who,  abandoning  finally  the  hope  of  recovery  at  Washington,  went 
home  to  his  people  to  die.  The  warmth  and  fervor  of  the  greeting  Georgia 
gave  him  have  found  a  reflection  in  the  press  of  the  whole  land,  and  North 
ern  people  have  learned  from  it  to  think  tenderly  and  solicitously  of  the 
man  who  was  so  beloved  at  home.  Here  in  the  North  we  will  all  speak  as 
respectfully  and  regretfully  of  his  departure  as  will  those  of  his  own  State 
and  section.  North  and  South,  Republicans  and  Democrats,  will  alike  say 
over  his  grave  that  Ben  Hill  was  an  honest  and  manly  man,  an  earnest  and 
faithful  servant  of  the  people,  and  a  true  American. 

CINCINNATI    ENQUIRER. 

The  flags  over  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  floated  at  half- 
mast  this  morning,  indicating  plainly  to  those  left  in  Washington  that 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WAITINGS.  197 

Senator  Ben  Hill,  of  Georgia,  had  passed  away.  For  months  past  his  life 
has  been  gradually  wasting  away  from  the  ravages  of  a  disease  which  defied 
the  skill  of  surgery  and  medicine.  For  days  and  weeks  he  had  been  calmly 
awaiting  the  inevitable  end.  His  death  removes  one  of  the  most  conspicu 
ous  figures  in  modern  politics  and  hushes  a  voice  of  powerful  eloquence.  In 
the  contest  between  the  Republicans  and  Democrats  which  caused  the  noted 
dead-lock  in  the  Senate  immediately  following  General  Garfield's  inaugura 
tion,  Mr.  Hill  took  a  most  prominent  part.  He  was  the  real  leader  of  his 
party  in  that  fight.  Although  the  disease  which  sapped  his  strength  and 
carried  him  to  the  grave  had  then  begun  its  deadly  work,  there  was  no  out 
ward  evidence  of  it.  Of  all  his  compeers  in  the  Senate  he  was  the  last  to 
have  been  selected  by  human  vision  as  the  first  of  that  body  to  die. 

One  of  the  senators  whom  visitors  to  the  Capitol  invariably  asked  to 
have  pointed  out  to  them  was  Senator  Hill,  of  Georgia.  He  won  his  spurs 
in  political  debate  years  ago  in  the  House,  and  in  the  Senate  he  maintained 
his  fame  as  one  of  the  ablest  orators  and  readiest  debaters  in  public  life. 
Mr.  Hill  was  one  of  the  few  public  men  who  retained  the  habit  of  speaking 
extemporaneously.  He  never  read  his  speeches,  no  matter  how  important 
the  subject  or  how  much  time  he  might  consume.  He  never  spoke  from 
manuscript,  and  rarely  ever  used  written  notes.  He  possessed  a  wonderful 
memory,  and  would  treasure  in  it  all  the  points  of  an  intended  speech.  He 
was  ready,  prompt,  and  incisive,  and  he  and  Mr.  Elaine  frequently  antago 
nized  each  other  in  the  Senate.  Mr.  Hill  was  a  man  of  genial  nature  and 
kind  disposition,  though  of  strong  passions  and  determined  will.  His  per 
sonal  qualities  were  recognized  during  his  illness,  and  before  it  assumed  a 
necessarily  fatal  shape,  by  a  joint  letter  from  his  brother  senators,  signed 
by  every  one  of  them,  assuring  him  of  their  regard  and  sympathy. 

THE    FRANKFORT  (iND.)  BANNER. 

The  South  loses  one  of  its  wisest  leaders  in  the  death  of  Senator  B.  H. 
Hill  of  Georgia.  He  was  originally  a  Whig.  He  was  carried  into  the  re 
bellion  by  the  maelstrom  of  excitement,  and  after  the  war  he  accepted  the 
results  as  settled,  and  expressed  an  earnest  desire  to  aid  in  building  up  a 
united  country.  He  had  few  faults,  and  his  patient  endurance  of  never  ceas 
ing  pain,  and  his  heroic  meeting  with  the  dread  messenger  death,  won  for 
him  the  respect  of  every  American.  He  was  a  man  of  convictions,  fearless 
in  advocating  them,  and  ever  loyal  to  what  he  conceived  to  be  his  duty. 
He  died  in  the  prime  of  life,  in  the  possession  of  all  his  faculties,  and  his  last 
days  were  his  most  peaceful  ones.  Quick  tempered,  he  was  gentle  as  a 
woman.  Though  in  the  rebellion,  he  ardently  desired  a  united  country,  and 
Indianians  mourn  with  the  South  their  great  loss. 

SPRINGFIELD    (MASS.)    REPUBLICAN. 

The  event  will  cause  profound  sorrow  throughout  his  native  State,  where 
Hill  was  a  popular  idol,  much  as  Charles  Simmer  used  to  be  in  Massachusetts. 
In  many  respects  Hill  was  wonderfully  endowed  for  public  service.  Tall,  of 
fine  presence,  with  a  mobile  face,  and  ready  command  of  language,  alert, 
trained  in  debate  and  thought,  he  was  earnest  and  at  times  most  powerful. 
As  a  leader  and  manager  of  men,  Hill  was  more  brilliant  than  his  con 
temporary  in  Georgia  politics  and  the  United  States  Senate,  Joseph  E. 
Brown. 


198  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 


WASHINGTON    (D.  C.)    CRITIC. 

Ben  Hill  was  one  of  the  men  whom  the  country  could  ill  afford  to  lose. 
The  faults  he  had  were  those  common  to  men  of  big,  active  brains,  and  dis 
played  his  excess  of  manhood  rather  than  the  want  of  it  in  any  respect.  In 
his  pursuit  of  power  he  was  bold,  somewhat  heedless  of  the  feelings  of 
smaller  men  who  got  in  his  way,  and  in  the  heat  of  contest  he  struck,  right 
and  left,  heavy  blows.  But  fierce  and  aggressive  as  his  nature  was,  vindic- 
tiveness  of  vengeance  found  no  lodgment  in  his  mind,  and  it  was  his  habit 
to  leave  all  his  feuds  on  the  field  where  he  had  fought.  Personally,  Ben  Hill 
was  a  companionable,  likeable  man,  toward  whom  it  was  well-nigh  impos 
sible  to  harbor  resentment,  and  from  whom  it  was  impossible  to  withhold 
admiration. 

In  his  public  capacity  he  was  a  man  of  the  times  in  which  he  lived. 
Joined  to  no  idols  and  wedded  to  no  traditions,  he  was  ever  ready  to  enter 
tain  innovation  and  tolerate  new  departures.  Intensely  devoted  to  the 
practical  re-establishment  of  the  unity  of  the  Union,  and  to  the  resurrection 
of  the  material  fortunes  of  his  prostrate  section,  Ben  Hill's  vote  was  ever 
heard  in  favor  of  advanced  policy  and  progressive  legislation. 

The  influence  of  such  a  man  for  good  and  wisdom  upon  the  rising  genera 
tion  of  intellect  could  not  be  overestimated.  He  and  those  who  co-operated 
with  him  were  slowly  but  surely  training  up  a  new  school  of  public  senti 
ment  in  the  South,  whose  dominance  at  an  early  day  promised  the  happiest 
results.  As  we  said,  the  country  could  ill  afford  to  lose  such  a  man.  But 
we  have  the  satisfaction  of  reflecting  that  he  has  done  his  work  well — so  well 
that  it  will  live  after  him  and  go  on  profiting  almost  as  much  by  the  memory 
of  his  precept  and  example  as  by  the  living  demonstration.  We  had  hoped 
to  write  a  great  many  things  about  Ben  Hill  before  penning  his  obituary. 
But  it  was  willed  otherwise.  Peace  to  his  ashes.  Honor  to  his  name. 

PHILADELPHIA    (PA.)    PRESS. 

The  death  of  Senator  Hill,  of  Georgia,  is  a  great  loss  to  his  State  and  his 
country  ;  the  greater  because  the  mellowing  influence  of  time  and  the  drift 
of  events  had  begun  to  place  the  man  before  the  country  in  a  new  light. 
The  seeming  development  was  really  a  return  to  his  earlier  and  better  self. 
Mr.  Hill  was  a  Democrat  under  protest,  a  Bourbon  by  accident.  His  first 
appearance  in  politics  was  in  opposition  to  the  Democracy,  an  opposition 
which  he  maintained  with  all  the  ardor  of  his  aggressive  nature  through  local 
contests  and  national  campaigns,  first  as  follower,  afterward  as  leader,  pur 
suing  it  into  the  Secession  Convention  of  his  State,  and  battling  against  it 
there  until  resistance  was  swept  away  by  a  maddened  majority.  The  war 
over,  the  white  men  of  the  South,  having  been  fused  into  a  common  opposi 
tion  to  the  new  order,  Mr.  Hill  stood  with  his  people  against  reconstruction, 
but  was  in  advance  of  the  mass  of  them  in  accepting  the  results  of  the  war. 
But  on  this  very  question  he  showed  one  of  the  strong  and  admirable  traits 
of  his  character.  When  the  Reconstruction  acts  had  passed  he  recognized 
the  commanding  voice  of  Congress,  and  gave  to  their  support  the  weight  of 
his  influence  and  eloquence.  He  believed  in  the  maintenance  of  the  law, 
however  unpalatable. 

An  honest  man  and  an  able  lawyer,  an  orator  of  high  order  and  lover  of 


HI8  LIFE,  SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  199 

his  reunited  country  has  gone  from  us  ;  a  man  whose  public  career  was  embar 
rassed  by  a  local  sentiment  which  he  could  not  drive  but  strove  to  lead  ;  who 
passed  away  before  he  had  developed  to  the  world  the  best  that  was  in  him. 
Kind  feelings  and  sincere  regret  will  follow  the  dead  Georgia  senator  to  his 
grave. 

NEW   YORK    SUN. 

His  death  removes  one  of  the  most  distinguished  and  familiar  figures  in 
Washington  life.  He  was  not  a  man  who  hid  his  talents  or  his  frailties 
under  a  bushel,  and  his  career  had  a  human  interest  which  attached  to  but 
few  other  members  of  the  Senate.  With  his  death  there  passes  away  another, 
and  almost  the  last  of  that  extraordinary  group  of  men  which  made  the  con 
flicts  in  the  Forty-fifth  and  Forty-sixth  Congresses  so  notable.  A  visitor  to 
the  Senate  Chamber  now  notices  the  absence  of  Conkling,  Elaine,  Thurman, 
Carpenter,  Harnlin,  and  Hill,  all  of  whom  took  a  conspicuous  part  in  those 
controversies,  but  none  a  more  brilliant  and  influential  part  than  the  sharp- 
eyed,  emphatic  senator  from  Georgia.  Of  those  leaders,  Beck,  Hoar,  and 
Edmunds  are  now  almost  the  only  senators  of  note  who  remain.  Among 
senators  he  was  personally  very  popular,  and  the  round  robin  letter  of  sym 
pathy  which  they  sent  him,  and  in  which  tribute  Senator  Hoar  took  the 
initiative,  expressed  the  sincere  feelings  of  his  colleagues.  This  letter  gave 
Senator  Hill  the  greatest  pleasure,  and  did  much  to  sustain  him  in  his  last 
illness. 

CINCINNATI    TIMES-STAR. 

The  nation  had  become  so  familiar  with  his  sufferings,  which  were  so 
intense  and  which  were  borne  with  a  patience  that  marked  the  greatness  of 
the  man,  that  the  announcement  of  his  death  falls  upon  almost  every  com 
munity  like  a  death  in  their  midst.  Since  the  war  Senator  Hill's  policy  has 
been  one  of  peace,  progress,  and  reconciliation,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  to  him,  as  much  as  any  other  man,  Georgia  is  indebted  for  the  wave  of 
prosperity  that  is  now  sweeping  over  the  State.  His  services  and  his  suffer 
ings  will  live  long  in  the  memory  of  Georgians. 


POEMS. 


ON  THE  PORTALS. 

Tenderly  inscribed  to  Georgia's  dying  Senator,  by  John  W.  Campitt,  of  Illinois, 
Counselor-at-Law. 

I  am  weary  of  my  burden 

And  fain  would  rest ; 
For  the  somber  winds  are  sighing, 
And  my  fondest  hopes  are  dying, 
And  like  autumn  leaves  are  lying 

On  earth's  cold  breast. 

And  I  hear  the  voices  calling, 

Sweet,  soft,  and  low  ; 
And  their  plaintive  tones  are  pleading, 
While  the  day  of  life  is  speeding, 
And  worldly  scenes  receding, 

For  me  to  go. 

Come  with  us  across  the  border, 

Seek  rest  profound  ; 
Where  no  somber  winds  are  sighing, 
Where  no  hopes  and  joys  are  dying, 
Where  no  dream  of  love  is  lying 

Dead  upon  the  ground. 

We  will  show  a  light  bright  burning 

Like  a  golden  star  ; 
'Tis  a  hope  you  one  day  buried, 
In  the  busy  world  all  hurried, 
But  became  the  resurrected 

To  shine  thus  afar  ! 

We  will  show  you  Heaven's  morning — 

A  never  ending  day  ; 
Where  the  softest  rays  are  shining 
And  the  blossoms  sweet  entwining ; 
Where  the  angels  are  divining 

Every  thought  upon  the  way. 

200 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND    WRITINGS.  201 

Every  leaf  upon  its  shore-lines 

Is  a  gem  ; 

Not  a  withered  one  is  drooping, 
While  the  hand  of  love  is  looping 
And  into  garlands  grouping 

All  of  them. 

In  that  world  there  is  no  sorrow, 

Not  a  tear  ; 

Never  comes  the  broken-hearted, 
From  whose  eager  life  departed 
The  hopes  that  once  had  started, 

Fond  and  dear  ! 

Not  a  storm-cloud  ever  gathers 

On  the  air  ; 

Only  summer  clouds  are  drifting, 
And  summer  breezes  sifting, 
And  sweetest  perfumes  lifting, 

From  gardens  fair. 

Only  music  soft  and  melting 

Soothes  the  soul  ; 
And  its  billows  mild  and  wooing, 
With  a  gentle  hand  undoing 
All  the  cares  that  were  bestrewing 

Each  earthly  goal. 

Lead  me  to  that  land  of  beauty, 

So  I  may  abide  ; 

Lead  me  where  the  flowers  are  blooming, 
Where  the  music  mild  is  wooing, 
Where  the  hand  of  love  is  moving 

On  every  tide. 

Like  a  little  child  I'll  follow 

Swift  after  thee  ; 
To  the  land  of  never  weeping, 
Where  my  Father's  love  is  keeping 
Mortal  8ouls  who  failed  in  reaping 

Earthly  ecstasy. 

I'll  take  my  burden  for  a  pillow, 

And  lie  down  to  rest ; 
God's  love  shall  dwell  beside  me, 
And  no  clouds  shall  ever  hide  me 
From  the  loving  ones  that  guide  me 

To  the  portals  of  the  blest. 


202  SENATOR  3.  H.  BILL,    OP  GEORGIA. 


FRONTING   THE    SHADOW. 

In  one  of  Mr.  James  R.  Randall's  graphic  Washington  letters  he  details  an  interview 
with  Senator  Hill,  yi  the  course  of  which,  referring  to  his  present  condition,  the  senator 
spoke  as  follows  : 

"  If  I  recover,  it  is  well.  If  I  die,  it  is  also  well.  While  I  think  it  strange  that  a  man 
whose  constitution  was  formed  by  physical  labor  on  a  farm,  and  who,  up  to  a  year  ago, 
never  had  a  day  of  ill  health,  should  be  afflicted  with  an  inexplicable  disorder  of  the  blood, 
I  resign  myself  into  the  hands  of  my  Creator,  who  will  do  with  me  what  seems  best  to 
Him,  and  either  raise  me  up  to  further  usefulness  or  summon  me  away.  I  await  with 
patience  either  event." 

Oft  hast  thou  triumphed  in  the  keen  debate  ; 
Lightened  and  thundered  through  the  Senate  hall ; 
Now  o'er  thee  clouds  of  muffled  silence  fall, 
And  by  the  flickering  Future's  veiled  gate 
A  somber  shadow  seems  to  watch  and  wait  ! 
Still,  round  thy  House  of  Life,  from  wall  to  wall, 
Dost  thou  not  hear  the  golden  trumpet  call 
To  those  hijjh  lists  which  gird  the  strifes  of  state  ? 

• 

The  old  instinct  stirs  !  the  ancient  warrior  heat 
Flushes  thy  blood  !  and  ne'er  (thou  know'st  it)  yet 
Have  thy  strong  pulses  felt  a  loftier  beat, 
Nor  nerve  nor  brain  to  lordlier  praise  been  set. 
Come,  lift  thy  weapon  !     Heaven  !  what  spell  is  here? 
Our  Launcelot's  hand  but  meets  a  phantom  spear  ! 

His  firm  hand  drops.     Across  his  face  a  line 
Of  furrowing  anguish  flashes  to  dark  flame. 
Dear  to  his  soul  is  action,  dear  is  fame. 
"  What,  must  I  rest,"  he  murmured,  "  lost,  supine, 
While  other's  drink  of  Glory's  radiant  wine  ? 
Yea,  if  God  will,"  in  softened  accents  came  ; 
"  To  Him  I  yield  life,  honor,  purpose,  name, 
Kneel  to  His  wisdom,  worship  at  His  shrine." 
Ah,  chastened  heart,  these  words  of  simple  trust, 
Are  nobler  than  thy  lordlier  speech  before  ! 
They  mount  on  wing  of  Pentecostal  fire. 
And  when  yon  Senate  halls  are  blackened  dust, 
May  crown  the  fullness  of  thy  soul's  desire, 
With  peace  unknown  by  mortal  sea  or  shore. 

PAUL  HAMILTON  HAYNE. 
COPSE  HILL,  GA. 


THE  RIVER. 

The  follow::-1  -  beautiful  poem  was  written  by  theaccomplished  wife  of  Senator  Hill's 
son,  Mr.  B.  H.  Hill,  Jr.  It  was  written  apropos  of  Senator  Hill's  sickness  and  in  view  of 
his  approaching  death. — Journal. 

Oh,  rugged  river  !  restless  river  ! 
River  of  years — river  of  tears — 
Thou  river  of  Life  ! 


fflS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND    WRITINGS.  203 

River  of  tears  !     Yet  o'er  thy  bosom  Joy,  as  a  bird  flashes  its  gaudy  wing, 
And  drinks  its  draught  of  ecstasy  from  out  thy  crystal  spring. 

Oh,  sunlit  river  !  shadowy  river  ! 
River  of  gladness — river  of  sadness — 
Thou  river  of  Life  ! 

River  of  gladness  !     Yet  o'er  the  blue  of  the  beautiful  sky  floats  a  cloud. 
Out  of  whose  fleecy  whiteness  the  Loom  of  God  is  weaving  a  shroud. 

Oh,  beautiful  river  !  while  the  star  of  youth  is  glowing. 

From  the  silver  sprinkled  sky  ; 
River  of  Life  !  when  health's  elixir  flowing 

Paints  thy  waters  its  rosy  dye. 

Sunlit  river  !  when  the  days  are  full  of  peace, 

And  the  calm  of  the  song  the  river  sings, 

And  the  quiet  joy  the  lullaby  brings, 
We  feel  will  never  cease. 

And  while  the  waters  glow  and  glisten, 
Ah  !  how  seldom  do  we  listen 

To  the  turning  of  the  ponderous  wheel  of  Time. 
Over  whose  granite  side  are  rushing 

The  waves  of  the  river  in  a  symphony  sublime  ! 

But  when  the  waters  are  black  and  bleeding, 

Dyed  with  dread  Disease's  breath, 
And  we  feel  the  river  leading: 

To  the  fathomless  sea  of  Death — 

Then,  ah  !  then,  in  our  agony  of  soul 

We  cry,  "  Oh  !  wheel  of  Time,  one  moment  stay ! 

Turn  back  the  river,  and  cease  to  roll 
For  a  life  we  love  is  passing  away." 

But  God  is  the  Miller,  and  the  wheel  is  turning, 
Though  Grief's  hot  irons  our  hearts  are  burning. 
And  the  river's  song — is  only  a  moan, 
And  the  grinding  wheel — sounds  a  groan. 

•  ••••• 

But  from  out  our  midnight  gloom 

Look  up  !     God  knoweth  best. 
See  the  life  we  love  as  it  catches  the  bloom 

Of  infinite  radiance  and  rest  ! 

Its  waters  have  mingled  with  the  crystal  stream 

Flowing  so  close  to  the  throne, 
And  the  waves  have  caught  the  golden  gleam, 

And  the  river's  voice,  God's  tender  tone. 


204  SENATOR  B.   H.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

And  the  river  in  heaven  in  its  crystal  calm 
Found  its  way  through  the  golden  bars, 
Flowing  upward — beyond  the  garden  of  stars — 
To  the  feet  of  God  and  His  lamb. 

Oh,  royal  river  !  radiant  river  ! 
River  of  Light — river  of  Life — 
Thou  river  of  God  ! 


"  ALMOST  HOME  ! ' 

Last  Words  of  Senator  Benjamin  H.  Hill. 

"  Almost  home  !  '      Thus  spake  with  resignation 

Divinely  meek,  the  South's  illustrious  son, 
Drinking  the  dregs  of  mortal  pain's  potation, 

With  all,  save  death's  supremest  suffering,  done  ; 
The  splendor  of  his  days  was  swift  declining, 

Fast  fell  upon  his  path  the  night  of  death, 
Yet  still  one  steadfast  star  for  him  was  shining 

Amid  the  gloom — the  star  of  Christian  faith. 

"  Almost  home  !  '      I  see  the  beacon  burning  ! 

The  home-bound  sailor  sings  abreast  the  bay  ; 
"  Almost  home  ! '      The  weary  child,  returning 

From  the  fields  of  frolic,  murmurs  on  the  way. 
Sweet  words  of  cheer  are  they,  on  land  or  ocean, 

And  like  a  blessing  to  our  hearts  they  come, 
But  who  can  measure  the  sublime  emotion, 

The  transport,  of  the  Christian's  "  Almost  home  I  '* 

"  Almost  home  ! '      The  light  of  life  was  fading, 

The  glory  of  the  world  grew  wan  and  dim, 
Its  fame  or  shame,  its  praise  or  its  unbraiding, 

What,  in  that  awful  hour,  were  these  to  him  ? 
Hushed  the  majestic  voice  whose  mighty  thunder, 

Reverberating  'neath  the  Senate's  dome, 
Was  wont  to  fill  men's  hearts  with  awe  and  wonder — 

It  could  but  breathe  in  whispers,  "  Almost  home  ! ' 

But  such  a  whisper  !     Fame  in  all  her  sounding, 

Triumphant  music  hath  no  tones  like  these, 
With  bliss  surcharged,  with  ecstasy  abounding, 

A  wondrous  anthem  of  immortal  peace. 
Strange,  passing  strange.     Death  gave  for  his  adorning 

The  grandest  crown  of  all  his  glorious  past, 
And  like  a  star  that  melts  into  the  morning 

Heaven  took  his  soul — and  he  was  at  home  at  last. 

CHARLES  W.  HUBNER. 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS  205 


ALMOST  HOME! 

Where  moaning  rolls  the  troubled  wave, 
Whose  tempest-tortured  waters  lave 
Life's  furthest  shore,  his  spirit  stands 
Half  pausing  on  the  crumbling  sands. 
Exultant  words  of  triumph  wrung 
In  joy  from  that  long  silent  tongue, 
He  looks  beyond  the  tossing  foam 
And  sweetly  murmurs,  "  Almost  Home  ! ' 

No  more  with  woe  and  weakness  cursed — 

Disease  and  death  have  done  their  worst ; 

The  dream  of  life  is  left  behind, 

Though  near  are  hearts  whose  cords  are  twined 

Around  his  own.     Forgetful  quite, 

His  kindling  eye  reflects  the  light 

Resplendent  from  the  radiant  dome 

Of  heaven.     He  whispers,  "Almost  home  ! ' 

All  heedless  of  the  winds  that  wail 
Along  the  lone  and  shadowy  vale, 
And  recking  not  the  storms  that  sweep 
The  desert  strand,  or  eyes  that  weep 
Salt  dews  in  bitterest  anguish  shed, 
Blent  with  the  death  damps  on  his  head. 
Hark  !     Softly  through  the  gathering  gloom 
The  tremulous  accents,  "  Almost  home  ! ': 

As  when  among  the  shivering  leaves 
The  parting  sigh  of  autumn  grieves, 
So  comes  the  plaintive,  shuddering  gasp, 
And  snaps  in  twain  the  golden  clasp. 
The  boatman  plies  his  muffled  oar, 
The  bark  glides  quickly  from  the  shore, 
And  from  the  faltering  lips  there  come 
The  dying  echoes,  "  Almost  home  ! r 

No  more  with  pain  or  passion  blind, 

That  kingly  spirit,  unconfined 

By  earthly  fetters,  bolts  or  bars, 

Victorious  mounts  beyond  the  stars, 

And  winged  its  flight  with  undimmed  eyes 

Across  the  plains  of  Paradise, 

In  freedom  evermore  to  roam — 

Not  "  almost "  now,  but  quite  "  at  home  ! ' 

MONTGOMERY  M.  FOLSOM. 


206  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

THE  FALLEN  SHAFT. 

Lines  on  the  late  Senator  Hill,  of  Georgia. 

Alone  the  shaft  of  granite  stood, 

And  raised  it  head  on  high  ; 
No  rival  in  its  neighborhood 

Dared  with  its  grandeur  vie. 

Among  the  shining  stars  its  crown 

With  lustrous  glory  shone  ; 
With  splendor  seen  afar,  and  down 

Where  waves  did  fret  and  moan. 

Men  wondered,  as  it  met  their  gaze, 

And  made  the  welkin  ring 
With  loud  acclaim,  and  words  of  praise, 

Words  such  as  poets  sing. 

V 

Full  long  the  stately  shaft  defied 

The  work  of  all  the  years  ; 
Men  thought  it  proof  'gainst  time  and  tide, 

And  smiled  away  their  fears. 

But  all  at  once  the  thunder's  blight 

Shattered  the  granite  stone  ; 
'Gainst  all  save  this,  its  matchless  might 

Had  royally  held  its  own. 

Men  mourned  their  idol  lost — when  higher, 

And  in  the  self-same  place, 
There  darted  up  a  pillared  fire — 

Celestial  sign  of  grace. 

WALLACE  PUTNAM  REED. 


FALLEN  !  —  RISEN  ! 

On  the  Death  of  Senator  Hill,  of  Georgia. 

Fallen !     Fallen  ! 
The  stateliest  oak  on  the  hill-side 

Has  crashed  to  the  quivering  lea, 
While  the  echoes  by  field  and  rill  tide, 

Roll  down  to  the  troubled  sea  ; 
Or  rise,  till  the  Heavens  awaken, 
And  their  startled  spaces  afar 
Would  seem  by  the  tumult  shaken, 
Which  follows  a  bursting  star  ! 

Ah,  me  ! 

How  low  is  the  crown  of  the  giant  tree  ! 
How  fallen  !  fallen  !  fallen  ! 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  207 

The  eagle  that  soared  thro'  the  azure, 

By  a  God-like  will  possessed, 
With  truth  as  the  grand  emblazure 

Of  his  proud,  puissant  crest, 
In  his  loftiest  flight  was  haunted 

By  the  shadow  of  blasting  blight, 
And  saw — but  with  eyes  undaunted — 

His  noontide  change  to  night, 

From  the  beckoning  sun, 
To  the  web  death's  ebon  loom  had  spun, 

The  woven  glooms  of  a  place  of  tombs, 
He  hath  fallen,  fallen,  fallen  ! 

Yet,  what  if  the  oak  in  thunder 

Be  hurled  from  his  mountain  hope, 
To  perish  in  darkness,  under 

Its  savage  and  sullen  slope  ; 
And  what  if  the  dumb,  dead  eagle, 

Unchallenged  by  gleam  or  gust, 
No  longer  enthroned  and  regal, 

Lies  prone  in  the  pulseless  dust, 

Cold,  cold, 

In  the  deepening  fold  of  the  frozen  mold, 
Fallen  !  fallen  !  fallen  ! 

To  the  soil  of  a  realm  enchanted, 

Shall  the  germ  of  the  withered  tree 
By  invisible  hands  transplanted, 

Rebloom  on  a  deathless  lea, 
O'er  the  height  of  the  hills  of  Adenn 

Shall  the  replumed  eagle  soar, 
While  the  luster  of  eyes  unfading, 

And  a  wing  that  shall  droop  no  more  ! 

•  ••••• 

Ah  !  cease  your  wailing — cease, 

From  the  flame  of  his  torture — prison — 

From  the  woe  of  his  hopeless  blight 

From  the  anguish  of  day,  and  the  doom  of  night, 

From  the  vulture-beak,  whose  dart 

Flashed  over  his  fainting  heart, 

The  spirit  ye  loved  has  gained  release  ! 

Release !     Release ! 

To  the  central  calms,  to  the  golden  palms, 
Whose  shadowy  glories  quiver 
In  the  depths  of  the  sacred  river, 
To  the  chrism  of  Christ,  to  the  perfect  peace, 
He  has  risen,  risen,  risen  ! 

PAUL  HAMILTON  HAYNE. 


208  SENATOR  B.   H.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 


SENATOR  BENJAMIN  H.  HILL. 

A  noble  hymn  is  that  of  yore, 

Of  one  who  faced  the  opposing  host  ; 
With  courage  calm  his  legend  bore  ; 

Tho'  oft  the  unequal  fight  seemed  lost. 
For  ofttimes  weak  and  prone  he  lay 

Upon  our  common  mother's  breast, 
Yet  ever  rose  from  the  dread  fray 

With  victory  on  his  flaming  crest. 

Giant  nor  gnome  their  aid  would  lend 

His  lance  and  battered  shield  to  right, 
Nor  fairy  forms  their  way  would  wend 

To  cheer  him  in  the  inconstant  fight ; 
One  single  touch  of  earth,  and  then 

Redoubled  strength  would  nerve  his  arm, 
And  hero  shades,  unseen  of  men, 

Fought  by  his  side,  all  leal  and  warm. 

Lost  hero,  weak  thine  earthly  part, 

No  foes  hadst  thou  with  whom  to  strive, 
All  love  enshrines  thee  in  the  heart, 

With  Honor's  name  thy  name  shall  live  ; 
Earth  could  not  nerve  thy  wasting  frame  ; 

The  better  part,  thy  dauntless  soul, 
Gaining  the  victor  race  of  fame, 

Hath  strong  been  made  to  win  its  goal. 

"  H." 
DETROIT,  October  21,  1882.  

THE  UNVEILING  OF  THE  BEN  HILL  MONUMENT. 

Foremost  of  nations,  all  the  world  admits, 

Stands  the  Sorosis — sisterhood  of  States  ; 

Grand  in  the  broad  expanse  of  her  domain, 

Fringed  with  two  oceans,  striped  by  all  the  zones. 

More  grand  in  the  unmeasured  heights  and  depths 

Of  nature's  convolutions  ;  hills  of  rock 

Hewn  into  gorges  by  the  mighty  force 

Of  mountain  torrents,  which  but  symbolize 

The  grand  careers  of  her  majestic  sons  ; 

Who,  through  the  adamant  of  prejudice, 

The  selfishness  of  monarchs,  and  the  sloth 

Of  centuries  of  bigoted  misrule, 

Have  hewn  a  path  for  liberty  and  truth. 

One  and  another  of  the  sisterhood 
Have  carved  the  records  of  their  favorite  sons 
In  monuments  of  everlasting  stone, 
To-day  fair  Georgia,  pivot  of  the  South, 
Centers  a  nation's  thought  and  gratitude, 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WHITINGS.  209 

Aye  !  thankful,  we,  for  that  best  gift  of  God, 
A  noble  soul  lent  to  a  struggling  world. 

We  have  no  rule  to  measure  all  the  force 

Of  one  pure  life,  abounding  in  great  deeds, 

It  is  not  admiration  of  his  power 

In  sharp  bebate  or  graver  counseling. 

Not  that  alone,  nor  chiefly  is  it  that 

Which  draws  this  multitude  from  far  and  near, 

But  in  our  heart  of  hearts  there  stirs  a  depth 

That  only  can  be  reached  by  some  rare  soul 

Through  whom  the  power  of  Almighty  God 

Is  sifted,  that  it  may  not  dazzle  us. 

A  life  of  zeal  and  honest  rectitude, 

Passing  unscathed  the  tiery  ordeal 

Of  public  trust  and  opportunities, 

That  have  of  late  so  many  victims  slain  ; 

*• 

A  life  like  his,  whose  marble  counterpart 
Is  here  unveiled  to  our  admiring  eves, 

ti 

Lays  hold  upon  the  very  springs  of  life, 
And  leads  men  up  forever  to  their  God. 

Behold  this  statue  !     Fittingly  it  stands 

Where  the  broad  road  divides  and  points  two  ways. 

So,  we  remember,  did  this  hero  stand 

Where  the  broad  highway  of  onr  nation's  life 

Was  cleft  in  twain,  and  he — compelled  to  choose. 

O  !  the  great  agony  that  rived  his  soul  ! 

Long  as  a  spark  of  hope  remained  alive, 

He  strove  to  avert  the  dread  calamity  ; 

But  when  the  die  was  cast,  and  hope  was  dead, 

He  ranked  himself  where  his  nativity 

Impelled  allegiance  ;  then  he  freely  gave  ; 

And  never  was  a  cause  more  truly  served. 

«/ 

O  !  cold  and  stubborn  is  the  Northern  heart 
That  finds  no  inspiration  in  the  theme 
Of  honest  sacrifice  to  honest  faith. 

Behold  this  statue  !     Facing  the  broad  road, 
Where  these  two  ways  unite.     Behind  us  now 
Lie  all  the  enmity  and  all  the  strife. 
Before  us  is  the  path  which  he  has  trod, 
The  path  of  Union — leading  up  to  God. 

H.  T.  W. 

.     IMMORTAL.  .     .        • 

At  the  Unveiling  of  the  Hill  Statue  in  Atlanta,  Ga.,  May  1,  1886. 

O,  marvelous  man  !     Lo,  Genius,  with  a  breath, 

Hath  bid  thee  live  and  speak  in  effigy, 
To  prove  to  us  that  neither  Time  nor  Death 

Can  ever  have  dominion  over  thee. 

CHARLES  W.  HUBXEB. 


The  Unveiling  of  the  Statue  of  Senator  Benjamin  H.  Hill,  at  Atlanta,  Ga.,  May  1, 
1886.     Taken  from  the  Atlanta  Constitution,  May  2. 

BEN  HILL  —  FORTY  THOUSAND  ENTHUSIASTIC  GEORGIANS  BEHOLD  His 
FORM  IN  MARBLE  —  A  DEMONSTRATION  SUBLIMELY  GRAND  AND  UNSUR 
PASSED  —  ELOQUENT  SPEECHES  IN  HILL'S  HONOR  —  A  GREAT  AND  GLO 
RIOUS  DAY. 


trains  that  arrived  in  Atlanta  on  Friday  night  brought  fifteen  thou- 
I  sand  visitors.  Those  that  rolled  into  the  depot  yesterday  brought 
thirty-five  thousand  more.  At  no  period  in  her  previous  history  has  Atlanta 
had  within  her  borders  such  a  host.  From  every  section  of  the  State,  from 
Florida,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  Virginia,  North  Caro 
lina  and  South  Carolina,  from  a  score  of  other  States,  including  even  those 
of  the  far  North.  The  people  came  to  do  honor  to  those  two  exponents  of 
all  that  is  true  and  noble  and  chivalrous  in  Southern  manhood,  the  lamented 
Hill  and  the  revered  Davis.  They  were  of  every  condition.  The  child 
just  learning  to  exercise  the  power  of  thought,  the  lads  and  lasses  but  just 
beginning  to  feel  the  approach  of  young  manhood  and  young  maidenhood  ; 
the  young  men  and  women  filled  with  the  lofty  aspirations  known  only  to 
those  in  whose  veins  course  young  and  vigorous  blood  ;  the  men  and  women 
of  middle  age,  the  grandsires  and  granddames  with  whitened  hair  and 
trembling  limbs,  all  were  represented  in  the  vast  throng  that  surged  into 
Atlanta  and  filled  her  streets  throughout  the  length  and  breadth.  About 
the  Kimball  House,  the  depot,  the  court-house,  and  the  Capitol  the  throng 
was  densest  ;  it  was  a  matchless  outpouring  of  enthusiastic  humanity;  it  was 
a  magnificent  tribute  to  the  good  that  is  in  humanity  as  represented  in  the 
two  illustrious  sons  of  the  South  it  was  meant  to  honor.  It  was  inde 
scribable. 

When  Mr.  H.  W.  Grady  arose  to  open  the  exercises  he  faced  at  least 
fifty  thousand  enthusiastic  men  and  women.  Advancing  to  the  front  of  the 
speaker's  stand,  he  said  : 


MR.  GRADY'S  SPEECH. 


Friends  and  Fellow -citizens :  We  have  met  here  to-day  to  honor  the 
memory  of  a  great  man,  to  perpetuate  his  virtues  in  our  hearts,  and  fix 
his  manly  beauty  in  enduring  marble.  This  vast  assemblage,  inspiring  in 
its  numbers,  and  in  the  ardor  of  its  sympathies  unequaled  by  any  that  ever 
stood  on  Georgia's  soil,  honors  itself,  no  less  than  him,  in  gathering  at  the 
base  of  this  statue.  Callous  must  be  the  heart  that  is  not  ennobled  by  the 
touch  of  this  hour's  inspiration,  sluggish  the  soul  that  does  not  kindle  with 
new  aspirations  as  the  morning  sun  catches  the  gleam  of  this  marble,  and 
this  mute  interpretation  of  a  great  life  is  given  to  the  morning  air.  And  if 
in  the  mercy  of  God  that  great  soul,  enthroned  beyond  the  skies,  is  per 
mitted  to  look  upon  this  thrilling  scene,  and  read  the  hearts  of  this  loving 

210 


Cite  »yi,'32[  IS   ! 

,n:  «niiuw)i;  is  HKTES  H 


SENATOR    HILLS    STAT17E.     ERECTED    TO    HIS    MEMORY    IN    ATLANTA. 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND    WRITINGS.  211 

multitude  in  tlie  swift  revelation  of  that  one  glance,  in  that  one  chapter  of 
fathomless  love,  it  would  find  recompense  for  the  crosses  and  trials  of  an 
arduous  life  and  the  agonies  and  sufferings  of  an  heroic  death. 

In  behalf  of  the  committee,  I  ask  your  silent  and  earnest  attention,  while 
General  A.  Evans,  beloved  friend  and  pastor  of  our  lamented  dead,  invokes 
the  blessing  of  Almighty  God  on  this  scene,  this  people,  and  these  cere 
monies. 

THE  PRAYER  BY  GENERAL  EVANS. 

General  Evans  arose,  and  the  thousands  of  heads  were  bowed.  General 
Evans  said  : 

O,  Thou,  who  art  the  Lord  God,  and  Sovereign  Father  of  all  men,  unto 
Thee  we  uplift  our  eyes  in  the  hope  of  Thy  favor,  and  before  Thee  we 
spread  abroad  our  hands  and  implore  Thy  divine  blessing  upon  all  who  are 
here  assembled.  We  rejoice  in  the  knowledge  that  Thou  wilt  accept  our 
worship  with  that  of  all  the  Heavenly  host  and  of  all  our  comrades  who 
have  passed  before  us  into  Thy  presence.  Our  thanksgivings  abound  as  we 
remember  Thy  mercies,  which  are  more  in  number  than  the  green  leaves 
that  now  enfold  these  trees  afresh. 

Invited  by  Thy  promise  we  pray  Thy  blessing  may  rest  richly  upon  our 
State,  upon  these  United  States,  and  upon  this  good  city.  We  thank  Thee 
for  this  land  of  ours.  Our  lines  have  fallen  in  pleasant  places,  and  we  have 
a  happy  heritage.  The  priceless  blessings  of  good  government,  of  religious 
liberty  and  temporal  prosperity,  are  Thy  gifts  to  us.  Inspire  us  with  the 
lofty  purpose  of  becoming  a  people  exalted  by  righteousness  and  worthy  of 
the  great  national  vocation  whereunto  we  are  called.  Defend  us  from  all 
foes,  send  us  harmony  among  all  sections,  perpetuate  the  Union  of  the 
States,  and  preserve  the  liberty,  intelligence,  and  religion  of  the  people. 
We  pray  Thy  blessing  upon  the  generation  now  rising,  who  knew  nothing 
of  the  strife  of  their  fathers.  Inspire  them  with  the  love  of  country  and 
the  fear  of  God.  Grant,  O  Lord,  that  these  veterans  who  have  survived 
their  fallen  brothers  may  remain  under  Thy  special  providence  ;  their  num 
ber  grow  fewer  and  their  heads  grow  more  honored  with  gray.  As  one 
after  another  crosses  over  the  river,  may  they  all  "  rest  under  the  shade  of 
the  tree,"  until  the  last  of  the  army  shall  pass  and  all  assemble  before  Thee 
in  the  peace  of  heaven.  We  thank  Thee,  O  Lord,  for  the  exalted  Christian 
character  of  the  reverend  chieftain  who  is  the  guest  of  this  occasion  and 
for  the  example  of  faith  in  God  which  we  will  transmit  as  a  legacy  to  his 
countrymen.  And  now  that  the  surges  of  passion  cease  to  roll  around  him 
or  to  beat  upon  him  with  any  power,  grant  Thy  blessing  on  the  warm  and 
worthy  flow  of  the  waves  of  popular  affection  which  now  embrace  him. 
Spare  him  yet  many  years  of  peace  and  let  his  departure  be  as  the  sun  re 
tiring  in  his  strength  and  crowning  the  last  summit  with  golden  glory. 

We  remember  most  especially  the  noble  life  of  thy  servant  whose  statue 
stands  on  this  spot,  whose  death  is  deplored  with  fresh  grief,  and  whose 
dying  testimony  verified  Thy  word.  God  bless  the  bereaved  woman  who 
with  mingled  tears  of  sadness  and  satisfaction  beholds  this  honor  paid  to  her 
illustrious  husband.  May  she  and  her  children  be  guided  by  Thy  wisdom 
and  afterward  received  with  erlorv. 

T  *" 

Let  these,  our  prayers,  be  acceptable  in  thy  sight,  and  may  the  grace  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  love  of  God,  and  the  communion  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  be  with?us  all,  Amen. 


212  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

Mr.  Grady  said  :  I  cannot  proceed  further  in  the  duty  assigned  me  with 
out  testifying|tlms  publicly,  in  behalf  of  the  Hill  Committee,  to  the  invaluable 
services  rendered  by  Dr.  R.  I).  Spalding,  President  of  the  Hill  Monument 
Association.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  while  this  statue  is  based  in  the 
love  of  the  people,  it  was  evoked  by  his  abiding  affection  for  Senator  Hill, 
and  largely  fashioned  by  his  energy  and  ability.  Georgia  will  learn  with 
gratitude  that  it  is  to  a  gallant  and  devoted  Kentuckian  she  owes  so  much  of 
this  great  work,  and  will  rejoice  in  the  knowledge  that  when  this  precious 
gift  is  delivered  into  the  keeping  of  the  commonwealth,  to  Governor  Henry 
D.  McDaniel,  that  it  has  gone  into  hands  entirely  worthy. 

Dr.  Spalding,  President  of  the  Association,  will  now  present,  and  Gov 
ernor  McDaniel  will  receive  for  the  State,  the  statue  of  the  Hon.  Benjamin 
H.  Hill. 

DR.  SPALDING'S  SPEECH. 

No  higher  evidence  could  attest  the  love  of  the  people  of  Georgia  for  her 
dead  senator,  of  their  admiration  for  the  living  patriot  and  statesman  who 
honors  this  occasion  with  his  presence,  than  this  vast  concourse  of  her 
citizens. 

Georgia,  as  loyal  to  the  memories  of  the  past  as  to  the  responsibilities  of 
the  present,  yields  to  no  State  in  her  devotion  to  the  principles  of  the  lost 
cause  or  to  the  great  champion  of  self-government,  home  rule,  and  popular 
liberty,  whom  we  welcome  to-day  as  our  guest.  Mr.  Davis  is  here  to  unite 
in  a  tribute  to  his  friend,  upon  whom  in  the  darkest  hours  of  the  Confederacy 
he  leaned  as  implicitly  in  the  Senate  Chamber  as  upon  Lee  in  the  field. 

The  Ben  Hill  Monument  Association  was  organized  with  no  expectation 
of  building  a  pretentious  structure,  but  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  a  modest 
testimonial  to  the  worth  of  a  good  and  great  man. 

The  name  and  memory  of  Benjamin  H.  Hill  will  be  ever  dear  to  Geor 
gians,  and  to  all  everywhere,  who  honor  unsullied  patriotism  or  who  admire 
profound  statesmanship. 

As  a  genuine  work  of  art,  the  statue  is  deserving  the  highest  praise,  and 
yet.  although  beautiful  in  conception  and  faultless  in  execution,  is  an  utterly 
inadequate  memorial  of  him  whose  renown  is  destined  to  widen  with  the 
lapse  of  time. 

We  tread  to-day  amid  the  ashes  of  a  conflict  whose  smoldering  fires 
are  still  unextinguished.  While  it  is  true  we  are  again  a  united  people,  liv 
ing  under  a  constitutional  form  of  government  ;  while  it  is  true  that  Forrest, 
and  Sheridan,  and  Stewart  no  longer  ride  at  the  head  of  their  columns ; 
while  Lee  and  Grant,  the  representative  soldiers  of  the  blue  and  the  gray, 
are  asleep  in  honored  graves  ;  while  the  war  drum  has  ceased  to  beat,  and 
the  battle  flag  is  furled,  it  is  equally  true  that  the  sentiments  and  convictions 
that  inspired  the  contest  still  linger  in  the  breasts  of  our  countrymen  North 
and  South.  Nor  may  it  be  safely  questioned  that  these  sentiments  are  not 
less  the  basis  of  national  harmony  than  of  national  prosperity. 

In  this  gigantic  struggle,  Mr.  Hill  was  thoroughly  and  consistently  identi 
fied  with  his  native  section.  Others  may  have  faltered  in  their  trusts  or 
wavered  in  their  allegiance  to  the  Confederate  administration,  but  Hill  was 
alike  unawed  by  the  shock  of  arms  or  the  strife  of  tongues. 

His  brave  spirit  "  rose  under  pressure  and  shone  the  brightest  when 
weaker  natures  yielded  to  despair."  Never  did  his  heroic  virtues  shine  forth 
more  resplejidently  than  in  the  gloomy  days  of  Reconstruction,  when  the 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  213 

"  pleasure  of  the  usurper  was  the  supreme  law  and  there  shone  not  a  single 
star  of  substantial  promise."  Then  it  was  that  his  "  Notes  on  the  Situation" 
inspired  his  dispirited  countrymen  with  renewed  hope  and  roused  them  to 
fresh  endeavors. 

In  quick  succession  came  the  Davis  Hall  and  Bush  Arbor  speeches,  in 
which  lie  spoke  no  mincing  words,  but  words  of  lofty  defiance  to  the  enemies 
of  constitutional  liberty.  Afterward,  in  the  halls  of  Congress,  in  the  ever 
memorable  contest  with  Mr.  Blaine,  he  made  himself  immortal  and  filled 
every  Southern  heart  with  joy  and  pride.  Still  later,  he  scourged  Virginia's 
faithless  son  as  Cicero  scourged  the  guilty  pro-consul  of  Sicily. 

And  now,  sir,  permit  me,  in  behalf  of  the  association  which  I  have  the 
honor  to  represent,  to  present  to  the  State  through  you,  her  chief  magistrate, 
this  statue  of  one  who  not  less  signally  illustrated  the  honor  of  Georgia  than 
her  most  distinguished  sons — from  Oglethorpe,  the  founder  of  the  common 
wealth,  to  Toombs,  the  dead  Mirabeau  of  the  South. 

At  the  signal  from  Dr.  Spalding,  Captain  J.  F.  Burke  removed  the  veil, 
and  the  statue  of  Hill  was  revealed  to  the  great  crowd.  A  shout  of  applause 
went  up. 

SPEECH    OF    GOVERNOR    At'DANIEL. 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Hill  Monumental  Association  : 
The  shouts  of  this  vast  multitude,  gathered  from  farm  and  village  and  city, 
at  sight-  of  the  features  of  Benjamin  H.  Hill,  proclaim  that  the  people  of 
Georgia  accept  your  offering  to  his  memory  and  will  cherish  it  with  affection, 
boundless  as  their  admiration  for  his  character.  Georgia  is  rich  in  illustrious 
names,  the  jewels  of  the  commonwealth.  Her  Jackson  and  Troup,  and 
Crawford  and  Cobb,  and  Johnson  and  Jenkins,  and  Stephens  and  Toombs, 
and  others  who  have  passed  away,  are  honored  wherever  American  states 
manship  is  known.  None  of  these,  great  as  is  her  affection  for  them,  is  more 
deeply  enshrined  in  her  heart  than  Hill  ;  no  name  thrills  her  with  loftier  pride. 

His  portrait,  with  those  of  other  illustrious  men,  has  been  placed  \>y  the 
State  in  the  Hall  of  Representatives  to  inspire  all  who  assemble  there  for 
purposes  of  government  with  patriotic  ends.  But  his  services  to  the  country 
deserve  a  more  imposing  representation,  which  shall  remind  all  the  people, 
now  and  forever,  of  his  virtues  as  a  man,  his  patriotism  as  a  citizen,  and  his 
wisdom  as  a  statesman.  Future  generations  will  catch  the  sentiments  which 
prompted  the  erection  of  such  a  monument  by  the  voluntary  contribution  of 
devotion  and  admiring  countrymen.  And  the  association  of  patriots  who 
conceived  and  executed  this  labor  of  love,  deserves  and  will  receive  the  thanks 
of  all  the  people  of  Georgia. 

The  chisel  of  sculptor  nor  the  brush  of  painter  has  ever  wrought  into 
expression  the  lineaments  of  a  man  which  manifests  a  life  nobler  in  patriotic 
purpose  and  endeavor,  or  richer  in  endowments  of  learning,  eloquence,  and 
thought.  For  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  he  was  in  State  and  Federal 
affairs,  the  peer  of  the  most  illustrious.  He  loved  the  Union  of  the  States, 
and  during  the  years  preceding  its  dissolution  his  voice  pleaded  eloquently 
for  its  preservation.  Exchanging  the  forum  for  the  hustings,  his  impassioned 
logic,  which  has  swayed  courts  and  juries,  was  heard  in  the  van  of  the  devoted 
minority,  struggling  vainly  to  preserve  the  rights  of  States  in  the  Union. 
But  he  was  a  Georgian,  true  to  the  commonwealth  that  gave  him  birth  and 
sheltered  his  household.  When  the  State  withdrew  from  the  Union  she  had 


214  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

voluntarily  entered,  be  responded  to  her  summons,  and  represented  her  in 
the  Government  of  the  Confederate  States.  During  the  mighty  conflict 
that  ensued,  his  voice  never  faltered  in  patriotic  appeal  and  heroic  counsel. 
He  was  undismayed  by  accumulating  disasters.  The  trusted  friend  of  the 
President,  with  every  throb  of  his  heart,  and  every  faculty  of  his  nature,  and 
every  resource  of  his  genius,  he  held  up  the  hands  of  that  devoted  leader  of  his 
people.  It  is  not  the  least  of  hismany  claims  to  immortality  that  he  merited 
and  enjoyed  the  confidence  of  Jefferson  Davis,  whose  dignity  in  defeat,  not 
less  than  his  courage  and  fidelity  in  the  Presidency  of  the  Confederate  States, 
have  won  for  him  the  undying  love  of  the  people  who  trusted  and  followed 
him,  and  the  admiration  of  every  lover  of  constitutional  liberty.  The  love 
of  Georgians,  beaming  in  the  faces  of  the  thousands  around  this  consecrated 
spot,  would  be  deepened,  if  that  were  possible,  by  his  presence  to-da}^,  to 
add  a  leaf  to  the  fadeless  garland  that  crowns  the  brow  of  Benjamin  H.  Hill. 

When  the  flag  of  the  Union  floated  again  over  all  the  States,  and  the 
soldiers  of  opposing  armies,  with  mutual  respect  and  pride  in  American 
valor,  parted  in  peace,  the  victors  returning  to  bonfires  and  feastings,  and 
honors  and  power — the  vanquished  to  ruined  homes  and  poverty  and  toil  ; 
when  partisan  hate  offered  proscription  instead  of  reconciliation,  and  sought 
by  military  force  to  degrade  States  into  provinces,  the  voice  of  Hill,  never 
silent  in  times  of  peril,  sounded  the  first  note  of  warning  and  resistance  that 
roused  Georgians  to  a  sense  of  the  danger,  and  inspired  them  with  courage 
to  maintain  their  rights  under  the  Constitution.  No  people  of  any  age  have 
been  confronted  with  evils  of  such  magnitude,  and  none  have  overcome 
them  with  a  nobler  spirit  of  patience,  forbearance,  and  loyalty  to  the 
pledges  of  their  leaders  and  the  principles  of  their  fathers.  Impoverished, 
proscribed,  and  maligned,  they  bent  the  energies  which  in  warfare  had 
astonished  the  civilized  world  to  the  task  of  regaining  control  of  the  State 
government.  They  rebuilt  the  social  fabric,  restored  material  prosperity, 
extended  the  blessings  of  education,  and  secured  to  every  citizen,  without 
distinction  of  race,  color,  or  previous  condition,  all  the  rights  and  privileges 
to  which  he  is  entitled. 

Mr.  Hill  lived  to  share  in  the  grand  triumph,  and  to  rejoice  at  the  dawn 
of  prosperity.  He  lived  to  vindicate  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States 
the  conduct  of  the  South  during  the  war,  and  to  silence  the  slanders  that 
impugned  our  honor.  His  eloquence  first  awakened  the  American  people  to 
the  truth  of  the  sentiment  embodied  in  the  immortal  words  that  speak  from 
yonder  tablet,  and  connect  his  name  with  the  brightest  page  of  his  country's 
history. 

But  he  was  denied  by  divine  providence  a  share  in  the  final  victory,  by 
v/hich  the  American  people,  at  the  ballot-box,  in  the  election  of  a  President, 
adopted  this  sentiment.  Could  he  have  lived  to  celebrate  that  event,  no 
tongue  of  orator  or  pen  of  genius  in  the  annals  of  time  would  have  glad 
dened  lovers  of  liberty  with  sublimer  praises  of  our  system  of  government. 

Mr.  Grady  arose  and  said  :  Can  I  say  more  in  presenting  to  you  the 
orator  of  the  day,  and  bespeaking  for  him  the  attention  which  I  am  sure  he 
will  hold  when  you  have  once  heard  him,  than  to  say  that  the  mantle  of  Ben 
Hill's  eloquence  seems  to  have  fallen  on  his  shoulders,  and  that  in  the  Chris 
tian  integrity  of  his  character  and  the  strength  and  purity  of  his  life,  Mr. 
Hill's  career  is  sure  to  find  its  best  interpretation.  I  introduce  to  you  the 
chosen  orator  of  the  association,  the  Hon  J.  C.  C.  Black,  of  Georgia. 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  215 


ADDRESS    OF    HON.    J.  C.  C.    BLACK. 

Mr.  President,  Ladies,  and  Gentlemen  :  History  has  furnished  but  one 
perfect  character,  humanity  has  but  one  example  in  all  things  worthy  of 
imitation.  And  yet  all  ages  and  countries  have  recognized  that  those  who, 
devoting  themselves  to  the  public  service,  have  led  the  people  through  great 
perils,  and  by  distinguished  careers  added  to  the  just  renown  of  their  coun 
try,  were  entitled  to  their  highest  respect,  honor,  and  veneration. 

The  children  of  Israel  wept  for  their  great  leader  and  deliverer  on  the 
plains  of  Moab.  The  men  of  Athens  gathered  at  the  graves  of  those  who 
fell  at  Marathon  and  pronounced  panegyrics  upon  them.  This  sentiment  is 
an  honor  to  the  living  as  well  as  the  dead.  It  is  just,  for  no  merely  human 
pursuit  is  higher  than  that  public  service  which  honestly  and  intelligently 
devotes  itself  to  the  common  weal.  There  is  no  study  more  worthy  of  the 
highest  faculties  of  the  mind  than  that  which  seeks  after  the  nature  of  civil 
government,  applies  it  to  its  legitimate  uses  and  ends,  and  properly  limits 
its  powers.  No  object  is  more  worthy  of  the  noblest  philanthropy  of  the 
heart  than  society  and  the  State.  It  is  not  only  honorable  and  just,  but,  like 
all  high  sentiment,  it  is  useful — for  honors  to  the  dead  are  incentives  to  the 
living.  Monuments  to  our  great  and  good  should  be  multiplied.  May  I 
take  the  liberty  on  this  occasion  of  suggesting  to  the  bar  and  people  of  the 
State  to  provide  a  fitting  memorial  to  the  distinguished  Chief  Justice  who 
so  long  presided  over  our  Supreme  Court  ;  whose  decisions  are  such  splendid 
specimens  of  judicial  research  and  learning,  and  whose  career  recalls  Whar- 
ton's  picture  of  Nottingham  "  seated  upon  his  throne  with  a  ray  of  glory 
about  his  head,  his  ermine  without  spot  or  blemish,  his  balance  in  his  right 
hand,  mercy  on  his  left,  splendor  and  brightness  at  his  feet,  and  his  tongue 
dispensing  truth,  goodness,  virtue,  and  justice  to  mankind."  And  by  its 
side,  and  worthy  of  such  association,  another  to  commemorate  the  sturdy 
virtue,  unswerving  fidelity  under  great  trials,  and  worthy  public  career  of 
that  other  Chief  Justice  who  so  recently  passed  from  among  us.  The  public 
disposition  to  honor  the  dead  too  often  finds  its  only  expression  in  the 
resolutions  of  public  assemblies,  and  the  exhibition  in  public  places  of 
emblems  of  mourning,  soon  to  be  removed. 

"  And  the  children  of  Israel  wept  for  Moses  in  the  plains  of  Moab  thirty 
days  ;  so  the  days  of  weeping  and  mourning  for  Moses  were  ended."  Too 
often  the  great  and  good  lie  in  unknown  sepulchers  ;  or,  if  known,  they 
are  unmarked  by  any  lasting  monument.  When  the  feeling  does  crystallize 
in  enduring  marble  or  granite,  in  most  cases  it  is  after  painful  effort  and 
long  delay.  Eighteen  years  elapsed  after  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of 
the  Bunker  Hill  monument,  erected  by  the  patriotism  of  New  England,  he- 
fore  its  completion  was  celebrated.  The  statue  of  Chief  Justice  Marshall, 
appointed  during  the  second  administration,  was  unveiled  within  a  very  re 
cent  period.  Immediately  after  his  death,  in  1799,  Congress  voted  a  marble 
monument  to  Washington.  Half  a  century  elapsed  before  the  foundation 
was  laid.  After  this,  for  seven  and  thirty  years,  it  remained  unfinished. 
Although  intended  to  commemorate  the  life  and  character  of  him  who  was 
'  first  in  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen,"  and  had  just  claims  upon  the  treasury 
of  the  Government,  it  stood  as  if  insulting  him  whom  it  should  have  honored, 
symbol  of  nothing  but  the  ingratitude  of  the  country,  prophecy  of  nothing 
but  a  broken  constitution,  a  divided  people,  and  a  disrupted  Union.  Its 


216  SENATOR  £.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

completion  was  not  celebrated  until  the  21st  day  of  February,  1885 — more 
than  three-quarters  of  a  century  after  the  resolution  of  Congress  voting  it. 
The  history  of  these  similar  organizations  marks  with  peculiar  emphasis 
that  of  the  association  whose  completed  work  we  come  to  celebrate  with 
becoming  ceremony.  Amid  profound  and  universal  expressions  of  grief 
at  the  public  calamity  to  the  country  inflicted  by  his  death — on  the  16th 
day  of  August,  1882,  his  body  was  buried  to  await  the  dawn  of  that  resur 
rection  day  of  which  he  so  beautifully  wrote  after  he  could  no  longer  speak. 
Within  a  few  days  after  his  burial,  a  public  meeting  was  called  to  assemble 
in  the  State  Capitol  on  the  29th  day  of  August  thereafter.  That  meeting 
resolved  itself  into  an  organization  that  undertook  the  patriotic  duty  of 
commemorating  his  public  life  by  some  lit  and  enduring  memorial.  The 
success,  brilliant  as  his  own  resplendent  career,  which  calls  us  together 
within  less  than  half  a  decade  after  its  inauguration  to  crown  the  comple 
tion  of  its  work,  is  highly  honorable  to  those  who  have  achieved  it,  but 
most  honorable  to  him  who  inspired  it.  It  has  few,  if  any,  parallels.  It  is 
in  itself  a  more  fitting  and  eloquent  oration  than  human  language  can  pro 
nounce,  for  that  may  speak  in  exaggerated  phrase  of  the  worth  of  the  dead 
and  the  sorrow  of  the  living ;  this  is  Love's  own  tribute  ;  this  is  grief's 
truthful  expression. 

As  we  come  to  dedicate  this  statue  to  his  name  and  memory,  all  the 
surroundings  are  most  auspicious.  No  place  could  have  preferred  a  claim 
above  this.  It  was  his  own  home  ;  it  is  the  capital  of  the  State,  and  his 
fame  is  a  common  heritage.  The  progressive  spirit  that  has  already  made 
this  populous  and  growing  city  the  pride  of  every  citizen,  the  wonder  of 
every  stranger,  shall  furnish  opportunity  to  speak,  as  it  shall  speak,  to  the 
largest  number  of  beholders.  It  is  the  time,  too,  when  all  over  this  Southern 
land,  in  the  observance  of  a  custom  that  should  be  perpetuated,  fair  women 
and  brave  men  pay  tribute  to  our  dead.  May  we  not  think  of  the  spirits  of 
our  honored  dead  who  preceded  him  in  our  history,  as  well  as  those  of  his 
worthy  contemporaries,  coming  from  that  world  where  no  uncharity  mis 
judges,  no  prejudice  blinds,  no  jealousy  suspicions  to  hover  over  us,  and 
rejoice  in  the  tributes  of  this  day.  And  surely,  if  the  honor  this  occasion 
pays  the  dead  could  be  enhanced,  or  the  joy  it  imparts  to  the  living  could 
be  heightened  by  human  presence,  we  have  that  augmented  honor,  and  that 
elevated  joy  in  the  presence  of  one  worthily  ranked  among  the  most  re 
nowned  of  the  living,  whose  strength  of  devotion  to  our  lamented  dead  has 
overcome  the  infirmities  of  age  and  the  weariness  of  travel,  and  who  comes 
to  mingle  his  praises  with  ours.  Illustrious  son  of  the  South,  thy  silent 
presence  is  loftier  tribute  than  spoken  oration  or  marble  statue  or  assembled 
thousands.  Alas  !  Alas  !  wTe  this  day  mourn  the  silence  of  the  only  tongue 
that  could  fittingly  and  adequately  voice  the  honor  we  would  confer  upon 
thee.  Beside  the  grave  of  him  who  never  swerved  in  his  devotion  to  thee 
and  the  cause  of  which  thou  wert  and  art  the  worthy  representative,  we  this 
day  acknowledge  thy  just  claim  upon  the  confidence,  esteem,  love,  and 
veneration  of  ourselves  and  our  posterity.  May  these  auspicious  surround 
ings  help  us  to  commemorate  the  life  and  character  of  him  in  whose  honor 
we  are  assembled,  and  move  us  with  the  higher  purposes  of  devotion  to  our 
State  and  country  that  life  and  character  inspire. 

As  a  son  of  Georgia  he  eminently  merits  this  enduring  memorial  and  all 
the  honors  conferred  by  this  vast  concourse  of  his  grateful  and  admiring 
countrymen.  Born  upon  her  soil,  reared  among  her  people,  educated  at  her 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  217 

schools,  permeated  by  the  influences  of  her  society  and  civilization,  he  plead 
with  an  eloquence  unsurpassed  by  any  of  her  sons  for  whatever  would  pro 
mote  her  weal,  and  warned  against  every  danger  his  sagacious  eye  detected 
threatening  her  prosperity.  Called  into  public  service  at  an  early  age,  he 
at  once  gave  assurance  of  the  high  distinction  he  afterward  attained.  For 
years  his  public  career  was  a  struggle  against  prevailing  principles  and  poli 
cies  he  believed  to  be  dangerous,  and  he  stood  conspicuous  against  as 
powerful  a  combination  of  ability  and  craft  as  ever  ruled  in  the  politics  of 
any  State.  Upon  every  field  where  her  proudest  gladiators  met,  he  stood 
the  peer  of  the  knightliest.  He  did  not  always  achieve  popular  success,  but 
that  has  been  true  of  the  greatest  and  best.  His  apparent  failures  to 
achieve  victory  only  called  for  a  renewal  of  the  struggle  with  unbroken 
spirit  and  purpose.  Failure  he  did  not  suffer,  for  his  very  defeats  were  vic 
tories.  To  say,  as  may  be  justly  said,  that  he  was  conspicuous  among  those 
who  have  made  our  history  for  thirty  years,  is  high  encomium.  During 
that  period  the  most  memorable  events  of  our  past  have  transpired.  It 
recalls  besides  his  own,  the  names  and  careers  of  Stephens,  Toombs,  the 
Cobbs,  Johnson,  and  Jenkins.  In  what  sky  has  brighter  galaxy  ever  shone  ? 
The  statesmanship,  the  oratory,  the  public  and  private  virtue  it  exhibits 
should  swell  every  breast  with  patriotic  pride.  In  some  of  the  highest 
qualifications  of  leadership,  none  of  his  day  surpassed  him.  He  did  not 
seek  success  by  the  schemes  of  hidden  caucus  or  crafty  manipulation.  He 
won  his  triumphs  on  the  arena  of  open,  fair  debate  before  the  people.  An 
earnest  student  of  public  questions,  he  boldly  proclaimed  his  conclusions. 
The  power  of  opposing  majorities  did  not  deter  him.  As  a  leader  of  minori 
ties  he  was  unequaled.  As  an  orator  at  the  forum,  before  a  popular  assem 
bly  or  convention,  in  the  House  of  Representatives  or  the  Senate  Chamber 
in  Congress,  he  was  the  acknowledged  equal  of  the  greatest  men  who  have 
illustrated  our  State  and  national  history  for  a  quarter  of  a  century.  He 
was  thoroughly  equipped  with  a  masterly  logic,  a  captivating  eloquence,  a 
burning  invective,  a  power  of  denunciation — with  every  weapon  in  the 
armory  of  spoken  and  written  language,  and  used  all  with  a  force  and  skill 
that  entitled  him  as  a  debater  to  the  highest  distinction. 

While  the  most  unfriendly  criticism  cannot  deny  him  the  highest  gifts  of 
oratory,  some  have  withheld  from  him  the  praise  due  to  that  calm  judgment 
that  looks  at  results  ;  that  political  foresight  that  belongs  to  a  wise  statesman 
ship.  Judged  by  this  just  standard,  who  among  the  distinguished  sons  of 
Georgia  in  that  period  when  her  people  most  needed  that  judgment  and 
sagacity  is  entitled  to  a  higher  honor  ?  Who  more  clearly  foresaw  in  the 
clouds  that  flecked  our  political  sky  the  storm  that  was  coming  ?  What 
watchman  stationed  to  signal  the  first  approach  of  danger  had  more  far- 
reaching  vision  ?  What  pilot  charged  with  the  guidance  of  the  ship  of  State 
struggled  more  earnestly  to  guide  it  into  clearer  skies  and  calmer  seas? 
With  that  devotion  to  the  Union  that  always  characterized  him,  and  believ 
ing  that  the  wrongs  of  which  we  justly  complained  could  be  better  redressed 
in  than  out  of  the  Union,  or  had  better  be  borne  than  the  greater  evils  that 
would  follow  dissolution,  he  opposed  the  secession  of  the  State.  We  may 
not  now  undertake  to  trace  the  operation  of  the  causes  that  brought  about  that 
event.  We  can  justly  appreciate  how  it  could  not  appear  to  others  as  it  did 
to  us.  As  to  us,  it  was  not  prompted  by  hatred  of  the  Union  resting  in  the 
consent  of  the  people,  and  governed  by  the  Constitution  of  our  fathers.  It  was 
not  intended  to  subvert  the  vital  principles  of  the  government  they  founded, 


218  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

but  to  perpetuate  them.  The  government  of  the  new  did  not  differ  in  its 
form  or  any  of  its  essential  principles  from  the  old  Confederacy.  The  Con 
stitutions  were  the  same,  except  such  changes  as  the  wisdom  of  experience 
suggested.  The  Southern  Confederacy  contemplated  no  invasion  or  con 
quest.  Its  chief  corner-stone  was  not  African  slavery.  Its  foundations 
were  laid  in  the  doctrines  of  the  Fathers  of  the  Republic,  and  the  chief  corner 
stone  was  the  essential  fundamental  principle  of  free  government ;  that  all 
goverments  derive  their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed.  Its 
purpose  was  not  to  perpetuate  the  slavery  of  the  black  race,  but  to  preserve 
the  liberty  of  the  white  race  of  the  South.  It  was  another  declaration  of 
American  Independence.  In  the  purity  of  their  motives,  in  the  loftiness  of 
their  patriotism,  in  their  love  of  liberty,  they  who  declared  and  maintained 
the  first  were  not  worthier  than  they  who  declared,  and  failed,  in  the  last. 
Animated  by  such  purposes,  aspiring  to  such  destiny,  feeling  justified  then 
(and  without  shame  now),  we  entered  upon  that  movement.  It  was 
opposed  by  war  on  the  South  and  her  people.  What  was  the  South  and  who 
were  her  people  ?  There  are  those  who  seem  to  think  she  nurtured  a  Upas 
whose  very  shadow  blighted  wherever  it  fell,  and  made  her  civilization  in 
ferior.  What  was  that  civilization  ?  Let  its  products  as  seen  in  the  people  it 
produced,  and  the  character  and  history  of  that  people,  answer.  Where  do 
you  look  for  the  civilization  of  a  people  ?  In  their  history,  in  their  achieve 
ments,  in  their  institutions,  in  their  character,  in  their  men  and  women,  in  their 
love  of  liberty  and  country,  in  their  fear  of  God,  in  their  contributions  to 
the  progress  of  society  and  the  race.  Measured  by  this  high  standard,  where 
was  there  a  grander  and  nobler  civilization  than  hers  ?  Where  has  there 
been  greater  love  of  learning  than  that  which  established  her  colleges  and 
universities?  Where  better  preparatory  schools,  sustained  by  private 
patronage  and  not  the  exactions  of  the  tax-gatherer — now  unhappily 
dwarfed  and  well-nigh  blighted  by  our  modern  system  ?  Whose  people  had 
higher  sense  of  personal  honor?  Whose  business  and  commerce  was  con 
trolled  by  higher  integrity  ?  Whose  public  men  had  cleaner  hands  and 
purer  records  ?  Whose  soldiers  were  braver  or  knightlier  ?  Whose  orators 
more  eloquent  and  persuasive  ?  Whose  statesmen  more  wise  and  conserva 
tive  Whose  young  men  more  chivalric  ?  Whose  young  women  more 
chaste  ?  Whose  fathers  and  mothers  worthier  examples  ?  Whose  homes 
more  abounded  in  hospitality  as  genial  and  free  to  every  friendly  comer 
as  the  sun  that  covered  them  with  its  splendor?  Where  was  there  more 
respect  for  woman,  for  the  church,  for  the  Sabbath,  for  God,  and  for 
the  law?  Which,  next  to  God,  is  entitled  to  the  highest  respect  and  venera 
tion  of  man,  for  it  is  the  fittest  representative  of  His  awful  majesty  and 
power  and  goodness.  Where  was  there  more  love  of  home,  of  country,  and 
of  liberty  ? 

Deriving  their  theories  of  government  from  the  Constitution,  her  public 
officers  never  abandoned  those  principles  upon  which  alone  the  government 
could  stand  ;  esteeming  their  public  virtue  as  highly  as  their  private  honor, 
they  watched  and  exposed  every  form  of  extravagance,  and  every  approach 
of  corruption.  Her  religious  teachers,  deriving  their  theology  from  the  Bi 
ble,  guarded  the  church  from  being  spoiled  "  through  philosophy  and  vain 
deceit  after  the  traditions  of  men,  after  the  rudiments  of  the  world,  and  not 
after  Christ."  Her  women  adorned  the  highest  social  circles  of  Europe  and 
America  with  their  modesty,  beauty,  and  culture.  Her  men,  in  every  society, 
won  a  higher  title  than  "  the  grand  old  name  of  '  gentleman  J " — that  of 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WHITINGS.  219 

"  Southern  gentlemen."  Thus  in  herself,  what  contributions  did  she  make  to 
the  material  growth  of  the  country  !  Look  at  the  map  of  that  country  and 
see  the  five  States  formed  out  of  the  territory  north  of  the  Ohio  and  east  of 
the  Mississippi  generously  and  patriotically  surrendered  by  Virginia.  Look 
at  that  vast -extent  of  country  acquired  under  the  administration  of  one  of 
her  Presidents,  which  to-day  constitutes  the  States  of  Louisiana,  Arkansas, 
Missouri,  Iowa,  Kansas,  Nebraska,  Minnesota  west  of  the  Mississippi,  Colo 
rado  north  of  the  Arkansas,  besides  the  Indian  Territory  and  the  Territories 
of  Dakota,  Wyoming,  and  Montana. 

Is  it  asked  what  she  had  added  to  the  glories  of  the  Republic  ?  Who 
wrote  the  Declaration  of  Independence  ?  Jefferson.  Who  led  the  armies  of 
the  Republic  in  maintaining  and  establishing  that  independence  ?  Who 
gave  mankind  new  ideas  of  greatness  ?  Who  has  furnished  the  sublimest 
illustration  of  self-government  ?  Who  has  taught  us  that  human  virtue  can 
set  proper  limits  to  human  ambition  ?  Who  has  taught  the  ruled  of  the 
world  that  man  may  be  entrusted  with  power  ?  Who  has  taught  the  rulers 
of  the  world  when  and  how  to  surrender  power  ?  Of  whom  did  Bancroft 
write,  "  But  for  him  the  country  would  not  have  achieved  its  independence, 
but  for  him  it  could  not  have  formed  its  Union,  and  now  but  for  him  it  could 
not  set  the  Federal  Government  in  successful  motion  "  ?  Of  whom  did  Er- 
skine  say,  "You  are  the  only  being  for  whom  I  have  an  awful  reverence"? 
Of  whom  did  Charles  James  Fox  say  in  the  House  of  Commons,  "  Illustrious 
man,  before  whom  all  borrowed  greatness  sinks  into  insignificance "  ? 
Washington. 

What  State  first  made  the  call  for  the  convention  that  framed  the  Con 
stitution  ?  Virginia.  Who  was  the  father  of  the  Constitution  ?  Madison. 
Who  made  our  system  of  jurisprudence,  unsurpassed  by  the  civil  law  of 
Rome  and  the  common  law  of  England?  Marshall.  Who  was  Marshall's 
worthy  successor?  Taney.  Washington,  Jefferson,  Madison,  Marshall, 
Taney — these  were  her  sons.  Their  illustrious  examples,  their  eminent  ser 
vices,  the  glory  they  shed  upon  the  American  name  and  character  were  her 
contributions  to  the  common  renown.  Is  it  asked  where  her  history  was 
written  ?  It  was  written  upon  the  brightest  page  of  American  annals.  It 
was  written  upon  the  records  of  the  convention  that  made  the  Constitution. 
It  was  written  in  the  debates  of  Congresses  that  met,  not  to  wrangle  over 
questions  of  mere  party  supremacy,  but,  like  statesmen  and  philosophers,  to 
discuss  and  solve  great  problems  of  human  government.  It  was  written  in 
the  decisions  of  the  country's  most  illustrious  judges,  in  the  treaties  of  her 
most  skillful  diplomats,  in  the  blood  of  the  revolution,  and  the  battles  of 
every  subsequent  war,  led  by  her  generals  from  Chippewa  to  the  proud  halls 
of  the  Montezumas. 

Breathes  there  a  man  with  soul  so  dead, 
Who  to  himself  hath  never  said, 
This  is  my  own,  my  native  land  ! 

Forced  to  defend  our  homes  and  liberties  after  every  honorable  effort  for 
peaceful  separation,  we  went  to  war.  Our  leaders  were  worthy  of  their 
high  commission.  I  say  our  leaders,  for  I  believe  that  he  who  led  our 
armies  was  not  more  loyal,  and  made  no  better  use  of  the  resources  at  his 
command,  than  he  to  whom  was  intrusted  our  civil  administration.  Our 
people  sealed  their  sincerity  with  the  richest  treasure  ever  offered,  and  the 
noblest  holocaust  ever  consumed  upon  the  altar  of  country.  To  many  of 


220  SENATOR  B.   H.  HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

you  who  enjoy  the  honor  of  having  participated  in  it  the  history  is  known. 
You  ought  to  prove  yourselves  worthy  of  that  honor  by  teaching  that  history 
to  those  who  come  after  you.  Though  in  no  wise  responsible  for  it,  though 
he  had  warned  and  struggled  to  avert  it,  Georgia's  fortune  was  his  fortune, 
Georgia's  destiny  was  his  destiny,  though  it  led  to  war.  Others  who  had 
been  influential  in  bringing  about  dissolution  and  the  first  to  take  up  arms, 
engendered  disaffection  by  petty  cavils,  discouraged  when  they  should  have 
cheered,  weakened  when  they  should  have  strengthened,  but  the  spirit  of 
his  devotion  never  faltered,  and  through  all  the  stormy  life  of  the  young 
republic,  what  Stonewall  Jackson  was  to  Lee,  he  was  to  Davis.  If  the  sol 
dier  who  leads  his  country  through  the  perils  of  war  is  entitled  to  his  coun 
try's  praise  and  honor,  no  less  the  statesman  who  furnishes  and  sustains  the 
resources  of  war.  Our  flag  went  down  at  Appomattox.  Weakened  by 
stabs  behind,  inflicted  by  hands  that  should  have  upheld  ;  her  front  covered 
with  the  wounds  of  the  mightiest  war  of  modern  times,  dripping  with  as 
pure  blood  as  ever  hallowed  freedom's  cause,  our  Confederacy  fell,  and 
Liberty  stood  weeping  at  the  grave  of  her  youngest  and  fairest  daughter. 
Our  peerless  military  chieftain  went  to  the  noble  pursuit  of  supervising  the 
education  of  the  young,  proclaiming  that  human  virtue  should  be  equal  to 
human  calamity.  Our  great  civil  chieftain  went  to  prison  and  chains,  and 
there,  as  well  as  afterward,  in  the  dignified  retirement  of  his  private  life  for 
twenty  years  has  shown  how  human  virtue  can  be  equal  to  human  calamity. 
The  one  has  gone,  leaving  us  the  priceless  legacy  of  his  most  illustrious 
character  ;  the  other  still  lingers,  bearing  majestically  the  sufferings  of  his 
people,  and  calmly  awaiting  the  summons  that  shall  call  him  to  the  rewards 
and  glories  of  those  who  have  suffered  for  the  right. 

Our  Southern  soldiers  returned  to  their  desolated  homes  like  true  cava 
liers,  willing  to  acknowledge  their  defeat,  abide  in  good  faith  the  terms  of 
the  surrender,  accept  all  the  legitimate  results  of  the  issue,  respect  the 
prowess  of  those  who  had  conquered,  and  resume  their  relations  to  the  gov 
ernment  with  all  the  duties  those  relations  imposed.  The  victorious  gen 
erals  and  leaders  of  the  North  awaited  the  highest  honors  a  grateful  people 
could  confer.  Their  armies  having  operated  over  an  area  of  800,000  square 
miles  in  extent,  bearing  on  their  rolls  on  the  day  of  disbandment  1,000,516 
men,  were  peacefully  dissolved.  Then  followed  the  most  remarkable  period 
in  American  history — in  any  history.  After  spending  billions  of  treasure 
and  offering  thousands  of  lives  to  establish  that  the  States  could  not  with 
draw  from  the  Union,  it  was  not  only  declared  that  they  were  out  of  the 
Union,  but  the  door  of  admission  was  closed  against  them.  While  it  cannot 
be  denied  that  the  gravest  problems  confronted  those  who  were  charged  with 
the  administration  of  the  government,  a  just  and  impartial  judgment  must 
declare  that  the  most  ingenious  statecraft  could  not  have  inspired  a  spirit, 
which,  if  it  permanently  ruled,  would  more  certainly  have  destroyed  all  the 
States.  Its  success  would  have  been  worse  for  the  North  than  the  success  of 
the  Southern  Confederacy,  for  if  final  separation  had  been  established,  each 
new  government  would  have  retained  the  essentials  of  the  old,  while  the 
dominance  of  this  spirit  would  have  destroyed  every  vital  principle  of  our 
institutions.  The  success  of  the  Confederacy  would  have  divided  the  old 
into  two  Republics.  If  this  spirit  had  ruled,  it  would  have  left  no  Republic. 
It  was,  therefore,  a  monumental  folly,  as  well  as  crime.  It  was  not  born  of 
the  brave  men  who  fought  to  preserve  the  Union  ;  it  was  the  offspring  of 
that  fanaticism  that  had  in  our  early  history,  while  the  walls  of  the  Capital 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  221 

were  blackened  with  the  fires  kindled  by  the  invading  array  of  England, 
threatened  disunion,  and  from  that  day  forward  turned  the  ministers  of 
religion  into  political  Jacobins,  degraded  the  church  of  God  into  a  political 
junto,  in  the  name  of  liberty  denounced  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the 
country,  and  by  ceaseless  agitation  from  press  and  rostrum  and  pulpit  lashed 
the  people  into  the  fury  of  war. 

In  this  presence,  at  the  bar  of  the  enlightened  public  opinion  of  America 
and  the  world,  I  arraign  that  fell  spirit  of  fanaticism  and  charge  it  with  all 
the  treasure  expended  and  blood  shed  on  both  sides  of  that  war,  all  the  suf 
ferings  and  sacrifices  it  cost,  and  all  the  fearful  ruin  it  wrought.  And  in 
the  name  of  the  living  and  the  dead  I  warn  you,  my  countrymen,  against  the 
admission  of  that  spirit,  under  any  guise  or  pretext,  into  your  social  or  politi 
cal  systems. 

There  are  trials  severer  than  war,  and  calamities  worse  than  the  defeat 
of  arms.  The  South  was  to  pass  through  such  trials  and  be  threatened  with 
such  calamities  by  the  events  of  that  period.  Now  and  then  it  seems  that 
all  the  latent  and  pent  up  forces  of  the  natural  world  are  turned  loose  for 
terrible  destruction.  The  foundations  of  the  earth,  laid  in  the  depths  of  the 
ages,  are  shaken  by  mighty  upheavals  ;  the  heavens,  whose  blackness  is  unre 
lieved  by  a  single  star,  roll  their  portentous  thunderings,  "  and  nature, 
writhing  in  pain,  through  all  her  works  gives  signs  of  woe."  The  fruits  of 
years  of  industry  are  swept  away  in  an  hour  ;  the  landmarks  of  ages  are 
obliterated  without  a  vestige  ;  the  sturdiest  oak  that  has  struck  deep  its 
roots  in  the  bosom  of  the  earth  is  the  plaything  of  the  maddened  winds  ; 
the  rocks  that  mark  the  formation  of  whole  geological  periods  are  rent,  and 
deep  gorges  in  the  mountain  side,  like  ugly  scars  in  the  face  of  the  earth,  tell 
of  the  force  and  fury  of  the  storm.  Such  was  that  period  to  our  social, 
domestic,  and  political  institutions.  Law  no  longer  held  its  benign  sway, 
t>ut  gave  place  to  the  mandate  of  petty  dictators  enforced  by  the  bayonet. 
What  little  of  property  remained  was  held  by  no  tenure  but  the  capricious 
will  of  the  plunderer  ;  liberty  and  life  were  at  the  mercy  of  the  conqueror ; 
the  sanctity  of  home  was  invaded  ;  vice  triumphed  over  virtue  ^  ignorance 
ruled  in  lordlv  and  haughty  dominion  over  intelligence  :  the  weak  were 

•/  '  V 

oppressed;  the  unoffending  insulted  ;  the  fallen  warred  on;  truth  was  silenced  ; 
falsehood,  unblushing  and  brazen,  stalked  abroad  unchallenged  ;  anxiety 
filled  every  heart ;  apprehension  clouded  every  prospect ;  despair  shadowed 
every  hearthstone  ;  society  was  disorganized  ;  Legislatures  dispersed  ;  judges 
torn  from  their  seats  by  the  strong  arm  of  military  power  ;  States  subverted  ; 
arrests  made,  trials  had,  and  sentences  pronounced  without  evidence  ;  mad 
ness,  lust,  hate,  and  crime  of  every  hue,  defiant,  wicked,  and  diabolical,  ruled 
the  hour,  until  the  very  air  was  rent  with  the  cry.  and  heaven's  deep  con 
cave  echoed  the  wail  : 

"  Alas  !  Our  country  sinks  beneath  the  yoke.  It  weeps,  it  bleeds,  and 
each  new  day  a  gash  is  added  to  her  wounds." 

All  this  Georgia  and  her  sister  States  of  the  South  suffered  at  the  hands 
of  her  enemies,  but  more  cruel  than  wrongs  done  by  hostile  hands  were  the 
wounds  inflicted  by  some  of  their  own  children.  They  baselv  bartered 

_  v  «/  »/ 

themselves  for  the  spoils  of  office.  They  aligned  themselves  with  the  ene 
mies  of  the  people  and  their  liberties  until  the  battle  was  fought,  and  then, 
with  satanic  effronterv,  insulted  the  presence  of  the  virtuous  and  the  brave 

1  •  ** 

by  coming  among  them,  and  forever  fixed  upon  their  own  ignoble  brows  the 
stigma  of  a  double  treachery  by  proclaiming  that  they  had  joined  our  ene- 


222  SENATOR  B.   H.   RILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

mies  to  betray  them.  They  were  enemies  to  the  mother  who  had  nurtured 
them.  "  They  bowed  the  knee  and  spit  upon  her.  They  cried  '  Hail ! ' 
and  smote  her  on  the  cheek  ;  they  put  a  scepter  into  her  hand,  but  it  was  a 
fragile  reed  ;  they  crowned  her,  but  it  was  with  thorns  ;  they  covered  with 
purple  the  wounds  which  their  own  hands  had  inflicted  on  her,  and  inscribed 
magnificent  titles  over  the  cross  on  which  they  had  fixed  her  to  perish  in 
ignominy  and  pain."  They  had  quarreled  with  and  weakened  the  Confeder 
acy  out  of  pretended  love  for  the  habeas  corpus,  and  now  they  sustained  a 
government  that  trampled  upon  every  form  of  law  and  every  principle  of 
liberty.  They  had  been  foremost  in  leading  the  people  into  war,  and  now 
they  turned  upon  them  to  punish  them  for  treason.  Even  some  who  were 
still  loyal  at  heart,  appalled  by  the  danger  that  surrounded,  overwhelmed 
by  the  powers  that  threatened  us,  were  timid  in  spirit  and  stood  silent  wit 
nesses  of  their  country's  ruin.  Others  there  were,  many  others,  as  loyal, 
brave,  noble,  heroic  spirits  as  ever  enlisted  in  freedom's  cause.  They  could 
suffer  defeat  in  honorable  war,  but  would  not  without  resistance,  though 
fallen,  submit  to  insult  and  oppression.  Their  fortunes  were  destroyed, 
their  fields  desolated,  their  homes  laid  in  ashes,  their  hopes  blighted,  but 
they  would  not  degrade  their  manhood.  To  their  invincible  spirit  and 
heroic  resistance  we  are  indebted  for  the  peace,  prosperity  and  good  gov 
ernment  we  enjoy  to-day.  Long  live  their  names  and  deeds.  Let  our 
poets  sing  them  in  undying  song  ;  let  our  historians  register  them  in  imper 
ishable  records  ;  let  our  teachers  teach  them  in  our  schools  ;  let  our  mothers 
recount  them  in  our  homes  ;  let  the  painter  transfer  their  very  forms  and 
features  to  the  canvas  to  adorn  our  public  halls ;  let  the  deft  hand  of  the 
sculptor  chisel  them  out  of  the  granite  and  marble  to  beautify  onr  thorough 
fares  ;  let  every  true  heart  and  memoiy,  born  and  to  be  born,  embalm  them 
forever. 

Among  all  the  true  sons  of  Georgia  and  of  the  South  in  that  day,  one 
form  stands  conspicuous.  No  fear  blanched  his  cheek,  no  danger  daunted 
his  courageous  soul.  His  very  presence  imparted  courage,  his  very  eye 
flashed  enthusiasm.  Unawed  by  power,  unbribed  by  honor,  he  stood  in  the 
midst  of  the  perils  that  environed  him,  brave  as  Paul  before  the  Sanhedrim, 
ready  for  bonds  or  death;  true  as  the  men  at  Runnymede,  and  as  eloquent 
as  Henry  kindling  the  fires  of  the  Revolution.  As  we  look  back  upon  that 
struggle,  one  figure  above  all  others  fixes  our  admiring  gaze.  His  crested 
helmet  waves  high  where  the  battle  is  fiercest,  the  pure  rays  of  the  sun 
reflected  from  his  glittering  shield  are  not  purer  than  the  fires  that  burn  in 
the  breast  it  covers.  His  clarion  voice  rang  out  louder  than  the  din  of 
battle,  like  the  bugle  blast  of  a  Highland  chief  resounding  over  hill  and 
mountain  and  glen,  summoning  his  clans  to  the  defense  of  home  and  liberty, 
and  thrilled  every  heart  and  nerved  every  arm. 

It  was  the  form  and  voice  of  Hill. 

Not  only  is  he  entitled  to  the  honor  we  confer  upon  him  by  the  events 
of  this  day,  and  higher  honor,  if  higher  there  could  be,  as  a  Georgian,  but 
as  a  son  of  the  South.  The  great  West  boasts  that  it  gave  Lincoln  to  the 
country  and  the  world.  New  England  exults  with  peculiar  pride  in  the 
name  and  history  of  Webster,  and  one  of  her  most  distinguished  sons,  upon 
the  recent  occasion  of  the  completion  of  the  Washington  monument,  in  an 
oration  worthy  of  his  subject,  did  not  hesitate  to  say  :  "  I  am  myself  a  New 
Englander  by  birth.  A  son  of  Massachusetts,  bound  by  the  strongest  ties 
gf  affection  and  of  blood  to  honor  and  venerate  the  earlier  and  the  later 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND   WRITINGS.  223 

worthies  of  the  old  Puritan  Commonwealth,  jealous  of  their  fair  fame,  and 
ever  ready  to  assert  and  vindicate  their  just  renown."  Why  should  not  we 
cherish  the  same  honorable  sentiment,  and  point  with  pride  to  the  names 
with  which  we  have  adorned  our  country's  history  ?  What  is  there  in  our 
past  of  which  we  need  be  ashamed  ?  What  is  there  in  which  we  ought  not 
to  glory  ?  They  tell  us  to  let  the  dead  past  be  buried.  Well  be  it  so. 
We  are  willing  to  forget ;  we  this  day  proclaim  and  bind  it  by  the  highest 
sanction — the  sacred  obligation  of  Southern  honor — that  we  have  forgotten 
all  of  the  past  that  should  not  be  cherished.  We  stand  in  the  way  of  no 
true  progress.  We  freely  pledge  our  hearts  and  hands  to  everything  that 
will  promote  the  prosperity  and  glory  of  our  country.  But  there  is  a  past 
that  is  not  dead — that  cannot  die.  It  moves  upon  us,  it  speaks  to  us. 
Every  instinct  of  noble  manhood,  every  impulse  of  gratitude,  every  obli 
gation  of  honor  demands  that  we  cherish  it.  We  are  bound  to  it  by  ties 
stronger  than  the  cable  that  binds  the  continents,  and  laid  as  deep  in  human 
nature.  We  cannot  cease  to  honor  it  until  we  lose  the  sentiment  that  has 
moved  all  ages  and  countries.  We  find  the  expression  of  that  sentiment  in 
every  memorial  we  erect  to  commemorate  those  we  love.  In  the  unpreten 
tious  slab  of  the  country  church-yard,  in  the  painted  windows  of  the  cathedral, 
in  the  unpolished  head-stone  and  the  costliest  mausoleum  of  our  cities  of  the 
dead.  It  dedicated  the  Roman  Pantheon.  It  has  filled  Trafalgar  Square 
and  Westminister  Abbey  with  memorials  of  those  who  for  centuries  have 
made  the  poetry,  the  literature,  the  science,  the  statesmanship,  the  oratory, 
the  military  ami  naval  glory — the  civilization  of  England.  It  has  adorned 
the  squares  of  our  own  Washington  City  and  filled  every  rotunda,  corridor, 
and  niche  of  the  Capitol  with  statues  and  monuments  and  busts  until  we  have 
assembled  a  congress  of  the  dead  to  instruct,  inspire,  and  guide  the  Congress 
of  the  living,  while,  higher  than  all  surrounding  objects,  towering  above  the 
lofty  dome  of  the  Capitol,  stands  the  obelisk  to  Washington. 

Long  may  it  stand,  fit  but  inadequate  symbol  of  that  colossal  character. 
Of  all  the  works  of  man  it  lifts  its  head  nearest  to  the  bright  luminary  of 
nature,  so  that  every  rising  sun  joins  all  human  voices,  and  with  the  first 
kiss  of  the  morning  proclaims  him  favorite  of  all  the  family  of  men.  May 
it  and  the  character  it  commemorates  and  the  lessons  that  character  teaches 
abide  with  us  until  the  light  of  that  sun  is  extinguished  by  the  final  dark 
ness  that  shall  mark  the  end  of  the  days. 

Taught  by  these  high  examples,  moved  by  this  lofty  sentiment  of  man 
kind,  we  this  day  renew  the  allegiance  of  ourselves,  and  pledge  that  of  our 
posterity  to  the  memory  of  our  Southern  dead. 

No  son  of  the  South  had  higher  claims  upon  our  gratitude  than  he  whom 
we  this  day  honor.  Against  his  convictions  he  followed  the  South  into 
secession  and  war.  True  to  her  in  the  days  of  that  war  she  waged  for  sepa 
rate  nationality  ;  true  to  her  in  the  darker  days  that  followed  that  war, 
when  she  was  denied  admission  into  the  Union  ;  after  her  restoration  he 
stood  in  the  House  of  Representatives  and  the  Senate  Chamber  the  bravest 
and  most  eloquent  of  her  defenders,  resisting  every  invasion  of  her  rights, 
and  defiantly  and  triumphantly  hurling  back  every  assault  upon  her  honor. 
Not  only  as  a  son  of  Georgia  and  the  South  does  he  merit  the  tribute  of  our 
highest  praise,  but  as  a  citizen  of  the  Republic.  He  was  a  profound  student 
of  our  system  of  government,  and  his  knowledge  of  that  system  was  not 
only  displayed  in  his  public  utterances,  but  is  written  in  the  lives  and  char 
acters  of  the  young  men  of  Georgia  who  learned  from  him  at  the  State 


224  SENATOR  R   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

University,  and  who  in  all  the  departments  of  the  public  service  are  enter 
ing  into  careers  of  the  highest  usefulness  and  distinction.  "  Melius  est 
petere  fontes  quam  sectari  rivulos."  Madison  and  Webster  were  his 
teachers.  Never  did  student  have  better  teachers  ;  never  teachers  better 
student.  Webster  was  not  more  intense  in  his  love  for  the  Union  as  origin 
ally  established  by  the  founders  of  the  Republic.  With  the  underlying 
principles  of  that  Union  he  was  familiar.  To  him  the  American  Union  was 
not  the  territory  over  which  the  flag  floated  and  the  laws  were  administered. 
It  was  a  system  of  government  embracing  a  general  government  for  gen 
eral  purposes,  and  local  governments  for  local  purposes,  each,  like  the  spheres 
in  the  heavens,  to  be  confined  to  its  own  orbit,  and  neither  could  invade  the 
domain  of  the  other  without  chaos  and  ruin.  In  the  solution  of  all  prob 
lems,  in  the  discussion  of  all  questions,  in  the  shaping  of  all  policies  he 
looked  to  the  Constitution.  As  the  fierceness  of  the  storm  only  intensifies 
the  gaze  of  the  mariner  on  the  star  that  shall  lead  him  out  of  darkness  and 
danger,  so  the  greater  the  peril  the  more  earnestly  he  contended  for  the 
principles  of  the  Constitution.  He  regarded  the  American  system  of  govern 
ment  as  the  wisest  ever  devised  by  the  wisdom  of  men,  guided  by  a  benefi 
cent  Providence  which  seemed  to  have  chosen  them  for  the  highest  achieve 
ments  of  the  race.  He  esteemed  it  not  only  for  his  own,  but  for  all  people, 
the  greatest  production  of  man,  the  richest  gift  of  heaven,  except  the  Bible 
and  Christianity.  But  to  him  the  States  were  as  much  a  part  of  that  system 
as  the  general  government.  His  indissoluble  Union  was  composed  of  inde 
structible  States.  He  opposed  sectionalism  under  any  guise,  and  from  any 
quarter.  As  long  as  it  spoke  the  truth,  he  honored  and  loved  the  flag  of 
his  country.  For  so  long,  wherever  it  floated,  from  the  dome  of  the  Na 
tional  Capitol  at  home,  or  under  foreign  skies,  leading  the  armies  of  the 
Republic  to  deeds  of  highest  valor  in  war,  or  signalizing  the  peaceful  pur 
suits  of  commerce  ;  at  all  times  and  everywhere,  at  home  or  abroad,  on  the 
land  and  on  the  sea,  in  peace  or  war,  its  stripes  uttered  one  voice — of  good 
will  to  its  friends  and  proud  defiance  to  its  enemies — while  the  stars  that 
glittered  upon  its  ample  folds  told  of  free  and  equal  States.  Thus  looking 
at  it  he  could  exclaim  with  patriotic  fervor  :  "  Flag  of  the  Union  !  Wave 
on,  wave  ever.  Wave  over  the  great  and  prosperous  North,  wave  over  the 
thrifty  and  historic  East,  wave  over  the  young  and  expanding  West,  wave 
over  our  own  South  until  the  Union  shall  be  so  firmly  planted  in  the  hearts 
of  all  the  people  that  no  internecine  war  shall  break  our  peace,  no  section 
alism  shall  disturb  our  harmony  !  Flag  of  the  free  !  Wave  on  until  the 
nations  looking  upon  thee  shall  catch  the  contagion  of  freedom  !  Wave 
on  until  the  light  of  knowledge  illumines  every  mind,  the  fires  of  liberty 
burn  in  every  breast,  the  fetters  fall  from  every  limb,  the  bonds  are  loosed 
from  every  conscience,  and  every  son  of  earth  and  angel  of  heaven  rejoices 
in  the  universal  emancipation."  There  never  was  a  time  in  his  distinguished 
career  when  he  would  not  have  arrested  and  stricken  down  any  arm  lifted 
against  that  flag  speaking  the  truth.  But  he  would  have  it  wave  over 
"  States,  not  provinces  ;  over  freemen,  not  slaves,"  and  there  never  was  a 
time  when  flaunting  a  lie,  by  whomsoever  borne,  he  would  not  have  despised 
and  trampled  upon  it.  This  was  true  American  patriotism. 

Though  loyal  to  Georgia  and  the  South  during  the  period  of  separation, 
he  rejoiced  at  their  restoration  to  the  Union.  No  mariner  to«sed  through 
long  nights  on  unchosen  and  tempestuous  seas  ever  hailed  the  day  of  return 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  225 

to  tranquil  port  more  gladly  than  he  hailed  the  day  of  the  restoration  of  the 
States.  No  son  driven,  by  fortunes  he  could  not  control,  from  the  paternal 
roof,  ever  left  that  roof  with  sadder  parting  than  he  left  the  Union,  or  re 
turned  from  the  storms  without  to  the  shelter  of  home  with  wilder  transport 
of  joy  than  he  felt  when  the  South  was  again  admitted  to  "  our  Father's 
house." 

Permanent  peace  and  unity  in  republic  or  monarchy  cannot  be  secured 
by  the  power  of  the  sword  or  the  authority  of  legislation.  England,  with 
all  her  power  and  statesmanship,  has  tried  that  for  centuries  and  failed,  and 
will  continue  to  fail  until  her  people  and  her  rulers  learn  what  her  foremost 
statesman  has  recognized,  that  the  unity  of  all  governments  of  every  form 
must  rest  in  the  respect  and  confidence  of  the  people.  If  this  principle  had 
been  observed  after  the  war  between  the  States,  that  dark  chapter  in  our 
history  that  must  remain  to  dim  the  glory  of  American  statesmanship 
would  have  been  unwritten.  Wisely  appreciating  4this  principle  after 
the  admission  of  the  true  representatives  of  the  people  in  Congress, 
with  voice  and  pen,  he  devoted  all  the  powers  of  his  great  mind,  and 
all  the  impulses  of  his  patriotic  heart,  to  the  re-establishment  of  that  cor 
dial  respect  and  good  feeling  between  the  sections  upon  which  alone  our 
American  system,  more  than  all  others,  depends  for  permanent  union 
and  peace. 

The  great  and  good  do  not  die.  Fourteen  centuries  ago  the  head  of  the 
great  apostle  fell  before  the  sword  of  the  bloody  executioner,  but  through 
long  ages  of  oppression  his  example  animated  the  persecuted  Church,  and 
to-day  stimulates  its  missionary  spirit  to  press  on  through  the  rigors  of 
every  climate,  and  the  darkness  of  every  heathen  system,  to  the  universal 
and  final  triumphs  of  that  cross  for  which  he  died.  Four  centuries  agone 
the  body  of  John  Wickliffe  was  exhumed  and  burnt  to  ashes,  and  these 
cast  into  the  water,  but  "  the  Avon  to  the  Severn  runs,  the  Severn  to  the 
sea,"  and  the  doctrines  for  which  he  died  cover  and  bless  the  world.  Half 
a  century  ago  the  living  voice  of  O'Connell  was  hushed,  but  that  voice  to 
day  stirs  the  high-born  passions  of  every  true  Irish  heart  throughout  the 
world.  The  echoes  of  Prentiss's  eloquent  voice  still  linger  in  the  valley  of 
the  Mississippi.  Breckenridge's  body  lies  under  the  sod  of  Kentucky,  but 
he  lives  among  her  sons  an  inspiration  and  a  glory. 

And  to-day  there  comes  to  us,  and  shall  come  to  those  after  us,  the  voice 
of  our  dead,  solemn  with  the  emphasis  of  another  world,  more  eloquent 
than  that  with  which  he  was  wont  to  charm  us.  It  says  to  us  :  Children  of 
Georgia,  love  thy  mother.  Cherish  all  that  is  good  and  just  in  her  past. 
Study  her  highest  interests.  Discover,  project,  and  foster  all  that  will  pro 
mote  her  future.  Respect  and  obey  her  laws.  Guard  well  her  sacred 
honor.  Give  your  richest  treasures  and  best  efforts  to  her  material,  social, 
intellectual,  and  moral  advancement,  until  she  shines  the  brightest  jewel  in 
the  diadem  of  the  Republic. 

Men  of  the  South,  sons  of  the  proud  cavalier,  bound  together  by  com 
mon  tradition,  memories,  and  sentiment,  sharers  of  a  common  glory  and 
common  sufferings,  never  lower  your  standard  of  private  or  public  honor. 
Keep  the  church  pure  and  the  State  uncorrupted.  Be  true  to  yourselves, 
your  country,  and  your  God,  and  fulfill  the  high  destiny  that  lies  before  you. 
Citizens  of  the  Republic,  love  your  system  of  government,  study  and 
venerate  the  Constitution,  cherish  the  Union,  oppose  all  sectionalism,  pro* 


a-j  SENATOR  B.  II.  HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

mote  llie  weal  and  maintain  the  honor  of  the  Republic.  "  Who  saves  his 
country  saves  himself,  saves  all  things,  and  all  tilings  saved  do  bless  him  ; 
who  lots  his  country  die  lets  all  tilings  die,  dies  himself  ignobly,  and  all 
things  dying  curse  him." 

Illustrious  citizen  of  the  State,  of  the  South,  of  the  Republic,  thou  hast 
taught  us  to  be  brave  in  danger,  to  be  true  without  the  hope  of  success,  to  be 
patriotic  in  all  things.  We  honor  thee  for  thy  matchless  eloquence,  for  thy 
dauntless  courage,  for  th-y  lofty  patriotism.  For  the  useful  lessons  thou  hast 
taught  us,  for  the  honorable  example  thou  has  left  us,  for  the  faithful  ser 
vice  thou  hast  done  us,  we  dedicate  this  statue  to  thy  name  and  memory. 
Telling  of  thee  it  shall  animate  the  young  with  the  highest  and  worthiest 
aspirations  for  distinction  ;  cheer  the  aged  with  hopes  for  the  future,  and 
strengthen  all  in  the  perils  that  may  await  us.  May  it  stand,  enduring  as  the 
foundations  of  yonder  Capitol,  no  more  firmly  laid  in  the  earth  than  thy  just 
fame  in  the  memories  and  hearts  of  this  people.  But  whether  it  stand 
pointing  to  the  glories  of  the  past,  inspiring  us  with  hopes  for  the  future,  or 
fall  before  some  unfriendly  storm,  thou  shalt  live,  for  we  this  day  crown  thee 
with  higher  honor  than  Forum  or  Senate  can  confer.  "  In  this  spacious 
temple  of  the  firmament,"  lit  up  by  the  splendor  of  this  unclouded  Southern 
sun  on  this  august  occasion,  dignified  by  the  highest  officers  of  municipality 
and  State,  and  still  more  by  the  presence  of  the  most  illustrious  living  as  well 
as  the  spirits  of  the  most  illustrious  dead,  we  come  in  grand  procession — 
childhood  and  age,  young  men  and  maidens,  old  men  and  matrons,  from 
country  and  village  and  city,  from  hovel  and  cottage  and  mansion,  from  shop 
and  mart  and  office,  from  every  pursuit  and  rank  and  station,  and  with  united 
hearts  and  voices,  crown  thee  with  the  undying  admiration,  gratitude,  and 
love  of  thy  countrymen. 

Mr.  Grady  rose,  and  in  the  following  language  introduced  Mr.  Davis : 
Had  the  great  man  whose  memory  is  perpetuated  in  this  marble,  chosen 
of  all  men  one  witness  to  his  constancy  and  his  courage,  lie  would  have 
chosen  the  honorable  statesman  whose  presence  honors  this  platform  to-day. 
Had  the  people  of  Georgia  chosen  of  all  men  one  man  to-day  to  aid  in  this 
sacred  duty,  and,  by  the  memories  that  invest  him  about,  to  give  deeper 
sanctity  to  their  work,  they  would  have  chosen  Jefferson  Davis — first  and 
last  President  of  the  Confederate  States.  It  is  good,  sir  (turning  to  Mr. 
Davis),  for  you  to  be  here.  Other  leaders  have  had  their  triumphs.  Con 
querors  have  won  crowns,  and  honors  have  been  piled  on  the  victors  of 
earth's  great  battles,  but  never  yet,  sir,  came  man  to  more  loving  people. 
Never  conqueror  wore  prouder  diadem  than  the  deathless  love  that  crowns 
your  gray  hairs  to-day.  Never  king  inhabited  more  splendid  palace  than 
the  millions  of  brave  hearts  in  which  your  dear  name  and  fame  are  forever 
"enshrined.  Speaking  to  you,  sir,  as  a  son  of  a  Confederate  soldier  who 
sealed  his  devotion  with  his  life — holding  kinship  through  the  priceless 
heritage  of  his  blood  to  you  and  yours — standing  midway  between  the  thin 
ning  ranks  of  his  old  comrades,  whose  faltering  footsteps  are  turned  toward 
the  grave,  and  the  new  generation  thronging  eagerly  to  take  the  work  that 
falls  unfinished  from  their  hands — here,  in  the  auspicious  Present,  across 
which  the  historic  Past  salutes  a  glorious  Future,  let  me  pledge  you  that 
the  love  we  bear  you  shall  be  transmitted  to  our  children,  and  our  children's 
children,  and  that  generations  yet  unborn  shall  in  this  fair  land  hold  your 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  227 

memory  sacred,  and  point  with  pride  to  your  lofty  and  stainless  life.  My 
countrymen  (turning  to  the  crowd),  let  us  teach  the  lesson  in  this  old  man's 
life,  that  defeat  hath  its  glories  no  less  than  victories.  Let  us  declare  that 
this  outcast  from  the  privileges  of  this  great  government  is  the  uncrowned 
king  of  our  people,  and  that  no  Southern  man,  high  or  humble,  asks  no  greater 
glory  than  to  bear  with  him,  heart  to  heart,  the  blame  and  the  burden  of 
the  cause  for  which  he  stands  unpardoned.  In  dignity  and  honor  he  met 
the  responsibilities  of  our  common  cause.  With  dauntless  courage  he  faced 
its  charges.  In  obscurity  and  poverty  he  has  for  twenty  years  borne  the 
reproach  of  our  enemies,  and  the  obloquy  of  defeat.  This  moment — in  this 
blessed  Easter  week — that,  witnessing  the  resurrection  of  these  memories, 
that  for  twenty  years  have  been  buried  in  our  hearts,  have  given  us  the  best 
Easter  we  have  seen  since  Christ  was  risen  from  the  dead.  This  moment 
finds  its  richest  reward  in  the  fact  that  we  can  light  with  sunshine  the  short 
ening  end  of  a  path  that  has  long  been  dark  and  dreary.  Georgians, 
countrymen,  soldiers  and  sons  of  soldiers,  and  brave  wromen,  the  light  and 
soul  and  crown  of  our  civilization,  rise,  and  give  your  hearts  voice,  as  we  tell 
Jefferson  Davis  that  he  is  at  home  among  his  people. 

MR.    DAVIS    SPEAKS. 

Amid  the  most  stupendous  cheers,  Mr.  Davis  advanced  to  the  edge  of 
the  platform.  He  spoke  as  follows  : 

^Ladies  and  Gentlemen :  You  have  been,  I  believe,  generally  apprised 
that  no  address  was  to  be  expected  from  me.  I  came  here  to  silently  and 
reverently  witness  the  unveiling  of  this  statue  of  my  friend.  I  came  as  one 
who  wanted  to  show  his  respect  for  a  man  who  in  victory  or  defeat  was 
ever  the  same — brave,  courageous,  and  true.  If  I  were  asked  from  Georgia's 
history  to  name  three  men  who  were  fair  types  of  Georgians,  I  wrould  take 
Oglethorpe  the  benevolent,  Troup  the  dauntless,  and  Hill  the  faithful. 
It  is  known  to  you  generally,  it  has  been  told  to  you  to-day,  what  part  he 
took  in  the  struggle  wrhich  has  just  passed.  If  it  were  expected  of  me, 
and  I  felt  able  to  speak,  I  should  feel  that  nothing  could  properly 
supplement  the  great  orations  to  which  you  have  listened.  There  is  nothing 
to  be  added.  It  is  complete.  But  there  is  something  I  may  say  of  my  dead 
friend.  If  he  wras  the  last  to  engage  in  the  war  between  the  States,  he  was 
the  last  to  give  it  up.  If  he  did  not  precipitate  the  controversy,  he  stood 
by  the  wreck  of  our  fortunes,  and  it  was  his  voice  which  was  raised  loudest 
and  rang  clearest  for  Georgia  to  assert  her  sovereignty.  When,  under  the 
power  of  the  conquering  enemy, — for  they  were  still  such — when,  paralyzed 
by  defeat  and  poverty,  our  people  seemed  to  shrink  back,  hopeless  of  the 
future,  and  despondent  of  the  past,  lie  wrote  those  "  Notes  on  the  Situa 
tion  "  that  first  kindled  the  fires  of  hope  in  Georgia  and  elsewhere.  His 
voice  rang  out  and  called  the  people  to  remember  that  their  cause  was  not 
lost ;  it  was  the  eternal  cause  of  truth  and  justice,  and  he  invoked  Georgians 
to  renew  the  struggle  in  such  form  as  has  led  to  the  independence  you  now 
enjoy.  But  I  dare  not  speak  of  Hill  personally.  From  the  beginning  to 
the  end  of  the  controversy  he  was  one  on  whose  shoulder  I  could  place  my 
hand  and  feel  that  its  foundation  was  as  firm  as  marble.  He  had  nothing 
to  ask,  but  he  had  much  to  give;  and  when  I  was  the  last  from  the  South 
who  could  excite  any  expectation  of  benefit,  it  was  Hill  whose  voice  rose 


228 


SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 


triumphant  in  the  Senate  and  mashed  the  ingenious  Yankee  down.  My 
friends,  ours  is  the  day  of  peace.  The  friend  whose  memory  we  have  met 
to  honor  taught  us  the  lesson  of  peace  as  well  as  resistance.  He  taught 
us  that  it  was  through  peaceful  methods  we  were  to  regain  our  riglits.  We 
have  trodden  the  thorny  path  and  passed  over  the  worst  part  of  the  road. 
Let  us  still  remember  fealty  to  every  promise  we  have  given,  but  still  let  us 
love  Georgia  and  her  rights,  and  may  her  rights  of  freedom  and  independ 
ence,  such  as  your  father  gave  you,  be  yours  and  your  children's  forever. 


PART  THIRD. 


SPEECHES  AND  WRITINGS  OF  SENATOR  BENJ.  H.  HILL. 


SPEECH  DELIVERED  AT  MACON,  GA,  JUNE  30,  1860. 

^llr.  Hill  was  one  of  the  Presidential  Electors  for  the  State  at  Large,  in  support  of 
Bell  and  Everett,  and  the  speech  below  was  made  by  him  in  their  behalf.  It  is  a  calm, 
convincing  presentation  of  the  reasons  why  Bell  should  be  elected  President  of  the 
United  States.  It  is  the  only  speech  which  the  writer  has  been  able  to  find  made  by 
Mr.  Hill  during  this  great  and  momentous  campaign. 

Mr.  President  and  Friends :  The  city  papers  have  announced  that  I 
would  speak  to  this  meeting  to-day.  The  announcement  was  without  my 
knowledge  or  consent.  I  refer  to  this  for  the  purpose  of  saying  that  my  ap 
pearance  now  shall  not  be  regarded  as  a  precedent  requiring  me  to  respond  to 
similar  calls  in  the  future.  I  am  no  politician  to  fill  bills  to  order,  but  if  I 
were  I  should  draw  my  own  bills.  Do  not  suppose  I  speak  thus  because  I 
am  not  settled  in  my  convictions  as  to  what  we  ought  to  do  in  this  canvass, 
for  on  that  point  I  have  no  hesitation  or  doubt  ;  nor  yet  because  I  would 
not  regard  respectfully  the  wishes  of  my  friends.  Whithersoever  the 
changes  of  the  future  may  drift  us,  the  affection  I  feel  for  every  true  Ameri 
can,  with  whom  I  have  struggled  so  long  for  those  truths  which  make  up 
patriotism,  is  part  of  my  heart,  and  the  two  must  live  and  die  together. 

But  my  health,  though  almost  entirely  restored,  is  such  that  I  must  be 
allowed  to  direct  my  own  actions  during  this  canvass. 

The  very  distinguished  gentleman  (Governor  Johnson)  who  addressed 
you  last  night,  said  his  mission  was  to  speak  to  the  Democracy — his  own 
divided  brotherhood.  Mine  is  very  different.  I  shall  speak  to  the  people. 
Democrats,  Whigs,  Americans — countrymen  all,  my  word  of  warning  is  to 
you  !  This  land  of  the  free  is  full  of  corruption,  strife,  and  distraction. 
Party,  party,  party  has  done  it  all  !  Oh,  that  the  God  of  the  patriot  would 
cast  out  from  our  people  these  seven  devils  of  party,  which  have  already 
well-nigh  ruined  us  ! 

If  I  shall  utter  a  word  on  this  occasion  which  shall  appear  to  be  harsh,  I 
assure  you  I  do  not  intend  such  a  meaning.  I  certainly  have  no  such 
feel  in  or. 

o 

Let  us  determine  first  what  great  principle  is  involved  in  this  canvass 
which  we  ought  to  support,  and  secondly,  for  whom,  as  patriots,  we  should 
vote,  in  order  most  effectually  to  secure  and  promote  that  principle. 

In  my  opinion,  the  whole  nation  is  now  called  on,  the  first  time  in  its 
history,  to  decide,  at  the  ballot  box,  what  power  has  the  general  govern 
ment  over  the  subject  of  slavery  ?  This  question  has  often  been  voted  on 
in  Congress,  in  State  Legislatures,  and  by  factions,  but  now  the  whole 
nation  must  vote  upon  it  directly  at  the  ballot  box.  Whatever  may  be  our 

229 


230  SENATOR  11.   B.  HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

opinions  as  to  the  wisdom,  or  necessity,  or  good  or  evil  to  result  from  such 
an  issue,  still  politicians  and  events  have  thrust  it  upon  us,  and  we  must 
decide  it,  as  far  as  the  ballot  box  can  decide  it. 

Then,  in  my  opinion,  if  the  issue  is  made,  the  people  ought,  as  national 
men  and  patriots,  by  this  election  to  declare  that  the  Federal  Government 
"has  no  power  over  the  subject  of  slavery  except  the  power,  coupled  with 
the  duty  of  guarding  and  protecting  the  owner  in  his  rights." 

We  ought  so  to  declare — first,  because  it  is  law.  The  supreme  judicial 
tribunal  of  the  nation  has,  in  language,  so  declared.  If  we  do  not  maintain 
it,  we  shall  simply  subject  the  stability  of  the  law  to  the  whims  of  the  mul 
titude,  and  are  in  anarchy.  We  ought  so  to  declare,  in  the  second  place, 
because  it  is  right. 

Protection  to  the  person  and  property  of  the  citizen  is  the  first  duty  of 
every  government,  and  it  is  the  whole  and  sole  power  and  duty  of  the  govern 
ment  of  the  United  States.  It  was  made  for  this  only,  and  it  can  do  nothing 
else.  Every  act  of  every  department  of  the  government  can  have  no  other 
scope,  purpose,  or  interpretation.  Government  can  create  nothing,  and 
destroy  nothing  unless  creation  or  destruction,  in  a  given  specified  instance, 
be  necessary  to  secure  general  protection.  Whether  it  declare  war  or  make 
peace,  whether  it  build  a  navy  or  levy  an  impost — whatsoever  it  does  must 
be  done  for  this  end.  The  wisdom  of  every  speech,  the  redress  of  every 
wrong,  the  duty  of  every  office,  the  legitimacy  of  every  action,  must  depend 
upon  and  be  measured  by  its  fitness  for,  and  its  directness  toward  the  one 
great  goal — the  protection  of  the  person  and  property  of  the  citizen.  Human 
government  has  no  other  claim  even  to  existence,  and  that  form  of  govern 
ment  must  be  the  most  perfect  which  most  perfectly  secures  this  object. 

But  I  do  not  demand  a  slave  code.  Southern  men  who  demand  it,  I 
think,  reason  badly.  They  leap  over  truths,  and  jump  to  a  conclusion, 
which  if  granted  might  render  even  the  right  questionable.  The  demand 
for  a  separate  specific  slave  code  admits  that  the  tenure  to  slave  property  is 
peculiar — different  from  that  by  which  other  property  is  held,  and  therefore 
needs  a  different  quality  of  legislation.  The  great  original  ground  of  this 
demand  is  taken  from  the  idea  that  slavery  is  the  creature  of,  and  solely 
dependent  upon  municipal  law.  It  is  upon  this  doctrine  that  non-action  is 
said  to  be  effectual  to  exclude  slavery  from  the  Territories.  Some  persons 
say  if  there  be  no  law  directly  to  authorize  slavery,  it  cannot  exist.  The 
slave  without  law  is  free.  Therefore,  if  the  Legislature  will  provide  no  law — 
do  nothing — non-act,  slavery  is  excluded.  If  we  admit  the  premise,  the  con 
clusion  is  irresistible.  This  is  the  foundation  argument  of  all  abolitionism. 
I  cannot  admit  it,  because  I  do  not  believe  it  correct.  Slavery  is  the  creature 
of  Divine  law.  He  who  originally  gave  maw  dominion  over  the  beast  of  the 
field,  and  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and  the  fowl  of  the  air,  afterward  made  Japhet 
the  master  of  Canaan  and  decreed  Canaan  to  servitude  forever.  The  first 
decree  is  older  in  date,  but  not  higher  in  authority  than  the  last,  and  it  is 

o  «/  ' 

not  for  me  to  question  the  wisdom  of  either.  He  knows  best,  and  there  can 
be  no  wisdom  or  right  which  does  not  submit  to  His  will. 

The  slave,  then,  is  property.  The  title  is  not  made  by  human  law.  If  I 
had  only  human  law  for  my  title  or  right  to  my  human  slave,  I  would  loose 
him  before  the  sun  went  down.  Slave  property  differs  from  other  property, 
not  in  the  right,  but  in  its  use.  He  who  made  the  servant,  prescribed  rules 
and  injunctions  for  his  humane  treatment,  and  for  this  the  master  will 
be  responsible,  and  surely  for  its  abuse  he  will  be  punished.  I  demand  of 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  231 

government  that  which  we  have — a  property  code  for  protection  of  all 
property,  and  therefore  of  slaves. 

But,  again,  I  will  not  now  demand  of  Congress  a  slave  code,  because  the  laws 
as  they  now  stand,  outside  of  the  Kansas  bill,  are  sufficient  for  our  protec 
tion.  If  the  government  is  honestly  administered,  the  citizen  has  ample 
protections  under  the  remedies  now  provided.  On  a  former  occasion  I  ex 
plained  this.  It  is  sufficient  at  present  to  state  the  general  fact,  that  we 
have  sufficient  legal  remedies  for  present  purposes  (outside  of  Kansas  and 
Nebraska,  in  which  protection  to  slavery  was  refused  by  our  organic  act). 
But  it  may  be  said  if  we  have  sufficient  laws  already,  why  now  insist  on  the 
power  and  duty  of  government  to  protect. 

We  must  insist  upon  it  :  first,  because  this  right  and  duty  have  been 
denied,  and  they  who  deny  are  seeking  to  get  control  of  the  government. 
Their  success  is  a  triumph  of  the  denial.  Already  has  this  doctrine  of  pro 
tection  been  denied  by  actual  legislation  in  one  case — in  the  Kansas  and 
Nebraska  bill. 

Again,  all  experience  shows  that  remedies  which  are  sufficient  for  the 
present  become  insufficient  under  the  changes  of  ever  progressing  and 
aggressive  events.  Why  do  your  legislatures  meet  annually  ?  Simply  to 
pass  such  new  laws  and  to  remedy  such  defects  in  existing  laws  as  time  and 
experience  constantly  show  to  be  necessary.  Thus,  in  1793,  Congress  en 
acted  a  fugitive  slave  law,  to  carry  out  a  plain  Constitutional  provision. 
For  that  day,  and  for  years  after  that  day,  that  act  was  sufficient.  But  the 
ever-growing  madness  of  anti-slavery  fanaticism,  and  the  interference  of 
anti-slavery  legislatures,  rendered  utterly  nugatory  the  remedies  provided  by 
the  act  of  1793.  Hence,  it  became  just  as  much  a  necessity,  and  just  as 
much  a  duty,  to  pass  a  new  and  more  efficient  law,  as  it  was  to  pass  the 
original  act.  What  would  now  have  been  our  condition  had  our  fathers 
agreed  to  be  satisfied  forever  with  the  law  of  1793,  and  released  Congress 
from  its  duty  of  further  protection  ? 

So,  though  the  legal  remedies  are  now  sufficient,  how  soon  may  the  per- 
verseness  of  the  human  will,  the  ingenuity  of  aspiring  demagogues,  the 
invasions  of  a  mad  anti-slavery,  world-wide  sentiment,  and  the  positive 
intervention  of  unfriendly  Territorial  legislatures  and  people,  render  present 
remedies  utterly  nugatory  ?  We  must  insist  that  government,  every  depart 
ment  in  its  appropriate  sphere,  shall  keep  our  remedies  efficient  for  all  time 
and  against  all  enemies,  wherever  the  authority  of  that  government  extends. 

I  have  given  reasons  enough  to  show  the  correctness  of  the  great  leading 
thought  to  be  insisted  on  as  the  true  solution  of  the  question  in  this  canvass. 

The  next  inquiry  is,  for  whom  shall  we  vote  in  order  most  effectually  to 
secure  the  triumph  of  this  principle  ?  To  secure  this  triumph  and  make  it 
effectual,  we  must  have  a  constant  and  honest  eye  to  two  things  : 

First.  We  must  indorse  the  principle  by  our  vote. 

Secondly.  We  ought  to  indorse  it  so  as  to  restore  peace  to  the  country, 
quiet  the  agitation,  and  thus  preserve  the  stability  of  the  government. 

It  is  needless  to  say  we  cannot  support  Mr.  Lincoln.  But  why  ?  Because 
he  says  it  is  the  right  and  the  duty  of  Congress  to  prohibit  slavery  in  the 
Territories.  This  is  a  claim  of  power  other  than  to  protect,  and,  therefore, 
one  which  we  deny  ;  and  because,  also,  his  election  will  not  restore  peace, 
but  increase  distraction,  and  endanger  the  government.  It  is  idle  to  debate 
the  propriety,  the  right,  or  the  wrong  of  the  fact.  If  the  experiment  is 
forced,  the  fact  will  turn  out  to  be,  in  my  humble  judgment,  that  this  govern- 


232  SENATOR  B.   H.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

ment  and  black  Republicanism  cannot  live  together.  If  our  Northern  friends 
wish  to  imperil  the  Union,  they  can  vote  for  Mr.  Lincoln.  If  they  wish  to 
insure  the  continuance  of  the  first,  they  must  make  certain  the  defeat  of  the 
latter.  At  no  period  of  the  world's  history  have  four  thousand  millions  of 
property  debated  whether  it  ought  to  submit  to  the  rule  of  an  enemy.  The 
South  may  furnish  the  first  example,  but  wise  men  will  not  precipitate  the 
hazard. 

We  cannot  support  Mr.  Douglas.  True,  he  says,  Congress  shall  not  pro 
hibit  slavery.  But  he  says  the  Territorial  Legislature,  a  provisional  arm  of 
the  Federal  Government,  may  prohibit  slavery  in  two  ways — by  non-action 
and  unfriendly  legislation.  I  have  explained  his  non-action  theory  and 
the  premise  on  which  it  is  based.  I  deny  the  correctness  both  of  the 
premise  and  the  conclusion.  Unfriendly  legislation  is  not  only  to  deny 
the  duty  of  protection,  and  the  right  to  refuse  such  additional  remedies  as  time 
and  circumstances  may  show  to  be  necessary,  but  may  also  interfere  with, 
and  render  nugatory,  existing  remedies.  He  claims  this  power  under  the 
Kansas  bill.  It  is  claimed  that  the  South  has  agreed  to  the  non-intervention 
and  denial  of  protection  clauses  and  doctrines  as  contained  in  that  bill.  Here, 
my  brothers  of  the  Constitutional  Democracy,  is  the  fight  for  you  to  make. 
It  is  not  for  me.  All  the  world  knows  we  never  agreed  to  that.  No, 
thanks  to  the  sweet  recollections  which  struggles  for  truth  always  fix  in  the 
mind,  we  were  no  parties  to  that  agreement,  no  partners  in  its  spoil. 

We  cannot,  therefore,  support  Mr.  Douglas.  The  difference  between  us 
is  one  of  principle.  It  is  radical,  fundamental,  and  I  fear,  incurable — cer 
tainly  so,  unless  he  shall  change.  As  I  intend  this  day  to  speak  candidly, 
and  do  full  justice  to  even  an  enemy,  I  will  add  that  outside  of  this  ques 
tion  I  see  much  in  Mr.  Douglas  to  admire.  On  other  questions,  and  on 
many  occasions,  he  has  been  a  bold,  able,  and  fearless  defender  of  our  rights. 
He  certainly  fights  the  Republican  party  most  manfully,  and  if  there  is  a 
man  north  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line,  whom,  above  all  others,  I  could  wish 
to  be,  not  almost  but  altogether  such  as  we  are,  that  man  is  Stephen  A. 
Douglas.  But  on  this  question  I  have  always  differed  with  him  widely,  and 
must  continue  to  differ.  But  I  will  do  him  the  further  justice  to  say,  I  never 
mistook  him.  His  friends  South  have  ruined  him  by  denying  in  1856  that 
he  held  these  opinions.  He  was  too  honest  to  affirm  their  denials,  and  the 
truth  is  now  manifest.  The  masses  of  the  Southern  Democracv  have  been 

y 

deceived,  and  for  that  deception  they  curse  Mr.  Douglas.  The  curse  should 
be  on  those  who  deceived  them,  rather  than  on  Mr.  Douglas. 

The  issue  is  thus  narrowed  down  to  Mr.  Bell  and  Mr.  Breckinridge. 
With  a  perfect  willingness  on  my  part  to  support  the  election  of  whichever  of 
these  two  would  most  effectually  secure  the  principle  enunciated,  and  restore 
peace  to  the  country,  I  have  examined  this  question,  and  have  arrived  at  a 
conclusion  to  which,  I  think,  unprejudiced  investigation  will  bring  every 
Southern  man.  In  no  event  will  I  make  voluntary  war  on  Mr.  Breckin 
ridge,  but  I  am  fully  convinced  that  the  best  policy  and  the  safest  patriotism 
require  us  to  support  Mr.  Bell.  I  will  proceed  to  give  my  reasons,  and  beg 
you,  fellow-citizens,  to  leave  party  and  prejudice  behind  while  you  listen 
to  me. 

I  admit,  here,  that  the  new  platform  on  which  Mr.  Breckinridge  stands, 
is,  on  this  subject  sound.  His  record  is  not  sound.  This  Governor  Johnson 
proved  last  night  and  could  have  proved  much  more  conclusively  than  he 
did.  But,  for  myself,  if  Mr.  Breckinridge  gets  on  the  platform  and  thus 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  233 

recants  his  errors,  I  will  admit  him  as  sound  as  the  platform.  No  issue 
with  me  here. 

Mr.  Bell's  platform  does  not  define  this  question.  His  platform  is  the 
Constitution,  the  Union,  and  the  laws.  To  know  how  he  interprets  the  Con 
stitution,  and  what  laws  he  will  enforce,  we  must  go  to  his  record.  If  his 
record  fails,  then  he  and  his  platform  must  fail.  If  his  record  is  sound,  it 
gives  meaning  to  his  platform  and  strength  to  him.  To  this  record  he 
refers  us  in  his  letter  of  acceptance,  and  to  the  record  let  us  go. 

My  first  proposition,  and  which  I  shall  establish  without  a  doubt,  is,  that 
John  Bell  is  as  sound  as  the  platform  on  which  Mr.  Breckinridge  is  nomi 
nated. 

This  platform  contains  three  distinct  propositions  : 

1.  That  Congress  has  no  power  to  abolish  slavery  in  the  Territories. 

2.  That  the  Territorial  Legislature  has  no  such  power. 

3.  That,  on  the  contrary,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  government  to  protect 
property  (slavery  understood)  wherever  necessary. 

These  are  three  sound  propositions,  and  cover  the  whole  ground  of 
power  and  duty. 

About  the  5th  day  of  June,  1850,  Mr.  Seward,  of  New  York,  offered  the 
following  as  an  amendment  to  the  Compromise  measures  in  the  Senate  : 

Neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude,  otherwise  than  by  conviction  for  crime, 
shall  ever  be  allowed  in  either  of  said  Territories  of  Utah  and  New  Mexico. 

This  is  the  Wilmot  Proviso.  John  Bell  voted  no,  and  thus  indorsed, 
under  oath,  the  first  proposition  of  the  platform. 

On  the  same  day,  Mr.  Berrien — that  great  man  from  Georgia — offered 
the  following  amendment : 

But  no  law  shall  be  passed  interfering  with  the  primary  disposal  of  the  soil,  nor 
establishing  or  prohibiting  African  slavery. 

This  was  against  squatter  sovereignty.  John  Bell  voted  yes,  and  thus 
indorsed  the  second  proposition  of  the  platform. 

On  the  27th  of  May,  of  the  same  year,  Mr.  Pratt,  of  Maryland,  and  Mr. 
Davis,  of  Mississippi,  agreed  upon,  and  Mr.  Davis  offered,  the  following 
amendment  to  the  same  bill : 

Provided,  that  nothing  herein  contained  shall  be  construed  so  as  to  prevent  said  Ter 
ritorial  Legislature  from  passing  such  laws  as  may  be  necessary  for  the  protection  of  the 
rights  of  property  of  every  kind,  which  may  have  been  or  may  be  hereafter  conformable 
to  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States,  held  in,  or  introduced  into  said  Ter 
ritory. 

Mr.  Davis  also  prefaced  this  proviso  with  some  remarks,  declaring  his 
object  to  be  to  assert  the  duty  of  the  government  to  protect  slavery. 

On  this  proviso  Mr.  Bell  voted  yes,  thus  asserting  under  oath,  the  duty 
of  protection,  when  necessary,  in  the  very  language  of  the  platform. 

For  Mr.  Davis's  proviso,  see  Congressional  Globe,  vol.  21,  part  2,  page 
1074.  For  all  the  votes,  see  same  book,  page  1134.  Therefore,  to  an  actual 
demonstration,  Mr.  Bell  is  certainly  as  sound  as  the  Breckinridge  plat 
form. 

The  next  proposition  is,  that  Mr.  Bell  is  sounder  than  this  platform. 
Now  to  the  proof. 

This  platform,  of  course,  says  nothing  about  slavery  as  a  political,  moral, 


234  SENATOR  £.  S.  HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

or  social  good  or  evil ;  nor  does  that  platform  assert  any  good  in  slavery  to 
the  country,  or  as  contributing  to  its  prosperity. 

But  on  the  6th  day  of  July,  1850,  in  his  place  in  the  Senate,  Mr.  Bell 
made  a  speech  in  which,  after  asserting  the  right  to  protection,  to  be  con 
stitutional  and  "  unquestionable,"  he  proceeds  to  give  his  views  on  slaveiy 
itself.  A  better  argument  has  never  been  made  in  defense  of  slavery.  He 
proves  it  right  by  the  laws  of  nature,  and  of  God,  as  a  political,  moral,  social, 
and  religious  good  !  I  beg  every  man  in  the  South  to  get  away  from  dema 
gogues  and  party — sit  down  with  a  pure  and  honest  heart,  and  read  that 
speech  before  he  votes  against  Mr.  Bell,  or  stultifies  himself  by  calling  him  un 
sound.  Nothing  like  it  can  be  found  in  all  the  life  of  John  C.  Breckinridge. 

Thus  Mr.  Bell  is  sounder  than  the  platform,  and  sounder  than  Mr.  Breck 
inridge  and  his  platform  together. 

Now,  fellow-citizens,  I  will  say  here  in  general  terms,  without  taking  up 
your  time  to  read  so  much,  that  there  is  nothing  in  all  Mr.  Bell's  record  in 
consistent  with  this.  I  care  not  how  designing  editors  and  demagogues  dis 
grace  themselves  with  garbling  falsehoods,  and  mean  perversions  to  the 
contrary,  this  is  true,  and  their  lives  riot  in  all  the  South  a  purer,  sounder, 
better  statesman  for  the  South  and  the  Union  than  John  Bell. 

But  you  will  say,  how  is  it  that  Mr.  Bell,  with  such  a  record,  has  been 
declared  to  be  unsound  so  often  at  the  South.  The  grounds  of  this  charge 
have  been  two — his  votes  against  the  Kansas  bill  and  the  Lecompton  Con 
stitution,  and  also  the  general  fact  that  everybody,  not  a  Democrat,  is  habit 
ually  denounced  as  unsound  by  the  small  men  of  that  party.  In  1856  they 
burnt  me  in  effigy  as  an  ally  of  the  Republicans,  and  last  night  they  hung 
Governor  Johnson  for  the  same  reason  I  suppose.  To  the  Governor  I  send 
greeting,  with  the  hope  that  four  years  hence  he  may  stand  as  fully  vindi 
cated  as  I  do  to-day. 

But  why  should  our  Breckinridge  friends  condemn  Mr.  Bell  for  voting 
against  the  Kansas  bill  ?  He  did  honestly  believe  and  fully  declare  that  that 
bill  would  be  evil  and  only  evil  to  the  South  and  the  Union.  Do  you  not 
all  admit  it  ?  When  you  seceded  at  Charleston,  you  put  on  record  the 
reasons  for  that  secession,  and,  in  looking  over  your  reasons,  I  find  many 
epithets  applied  to  the  Kansas  bill  and  the  Cincinnati  platform,  such  as 
"cheat,"  "swindle,"  "humbug,"  and  "deceit  upon  the  South."  On  this 
bill,  then,  why  condemn  Mr.  Bell  !  The  only  difference  I  can  see  between 
you  and  Mr.  Bell  on  this  point  is  that  it  required  six  years  of  bitter  experience 
and  earnest  warnings  to  teach  you  what  Mr.  Bell  saw  from  the  beginning  ! 

Then  as  to  the  Lecompton  issue.  Mr.  Bell  did  not  vote  against  this  bill 
because  it  contained  slavery.  He  honestly  believed  it  was  fraudulent. 
Whether  so  or  not  he  believed  so,  and  so  believing,  was  it  not  his  duty  to 
votp  against  it  ?  We  ought  not  to  require  a  man  to  be  corrupt,  even  to 
gratify  our  own  feelings.  Every  man  who  condemns  Mr.  Bell  for  this  vote, 
only  impeaches  his  own  reliability,  doubtless  without  intending  it.  How 
ever  we  might  differ  with  Mr.  Bell  as  to  the  fact  of  frauds,  yet  the  vote  itself 
proves  nothing  except  that  Mr.  Bell  was  honest,  yes,  honest  enough  to  do 
right  against  iiis  own  prejudices.  I  admit  but  few  politicians  will  under 
stand  how  this  is  possible  !  I  know  of  no  greater  virtue,  nor  one  more 
needed  at  this  time  in  our  public  men. 

Mr.  Hammond,  of  South  Carolina,  said  this  Lecompton  bill  ought  to 
have  been  kicked  out !  Why  not  call  him  unsound,  too  ?  He  is  a  Democrat ! 

There  is  another  reason  strongly  favoring  the  claims  of  Mr.  Bell,  which 


ffTS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  235 

we  cannot  consider  too  seriously.  Mr.  Bell  is  a  national  man,  and  his  elec 
tion  will  nationalize  our  principles.  But  how  happens  it  that  he  is  so  sound 
and  yet  so  national  ?  The  explanation  is  easy.  Mr.  Bell  has  always  re 
garded  our  Constitutional  rights  as  unquestionable.  They  were  fixed,  and 
above  the  power  of  government  to  destroy.  Therefore  he  has  opposed  agita 
tion  as  unnecessary  and  unwise.  Foolish  agitation  always  stirs  up  and  in 
vites  positive  aggression.  When  issues  and  votes  have  been  forced  by  the 
thoughtless,  Mr.  Bell  has  voted  right,  but  he  has  done  so,  deprecating  the 
evil  to  the  country  of  gratuitous  agitation.  If  all  our  public  men  had  taken 
John  Bell  for  a  model,  the  rights  of  the  South  and  the  perpetuity  of  the 
Union  would  to-day  be  unquestionable  and  unquestioned. 

The  election  of  Mr.  Bell  will  give  our  principles  a  peaceful,  quiet 
triumph,  and  disband  the  Republican  party.  The  election  of  Mr.  Breckin- 
ridge  will  increase  the  strife  and  tend  to  build  up  the  Republican  party. 

Again,  on  the  ground  where  my  Breckinridge  friends  now  stand,  and 
claim  so  much  credit  for  standing,  John  Bell  has  been  standing  for  years. 
Yes,  he  and  we  were  standing  there  when  you  were  excited,  mad,  carried 
away  in  the  thoughtless  adoration  of  this  "  cheat "  and  "swindle,"  as  you 
now  term  the  Kansas  bill ;  and  abused  us,  called  us  traitors  and  abolitionist. 
You  drove  him  from  his  seat  in  the  Senate  for  his  very  fidelity.  You  drove 
the  gallant  and  noble  Crittenden  from  his  seat  for  the  same  reason,  and 
have  placed  Mr.  Breckinridge  in  his  place.  In  this  hour  of  our  vindication, 
must  we  abandon  Mr.  Bell  ?  Honor  and  a  high  sense  of  justice  should  force 
you  to  him.  Nothing  but  ingratitude  and  the  loss  of  self-respect  can  drive 
us  from  him.  We  have  learned  how  to  forgive  enemies,  but  we  have  never 
learned  how  to  abandon  friends. 

Again,  Mr.  Bell  was  in  the  field  first.  The  Convention  was  called  while 
you  were  still  in  the  National  Democracy  with  your  "  sound  forty-four  faith 
ful."  He  was  nominated  while  you  were  trying  to  get  back  after  once  going 
out.  You  ought  not  to  have  nominated  another,  and  thus  .divided  those  who 
agree.  Besides,  we  are  more  national  and  have  greater  strength  North. 
Mr.  Buchanan  was  elected  by  a  plurality  vote.  That  minority  being  again 
divided,  how  can  you  succeed? 

So  I  will  say  to  our  Douglas  friends,  why  not  support  Bell  ?  You  are 
national  in  your  wishes,  but  you  cannot  succeed.  You  are  dividing  our 
strength  and*  hazarding  the  nation.  In  voting  for  Bell,  you  only  give  up 
squatter  sovereignty.  Are  you  wedded  to  THAT  ?  If  Mr.  Douglas  and  his 
friends  were  to  unite  on  Mr.  Bell,  the  defeat  of  Lincoln  is  sure.  And  by 
such  an  exhibition  of  national  patriotism,  Mr.  Douglas  would  write  his  name 
higher  in  the  temple  of  Liberty  than  any  living  statesman  has  climbed. 

But  if  our  Breckinridge  friends  cannot  vote  for  Mr.  Bell,  there   is  yet  a 

i  /»  •  » 

chance  of  union.  Let  us  be  equals  !  I  have  suggested  heretofore  an  ar 
rangement  of  this  kind.  The  responsibility  of  its  rejection  and  of  the  con 
sequent  continuance  of  strife  shall  be  with  you,  and  with  you  I  leave  it. 

Why  should  our  Breckinridge  friends  still  cleave  to  Democracy  ?  The 
organization,  and  the  name,  belong  to  Mr.  Douglas.  It  is  folly  to  deny  it. 
People  can't  be  made  to  say  anything,  simply  because  you  \vant  them  to  say 
it.  Besides,  if  Democracy  has  become  so  corrupt,  and  has  deceived  the 
country  as  you  say,  why  should  you  wish  to  appropriate  its  name  with  such 
a  prestige?  More  than  all,  if  that  party  has  imposed  on  the  country  a 
*  cheat,"  which  has  borne  no  fruit  but  strife,  and  blood,  and  deception,  how 
can  you  expect  us  to  be  counted  in  its  membership  ? 


236  SENATOR  &   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

My  countrymen,  I  appeal  from  these  leaders  to  you  ?  How  long  will  you 
suffer  politicians  to  flatter  you  as  sovereigns  and  use  you  as  victims,  without 
awaking  your  resentment  ?  How  often  shall  they  settle  and  unsettle  the 
slavery  question,  before  you  discover  that  the  only  meaning  they  have  is  to 
excite  your  prejudices  and  get  your  votes  ?  For  how  many  years  shall 
changing  demagogues  shuffle  you  as  the  gambler  shuffles  his  cards — to  win  a 
stake — and  still  find  you  willing  to  be  shuffled  again  ?  You  were  told  to  wor 
ship  the  Kansas  bill  ;  with  the  blind  earnest  devotion  of  a  Mecca  pilgrim 
you  did  kneel  and  kiss  !  You  were  told  to  abuse  your  neighbor  because  he 
would  not  worship  with  you.  In  all  the  billingsgate  of  the  demagogue's  vo 
cabulary  you  did  it.  Now  behold  !  They  who  told  you  to  worship,  tell  you 
the  thing  you  worshiped  is  a  cheat,  a  swindle,  a  humbug  ;  yea,  a  deception  to 
the  South  !  The  neighbor  you  abused  has  proven  a  wise  man  and  a  true 
patriot  !  Will  you  bend  again  the  supple  knee,  and  shout  aloud  with  the 
tongue,  when  these  same  priests  shall  order  you  ?  Will  you  ?  and  so  soon  ? 

I  have  spoken  to  you,  friends,  in  kindness.  I  have  spoken  the  truth.  I 
do  not  know  that  I  shall  speak  again.  May  you  do  your  duty,  save  your 
country,  and  stand  approved  at  last. 


SPEECH  DELIVERED  IN  MILLEDGEVILLE,  GA.,  NOVEMBER  15, 

1860. 

This  is  the  only  speech  which  has  been  preserved,  made  by  Mr.  Hill  against  seces 
sion,  and  it  is  an  unanswerable  argument  against  it  as  a  remedy  for  Southern  wrongs. 
In  the  light  of  subsequent  events,  its  wisdom  has  been  fully  demonstrated.  In  an  hour 
when  passion  and  extreme  utterances  characterized  public  speakers  both  North  and 
South,  this  address  is  conspicuous  for  its  calm  and  statesmanlike  discussion  of  the  mo 
mentous  questions  then  pressing  for  solution. 

CORRESPONDENCE. 

MILLEDGEVILLE,  November  16,  1860. 
Hon.  B.  H.  Hill  : 

DEAR  SIR  :  The  undersigned,  fully  appreciating  the  questions  involved 
in  our  present  political  divisions,  and  having  listened  with  pleasure  to  the 
able  address  delivered  by  yourself  last  evening  at  the  Representatives'  Hall, 
believing,  as  we  do,  that  "  \ve  should  fully  understand  the  issue  in  order  to 
meet  it,"  and  desiring  that  other  citizens  of  our  State  should  have  the  grati 
fication  of  reading  what  many  of  us  have  heard  fall  from  your  own  lips,  we 
therefore  respectfully  solicit  a  copy  of  your  able,  eloquent,  and  patriotic 
address,  for  publication,  hoping  you  will  comply. 

We  are  respectfully  yours, 

B.  L.  McWuoRTER,  T.  O.  WICKER,  H.  W.  HOWELL. 
W.  F.  HOLDEX,  R.  H.  WARD,  R.  C.  HUMBER, 
T.  W.  ALEXANDER,  J.  M.  BONDS,  JAMES  PARKS, 

C.  C.  PATTON,  JOHN  J.  THRASHER,  J.  F.  USRY, 

M.  M.  MINTZ,    <  A.  J.  CLOUD,  J.  M.  BRINSON, 

WM.  H.  BRANTLY,  B.  R.  REED,  NEILL  McLEOD, 

A.  E.  TARVER,  T.  L.  GUERRY,  E.  C.  HOOD, 

W.  H.  PlLCHER,  T.  J.  HlGHTOWER,  S.  Y.  JAMESON, 

CICERO  GIBSON,  SAMUEL  L.  WILLIAMS,  F.  A.  FLEWELLEN, 

JOHN  THRASHER,  JOHN  McRAE,  K.  H.  DAVIS, 

H.  L.  TAYLOR,  W.  S.  WALLACE,  PHIL.  COOK, 

ALLEN  KELLY,  T.  J.  SMITH,  S.  F.  ALEXANDER, 

J.  R.  WILSON,  A.  COLVARD,  THOMAS  F.  WELLS. 

B.  J.  EVANS,  GEORGE  T.  BARNES, 

Gentlemen :  Since  the  reception  of  your  letter  I  have  hastily  written 
out  the  speech  to  which  you  refer.  I  could  not  recall  the  exact  language, 
but  the  argument,  such  as  it  is,  is  herewith  submitted  for  your  disposal. 

I  see  nothing  in  the  remarks  inconsistent  with  anything  heretofore  writ 
ten  by  me.  There  is  a  prudent  and  imprudent  way  of  accomplishing  the 
same  good.  I  think  some  of  our  friends  are  hasty.  Let  us  keep  right  and 
"  make  haste  slowly."  I  have  discussed  a  policy  of  resistance,  but  I  am 
ready  to  yield  it  for  a  better  when  I  can  find  it.  That  policy  which  can 
most  cordially  unite  our  people,  and  most  effectually  redress  our  grievances, 
is  the  one  I  shall  prefer. 

Yours,  veiy  respectfully,  B.  H.  HILL. 

November  19,  1860. 

9  237 


238  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

SPEECH. 

Ladies  and  Friends :  While  I  am  speaking  to  you  to-night  I  earnestly 
beg  for  perfect  quietness  and  order.  It  seems  to  be  a  general  idea  that  pub 
lic  speakers  feel  highly  complimented  when  their  opinions  are  received  with 
boisterous  applause.  I  do  not  so  feel  on  any  occasion,  and  certainly  would 
not  so  regard  such  a  demonstration  now.  The  occasion  is  a  solemn  and  seri 
ous  one,  and  let  us  treat  it  in  no  light  or  trivial  manner.  One  more  request.  I 
have  invoked  good  order.  I  yet  more  earnestly  invoke  your  kind  and  consider 
ate  attention.  No  people  ever  assembled  to  deliberate  a  graver  issue.  The 
government  is  the  result  of  much  toil,  much  blood,  much  anxiety,  and  much 
treasure.  For  nearly  a  century  we  have  been  accustomed  to  speak  and  boast 
of  it  as  the  best  on  earth.  Wrapped  up  in  it  are  the  lives,  the  happiness, 
the  interests,  and  the  peace  of  thirty  millions  of  freemen  now  living,  and  of 
unnumbered  millions  in  the  future. 

Whether  we  shall  now  destroy  that  government  or  make  another  effort 
to  preserve  it  and  reform  its  abuses,  is  the  question  before  us.  Is  that  ques 
tion  not  entitled  to  all  the  wisdom,  the  moderation,  and  the  prudence  we 
can  command  ?•  Were  you  ever  at  sea  in  a  storm  ?  Then  you  know  the 
sailor  often  finds  it  necessary,  to  enable  him  to  keep  his  ship  above  the  wave, 
to  throw  overboard  his  freight,  even  his  treasure.  But  with  his  chart  and 
his  compass  he  never  parts.  However  dark  the  heavens  or  furious  the  winds, 
with  these  he  can  still  point  the  polar  star,  and  find  the  port  of  his  safety. 
Would  not  that  sailor  be  mad  who  should  throw  these  overboard  ? 

We  are  at  sea,  my  friends.  The  skies  are  fearfully  darkened.  The  bil 
lows  roll  threateningly.  Dangers  are  on  every  side.  Let  us  throw  over 
board  our  passions,  our  prejudices,  and  our  party  feelings,  however  long  or 
highly  valued.  But  let  us  hold  on — hold  on  to  reason  and  moderation. 
These,  and  these  alone,  point  always  to  the  fixed  star  of  truth,  by  whose 
guidance  we  may  yet  safely  come  to  shore. 

We  must  agree.  We  do  agree  if  we  but  knew  it.  Our  people  must  be 
united  to  meet  this  crisis.  Divisions  now  would  not  only  be  unfortunate,  but 
exceedingly  disastrous.  If  divisions  arise  they  cannot  be  based  on  our 
interests  or  our  purposes,  for  these  are  and  must  be  the  same.  Divisions 
must  find  their  origin  in  our  suspicions  and  jealousies.  Let  us  give  these 
suspicions  and  jealousies  to  the  winds.  Let  us  assume  as  the  basis  of  every 
argument  that  we  are  all  equally  honest,  and  equally  desirous  in  our  various 
ways  of  securing  one  end — our  equality  and  rights.  There  must  be  one  way 
better  than  all  others.  Let  our  ambition  be  to  find  that  way,  and  unite  our 
people  in  the  advocacy  of  that  way. 

I  have  listened  with  earnest  attention  to  the  eloquent  speeches  made  by 
all  sides,  and  I  believe  a  common  ground  of  agreement  can  be  found,  if  not 
for  universal,  at  least  for  very  general  agreement.  Those  who  hold  that  the 
Constitution  is  wrong,  and  the  Union  bad  per  se,  of  course  will  agree  to 
nothing  but  immediate  disunion,  and  such  I  shall  not  be  able  to  affect. 

In  the  first  place  what  are  our  grievances.  All  the  speakers,  thus  far, 
even  the  most  ultra,  have  admitted  that  the  mere  Constitutional  election  of 
any  man  is  no  ground  for  resistance.  The  mere  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  is 
on  all  sides  admitted  not  to  be  grievance.  Our  State  would  not  be  thrown 
on  a  false  issue  on  this  point. 

We  complain,  in  general  terms,  that  the  anti-slavery  sentiment  at  the 
North  has  been  made  an  element  of  political  power. 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  239 

In  proof  of  this  we  make  the  following  specifications  : 

1.  That  a  large  political   party  has    been    organized   in  the  Northern 
States,  the  great  common  idea  of  which  is  to  prohibit  the  extension  of  slav 
ery  by  Congress,  and  hostility  to  slavery  generally. 

2.  That  this  party  has  succeeded  in  getting  the  control  of  many  of  the 
Northern  State  Legislatures  and  have  procured  the  passage  of  acts  nullify 
ing  the  fugitive  slave  law,  encouraging  the  rescue  of  fugitives,  and  seeking 
to  punish  as  felons  citizens  of  our  Southern  States  who  pursue  their  slaves 
in  the  assertion  of  a  plain  Constitutional  right. 

3.  That  this  party  has  elected  governors  in  Northern  States  who  refuse, 
some  openly  and  others  under  frivolous  pretexts,  to  do  their  plain  Constitu 
tional  duties,  when  these  involve  the  recognition  of  property  in  slaves. 

4.  That  Northern  courts,  chosen  by  the  same  party,  have  assumed  to 
declare  the  fugitive  slave  law  unconstitutional  in  the  teeth  of  the  decisions 
of  the  United  States  courts,  and  of  every  department  of  the  United  States 
Government. 

5.  We  complain  that  the  Northern  States,  thus  controlled,  are  seeking  to 
repudiate  every  Constitutional  duty  or  provision,  in  favor  or  in  recognition 
of  slavery — to  work  the  extinction  of  slavery,  and  to  secure  to  the  negro 
social  and  political  equality  with  the  white  race  ;  and,  as  far  as  possible,  they 
disregard  and  nullify  even  the  laws  of  the  Southern  States  on  these  subjects. 
In  proof  of  this  complaint,  we  show  that  Northern  governors  have  actually 
refused  to  deliver  up  fugitives  from  justice,  when  the  crime  charged  against 
such  fugitives  recognized  under  State  law  property  in  slaves. 

Thus,  a  Northern  man  married  a  Southern  lady  having  a  separate  estate 
in  slaves.  He  deceived  the  lady,  stole  her  negroes,  sold  them,  and  pocketed 
the  money,  and  fled  to  a  Northern  State.  He  was  charged  with  larceny 
under  the  laws  of  the  State  in  which  the  crime  was  committed.  A  true  bill 
was  obtained  and  a  demand  was  properly  made  for  his  return,  and  the  Gov 
ernor  of  the  State  to  which  he  fled  refused  to  deliver  him  up  on  the  ground 
that  to  commit  larceny  a  man  must  steal  property,  and  as  slaves  were  not 
property  according  to  the  laws  of  the  Northern  State,  it  could  not  be  prop 
erty  according  to  the  laws  of  the  Southern  State  ;  that  therefore  the  Southern 
court,  jury,  and  governor  were  all  wrong  in  obeying  the  laws  of  their  own 
State,  instead  of  the  laws  of  the  Northern  State  ;  that  the  defendant  was 
not  guilty  and  could  not  be  guilty,  and  should  not  be  delivered  up. 

The  same  principle  was  involved  to  shield  several  of  the  conspirators  in 
the  John  Brown  raid. 

The  inexorable  logic  of  this  party,  on  such  a  premise,  must  array  them 
against  the  whole  Constitution  of  the  United  States  ;  because  that  instru 
ment,  in  its  very  frame-work,  is  a  recognition  of  property  in  slaves.  It  was 
made  by  slaveholding  States.  Accordingly  we  find  this  party  a  disunion 
party,  and  its  leaders — those  of  them  who  follow  their  logic  to  its  prac 
tical  consequences — disunionists  per  se.  I  would  not  quote  from  the  low 
and  the  ignorant  of  that  party,  but  I  will  quote  from  the  learned  and  the 
honored. 

One  of  the  most  learned  disciples  of  this  party,  says : 

The  Constitution  is  the  cause  of  every  division  which  this  vexed  question  of  slavery 
has  ever  occasioned  in  this  country.  If  (the  Constitution)  has  been  the  fountain  and 
father  of  our  troubles,  by  attempting  to  hold  together,  as  reconciled,  two  opposing  prin 
ciples,  which  will  not  harmonize  nor  agree,  the  only  hope  of  the  slave  is  over  the  ruins 
of  the  government.  The  dissolution  of  the  Union  is  the  abolition  of  slavery. 


240  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

One  of  the  ablest,  and  oldest,  and  long  honored  senators  of  that  party — 
a  senator  even  before  the  existence  of  the  Republican  party — said  to  the 
nominating  convention  of  that  party  : 

I  believe  that  this  is  uot  so  much  a  convention  to  change  the  administration  of  the 
government,  as  to  say  whether  there  shall  be  any  government  to  be  administered.  You 
have  assembled,  not  to  say  whether  this  Union  shall  be  preserved,  but  to  say  whether  it 
shall  be  a  blessing  or  a  scorn  and  hissing  among  the  nations. 

I  could  quote  all  night,  my  friends,  to  show  that  the  tendency  of  the 
Republican  party  is  to  disunion.  That  to  be  a  Republican  is  to  be  logic 
ally  and  practically  against  the  Constitution  and  the  Union.  And  we  com 
plain  that  this  party  is  warring  upon  us,  and  at  the  same  time,  and  in  the 
same  way,  and  by  a  necessary  consequence,  warring  upon  the  Constitution 
and  the  Union. 

6.  We  complain,  in  the  last  place,  that  this  party,  having  thus  acquired 
the  control  of  every  department  of  government — legislative,  executive,  and 
judicial — in  several  of  the  Northern  States,  and  having  thus  used  every 
department  of  the  State  government  so  acquired,  in  violation  of  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  United  States,  in  disregard  of  the  laws  of  the  Southern 
States,  and  in  utter  denial  of  the  property  and  even  liberty  of  the  citizens 
of  the  Southern  States — this  party,  I  say,  with  these  principles,  and  this  his 
tory,  has  at  last  secured  the  executive  department  of  the  Federal  Govern 
ment,  and  are  seeking  to  secure  the  other  two  departments — the  legislative 
and  the  judicial. 

Here,  then,  is  a  party  seeking  to  administer  the  government  on  principles 
which  must  destroy  the  government — proposing  to  preserve  the  Union  upon 
a  basis  on  which  the  Union,  in  the  very  nature  of  things,  cannot  stand  ;  and 
offering  peace  on  terms  which  must  produce  civil  war. 

Now,  my  friends,  the  next  question  is,  shall  these  grievances  be  resisted  ? 
I  know  of  no  man  who  says  they  ought  not  to  be  resisted.  For  myself,  I 
say,  and  say  with  emphasis,  they  ought  to  be  resisted — resisted  effectively 
and  at  all  hazards. 

What  lessons  have  we  here  ?  We  have  seen  differences  running  high — 
even  apparent  bitterness  engendered.  Passion  gets  up,  debates  become  jeers 
and  gibes  and  defiance.  One  man  says  he  will  not  resist  Lincoln.  His 
adversary  pronounces  that  treason  to  the  South  and  the  man  a  black  Republi 
can.  Another  man  saj^s  he  will  resist  Lincoln  and  demand  immediate  seces 
sion.  His  adversary  pronounces  that  treason  to  the  Constitution  and  the 
man  a  disunionist. 

What  do  you  mean  by  Lincoln  ?  Stop  and  define.  The  first  means  by 
Lincoln  the  man  elected,  the  second  means  by  Lincoln  the  issue  on  which  he 
is  elected.  Neither  will  resist  the  first,  both  will  resist  the  latter,  and  so 
they  agree  and  did  agree  all  the  time  they  were  disputing  ! 

These  grievances  are  our  real  complaint.  They  have  advanced  to  a  point 
which  makes  a  crisis  :  and  that  point  is  the  election  of  Lincoln.  We  dare 
not,  we  will  not  let  this  crisis  pass  without  a  settlement.  That  settlement 
must  wipe  out  existing  grievances,  and  arrest  threatened  ones.  We  owe  it 
to  our  Constitution,  to  our  country,  to  our  peace,  to  our  posterity,  to  our 
dignity,  to  our  self-respect  as  Union  men  and  Southern  men,  to  have  a  cessa 
tion  of  these  aggressions  and  an  end  to  these  disturbances.  I  do  not  think  we 
should  wait  for  any  further  violation  of  the  Constitution.  The  Constitution 
has  already  been  violated  and  even  defied.  These  violations  are  repeated 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  241 

every  day.  We  must  resist,  and  to  attempt  to  resist  and  not  do  so  effec 
tively — even  to  the  full  extent  of  the  evil — will  be  to  bring  shame  on  our- 

M 

selves,  and  our  State,  and  our  cause. 

Having  agreed  on  our  complaints,  and  discovered  that  all  our  suspicions 
of  each  other  are  unfounded,  and  that  our  disputes  on  this  point  had  their 
origin  in  hasty  conclusions  and  thoughtless  mistakes,  let  us,  with  an  encour 
aged  charity  and  forbearance,  advance  to  the  next  step  in  this  argument. 

Who  shall  inaugurate  this  resistance  ?  Who  shall  determine  the  mode, 
the  measure,  and  the  time  of  this  resistance  ? 

My  reply  is  :  The  people  through  their  delegate  convention  duly 
assembled. 

It  is  not  necessary  for  me  now  to  urge  this  point.  Here  again  we  have 
had  disputes  without  differences. 

I  have  the  pleasure  of  announcing  to-night  that  the  prominent  leaders,  of 
all  shades  of  opinion  on  this  subject,  came  together  this  day,  and  agreed 
that  it  was  the  right  and  privilege  of  the  people  in  convention  to  pass  on 
these  questions.  On  this  point  we  have  disputed  for  a  week,  and  to-day, 
acting  as  Georgians  should  act,  we  came  together  in  a  spirit  of  kindness, 
and  in  fifteen  minutes  our  hearts  were  all  made  glad  by  the  discovery  that 
our  differences  or  disputes  were  founded  on  groundless  suspicions,  and  we 
are  agreed.  We  are  all  for  resistance,  and  we  are  all  for  the  people  in  con 
vention  to  say  how  and  where  and  by  what  means  we  shall  resist. 

I  never  beheld  a  scene  which  made  my  heart  rejoice  more  sincerely. 
Oh,  that  I  could  see  the  same  spirit  of  concord  on  the  only  remaining  ques 
tion  of  difference.  With  my  heart  full  of  kindness  I  beg  you,  my  friends, 
accompany  me  now  to  question.  I  do  believe  we  can  agree  again.  My 
solemn  conviction  is  that  we  differ  as  little  on  this  as  we  did  on  the  other 
point,  in  every  material  view.  At  least,  nearly  all  the  quarrels  of  the  world 
in  all  ages  have  been  founded  more  in  form  than  substance. 

Some  men  are  honest,  wise,  and  prudent.  Others  are  equally  honest  and 
intelligent,  but  rash  and  impetuous.  The  latter  are  often  to  be  loved  and 
encouraged  ;  but  the  first  alone  are  to  be  relied  on  in  emergencies. 

We  often  appeal  to  the  history  of  our- fathers  to  urge  men  to  indigna 
tion  and  resentment  of  wrongs.  Let  us  study  all  that  history.  Let  me 
show  you  from  that  history,  an  example  of  metal  and  over-confidence  on 
the  one  hand,  and  of  coolness  and  wisdom  on  the  other. 

During  our  colonial  history,  the  English  government  sent  General 
Braddock  to  America  to  dislodge  and  drive  back  the  French  and  Indians. 

^j 

The  general,  in  arranging  the  company,  assigned  to  his  owrn  command  the 
duty  of  recovering  the  Ohio  Valley  and  the  great  Northwest.  It  was 
necessaiy  to  capture  Fort  Duquesne.  He  never  thought  of  any  difficulties 
in  the  way  of  success.  He  promised  Newcastle  to  be  beyond  the  mountains 
in  a  very  short  period.  Duquesne  he  thought  would  stop  him  only  three  or 
four  da\rs.  and  there  was  no  obstruction  to  his  march  to  Niagara.  He  de- 

*/       ' 

clared  the  Indians  might  frighten  the  raw  American  militia,  but  could  make 
no  impression  on  the  British  regulars.  This  was  Braddock. 

One  of  that  raw  American  militia  who  had  joined  Braddock's  command, 
was  the  young  Washington,  then  only  about  twenty-three  years  old.  He 
became  one  of  Braddock's  aids.  Hearing  his  general's  boasts,  and  seeing  his 
thoughtless  courage,  Washington  quietly  said  to  him,  "  We  shall  have  more 
to  do  than  to  go  up  the  hills  and  come  down."  Speaking  of  Braddock  to 
another,  Washington  said,  "  He  was  incapable  of  arguing  without  warmth, 


242  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

or  giving  up  any  point  he  had  asserted,  be  it  ever  so  incompatible  with  rea 


son  or  common  sense.' 


Braddock  was  considered  on  all  hands  to  be  a  brave,  gallant,  and  fearless 
officer. 

Here,  then,  are  two  men,  both  brave,  noble,  and'jintelligent,  engaged  to 
gether  to  accomplish  a  common  enterprise  for  the  good  of  their  country. 
The  one  was  rash,  thoughtless,  never  calculating  difficulties,  nor  looking 
forward  to  and  providing  against  obstructions. 

He  arranged  his  express  and  sent  forward  the  news  of  his  victory  before 
hand.  But  the  other  was  cool,  calculating,  cautious,  wise,  and  moderate. 
He  was  a  man  who  thought  before  he  acted  and  then  he  acted  the  hero. 

Now,  for  results  :  Braddock  was  surprised  before  he  reached  the  fort. 
His  British  regulars  fled  before  the  yelling  Indians,  and  the  raw  American 
militia  were  slain  by  them.  Braddock  himself  fought  bravely  and  he  was 
borne  from  the  field  of  his  shame,  leaving  more  than  half  his  little  army 
dead,  and  himself  senseless  with  a  mortal  wound.  After  the  lapse  of  a  day 
he  came  to  himself,  and  his  first  exclamation  was,  "  Who  would  have  thought 
it  ! '  Again  he  roused  up  and  said,  "  We  shall  better  know  how  to  deal 
with  them  another  time."  Poor  general,  it  was  too  late,  for  with  that  sen 
tence  he  died  ?  For  more  than  a  century  he  has  slept  near  Fort  Necessity, 
and  his  only  history  might  be  written  for  his  epitaph  :  "He  was  brave  but 
rash,  gallant  but  thoughtless,  noble  but  bigoted.  He  fought  hastily,  died 
early,  and  here  he  lies." 

The  young  Washington  was  also  brave,  and  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight. 
Horse  after  horse  fell  from  under  him.  The  bullets  of  the  Indians  whistled 
around  him  and  through  his  clothes,  but  Providence  spared  him.  Even  the 
Indians  declared  some  God  protected  him.  So  cool,  so  brave,  so  wise  and 
thoughtful  was  the  conduct  of  this  young  officer,  before,  during,  and  after 
the  battle  that  even  then  a  distinguished  man  "  points  him  out  as  a  youth 
raised  up  by  Providence  for  some  noble  work."  Who  does  not  know  the 
history  of  Washington  ;  yet  who  can  tell  it?  Our  glorious  revolution,  that 
wise  Constitution,  this  happy,  widespread,  and  ever  spreading  country — 
struggling  millions  fired  on  by  the  example  of  his  success,  are  some  of  the 
chapters  already  written  in  that  history.  Long  chapters  of  yet  unrealized 
glory,  and  power,  and  happiness  shall  be  endlessly  added,  if  the  wisdom  of 
him  who  redeemed  our  country  can  be  continued  to  those  who  inherit  it. 
The  last  hour  of  constitutional  liberty,  perpetuated  to  the  glory  of  the  end, 
or  cut  short  in  the  frenzy  of  anarchy,  shall  wind  up  the  histoiy  of  Washing 
ton.  Behold  here  the  sudden  destructon  of  the  rash  man  and  his  followers, 
and  the  still  unfolding  success  of  the  cool  and  thoughtful  man,  and  then  let 
us  go  to  work  to  meet  this  crisis  that  is  upon  us. 

Though  there  are  various  modifications  of  opinions,  there  are  really  but 
two  modes  of  resistance  proposed.  One  method  is  to  make  no  further  effort  in 
the  Union,  but  to  assume  that  the  Union  either  cannot  or  ought  not  to  be 
preserved,  and  secede  at  once  and  throw  ourselves  upon  the  consequences. 
The  other  method  is  to  exhaust  certain  remedies  for  these  grievances  in  the 
Union,  with  the  view  of  preserving  our  rights  and  the  Union  with  them,  if 
possible  ;  looking,  however,  to  and  preparing  for  secession  as  an  ultimate 
resort,  certainly  to  be  had,  if  those  grievances  cannot  be  remedied  and  com 
pletely  remedied  and  ended  in  the  Union. 

Irreconcilable  as  these  differences  at  first  view  seem  to  be,  I  maintain 
a  point  of  complete  reconciliation  can  be  reached. 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  243 

Now,  let  us  look  to  the  reason  urged  by  the  advocates  of  these  two 
modes  of  redress. 

The  advocates  of  the  first  mode  declare  that  these  grievances  are  the 
fruits  of  an  original,  innate  anti-slavery  fanaticism.  That  the  history  of  the 
wrorld  will  show  that  such  fanaticism  is  never  convinced,  is  never  satisfied, 
never  reasons,  and  never  ends  but  in  victory  or  blood.  That  accordingly  this 
fanaticism  in  the  Northern  States  has  been  constantly  progressive,  always 
getting  stronger  and  more  impudent,  defiant,  and  aggressive  ;  and  that  it 
will  never  cease  except  in  our  subjugation  unless  we  tear  loose  from  it  by 
dissolving  the  Union.  These  advocates  say  they  have  no  faith  in  any  resist 
ance  in  the  Union,  because,  in  the  nature  of  the  evil,  none  can  be  effectual. 

The  advocates  of  the  second  mode  of  resistance,  of  whom  I  am  humbly 
one,  reason  after  another  fashion  :  We  say,  in  the  first  place,  that  while  it  is 
true  that  this  anti-slavery  sentiment  has  become  fanatical  with  many,  yet  it 
is  not  necessarily  so  in  its  nature,  nor  was  it  so  in  its  origin.  Slavery  has 
always  existed  in  some  form.  It  is  an  original  institution.  Besides,  we  say 
the  agitation  now  upon  us  did  not  originate  in  fanaticism  or  philanthropy 
but  in  cupidity. 

England  owned  the  West  Indies  and  there  she  had  some  slaves.  She  had 
possessions  in  East  India  which  she  believed  were  adapted  to  the  growth  of 
cotton,  and  which  article  of  produce  she  desired  to  monopolize. 

The  Southern  States  were  her  only  dangerous  competitors.  She  desired 
to  cripple  or  break  down  the  cultivation  of  the  cotton  plant  in  the  South. 
The  South  could  not  use  her  own  soil  and  climate  in  the  successful  produc 
tion  of  cotton  without  the  African  slave.  England  therefore  must  manage 
to  set  free  the  slave  and  turn  the  South  over  to  some  inadequate  peasantry 
system,  something  like  the  coolie  system.  To  this  end  England  raised  a 
great  cry  of  philanthropy  in  behalf  of  the  poor  negro.  As  a  show  of  sincerity 
she  abolished  slavery  in  the  West  Indies  near  us,  thinking  thereby  to  affect 
the  same  institutions  in  her  Southern  neighbor.  She  taught  her  lessons  of 
false  philanthropy  to  our  Northern  pulpits  and  Northern  papers,  and  thus  to 
our  Northern  people. 

At  this  time  the  Northern  politicians  saw  in  this  inflammable  subject 
fine  material  for  political  agitation,  party  success,  and  self-promotion.  They 
leaped  upon  the  wave  and  rode  on  it.  The  Southern  politicians  raised  the 
counter  cry,  leaped  on  the  counter  wave,  and  met  the  Northern  politicians — 
in  office.  As  long  as  the  people  answered  the  politicians  called,  and  the 
result  is  what  we  now  see.  The  subject  is  interminable  in  politics,  because 
utterly  illegitimate  as  a  political  issue.  Thus  it  has  never  approached,  but 
receded  from  a  political  solution,  and  increasing  in  excitement  as  it  has  pro 
gressed  ;  all  statesmanship,  North  and  South,  is  dwarfed  to  a  mere  wrangling 
about  African  slavery.  Slavery  will  survive,  but  the  Constitution,  the  Union, 
and  peace  may  not.  The  Southern  States  will  continue  to  raise  cotton,  but 
the  hoping  subject  of  tyranny  in  the  earth  may  not  continue  to  point  to  the 
beautiful  success  of  the  experiment  of  self-government  in  America. 

While  the  storm  which  England  raised  in  America  has  been  going  on, 
England  has  been  trying  to  raise  cotton  in  India.  She  has  failed.  Her 
factories  are  at  home,  but  her  cotton  can't  come  from  India.  She  must  have 
cotton.  Four  millions  of  her  people  can't  live  without  it.  The  English 
throne  can't  stand  without  it.  It  must  come  from  the  Southern  States.  It 
can't  be  raised  in  the  South  without  slave  labor.  And  England  has  become 
the  defender  of  slavery  in  the  South, 


244  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

I  will  frankly  state  that  this  revolution  in  English  sentiment  and  policy 
has  not  yet  reached  the  Northern  people.  The  same  causes  must  slowly 
produce  it. 

But  while  the  anti-slavery  sentiment  has  spread  in  the  North,  the  pro- 
slavery  sentiment  has  also  strengthened  in  America.  In  our  early  history 
the  Southern  statesmen  were  anti-slavery  in  feeling.  So  were  Washington, 
Jefferson,  Madison,  Randolph,  and  many  of  that  day,  who  had  never  studied 
the  argument  of  the  cotton  gin,  nor  heard  the  eloquent  productions  of  the 
great  Mississippi  Valley.  Now  our  people  not  only  see  the  justice  of  slavery, 
but  its  providence  too.  The  world  can  never  give  up  slavery  until  it  is 
ready  to  give  up  clothing  and  food.  The  South  is  a  magnificent  exemplifica 
tion  of  the  highest  Christian  excellence.  She  is  feeding  the  hungry,  cloth 
ing  the  naked,  blessing  them  that  curse  her,  and  doing  good  to  them  that 
despitefully  use  and  persecute  her. 

We  say  again  that  even  the  history  of  the  slavery  agitation  in  this 
country  does  not  justify  the  very  conclusion  that  Abolitionism  has  been  always 
progressive.  Whenever  popular  sentiment  in  politics  has  condemned  the 
agitation,  Abolitionism  has  declined.  Many  instances  could  be  given.  In 
1848  the  Abolition  candidate  for  the  Presidency  received  about  300,000 
votes.  At  the  end  of  Mr.  Fillmore's  administration  in  1852,  the  candidate 
of  that  party  received  about  half  that  vote,  and  a  fugitive  slave  could  be  re 
covered  almost  without  opposition  in  any  Northern  State.  Even  the  act  of 
Massachusetts,  nullifying  the  fugitive  slave  law  of  1703,  had  not  been  applied 
to  the  new  fugitive  slave  law  of  1850,  and  was  not  so  applied  until  1855,  after 
the  agitation  had  been  revived. 

These,  and  many  other  similar  reasons,  we  urge  for  believing  that  all  the 
enumerated  grievances — the  results  of  slavery  agitation — are  curable  by 
remedies  within  the  Union. 

But  suppose  our  reasoning  all  wrong  !  How  shall  we  be  convinced  ? 
Only  by  the  experiment  ;  for  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  nothing  but  a  trial  can 
test  the  virtue  of  the  remedies  proposed.  Let  us  try  these  remedies,  and  if 
we  fail,  this  failure  will  establish  the  truth  of  the  positions  of  the  advocates 
of  immediate  secession,  and  we  shall  all  join  in  that  remedy. 

For  let  it  be  understood,  we  are  all  agreed  that  these  grievances  shall  be 
resisted — shall  be  remedied — most  effectively  remedied;  and  if  this  cannot 
be  done  in  the  Union,  then  the  Union  must  go.  And  we  must  not  let  this 
crisis  pass  without  forever  solving  this  doubt.  If  the  Union  and  the  peace 
of  slavery  cannot  exist  together,  then  the  Union  must  go  ;  for  slavery  can 
never  go,  the  necessities  of  man  and  the  laws  of  Heaven  will  never  let  it  go, 
and  it  must  have  peace.  And  it  has  been  tantalized  and  meddled  with  as 
long  as  our  self-respect  can  permit. 

But  what  remedies  in  the  Union  do  we  propose  ?     I  will  answer  : 

The  grievances  enumerated  are  of  two  kinds — existing  and  threatened. 
The  existing  actual  grievances  are  all  violations  of  the  Federal  Constitution 
and  Federal  laws,  either  by  Northern  citizens  or  Northern  States.  Now, 
what  does  good  statesmanship,  good  logic,  and  common  sense  naturally  sug 
gest  ?  Why,  that  the  Federal  Government  shall  enforce  its  laws.  No  State 
can  enforce,  or  punish,  for  the  violation  of  a  Federal  law.  The  power 
offended  must  adequately  punish  the  offender.  The  punishment  must  be 
such  as  to  redress  the  past,  and  by  certainty  and  terror  secure  the  future. 
The  Federal  la\v  is  offended.  The  Northern  States  and  people  are  the 
offenders.  The  South  is  damaged  by  the  offense.  This  gives  her  the  right 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  245 

to  demand  the  redress  at  the  hands  of  the  Federal  Government,  and  if  that 
government,  for  want  of  will  or  power,  shall  riot  grant  the  redress,  then  that 
government  is  a  demonstrated  failure.  And  when  government  ends,  self- 
defense  begins.  We  can  then  take  redress  in  our  own  way,  and  to  our 
entire  satisfaction. 

Let  the  Georgia  Convention  meet.  Let  her  not  simply  demand  but  com 
mand  that  this  war  on  slavery  shall  cease — that  these  unconstitutional  acts 

•/ 

and  proceedings  shall  be  repealed  and  abandoned  by  the  States,  or  repu 
diated  and  redressed  by  the  Federal  Government.  Let  her  invite  all  the 
States  to  join  in  this  demand.  If  no  others  will  come  to  their  duty  and  meet 
with  us,  let  the  fifteen  Southern  States  join  in  this  demand,  and  let  the 
penalty  of  refusal,  even  to  the  demand  of  one  State,  be  the  abandonment  of 
the  Union,  and  any  other,  even  harsher  remedy,  each  State  may  think  her 
rights  and  honor  require. 

We  have  an  instance  before  us,  made  by  the  North.  When,  in  1833, 
South  Carolina  was  refusing  to  obey  a  Federal  law,  in  the  execution  of  which 
the  Northern  States  had  an  interest,  Congress  passed  a  force  bill,  and  put  it 
in  the  hands  of  a  Southern  President  for  enforcement,  even  with  the  army 
and  the  navy  and  the  militia — if  needed. 

Let  us  turn  this  battery  against  Northern  rebels.  The  constitutionality 
of  the  act  which  South  Carolina  resisted  was  doubted.  A  Southern  State 
never  nullified,  nor  refused  to  obey,  a  plain  constitutional  law.  But  here 
are  the  Northern  States,  and  people  nullifying  and  setting  at  defiance  the 
plainest  Constitutional  provisions,  and  laws  passed  in  pursuance  thereof; 
and,  instead  of  demanding  of  the  Federal  Government  the  enforcement  of 

*  ^j 

its  laws  for  the  protection  of  our  rights,  we  are  spending  our  breath  and 
wasting  our  strength,  in  vain  boastings  of  wrath  and  hurtful  divisions  of  our 
own  people. 

Some  of  our  wisest  Southern  statesmen  think  we  have  laws  already 
sufficient  for  this  crisis,  if  enforced.  We  have  an  act  in  1795,  and  one  in 
1807,  and  perhaps  others,  to  execute  the  laws,  to  suppress  insurrections,  and 
repel  invasions.  If  these  and  other  enactments  are  sufficient,  let  us  have 
them  enforced. 

A  Voice. — The  presidents  we  have  already  had  won't  enforce  that  law. 

Mr.  Hill. — Then  you  ought  to  have  dissolved  long  ago.  If  the  grievance 
has  been  by  men  of  our  own  choosing,  why  have  we  not  complained  before. 
Let  us  begin  now.  Let  us  begin  with  Mr.  Buchanan.  A  few  days  ago, 
and  perhaps  now,  a  fugitive  is  standing  protected  by  a  Northern  mob  in  a 
Northern  State,  in  defiance  of  the  United  State  Marshal.  Let  us  demand 
now  that  Mr.  Buchanan  enforce  the  law  against  that  rebel  and  against  that 
State  which  protects  him,  or  suffers  him  to  be  protected  on  her  soil.  Let 
us  have  out  the  army  and  navy,  and  if  they  are  not  sufficient  let  there  be  a 
call  for  volunteers.  Many  of  us  say  we  are  ready  to  fight,  anxious  to  fight. 
Here  is  a  chance.  Let  us  tender  our  services. 

If  the  laws  now  existing  are  not  sufficient,  let  us  have  them  sufficient. 
It  is  our  right.  We  are  entitled  to  a  force  bill  for  every  clause  in  the 
Constitution  necessary  to  our  rights.  What  have  our  statesmen  been  after 
that  these  laws  are  not  sufficient  ?  Some  of  these  nullifying  grievances  have 
existed  since  1843,  and  is  it  possible  that  our  statesmen  have  been  all  asleep, 
or  lost  or  forgetful  in  wrangling  about  slavery  ?  Let  us  begin  now  and 
perfect  our  laws  for  the  enforcement  of  every  Constitutional  right,  and 
against  every  rebel  enemy.  Let  the  convention  add  to  the  contingencies  of 


246  SENATOR  B.  H.   HILL,   OP  GEORGIA. 

disruption  in  the  Georgia  platform.  Let  the  refusal  to  enforce  the  laws 
granted  for  our  protection  and  defense  be  one  contingency,  and  the  refusal 
to  grant  the  laws  needed  for  that  protection  and  defense  be  another  contin 
gency. 

A  Voice. — How  long  will  vou  wait  ? 

^J  v 

Mr.  Hill. — Until  the  experiment  is  tried  and  both  the  demands  enumer 
ated  may  be  tested  and  the  contingencies  may  transpire  before  the  fourth 
of  March  next.  If  they  do  not,  if  a  larger  time  shall  be  needed,  Mr.  Lincoln 
cannot  do  us  damage.  As  you  heard  last  night,  he  cannot  even  form  his 
Cabinet  unless  he  make  it  acceptable  to  a  Democratic  Senate.  And  I  go 
further  and  say  that  he  cannot  get  even  his  salary — not  a  dime  to  pay  for 
his  breakfast — without  the  consent  of  Congress. 

Nor  would  I  have  the  Southern  States,  nor  even  Georgia,  to  hesitate  to 
demand  the  enforcement  of  those  laws  at  the  hands  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  if  we 
cannot  test  it  before.  The  North  demanded  of  a  Southern  President  the 
execution  of  the  law  against  a  Southern  State  in  1833.  Now  let  the  South 

^3 

compel  a  Northern  President  to  execute  the  laws  against  a  Northern  people  ; 
yea,  the  very  rebels  that  elected  him. 

A  Voice. — Do  you  believe  Lincoln  would  issue  his  proclamation  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — We  can  make  him  do  it.  It  is  his  oath.  He  will  be  a  traitor 
to  refuse,  and  we  shall  have  the  right  to  hang  him.  He  dare  not  refuse. 
He  would  be  on  Southern  territory,  and  for  his  life  he  dare  not  refuse. 

A  Voice. — The  "  Wide  Awakes  "  will  be  there. 

Mr.  Hill. — Very  well,  if  we  are  afraid  of  the  "  Wide  Awakes  "  we  had 
better  surrender  without  further  debate.  The  "  Wide  Awakes '  will  be 
there  if  we  secede,  and  if  they  are  to  be  dreaded,  our  only  remedy  is  to 
hide.  No,  my  friends,  we  are  not  afraid  of  anybody.  Arm  us  with  the 
laws  of  our  country  and  the  Constitution  of  our  fathers,  and  we  fear  no 
enemy.  Let  us  make  war  upon  that  Constitution  and  against  those  laws 
and  we  will  be  afraid  of  every  noise  in  the  bushes.  He  who  feels  and 
knows  he  is  right,  is  afraid  of  nothing;  and  he  who  feels  and  knows  he  is 
wrong,  is  afraid  of  nothing,  too. 

We  were  told  the  other  night  by  a  gentleman  urging  immediate  secession 
that  we  had  never  had  a  member  in  Congress  but  who  was  afraid  to  demand 
the  laws  for  the  enforcement  of  these  Constitutional  rights.  And  this  is 
true,  but  whose  fault  is  that  ?  Shame  upon  us  that  we  have  been  afraid  to 
demand  our  rights  at  the  hands  of  our  own  government,  administered  to 
this  hour  by  men  of  our  own  choice,  and  yet  insist  on  our  courage  to  sustain 
us  in  seceding  from  that  government  in  defiance  of  its  power.  No,  we  have 
a  right  to  go  out,  but  let  us  know  we  must  exercise  that  right  before  we  go, 
and  how  can  we  know  it  unless  we  ask  first  ?  The  Declaration  of  Independ 
ence,  which  you  invoke  for  an  example,  says,  a  decent  respect  to  the  opin 
ions  of  mankind  requires  us  to  declare  the  causes  which  impel  us  to  the  sep 
aration.  When  we  separate  and  allege  our  grievances  as  our  causes,  and 
mankind  shall  ask  us  if  we  attempted,  even  demanded  a  redress  of  those 
grievances  and  causes  before  we  went  out,  shall  we  hang  our  heads  and  say 
no  ?  A  people  who  are  afraid  to  demand  respect  for  their  rights,  can  have 
no  rights  worthy  to  be  respected.  Our  fathers  demanded,  yea  petitioned, 
warned,  and  conjured,  and  not  until  the  government  was  deaf  to  the  voice  of 
justice  and  consanguinity,  did  they  acquiesce  in  the  necessity  which  an 
nounced  their  separation.  It  is  not  the  cowardice  of  fear,  but  the  courage 
of  right  and  duty,  to  demand  redress  at  the  hands  of  our  government. 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  247 

I  confess  I  am  anxious  to  see  the  strength  of  this  government  now  tested. 
The  crisis  is  on  us  ;  not  of  our  seeking,  but  in  spite  of  our  opposition,  and 
now  let  us  meet  it. 

I  believe  we  can  make  Lincoln  enforce  the  laws.  If  fifteen  Southern 
States  will  take  that  Constitution  and  the  laws  and  his  oath,  and  shake 
them  in  the  face  of  the  President,  and  demand  their  observance  and  enforce 
ment,  he  cannot  refuse.  Better  make  him  do  it  than  any  one  else.  It  will 
be  a  magnificent  vindication  of  the  power  and  the  majesty  of  the  law,  to 
make  the  President  enforce  the  law,  even  to  hanging,  against  the  very 
rebels  who  have  chosen  him  to  trample  upon  it.  It  will  be  a  vindication 
that  will  strike  terror  to  the  hearts  of  the  evil-doers  for  a  century  to  come. 
Why,  Lincoln  is  not  a  monarch.  He  has  no  power  outside  of  the  law,  and 
none  inside  of  the  law  except  to  enforce  it.  The  law  is  our  king  over  all. 
From  the  President  to  the  humblest  citizen  we  are  the  equal  subjects  of  this 
only  ruler.  We  have  no  cause  for  fear  except  when  we  offend  this  only 
sovereign  of  the  Republican  citizen,  and  have  no  occasion  for  despair  until 
his  protection  is  denied  us. 

I  am  also  willing,  as  you  heard  last  night,  that  our  Convention  or  State 
should  demand  of  the  nullifying  States  the  repeal  of  their  obnoxious  laws. 
I  know  this  idea  has  been  characterized  as  ridiculous.  I  cannot  see  wherein. 
You  would  make  such  demands  of  any  foreign  power  interfering  with  your 
rights,  and  why  do  less  toward  a  confederate  State  ? 

But  in  my  opinion,  the  wisest  policy,  the  most  natural  remedy,  and 
the  surest  way  to  vindicate  our  honor  and  self-respect,  is  to  demand  the 
unconditional  observance  of  the  Constitution  by  every  State  and  people, 
and  to  enforce  that  demand.  And  if  it  be  necessary,  call  out  for  this 
purpose  the  whole  power  of  the  government  even  to  war  on  the  rebellious 
State.  And  when  a  State  shall  allow  a  fugitive  to  be  rescued  in  her 
jurisdiction  and  carried  beyond  the  reach  of  the  owner,  require  her  to 
indemnify  the  owner,  and  make  the  government  compel  that  indemnity, 
even  to  the  seizure  of  the  property  of  the  offending  State  and  her 
people.  One  such  rigid  enforcement  of  the  law  will  secure  universal  obedi 
ence.  Let  the  law  be  executed  though  the  heavens  fall,  for  there  can  be 
no  government  without  law,  and  law  is  but  sand,  if  not  enforced.  If 
need  be,  let  the  State  continuing  in  rebellion  against  the  Constitution  be 
driven  from  the  Union.  Is  this  Union  a  good  ?  If  so,  why  should  we  sur 
render  its  blessings  because  Massachusetts  violates  the  laws  of  that  Union  ? 
Punish  the  guilty.  Drive  Massachusetts  to  the  duties  of  the  Constitution 
or  from  its  benefits.  Make  the  general  government  do  this,  and  abandon 
the  government  when  it  shall  take  sides  with  the  criminal.  It  would  be  a 
trophy  to  fanaticism,  above  all  her  insolence,  to  drive  the  dutiful  out  of  the 
Union  with  impunity  on  its  part.  Let  us  defend  the  Union  against  its 
enemies,  until  that  Union  shall  take  sides  with  the  enemy,  and  then  let  us 
defend  ourselves  against  both. 

In  the  next  place  let  us  consider  the  benefits  of  this  policy.  First,  let 
us  consider  its  benefits  ifwe  succeed  ;  and  then  its  benefits  if  we  fail. 

If  we  succeed  we  shall  have  brought  about  a  triumph  of  law  over  the 
fell  spirit  of  mobocracy,  never  surpassed  in  the  world's  history,  and  the 
reward  of  that  triumph  will  be  the  glorious  vindication  of  our  equality  and 
honor,  and  at  the  same  time  the  establishment  of  the  Union  in  its  integrity 
forever.  And  I  tell  you,  my  friends,  we  owe  it  to  our  history,  ourselves, 
and  our  posterity,  yea,  to  constitutional  liberty  itself,  to  make  this  trial. 


248  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

Can  it  be  possible  that  we  are  living  under  a  government  that  has  no  power 
to  enforce  its  laws  ?  We  have  boasted  of  our  form  of  government.  We 
have  almost  canonized  its  authors  as  saints,  for  their  patriotism  and  wisdom. 
They  have  reputations  world-wide.  They  have  been,  for  nearly  a  century, 
lauded  as  far  above  all  antiquity,  and  all  previous  statesmen.  Their  faces 
and  their  forms  have  been  perpetuated  in  brass  and  marble  for  the  admiring 
gaze  of  many  generations  made  happy  in  the  enjoyment  of  their  labors.  In 
verse  and  song,  in  history  and  philosophy,  in  light  literature  and  graver 
learning,  their  names  are  eulogized,  and  their  deeds  commemorated,  and 
their  wisdom  ennobled.  The  painter  has  given  us  the  very  faces  and  posi 
tions  of  the  great  counselors,  as  they  sat  together  deliberating  in  the  forma 
tion  of  this  Constitution.  The  pulpit  has  placed  their  virtues  next  to  the 
purity  and  inspiration  of  the  early  apostles.  The  Senate  Chamber  has  in 
voked  their  sayings  as  the  test  of  good  policy.  The  fireside  has  held  up  to 
its  juvenile  circle  their  manners  as  the  models  of  good  breeding.  The 
demagogue  on  the  hustings  has  falsely  caught  at  their  mantles  to  hide  his 
own  shame. 

All  this,  because  we  have  been  accustomed  to  believe  that  they  suc 
ceeded  in  framing  the  best  Constitution  and  in  organizing  the  best  govern 
ment  the  world  ever  saw.  Is  that  government,  after  all,  a  failure  ?  Who 
shall  give  us  a  better,  and  how  shall  we  commemorate  the  worth  of  such 
wiser  benefactors  ?  But  if  this  government  cannot  enforce  its  laws,  then  it 
is  a  failure. 

We  have  professed  to  feel  and  realize  its  blessings.  Eloquence  has  por 
trayed  in  magic  power  its  progress  in  all  the  elements  of  power,  wealth,  great 
ness,  and  happiness.  Not  a  people  on  earth,  since  we  achieved  our  inde 
pendence,  has  shown  symptoms  of  a  desire  to  be  free,  that  we  have  not  en 
couraged  by  our  sympathies,  and  as  the  sufficient  evidence  of  all  success  in 
self-government,  we  have  pointed  them  to  our  example.  There  is  not  a 
people  on  earth  who  do  not  point  to  America  and  sigh  for  a  government 
like  that  of  the  United  States.  Shall  we  now  say  to  all  these  :  Stop,  you 
are  mistaken.  Our  reputation  is  not  deserved.  Be  content  with  your 
harsher  rule.  The  people  are  not  capable  of  self-government.  This  very 
government,  which  you  admire,  and  which  we  have  thought  was  a  model, 
is  unable  to  protect  our  own  people  from  the  robber,  the  thief,  the  murderer, 
and  the  fanatic  ! 

Fellow-citizens,  before  we  settle  down  in  such  a  conclusion,  let  us  make 
the  effort  and  put  this  government  to  the  test. 

Another  advantage  to  be  derived  from  success  is,  that  we  shall  thus  end 
the  agitation  of  slavery  forever.  Its  agitation  in  politics  was  wrong  from 
the  beginning.  Debate  its  morality  and  justice  as  much  as  you  please.  It 
will  stand  the  argument.  But  don't  drag  it  down  into  a  party  political  issue. 
Show  me  the  man  who  agitates  slavery  as  a  political  party  question  and  I 
will  show  you  the  true  enemy  of  slavery  and  the  Union,  I  care  not  whether 
he  lives  North  or  South.  The  safety  and  peace  of  the  slaveholder  and  the 
Union  demand  that  this  agitation  should  not  longer  be  allowed. 

But,  in  the  second  place,  if  we  fail,  we  cannot  be  damaged,  but  great  ben 
efits  will  result  from  the  effort. 

In  the  next  place  we  shall  have  time  to  get  ready  for  secession.  If  we 
secede  now,  in  what  condition  are  we  ?  Our  secession  will  either  be  peace 
able  or  otherwise.  If  peaceable,  we  have  no  ships  to  take  off  our  produce. 
We  could  not  get  and  would  not  have  those  of  the  government  from  which 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  249 

we  had  just  seceded.  We  have  no  treaties,  commercial  or  otherwise,  with 
any  other  power.  We  have  no  postal  system  among  our  own  people.  Nor 
are  we  prepared  to  meet  any  one  of  the  hundred  inconveniences  that  must 
follow,  and  all  of  which  can  be  avoided  by  taking  time. 

But  suppose  our  secession  be  not  peaceable.  In  what  condition  are  we 
for  war  ?  No  navy,  no  forts,  no  arsenals,  no  arms  but  bird  guns  for  low 
trees.  Yet  a  scattered  people,  with  nothing  dividing  us  from  our  enemy  but 
an  imaginary  line,  and  a  long  sea  and  gulf  coast  extending  from  the  Poto 
mac  to  Galveston  Bay,  if  all  should  secede.  In  what  condition  are  we  to 
meet  the  thousand  ills  that  would  beset  us,  and  every  one  of  which  can  be 
avoided  by  taking  time.  "  We  have  more  to  do  than  to  go  up  the  hills  and 
come  down."  Secession  is  no  holiday  work. 

While  we  are  seeking  to  redress  our  wrongs  in  the  Union,  we  can  go 
forward,  making  all  necessary  preparations  to  go  out  if  it  should  become 
necessary.  We  can  have  a  government  system  perfect,  and  prepared,  ready 
for  the  emergency,  when  the  necessity  for  separation  shall  come. 

Again,  if  we  fail  to  get  redress  in  the  Union,  that  very  failure  will 
unite  the  people  of  our  State.  The  only  real  ground  of  difference  now  is  : 
some  of  us  think  we  can  get  redress  in  the  Union,  and  others  think  we  can 
not.  Let  those  of  us  who  still  have  faith  make  that  effort  which  has 
never  been  made,  and  if  we  fail,  then  we  are  ready  to  join  you.  If  you 
will  not  help  us  make  that  effort,  at  least  do  not  try  to  prevent.  Let  us 
have  a  fair  trial.  Keep  cool  and  keep  still.  If  we  cannot  save  our 
equality,  and  rights,  and  honor  in  the  Union,  we  shall  join  you  and  save 
them  out  of  it. 

Voice. — When  you  fail  to  save  your  rights  in  the  Union,  if  you  refuse 
to  go  with  us  then,  what  will  you  do  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — But  we  will  go.  We  allow  not  if  to  our  conduct  in  that  con 
nection.  If,  when  we  come  to  join  you,  you  get  stubborn  and  refuse  to  go, 
then  we  shall  go  without  you. 

Now,  my  secession  friends,  I  have  all  confidence  in  your  zeal  and  patri 
otism,  but  simply  let  us  take  time  and  get  ready.  Let  us  work  for  the  best, 
and  prepare  for  the  worst.  Until  an  experiment  is  made,  I  shall  always 
believe  that  the  Constitution  has  strength  enough  to  conquer  all  its  enemies — 
even  the  Northern  fanatic.  If  it  proves  to  have  not  that  strength,  I  will  not 
trust  it  another  hour. 

A  third  benefit  to  be  derived  from  the  failure  of  an  honest  effort  to  re 
dress  our  grievances  in  the  Union,  is  the  Union  of  all  the  Southern  States. 
Some  of  the  States  will  not  secede  now.  Some  of  the  States  who  suffer 
most  from  the  grievances  we  have  enumerated  will  not  secede  now.  Because 
they  think  these  grievances  can  be  redressed  in  the  Union.  If  this  idea  be 
a  dream,  let  us  wake  up  to  the  reality  by  an  actual  experiment. 

A  further  benefit  to  be  desired  is,  that  if  all  the  Southern  States  get 
ready  and  secede  together,  we  shall  be  allowed  to  do  so  peaceably.  Cer 
tainly,  it  is  our  right  to  go  peaceably  any  way.  The  government,  though 
having  the  right  to  enforce  its  laws  against  all  the  world,  has  no  right  to 
coerce  back  a  seceding  State.  But  the  attempt  might  be  made  and  the 
peace  broken,  if  only  one  State  should  secede,  or  even  a  few.  But  let  all  the 
Southern  States  get  ready  and  go  together,  and  no  earthly  power  would 
interfere  or  molest.  My  own  opinion  is  that  every  Western  and  North 
western  State,  and  the  Middle  States,  and  perhaps  all  but  the  New  England 
States,  would  go  with  us.  And  the  glorious  result  at  last  might  be  that  we 


250  SENATOR  R   H.  HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

should  hold  the  government  with  all  its  power,  and  thrust  off  only  those 
who  have  been  faithless  to  it. 

But  the  Southern  States  alone,  with  the  territory  naturally  falling  into 
our  hands,  would  form  the  greatest  government  then  on  earth.  The  world 
must  have  our  products  ;  and  after  peace  was  once  secured  to  us,  the  world 
would  furnish  our  navies  and  our  army,  without  the  expense  to  us  of  a  ship 
or  a  soldier. 

Finally,  my  friends,  we  shall  have  secured,  by  this  policy,  the  good 
opinion  of  all  mankind  and  of  ourselves.  We  shall  have  done  our  duty  to 
history,  to  our  children,  and  to  Constitutional  liberty,  the  great  experiment 
of  self-government.  We  shall  have  also  discerned  the  defects  in  our  pres 
ent  government,  and  will  be  prepared  to  guard  against  them  in  another. 
Above  all  we  shall  have  found  good  consciences,  and  secured  that,  either  in 
the  Union  or  out  of  it,  which  is  dearer  to  us  than  any  Union,  and  more  to 
be  desired  than  all  constitutions  however  venerated — that  which  is  the  end 
of  all  our  efforts,  and  the  desire  of  all  our  hearts,  our  equality  as  States,  our 
rights  as  citizens,  and  our  honor  as  men. 


SPEECH  DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE   GEORGIA  LEGISLATURE, 
r:  •  IN  MILLEDGEVILLE,  DECEMBER  11,  1862. 

CORRESPONDENCE. 

MILLEDGEVILLE,  December  12,  1862. 

Hon.  B.  H.  Hill. 

DEAR  SIR  :  The  undersigned,  members  of  the  General  Assembly,  take 
pleasure  in  expressing  their  high  gratification  at  the  able  address  delivered 
by  you  last  night  in  the  Representative  Hall,  and  would  respectfully  request 
a  copy  for  publication. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

S.  F.  ALEXANDER,  34th  Dist.  J.  A.  L.  LEE, 

J.  A.  SHEWMAKE,  17th  Dist.  J.  H.  R.  WASHINGTON, 

L.  M.  HILL,  29th  Dist.  JOHN  FAVER, 

B.  T.  HARRIS,  20th  Dist.  JAMES  B.  KEY, 

D.  R.  MITCHELL,  42d  Dist.  JOHN  W.  McCoRD, 

Jos.  A.  GASTON,  36th  Dist.  P.  E.  LOVE, 

WM.  GIBSON,  18th  Dist.  MILTON  A.  CANDLER, 

J.  H.  ECHOLS,  30th  Dist.  L.  N.  WHITTLE, 

T.  M.  FURLOW,  13th  Dist.  BEN.  B.  MOORE, 

D.  J.  BOTH  WELL,  14th  Dist.  ROBT.  J.  BACON, 
WM.  P.  BEASLY,  37th  Dist.  ROBERT  HESTER, 
WILLIAM  M.  BROWN,  T.  M.  NORWOOD, 

E.  G.  CABANISS,  J.  J.  THRASHER. 


LA  GRANGE,  GA.,  January  7,  1863. 

Gentlemen  :  Your  letter  requesting  for  publication  a  copy  of  the  speech 
I  had  the  honor  to  deliver  before  the  General  Assembly,  was  handed  to  me 
before  I  left  Milledgeville.  I  made  the  speech  with  no  thought  of  publica 
tion,  and  therefore  was  not  prepared  with  a  copy. 

Learning  that  a  gentleman  had  taken  tolerably  full  stenographic  notes  of 
the  speech,  I  applied  to  him  to  write  them  out.  He  kindly  promised  to 
furnish  them  to  me.  After  waiting  a  considerable  time,  he  wrote  me  that 
he  had  been  prevented  from  complying  with  the  promise. 

In  the  midst  of  other  engagements  I  have  endeavored  to  write  out  the 
speech.  I  have  not  been  able  to  recall  the  language  spoken,  but  the  line  of 
argument  is  precisely  the  same.  Hoping  the  views  uttered  will,  at  least,  do 
no  harm,  I  place  them  at  your  disposal. 

Since  the  speech  was  delivered,  several  splendid  victories  have  crowned 
our  arms  with  new  and,  if  possible,  more  glorious  triumphs.  These  give 
increased  confidence  to  the  high  and  gratifying  hopes  of  final  success  which 
I  then  expressed. 

In  the  midst  of  scenes  which  should  excite  universal  accord  and  harmony 

251 


252  SENATOR  B.   H.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

in  all  the  measures  of  the  administration,  it  is  painful  to  Georgians  to  find 
only  in  our  State  a  few  who  still  murmur  and  seek  to  divide.  What  can  be 
the  end  or  the  object  of  strife  now  ?  Rational  men  must  have  a  distinct 
purpose  in  view.  Are  we  so  tired  of  the  revolution  that  we  wish  to  retrace 
its  steps  and  go  back  ?  Or  are  we  so  in  love  with  revolution  that  we  desire 
another  ?  Or  is  it  simply  an  Erostratan  ambition  for  notoriety  ? 

Perhaps  these  differences  are  inseparable  from  republican  governments. 
They  existed  in  Washington's  day,  and  charged  the  Father  of  his  Country 
with  infidelity  to  the  Constitution,  and  with  ambition  to  wear  imperial  pur 
ple.  We  can  then  afford  to  be  patient,  and  the  justice  that  rewarded  then, 
will  be  meted  out  again. 

With  great  regard  for  you  all,  personally,  gentlemen,  I  have  the  honor 
to  be, 

Very  truly  yours, 

B.  H.  HILL. 
Messrs.  E.  G.  Cabaniss,  J.  A.  L.  Lee,  and  others. 


Some  discontent  existed  in  Georgia  against  the  policy  of  the  Confederate  administra 
tion.  This  feeling  was  inspired  by  the  Governor  of  the  State,  who  was  bitter  in  his  oppo 
sition  to  the  Conscription  Acts  of  the  Confederate  Congress,  and  to  the  executive  policy 
of  President  Davis.  This  attitude  of  the  Governor  was  causing  some  dissatisfaction  among 
the  soldiers  and  the  people.  It  was  to  meet  this  opposition  and  to  allay  this  feeling  that 
Senator  Hill  came  to  Georgia  and  delivered  this  speech  to  the  General  Assembly.  The 
speech  furnishes  a  conclusive  answer  to  the  charges  that  have  been  made  against  President 
Davis  and  the  Confederate  Congress  by  the  Governor  and  others,  and  rallied  the  people 
to  a  united  support  of  the  Southern  cause. 

SPEECH. 

Ladies ,  Gentlemen  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  Fellow-citizens :  When 
this  revolution  began  I  imposed  on  myself  sternly  what  I  regarded  as  the 
virtue  of  silence.  In  my  opinion  success  had  to  be  won  by  active  arms, 
united  hearts,  liberal  sacrifices,  and  that  without  which  all  these  might  prove 
unavailing — silent  tongues.  As  you  have  just  been  informed,  a  large  ma 
jority  of  the  General  Assembly  invited  me  to  address  them  and  in  deference 
to  their  wish  I  am  here  to-night  for  that  purpose.  I  am  sure  I  intend  to  say 
nothing  but  that  which  will  promote  the  good  of  the  country  and  the  har 
mony  of  our  people — which  I  consider  inseparable. 

I  have  been  an  humble  and  very  quiet  actor  in  this  revolution  from  its 
beginning.  I  have  been  a  very  close  and  anxious  observer  of  men,  of  measures, 
and  of  things,  and  it  shall  be  my  purpose  to-night  to  give  you  a  brief  review 
in  general  terms  of  the  embarrassments  of  the  Confederate  Government  from 
its  organization  :  the  progress  that  government  has  made  ;  the  causes  of 
that  progress,  and  the  probable  result  of  the  revolution,  judged  by  the  past 
and  the  present. 

Perhaps  no  assembly  of  men  ever  took  place  under  circumstances  of 
greater  anxiety  and  higher  responsibilities  than  those  which  surrounded  and 
pressed  upon  the  convention  which  met  in  Montgomery  on  the  4th  day  of 
February,  1861.  For  one,  I  felt  most  heavily  the  crisis.  There  were  many 
troubles  on  every  hand.  The  present  was  stormy.  The  future  was  dark — 
very  dark.  When  we  first  assembled  we  were  forty-three  delegates,  repre 
senting  six  States.  Texas  was  soon  added.  These  seven  States  had  sepa 
rated  from  and  formed  a  border  or  fringe  of  what  had  been  a  very  powerful 
republic  ;  a  republic  great  in  every  sense  ;  full  of  men  ;  full  of  resources  ; 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  253 

full  of  genius,  and  talent,  and  full  of  prosperity.  We  had  a  large  coast,  and  no 
navy  with  which  to  protect  and  defend  it.  We  had  but  a  small  popula 
tion — less  than  three  millions  against  more  than  twenty-five  millions.  Our 
resources  were  exceedingly  limited.  There  was  not  known  to  be  a  saltpetre 
cave  capable  of  being  worked  in  the  Confederacy.  We  had  very  few  muni 
tions  of  war,  and  still  fewer  facilities  for  procuring  more.  In  all  the  ele 
ments  of  power  necessary  to  prosecute  the  revolution  by  force,  we  were  weak. 

But  all  these  together  constituted  not  our  greatest  trouble  nor  our  greatest 
weakness.  The  most  serious  difficulty  resting  upon  that  convention  was 
the  conviction,  very  generally  if  not  universally  shared  by  the  members, 
that  we  were  not  certain  of  a  constituency.  Our  people  were  divided — 
greatly  and  almost  angrily  divided.  There  was  not  much  division  as  to  our 
abstract  right  to  set  up  for  ourselves,  nor  in  relation  to  the  fact  that  the  sec 
tional  rule  asserted  by  the  North  was  sufficient  cause  for  separation  ;  but 
many  felt,  and  felt  keenly,  that  the  separation  had  been  hasty,  ill-advised, 
and  without  that  consultation  and  concert  which  was  due  to  our  sister  slave 
States,  and  to  the  crisis.  Thus  seven  States  not  compactly  situated,  with 
one-eighth  the  population,  with  a  large  seacoast  exposed,  with  few  supplies, 
and  fewer  resources,  and  with  a  divided  people,  dared  the  wrath  of  this 
powerful  republic,  as  full  of  hate  and  fanaticism  as  of  men  and  materials. 
How  could  these  framers  feel  otherwise  than  oppressively  anxious  ? 

Nor  was  the  prospect  of  our  enlargement  in  any  degree  flattering.  Soon 
after  the  assembling  of  that  convention  the  border  States  voted  on  the 
proposition  to  cast  in  their  lot  with  us.  Not  only  by  a  large,  but  by  an 
overwhelming  majority,  they  refused  to  do  so.  And  we  felt  and  knew  that 
many  had  cast  that  vote  under  the  stinging  reflection  that  we  had  not  treated 
them  with  due  consideration. 

This  was  the  state  of  things  now  known  to  us  all,  and  therefore  I  speak 
of  it  freely.  But,  fellow-citizens,  the  skies  soon  began  to  change.  Light 
mingled  with  the  darkness.  True,  it  was  on  the  bosom  of  a  war  cloud,  and 
just  before  a  deluge  of  blood,  yet  the  bow  of  hope  was  seen  and  all  was  not 
darkness. 

What  wrought  this  change  and  inspired  this  hope?  The  first  cause  will 
be  found  in  the  prompt  and  wise  labors  of  that  convention.  The  formation 
of  the  new  Constitution  was  a  very  powerful  agency  for  good.  Many  of 
our  own  people  had  serious  apprehensions  that  the  purpose  of  the  revolution 
was  not  simply  to  get  rid  of  the  union  with  the  North.  Some  anticipated  a 
more  radical  democracy — a  fearful  anarchy.  Others  looked  for  an  aristoc 
racy,  or  even  a  limited  monarchy.  London,  Exeter  Hall,  and  Boston  Pande 
monium  had  horrid  images  of  a  slave-trade  oligarchy  floating  before  them, 
and  certainly  destined  to  shock  the  sensibilities  of  mankind. 

All  these  were  disappointed.  The  convention,  with  a  promptness  and 
unanimity  never  surpassed,  agreed  upon  and  adopted  the  old  Constitution, 
with  only  such  changes,  well  interwoven,  as  time  and  discussion  had  shown 
to  be  necessary  and  proper.  Even  the  candid  of  our  enemies  were  driven  to 
admit  that  the  new  Constitution  was  an  improvement.  The  world  admitted 
the  statesmanship  of  the  convention,  and  our  own  people  began  to  acquire 
confidence.  So,  also,  the  great  body  of  the  old  laws  were  adopted,  and  our 
people  found  themselves  living  under  their  ancient  usages  and  customs,  and 
changed  in  nothing  but  their  Federal  associates. 

In  the  election  of  executive  officers,  also,  the  convention  manifested 
much  wisdom  and  a  liberal  spirit.  While  statesmen  of  ripe  ability  were 


254  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

selected,  both  the  latest  divisions  of  parties  found  themselves  represented  in 
the  persons  of  leaders  having  no  superiors  in  their  ranks.  None  felt  pro 
scribed,  and  if  all  were  not  convinced  of  the  wisdom  and  necessity  of  sepa 
ration,  all  were  satisfied  that  the  destruction  of  constitutional  liberty  was  no 
part  of  the  design  of  that  convention,  and  that  the  shaping  of  the  new 
government  had  fallen  into  safe  conservative  hands. 

But,  much  as  we  owe  to  the  wisdom  and  moderation  of  our  own  states 
men,  we  owe  much  more  to  the  folly  of  Mr.  Lincoln  and  his  advisers.  Left 
to  ourselves,  we  never  could  have  accomplished  the  great  results  we  so  soon 
witnessed.  To  secure  the  confederation  of  those  who  had  so  emphatically 
refused  to  join  us  ;  to  remove  the  jealousies  and  heart-burnings  which  long 
party  divisions  had  fostered,  and  which  the  last  contest  for  separation  had 
not  allayed  but  increased  ;  to  break  the  affections  of  our  people  at  once  and 
forever  from  a  Union  which  they  had  always  loved,  and  connected  with 
which  were  so  many  delightful  memories  and  historic  glories  ;  these  formed 
a  task  for  which  all  ordinary  means  were  unequal.  If  Mr.  Lincoln  had  com 
prehended  the  crisis,  and  had  adopted  toward  the  seceded  States  a  pacific, 
instead  of  a  belligerent  policy  ;  had  shown  a  purpose  to  administer  the 
government  according  to  the  just  and  equal  rule  of  the  Constitution,  instead 
of  the  hated  dogmas  of  a  mad  sectional  party,  the  border  States  wrould  not 
have  left  the  Union,  and  it  is  exceedingly  doubtful  whether  the  cotton  States 
would  have  remained  out  of  the  Union.  But  madness  and  folly  ruled  our 
enemies,  and  success  and  power  were  the  results  to  us.  In  April,  1861,  Mr. 
Lincoln  called  for  seventy-five  thousand  men  to  coerce  sovereign  States  to 
a  loathsome  sectional  rule,  and  by  this  giant  effort  of  imbecility,  Virginia 
— glorious  old  Virginia — was  thrown  into  our  arms  wide  open  to  receive  her. 
Doubts  were  all  removed,  weakness  was  all  gone — we  were  confident,  strong, 
and  united  ;  Virginia  was  with  us.  Soon  the  great  States  of  North  Carolina, 
Tennessee,  and  Arkansas  followed,  and  for  the  same  reasons.  At  once  we 
had  a  territory  not  surpassed  by  any  nation — large,  compact,  and  fertile. 
Our  white  population  was  more  than  doubled,  our  resources  quadrupled. 
Munitions  of  war,  with  facilities  for  increasing  them,  were  added  in  great 
quantities,  and  though  terrible  war  was  the  agency  by  which  all  this  success 
was  acquired,  yet  with  the  war  came  to  us  the  power  to  meet  it.  The  same 
policy  which  added  thus  to  our  material  greatness,  produced  perfect  unity 
among  our  people,  removed  all  jealousies  and  divisions,  and  kindled  in  every 
bosom  a  blaze  of  patriotism,  and  aroused  the  high  resolve  which  prepared 
all  for  those  noble  deeds  and  liberal  sacrifices  which  cannot  fail  to  insure 
independence  and  nationality.  Missouri  and  Kentucky,  in  time,  were  added 
to  the  Confederacy,  and  though  those  great  States  labor  under  great  dis 
advantages,  and  have  the  heel  of  the  oppressor  heavily  on  them,  they  have 
furnished  many  of  the  noblest  heroes  and  most  gallant  spirits  who  have  hal 
lowed  our  cause  and  brought  glory  to  our  struggle.  In  heart  and  interest 
they  are  of  us,  and  must  be  in  destiny  with  us. 

Thus,  fellow-citizens,  in  a  few  short  months  we  had  adopted  our  Consti 
tution,  framed  our  laws,  healed  our  divisions,  enlarged  our  borders,  multiplied 
our  resources,  and  exhibited  to  the  world  all  the  elements  of  an  admirable 
government  in  successful  operation.  With  equal  rapidity  did  we  now  pre 
pare  to  defend  that  government  from  a  most  powerful  and  vindictive  foe. 
Our  success  in  this  respect  has  never  been  equaled  by  any  nation  or  people  in 
history.  The  best  evidence  of  this  may  be  found  in  the  confessions  of  our 
enemies  ;  for  the  greatest  tribute  ever  rendered  to  any  people  was  rendered 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  255 

to  the  Confederate  array  and  government  by  their  disappointed  and  de 
feated  foe.  When  the  hosts  of  the  enemy  fled  in  fright  and  dismay  before 
our  army  of  heroes  on  the  ever  memorable  field  of  Manassas  Plains,  the  only 
excuse  they  could  find  for  their  discomfiture  was  in  shame  and  confusion  to 
confess  they  had  fought  before  they  were  ready.  Think  of  this,  my  country 
men  !  An  old  government,  organized  for  three-fourths  of  a  century  ;  with 
a  regular  army  and  navy  ;  with  twenty  millions  of  people  and  countless 
millions  of  material  resources  ;  with  a  general  in  command  who  had  fought 
his  hundred  battles  and  never  known  defeat  ;  with  a  great  army  well  equipped 
and  full  of  confidence ;  a  nation  vain  and  proud,  impatient  and  insolent; 
apologizing  for  a  most  ignominious  defeat  in  sight  of  its  capital,  by  a 
despised  band  of  improvised  rebels,  sent  out  by  a  government  less  than  six 
months  old  ;  and  finding  no  ground  of  apology  save  in  the  humiliating  con 
fession  that  they  fought  too  soon — before  they  were  ready  !  Surely,  a  fact 
like  this  should  satisfy  the  most  exacting  that  this  young  republic  had  been 
most  vigorous  and  active,  most  vigilant  and  faithful. 

With  the  history  of  the  struggle  since  this  first  great  trial  of  arms  you 
are  ail  familiar.  It  is  not  my  purpose  now  to  deal  with  incidents,  but  to 
state  results,  and  show  the  way  to  correct  conclusions.  We  have  had 
disasters,  at  which  none  can  wonder.  But  we  have  had  successes,  many  and 
great  successes,  at  which  all  the  world  do  wonder  ;  at  which  posterity  will 
never  cease  to  wonder.  We  have  had  defeats  and  losses.  Considered  in 
themselves,  they  have  been  sore  and  depressing.  The  good  and  the  noble 
have  fallen,  and  the  dark  shadows  of  sorrow  have  passed  over  the  door  sills 
and  rest  by  the  hearthstones  of  almost  every  home  in  the  land.  But  con 
sidered  in  the  light  of  the  circumstances  which  surrounded  us  and  in  view 
of  the  effects  upon  our  national  success,  I  affirm  that  all  our  disasters  are  as 
nothing.  Indeed,  when  impartial  history  shall  weigh  this  struggle  in  the 
balances  of  unerring  philosophy,  it  will  be  doubtful  whether  Manassas  and 
Leesburg,  or  Fishing  Creek  and  Donelson  will  press  down  the  scales. 
Failures  are  not  always  losses,  and  blessings  sometimes  chastise.  But  in  the 
cabinet  and  in  the  field  the  rule  has  been  success,  and  defeat  the  exception. 
In  every  respect  we  have  steadily  progressed.  I  have  watched  this  revolu 
tion  anxiously  ;  I  have  scanned  the  chief  actors  critically  ;  my  own,  and  my 
children's,  and  my  country's  all,  are  wrapped  up  in  it  ;  and  in  full  view  of 
all  my  responsibilities,  and  before  you  who  have  honored  me,  I  assert  this 
night,  most  confidently,  that  the  Confederate  States  have  strengthened  with 
every  day  of  their  existence  ;  yea,  though  it  be  early  morning  with  us,  every 
hour  is  brightening  into  day.  There  is  no  apology  for  discouragement,  and 
no  propriety  in  grumbling. 

This  success,  this  progress,  is  not  the  glory  of  any  one  man,  nor  of  any 
one  agency,  but  is  the  work  of  many  men  and  the  result  of  several  causes. 
No  government  was  ever  defended  by  a  more  heroic  army.  From  the 
humblest  private  to  the  general  in  command,  they  are  above  praise.  Nor 
can  history  furnish  a  parallel  for  the  active,  demonstrative  patriotism  of  our 
people.  I  doubt  whether  either  the  government  or  the  army  could  have 
been  sustained  without  the  voluntary  and  most  liberal  contributions  of  the 
people.  It  was  not  possible  for  any  government  in  so  short  a  time  to  have 
provided  for  so  large  an  army.  It  required  the  most  marvelous  energy  to 
pass  the  necessary  laws,  provide  appropriate  means,  and  to  organize  the 
volunteering  multitudes  and  discipline  them  for  the  fight.  Every  man,  every 
woman,  and  every  child  in  the  land  became  an  assistant  commissary,  an 


256  SENATOR  B.  II.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

assistant  quartermaster  and  a  volunteer  aid  in  every  part  of  the  glorious 
work.  These  are  facts  which  all  admit,  and  which  our  children  shall  cele 
brate  in  song  and  story  as  long  as  liberty  is  prized  or  patriotism  is  honored. 
Without  this  heroism  of  our  army  and  generous  support  of  our  people  we 
never  could  have  succeeded  ;  but  with  these  alone,  great  as  they  were,  failure 
would  necessarily  have  ensued.  Laws,  order,  system,  wise  policies,  skillful 
plans,  and  vigorous  and  judicious  administration  were  indispensable  to 
success.  Without  these,  the  first  would  have  produced  but  anarchy,  waste, 
and  ruin.  For  these  laws,  this  system,  and  this  vigorous  and  judicious 
administration,  the  legislative  and  executive  departments  of  the  government 
were  responsible.  Both  were  equal  to  the  demands  of  the  fearful  occasion. 
Neither  the  provisional  nor  the  permanent  Congress  ever  failed  to  provide 
every  necessary  law  and  all  proper  means  to  meet  the  growing  and  ever- 
pressing  calls  of  the  contest.  The  only  serious  charges  of  want  of  foresight 
and  promptness  of  action  which  have  been  made  against  the  Congress,  I  will 
presently  show,  were  made  without  a  knowledge  of  the  facts,  and  by  the 
answer  to  these  charges  I  hope  minor  accusations  will  be  judged. 

In  republics,  the  disaffected  and  the  dissatisfied  generally  level  their 
shafts  against  him  who  may  for  the  time  be  the  Chief  Executive.  Different 
conclusions,  which  are  always  formed  when  free  discussions  are  universal; 
private  griefs,  which  must  exist  when  all  cannot  be  gratified  ;  personal 
jealousies,  which  will  arise  when  many  aspire  and  few  can  be  chosen,  must 
be  expected  to  do  their  usual  share  of  fault-finding  in  the  new  Confederacy. 
In  addition  to  these  sources  of  discord,  inseparable  from  all  free  government, 
there  are  others  growing  out  of  our  anomalous  form  of  double  governments. 
In  the  nature  of  things  the  State  governments  will  be  jealous.  This  jealousy 
is  often  legitimate.  In  the  old  Union  there  were  many  occasions  when  the 
Southern  States  were  justly  resentful,  and  State  complaints  became  popular 
to  the  Southern  mind.  It  is  not  strange,  therefore,  that  the  earnest  and  the 
ambitious — indeed  all  the  classes  first  mentioned — should  seek  to  invoke  the 
force  of  this  popular  feeling  in  their  behalf,  and  in  all  their  clamors  against 
the  Confederate  Government  and  the  Confederate  Executive,  in  season  and 
out  of  season,  to  cry  "State  Rights."  Now,  gentlemen,  I  will  give  you 
frankly  my  opinion  of  our  first  President — Mr.  Davis.  In  the  old  Union 
he  and  I  always  thought  differently  and  acted  with  different  political  parties. 
I  was  not  prepossessed  in  his  favor.  He  was  not  originally  my  first  choice 
for  his  present  high  position.  Furthermore,  since  his  election,  if  a  single 
old  political  friend  of  mine,  in  this  State,  has  received  a  civil  commission  at 
his  hands,  I  am  to  this  hour  not  aware  of  the  fact.  These  things  are  not 
calculated  to  win  a  favorable  judgment  ;  but  I  experience  a  sense  of  self- 
respect  when  I  realize  as  I  do  the  fact  that  I  am  capable  of  lifting  myself 
above  all  these  petty,  but  too  often  popular  considerations,  and  can  judge 
the  President  by  the  merit  of  his  ability  and  patriotic  motives,  and  by  the 
principles  of  his  administration.  Thus  judging  him,  I  declare  to  you  that  if 
I  had  now  to  select  a  chief  magistrate  for  this  trying  crisis,  I  should  feel  it 
a  duty  to  select  Jefferson  Davis.  I  concede  the  charge,  sneeringly  made, 
that  he  is  neither  a  Caesar,  nor  a  Cromwell,  nor  a  Napoleon.  He  is  nobler 
than  either  and  greater  than  all,  because  he  has  respect  unto  the  laws  of  the 
land,  and  seeks  to  establish  and  not-  to  distroy  constitutional  government. 
In  my  opinion,  his  great  desire,  to  which  all  earthly  desires  are  subordinate, 
is  our  final  and  complete  success  in  this  revolution.  Mr.  Lincoln,  with  all  the 
advantages  of  a  long  organized,  powerful,  and  well  supplied  government-; 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  257 

State  Executives,  even  in  the  Confederate  States — not  having  upon  their 
shoulders  the  conduct  of  this  gigantic  war — have  pleaded  necessity  as  an 
excuse  for  exercising  extraordinary  powers,  and  have  trampled  upon  consti 
tutional  restrictions  and  individual  rights.  But  Mr.  Davis,  with  all  the 
disadvantages  of  a  new  and  weak  government  to  which  I  have  alluded,  and 

^J  C7^ 

with  the  fearful  doom  of  the  chief  of  traitors  full  before  him  in  case  of 
failure,  has  never  yet  found  it  necessary  to  violate  the  Constitution  of  his 
country,  nor  to  trample  upon  the  rights  of  the  humblest  citizen.  Within 
the  boundaries  of  law,  by  the  provisions  of  legislative  grant,  and  according 
to  the  high  and  ancient  privileges  of  Anglo-American  freemen,  he  has 
used  the  sword  to  the  shame  and  discomfiture  of  a  million  of  enemies  in 
arms.  By  a  vigorous  policy  he  has  led  a  new-born  nation  from  weakness  to 
power.  By  a  firm  but  humane  adherence  to  the  great  principles  of  nations 
into  whose  familv  we  had  been  refused  admittance,  he  has  degraded  the 

«/ 

faithless  excesses  of  our  adversary  to  universal  notoriety  and  perpetual 
infamy.  And  by  the  wisdom  of  an  accomplished  statesmanship,  and  the 
pure  rhetoric  of  an  elegant  pen,  he  has  secured  admiration  and  esteem  for 
himself  and  his  countrymen  in  the  highest  Cabinets  and  most  refined  Courts 
of  the  civilized  world.  Even  our  enemies,  usually  so  bigoted  and  selfish, 
are  driven  in  shame  to  apply  every  epithet  of  ridicule  to  the  awkward 
blunders  of  their  President,  and  to  admit  the  ability,  the  tact,  and  the  states 
manship  of  the  "  rebel  chief." 

A  wise  government,  then,  a  gallant  army,  and  a  liberal,  cordial,  and  united 
people,  constitute  together  the  cause  of  our  progress,  the  assurance  of  our 
success,  and  our  title  to  admiration  and  renown. 

In  a  republic  of  free  opinions,  where  the  minds  of  men  are  as  variant  as  the 
leaves  on  the  trees,  and  as  unrestrained  as  the  zephyrs  that  fan  them,  we 
have  much  cause  to  be  gratified  that  so  few  issues  have  been  made  with  the 
administration,  and  that  the  issues  made  have  found  so  few  advocates.  On 
almost  all  questions  our  people  are  unanimous.  Politicians  have  prepared 
a  few  issues.  None,  thus  far,  have  been  accepted  or  taken  up  by  the  people. 
Complaints  are  few,  and  some  of  the  few  may  be  traced  to  causes  outside  of 
the  merits  of  the  questions  involved. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  Navy  Department  has  not  done  its  duty.  In  my 
opinion,  no  portion  of  our  people  are  more  patriotic  than  the  navy,  and  no 
portion  of  the  government  has  been  managed  with  more  industry,  under  the 
disadvantages  to  which  it  has  been  subjected,  than  the  naval.  Much  of  the 
work  and  policy  of  this  department  is  necessarily  kept  from  the  public.  The 
people,  or  rather  some  persons,  condemn  because  they  do  not  know,  and  the 
Secretary  must  submit  in  silence,  because  to  defend  would  be  to  expose  and 
damage  the  public  service.  But  it  does  seem  to  me  the  people  have  seen 
enough  to  satisfy  them — even  to  excite  their  gratitude  and  pride. 

When  this  revolution  began,  all  said  we  could  expect  nothing  from  the 
navy.  We  had  no  navy.  We  had  neither  time  nor  materials  to  build  one, 

\>  ±f 

nor  means  to  purchase  one.  But  while  the  whole  country  was  resting  satis 
fied  that  we  could  do  but  little  on  the  water,  the  navy  was  at  work,  and  all  at 
once  the  country  was  waked  up,  the  world  was  waked  up,  by  the  grandest 
naval  achievement  in  all  history.  Like  Minerva,  full  grown  and  full  armed 
at  her  birth,  the  iron-clad  Virginia  leaped  into  life,  and  in  a  day  taught  the 
world  a  lesson  in  naval  warfare,  the  wonder  of  which  mythology  had  never 
imagined  nor  centuries  of  science  discovered.  At  once  hundreds  of  sea 
monsters,  long  terrible  on  the  water,  were  shown  to  be  worthless.  Nautical 


258  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

science  is  conning  her  rules  anew,  and  to  remodel,  rearrange,  and  build 
again  condemned  war  vessels,  engages  the  energies  of  every  nation  which 
aspires  to  dominion  on  the  seas.  The  necessities  which  required  the  de 
struction  of  such  vessels  as  the  Virginia  and  the  Mississippi  were  great  mis 
fortunes  to  us  ;  but  the  misfortunes  were  great  in  precise  proportion  as  the 
works  were  powerful.  If  the  Virginia  and  the  Mississippi  had  not  been  con 
structed  we  should  not  have  known  how  great  was  their  loss.  Those  who 
produced  them  could  not  have  been  dull  or  idle.  Regrets  for  losses  caused 
by  the  necessities  of  our  condition  as  a  naval  power,  cannot  justify  us  in 
blaming  those  who  have  done  so  much  to  improve  that  condition.  The  mag 
nitude  of  our  losses  is  known  only  by  the  splendor  of  our  successes.  Impar 
tial  history  will  do  justice  to  this  department  of  our  government,  and  contem 
poraneous  history  is  never  impartial  and  rarely  truthful.  While  in  this  re 
spect,  we  have  not  done  what  all  desired,  yet  all  candid  minds  must  confess 
we  have  done  far  more  than  any  in  the  beginning  anticipated. 

The  military  appointments  of  the  administration  also,  at  one  time,  excited 
some  dissatisfaction.  Lee,  and  Johnston,  and  Jackson,  and  Longstreet,  and 
the  two  Hills,  and  many  others  have  silenced  these  complaints.  Natural  en 
dowments  are  great  helps  in  all  the  positions  of  life,  but  education  improves 
all  talents  including  the  military.  Upon  this  idea  I  presume  the  President 
acted  in  making  appointments,  and  in  a  great  majority  of  cases  results  have 
vindicated  the  wisdom  of  the  rule. 

For  several  months  there  was  a  zealous  clamor  for  an  invasion  of  the  North. 
The  administration  was  censured,  in  some  quarters  acrimoniously  censured, 
for  not  at  once  invading  the  enemy's  territory.  Wonderful  campaigns  were 
planned,  armies  vanquished,  States  humbled,  cities  destroyed,  and  the  ene 
my  forced  to  sue  for  peace,  by  generals  who  remained  at  home,  and  by 
statesmen  who  wrote  much,  thought  little,  and  knew  less.  Upon  this  sub 
ject,  I  confess  to  you,  I  once  felt  much  anxiety.  The  appeal  was  plausible 
to  the  passion  and  vengeance  of  our  people,  who  had  so  much  cause  for  pas 
sion  and  revenge.  All  the  impulses  of  resentment  were  aroused,  and  pru 
dence  and  wise  counsel  were  in  danger  of  being  overwhelmed.  By  invasion, 
under  the  disadvantages  which  surrounded  us,  we  should  have  been  ruined 
speedily  and  forever.  On  our  own  soil  and  in  defense,  we  have  ever  been 
and  will  ever  be  invincible.  Recent  events  have  satisfied  all  of  this  truth, 
and  on  this  subject  there  is  no  longer  any  danger  of  divisions  among  our 
people. 

I  can  now  remember  but  one  more  issue  upon  which  an  attempt  has  been 
made  to  excite  an  opposition  to  the  administration  of  the  government.  The 
occasion  for  this  attempt  is  found  in  the  acts  of  Congress  known  as  the  con 
scription  laws.  This  disaffection  has  proven  to  be  limited  in  extent,  and 
must  soon  pass  away,  and,  like  the  other  attempts  to  which  I  have  alluded, 
will  be  remembered  only  to  be  regretted.  The  relation  which  I  bear  to  this 
legislation  and  to  this  State,  in  which  the  greatest  clamor  (indeed,  the  only 
real  clamor)  has  been  made  against  the  legislation,  requires  that  I  present  my 
own  views  upon  the  questions  made. 

Before  entering  upon  the  argument,  I  desire  to  rehearse  some  facts  which 
will  most  effectually  expose  the  fallacy  of  some  charges  which  have  been 
made  and  often  repeated  against  the  President  and  the  Congress  in  relation 
to  the  necessities  which  produced  the  resort  to  conscription  to  maintain  our 
armies. 

It  has  been  said  that  there  was  no  occasion  for  the  passage  of  these  laws  5 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  259 

that  the  spirit  of  volunteering  was  ample  to  keep  up  the  army  ;  that  calls  on 
the  States  would  have  secured  all  the  troops  needed  ;  and  that,  if  at  the  time 
these  laws  were  adopted  the  necessity  did  exist,  that  necessity  was  brought 
about  by  the  negligence  and  want  of  foresight  in  the  Provisional  Congress, 
and  from  a  desire  on  the  part  of  the  government  to  have  an  excuse  to  resort 
to  conscription.  These  charges  are  so  utterly  untrue — so  utterly  at  variance 
with  the  very  records  of  the  government,  that  I  must  presume  the  authors 
were  entirely  ignorant  of  the  legislation  of  Congress  and  the  acts  of  the  gov 
ernment.  I  am  not  willing  to  believe  that  men  in  position  would  originate 
or  repeat  such  grave  charges  with  a  knowledge  of  the  facts.  As  I  was  the 
humblest  of  the  actors,  it  is  becoming  in  me  to  invite  your  attention  to  a 
simple  recital  of  history. 

As  early  as  the  28th  day  of  February,  1861,  an  act  was  passed  "  to  raise 
provisional  forces  for  the  Confederate  States  of  America,  and  for  other  pur 
poses,"  and  by  this  act  the  President  was  authorized  to -receive  into  the  ser 
vice  of  the  government  such  forces  in  the  service  of  the  States  as  may  be 
tendered,  or  who  may  volunteer,  by  consent  of  their  State,  in  such  numbers 
as  he  may  require,  for  any  time  not  less  than  twelve  months,  unless  sooner 
discharged."  The  troops  raised  by  the  States  and  turned  over,  were  to  be 
received  "  according  to  the  terms  of  their  enlistment." 

^j 

On  the  6th  day  of  March,  1861,  an  act  was  passed  "  to  provide  for  the 
public  defense,"  and  by  the  act  the  President  was  "  authorized  to  ask  for 
and  accept  the  services  of  any  number  of  volunteers,  not  exceeding  one  hun 
dred  thousand,  to  serve  for  twelve  months,  unless  sooner  discharged." 

On  the  8th  of  May  an  act  was  passed  "  to  raise  an  additional  military  force 
to  serve  during  the  war,"  and  under  this  act  the  President  was  authorized  to 
accept  volunteers  without  limit  and  for  every  arm  of  the  service. 

But  very  many  complaints  came  up  to  Congress  that  some  of  the  State 
governors  were  exceedingly  partial  in  the  tender  and  organization  of  the 
regiments  under  former  acts — that  they  were  using  their  powers  to  put  for 
ward  their  friends  and  promote  themselves — and  that  many  who  offered  regi 
ments  and  companies  to  the  governors  were  either  rejected  or  discriminated 
against  in  some  odious  manner,  and  that  arms,  then  scarce,  were  furnished 
only  to  favorites.  To  remedy  these  complaints,  and  secure  the  services  of 
all  these  gallant  men,  Congress,  on  the  llth  day  of  May,  1861,  passed  an  act 
"  to  make  further  provision  for  the  public  defense,"  and  authorized  the 
President  to  receive  such  volunteers  as  may  tender  themselves,  and  he  may 
require,  "  without  the  delay  of  a  formal  call  upon  the  respective  States,  to 
serve  for  such  time  as  he  may  prescribe." 

It  was  under  one  of  these  last  acts — the  first  for  the  war — that  the  gal 
lant  Bartow  tendered  his  company  of  Oglethorpes  and  was  accepted.  I 
believe  his  was  the  first  company  enlisted  for  the  war. 

On  the  8th  of  August,  1861,  an  act  was  passed  "further  to  provide 
for  the  public  defense,"  by  which  the  President  was  authorized  to  accept 
four  hundred  thousand  volunteers  for  not  less  than  twelve  months  nor  more 
than  three  years,  unless  sooner  discharged. 

There  was  a  clamor  from  some  quarters  that  certain  localities  were  not 
defended,  and  that  many  persons  would  enlist  for  the  defense  of  particular 
localities,  who  would  not  volunteer  in  the  general  service  ;  and  that  many 
persons  would  be  useful  on  special  service,  who  would  not  enlist  to  be  sent 
off  to  unknown  and  discretionary  service.  Therefore,  on  the  21st  of 
August,  1861,  an  act  was  passed  "  to  provide  for  local  defense  and  special 


260  SENATOR  B.   H.    HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

service,"  by  which  the  President  was  authorized  "  to  accept  the  services  of 
volunteers,  of  such  kind  and  in  such  proportion  as  he  may  deem  expedient, 
to  serve  for  such  time  as  he  may  prescribe,  for  the  defense  of  exposed  places 
or  localities,  or  such  special  service  as  he  may  deem  expedient."  Such 
forces  were  to  be  mustered  into  the  service  of  the  Confederate  States,  "  for 
such  local  defense  or  special  service,  the  muster-roll  setting  forth  distinctly 
the  services  to  be  formed."  Under  this  act,  I  affirm  with  knowledge,  that 
the  Confederate  Government  was  always  willing  and  desirous  of  employing 
all  necessary  troops  for  all  local  defense  of  each  State — to  incur  all  the 
expenses  of  such  defense,  and  relieve  the  separate  States  of  all  necessity  to 
incur  such  enormous  expenses. 

Again,  on  the  22d  January,  1862,  an  act  was  passed  authorizing  the 
President  to  accept  volunteers  "  singly^  as  well  as  in  companies,  squadrons, 
battalions,  or  regiments." 

"Thus,  gentlemen  and  fellow-citizens,  you  will  perceive  that  Congress 
adopted  every  conceivable  mode  of  getting  volunteers.  Even  the  humors 
of  States  and  the  caprices  of  individuals  were  all  consulted.  If  men  wished 
to  come  by  tender  through  the  States,  there  was  the  law.  If  directly,  by 
offer  to  the  President,  there  was  the  law.  If  as  cavalry,  artillery,  infantry, 
or  mixture  of  all,  or  even  as  independent  partisans,  there  was  the  law.  If 
they  wished  to  volunteer  for  three,  six,  or  twelve  months,  for  three  years, 
for  the  war,  or  for  any  other  time,  there  was  the  law.  If  they  wished  to 
enter  the  general  service,  or  to  be  enlisted  to  defend  a  particular  State,  or 
county,  or  city,  or  town,  or  farm,  or  fireside,  there  was  the  law.  If  they 
wished  to  come  in  legions,  or  regiments,  or  battalions,  or  squadrons,  or  com 
panies,  or  even  singly — all  alone  and  all  ablaze  with  patriotism — there  was 
the  law  precisely  fitting  the  case,  and  made  to  fit  the  case.  Come  ! — it  mat 
ters  not  how,  it  matters  not  from  where,  it  matters  not  with  whom,  it  mat 
ters  not  for  how  long — corne,  come,  and  come  quickly,  and  defend  our 
invaded  country — was,  and  is,  and  has  ever  been  the  earnest  appeal  of  the 
government — the  President  and  the  Congress — to  all  our  people  !  Will  any 
complaining,  far-seeing  assailant  tell  me  what  other  form  of  tender  or 
acceptance  Congress  could  have  adopted  to  encourage  men  to  volunteer  ? 

Tinder  these  various  acts  of  Congress  we  raised  in  the  aggregate  about 
four  hundred  regiments  ;  very  few,  if  any,  however,  filled  to  the  maximum 
number.  We  could  raise  no  more  without  other  and  extraordinary  means. 
It  is  a  glorious  tribute  to  the  patriotism  of  our  people  that  we  raised  so  many 
and  so  speedily  by  voluntary  enlistment.  It  was  certainly  sufficient  for  any 
other  war  of  modern  times,  if  not  for  any  age  of  the  world.  But  our 
enemy  was  growing  stronger.  A  million,  full  of  rage  and  hate,  were  flying 
to  arms  to  enslave  us.  Our  own  ranks  began  to  grow  thin.  Skeleton  regi 
ments  were  seen  in  every  direction,  and  about  half  of  them  were  soon  to 
disband  by  reason  of  the  expiration  of  their  term  of  service. 

Something  must,  therefore,  be  done  to  give  new  life  to  these  modes  of 
securing  volunteers  which  I  have  recited,  and  to  retain  those  already  in  ser 
vice.  Very  early  the  Congress  entered  on  this  work.  To  this  end  on  the 
llth  day  of  December,  1861,  an  act  was  passed  known  as  the  Bounty  and 
Furlough  act.  By  this  act  fifty  dollars  was  paid  to  every  private  and  non 
commissioned  officer  in  service,  who  would  remain  in  service  for  three  years 
from  the  original  enlistment,  or  for  the  war ;  and  to  every  man  who  would 
volunteer  or  enlist  in  the  service  for  three  years  or  for  the  war.  Also,  each 
twelve  months  soldier  re-en.ljsting  was  to  have  a  furlough  for  sixty  days, 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  261 

with  transportation  home  and  back.  Such  as  did  not  wish  to  go  home  were 
to  have  the  commutation  value  of  the  transportation  in  money  ;  and  even 
those  who  had  been  in  separate  State  service  were  included  in  the  provis 
ions  of  the  law.  On  the  19th  day  of  December,  1861,  an  act  was  passed 
which  authorized  the  Secretary  of  War  "to  adopt  measures  for  recruiting 
and  enlisting  men  for  companies  in  service  for  the  war,  or  for  three  years, 
which  by  the  casualties  of  the  service  have  been  reduced  by  death  and  dis 
charges." 

But  it  was  said  that  many  would  not  join  existing  organizations,  who 
would,  if  encouraged,  volunteer  in  new  ones,  and  thus  have  an  opportunity 
either  to  be  chosen  or  to  choose  officers,  etc. 

So,  on  the  22d  day  of  January,  1862,  Congress  passed  an  act  authorizing 
the  President  "  to  appoint  and  commission  persons  as  field  officers  or  cap 
tains  to  raise  regiments,  squadrons,  battalions  or  companies,"  and  all  persons 
thus  enlisted  by  them  were  to  have,  in  addition  to  bounty,  "pay,  transpor 
tation  and  subsistence  from  the  date  of  the  organization  of  the  company." 

Again,  a  general  authority'  to  organize  a  recruiting  s}Tstem  not  proving 
sufficient,  Congress  by  the  last  act  also  authorized  one  commissioned  and 
one  non-commissioned  officer,  and  one  or  more  privates  from  each  company 
for  three  years  or  the  war,  to  be  detailed  for  the  express  purpose  of  going 
home  to  recruit  men  for  the  company.  And  on  the  27th  of  January,  1862, 
an  act  was  passed  authorizing  three  details  of  an  officer  and  two  privates  to 
recruit  for  the  companies  originally  enlisted  for  twelve  months. 

So,  we  not  only  provided  every  mode  for  volunteering  which  even  ca 
price  could  surest,  but  also  offered  everv  inducement  and  stimulant  that 

I  ^3  <  •/ 

ability  would  allow,  or  ingenuity  could  devise.  Men  were  not  only  received, 
Mud  received  in  their  own  way,  but  they  were  sent  for  and  begged  to  come. 
Tried  veterans  filled  the  country  urging  those  at  home  to  join  their  glorious 
ranks.  Money  was  freely  offered,  and  ambition  was  commissioned  to 
employ  all  its  energies  in  raising  regiments,  battalions,  squadrons,  and  com 
panies  to  secure  command.  All  failed.  Our  army  was  still  thinning  and 
the  enemy  still  increasing. 

Even  yet  the  government  was  not  willing  to  give  up  the  favorite  popu 
lar  system  of  raising  and  keeping  an  army  by  voluntary  enlistment. 

One  more  method  was  resorted  to — the  one  about  which  we  hear  so  much 
from  men  who  do  not  seem  to  know  what  has  been  done. 

On  the  23d  of  January,  1862,  an  act  was  passed  authorizing  the  Presi 
dent  "  to  call  on  the  several  States  for  troops  to  serve  for  three  years  or 
during  the  war."  This  is  the  plan  which  we  are  flippantly  told  would 
accomplish  everything.  And  the  Congress  and  the  President  are  abused 
for  not  adopting  this  plan.  Well,  Congress  did  pass  the  act,  and  the  Presi 
dent  did  make  the  call,  and  let  us  see  what  was  accomplished  and  how  it 
was  done. 

The  quota  required  of  Georgia,  I  believe,  was  twelve  thousand,  and  as 
our  State  seems  to  have  made  as  much  effort  and  as  much  noise  about  her 
efforts  as  any  other  State,  I  will  take  Georgia  as  the  test.  The  quota  for 
Georgia  was  filled,  and  we  are  told  there  was  a  large  excess.  If  this  were 
all,  the  argument  might  be  worth  something.  But  how  were  these  troops 
raised? 

In  the  first  place  I  state  a  fact  of  which  you  are  not  probably  aware. 
Soon  after  this  call  was  made  the  Governor  sent  a  request,  or  perhaps  a  pro 
test  to  the  Secretary  of  War  that  no  more  troops  should  be  raised  in  Georgia 


262  SENATOR  R  B.  HILL,   OP  GEORGIA. 

by  persons  having  commissions  for  that  purpose,  under  the  act  to  which  I 
have  referred,  until  this  requisition  was  filled  ;  and  a  number  of  regiments 
partially  raised  were  only  saved  from  being  disbanded  by  the  Secretary, 
agreeing  that  they  should  be  credited  to  Georgia  as  part  of  the  quota  re 
quired  under  the  call.  I  do  not  state  this  to  blame  the  Governor,  but  it  is  a 
fact,  which  shows  that  he  thought  he  would  be  unable  to  raise  the  quota  if 
these  commissions  were  continued,  and  that  there  would  be  difficulty  in  fill 
ing  the  requisition.  But  even  with  this  help,  how  did  the  Governor  pro 
ceed.  I  have  not  the  proclamation  before  me,  but  I  cannot  mistake  or  for 
get  its  character.  He  allotted  a  proportion  to  each  county,  and  designated 
a  day  when  all,  I  believe,  of  the  militia  age,  should  be  called  out,  arid  the 
offer  should  be  made  for  volunteers.  If  they  volunteered,  all  well  ;  if  not, 
they  were  to  be  drafted — conseribed,  and  this  is  the  first  instance  of  practi 
cal  conscription  during  this  revolution  in  the  Confederate  States  known  to 
me.  The  system  proposed  by  the  Governor  in  one  feature  is  similar  to  the 
conscription  acts,  for  those  acts  give  every  man  an  opportunity  to  avoid 
conscription  by  volunteering.  But  in  all  other  respects  the  conscription 
acts  are  far  preferable  and  more  in  accordance  with  the  genius  of  our  insti 
tutions.  Mr.  Davis  would  never  think  of  ordering  a  draft  or  conscription 
without  legislative  authority.  The  Governor  had  no  authority  of  law  for 
his  order.  Nothing  was  ever  more  illegal.  Again,  his  draft  classified  very 
arbitrarily,  if  not  worse,  and  by  executive  order  limited  the  right  of  suf 
frage — thus  making  a  refusal  voluntarily  to  respond  to  an  executive  call  an 
occasion  for  forcible  seizure  of  the  person — a  discriminating  seizure  of  per 
sons,  and  an  excuse  for  depriving  the  persons  so  seized  of  the  right  to  vote — 
all,  I  repeat,  without  legislative  authority  !  I  refer  to  these  facts,  not  to 
make  a  charge  against  the  Governor,  but  to  show  how  these  troops  were 
raised,  and  how  little  of  the  volunteer  spirit  was  manifested.  Other  States, 
I  am  informed,  never  did  fill  the  requisitions  of  the  President.  How  many 
I  do  not  know. 

Do  you  suppose  your  members  of  Congress  did  not  observe  the  illegal 
process  adopted  in  Georgia  for  filling  this  requisition?  And  would  they 
have  been  wise  to  have  supposed  another  requisition  could  be  filled  by  vol 
unteering  ?  They  would  have  merited  and  would  have  received  universal 
execration,  and  those  who  now  condemn  for  what  was  done  would  have 
taken  the  lead  in  the  execration. 

Again,  it  has  been  charged  that  Congress,  showed  a  great  want  of  fore 
sight  in  receiving  so  many  men  for  twelve  months,  and  that  from  the  begin 
ning  they  ought  to  have  received  volunteers  only  for  the  war,  and  this 
would  have  saved  the  trouble  about  the  twelve  months'  regiments. 

By  reference  to  the  acts  of  Congress,  as  I  have  enumerated  them,  you 
will  see  that  the  two  acts  under  which  twelve  months'  troops  were  accepted 
were  passed,  one  on  the  28th  of  February  and  the  other  one  on  the  6th  of 
March,  1861.  The  first  simply  authorized  the  troops  to  be  accepted  by  the 
President  which  had  been  raised  by,  and  were  in  the  service  of  the  States, 
and  they  were  to  be  received  on  the  terms  of  their  enlistment — of  course 
by  the  State  laws  before  the  confederation.  Thus,  most  of  these  men  were 
raised  by  the  States — those  governments  that  always  do  right  ;  and  tho 
want  of  foresight  is  charged  on  the  Congress  by  State  rights  men. 

Again,  both  these  acts  were  passed  before  there  was  any  war,  and  at  a 
time  when  most  of  our  statesmen,  and  especially  those  who  charge  the  Co^ 
gress  with  a  want  of  foresight,  were  telling  us  there  would  be  no  war.  They 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  263 

abuse  the  Congress  for  not  raising  troops  to  serve  during  the  war,  when 
there  was  no  war  and  they  were  telling  us  there  would  be  no  war  !  Yet, 
ridiculous  as  it  is,  this  is  about  the  fairest  charge  made  against  the  govern 
ment.  As  I  think  we  ought  to  have  known  that  there  would  be  a  war — a 
bloody  war — and  we  ought  to  have  raised  troops  accordingly.  Neverthe 
less,  we  have  done  well  and  all  ought  to  be  satisfied. 

Thus,  every  plan  for  authorizing  volunteers  had  been  tried  ;  every  in 
ducement  had  been  offered  which  the  government  was  able  to  offer  ;  every 
appeal  had  been  made,  and  still  our  regiments  were  but  skeletons.  Still, 
half  those  regiments  were  going  out  of  the  service.  Roanoke  and  Fishing 
Creek,  and  Donelson  and  Nashville  had  covered  the  land  like  so  many  thick 
palls  of  darkness.  On  every  side  the  enemy  was  gathering,  boasting,  press 
ing,  robbing,  and  destroying.  A  mighty  army,  which  no  man  could  num 
ber,  was  rushing  to  our  classic  Peninsular,  and  wild  with  the  thought  of 
sacking  our  capital,  and  destroying  our  people,  as  the  hungry  locusts  devour 
the  grass  blades  in  their  pathway.  Still,  still,  the  heavy  heart-crushing  fact 
came  back  to  your  Congress  and  to  your  President,  that  our  regiments  were 
but  skeletons  ;  half  of  these  would  soon  go  home,  and  none  were  coming  to 
take  their  places.  The  people  did  not  and  could  not  see  and  feel  these 
facts  as  did  those  in  authority  who  were  intrusted  by  the  people  to  keep 
faithful  watch  in  that  dark  and  stormy  hour. 

There  was  no  remedy  left  but  to  keep  all  the  regiments  and  organiza 
tions  we  had,  and  fill  them  up  by  a  system  of  compulsory  enlistment;  and 
that  remedy,  to  be  effective,  must  be  speedy  and  thorough. 

But  it  is  said  this  legislation  is  unconstitutional.  That  Congress  had  no 
power  to  raise  an  army  by  compulsion.  Well,  if  this  be  true,  then  the  gov 
ernment  was  a  failure.  We  had  no  government — no  Confederate  Govern 
ment.  And  what  a  spectacle  would  we  thus  have  presented  to  the  nations 
of  the  earth.  We  were  asking  them  to  recognize  us  as  a  nation — to  receive 
us  into  their  famil}T  as  an  independent  member.  To  entitle  us  to  be  so  rec 
ognized  and  received,  it  is  necessary  by  the  established  laws  of  nations, 
that  we  show  to  the  nations  that  we  have  a  government  capable  of  com 
manding  the  obedience  of  our  own  citizens,  and  capable  of  repelling  the  as 
saults  of  foreign  foes.  That  foreign  foe  was  assaulting  us  most  heavily.  We 
had  defended — nobly  defended  by  voluntary  enlistment,  until  that  system  had 
exhausted  its  strength.  We  must  command  to  the  fight  or  fail.  If  we  had 
no  right  to  command,  the  Confederated  States  was  a  demonstrated  failure, 
both  as  to  internal  government  and  external  power. 

But  wrhy,  upon  what  ground  is  this  legislation  unconstitutional? 

First,  because  it  is  said  to  be  contrary  to  individual  liberty,  and  oppres 
sive  upon  individual  rights.  Government,  it  is  said,  has  no  right  to  force 
men  from  their  homes  and  business,  and  compel  them  to  defend  their  coun 
try.  This  is  a  strange  notion  of  liberty.  Men  owe  obligations  as  well  ag 
possess  rights.  The  performance  of  obligation  is  the  preservation  of  rights, 
and  the  only  security  to  liberty.  Government  is  formed  for  mutual  defense, 
and  every  member  of  government  is  under  a  paramount  obligation  to  defend 
it  as  a  very  condition  to  his  right  to  protection  by  the  government.  He 
who  will  not  defend,  has  no  claim  to  protection.  To  require  a  citizen  to 
defend  his  government  from  hostile  attack  is  not  to  deprive  him  of  his  lib 
erty,  but  to  require  him  to  perform  his  obligation,  and  to  defend  liberty  and 
all  the  rights  of  society.  But  it  is  flippantly  said,  that  governments  derive 
their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed,  and,  therefore,  there 


264  SENATOR  B.   II.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

can  be  no  power  where  there  is  no  consent.  What  an  argument  for  a  states 
man  !  Governments  do  derive  their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the 
governed,  but  do  they  exercise  their  derived  powers  only  by  the  consent  of 
the  governed  ?  When  you  call  a  man  from  his  home  and  business,  and 
make  him  a  juror  to  settle  other  men's  disputes,  and  line  and  imprison  him 
if  he  does  not  obey,  do  you  ask  him  if  he  consented  to  the  law  under  which 
he  is  summoned  and  compelled  to  attend  ?  When  you  require  a  citizen  to 
work  the  highway  and  public  roads,  do  you  ask  him  if  he  consented  to  the 
road  laws  ?  Yet  military  duty  is  far  higher  than  these,  for  if  the  country 
is  not  defended,  all  other  rights  are  destroyed  and  all  duties  consequently 
discharged. 

Thus,  it  is  a  well-established  principle,  which  you  will  find  in  every 
standard  author  on  government,  that  the  obligation  is  on  every  man  equally 
with  his  neighbor  to  render  military  service.  No  man  is  exempt  except  by 
law.  Can  a  man  be  discharged  from  his  obligation  simply  because  he  is 
unwilling  to  perform,  it  ?  Are  they  willing  to  bear  all  the  burden  of  defend 
ing  the  country  ?  Can  no  man  be  a  soldier  but  a  volunteer  ?  Is  want  of 
will,  or  withholding  of  consent,  to  relieve  from  duty  ?  When  people  form 
a  government,  they  may  say  whether  that  government  shall  be  democratic, 
aristocratic,  or  monarchical.  They  may  say,  as  their  theory,  that  all  power 
is  derived  from  the  people,  or  resides  in  a  crown.  But  when  the  govern 
ment  is  formed,  when  the  powers  are  conferred,  it  is  the  duty  of  those 
intrusted  with  the  powers  to  exercise  them,  and  it  is  the  duty,  the  virtue, 
and  the  patriotism  of  the  citizen  to  obey.  A  citizen  is  under  as  much 
obligation  to  defend  a  republic  as  a  subject  a  crown,  and  the  greater,  since 
the  republic  is  formed  by  his  consent.  Originally,  when  government  de 
clared  war,  the  very  declaration  of  war  made  every  man  a  soldier.  No 
special  act  was  required  to  make  him  a  soldier.  The  act  of  war  ipso  facto 
made,  him  a  soldier.  None  but  \vomen,  children,  and  invalids  are  natural 
exempts.  But  all  were  not  needed  for  the  army  ;  and  besides  it  was  im 
portant  that  some  should  produce  provisions.  Now,  who  shall  say  that  this 
man  must  be  a  soldier  and  another  must  remain  at  home  ?  In  other  words 
who  shall  raise  the  army  ?  You  cannot  leave  it  to  the  individuals — the 
consent  of  the  governed.  Who  can  determine  this  but  the  government — 
the  power  that  declares  the  war  ?  Thus  has  sprung  up  the  necessity  for  legis 
lation  to  declare  who  shall  be  a  soldier,  to  fix  exemptions,  and  to  ascertain  the 
non-combatants.  For  under  the  laws  of  nations  these  non-combatants  are 
entitled  to  many  privileges,  even  to  non-interference  by  the  enemy  with 
their  persons  and  property.  These  principles  are  so  familiar  to  students  on 
government  that  I  am  amazed  that  any  one  should  assert  a  theory  directly 
in  the  face  of  them. 

No,  my  countrymen,  it  is  every  man's  duty,  and  should  be  his  pleasure, 
to  defend  the  government  of  his  choice.  No  man  has  a  right  to  say,  "You 
shall  go,  because  you  are  willing,  and  I  will  stay  because  I  am  unwilling  to 
go."  Willing  or  unwilling  the  duty  is  the  same,  and  the  government  alone 
can  systematize  and  enforce  the  obligation. 

But  it  is  objected,  secondly,  that  the  States  alone  can  exercise  this 
power  of  compelling  military  service,  and  that  the  exercise  by  the  Confed 
erate  Government  is  a  violation  of  the  rights  of  the  States. 

<2 

There  is  certainly  a  plain  and  easy  method  of  settling  this  question, 
Is  this  power  delegated  or  reserved  ?  If  delegated,  it  belongs  to  the  Con 
federate  Government ;  if  reserved,  it  belongs  to  the  States.  The  Constitu- 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WHITINGS.  265 

tion — the  grant — is  the  only  test.  That  most  explicitly  declares  that  Con 
gress  shall  have  power  "  to  declare  war,"  and  "  to  raise  and  support  armies." 
Here  ends  the  argument,  but,  strange  to  say,  not  the  controversy.  Men 
who  claim  to  favor  strict  construction,  to  oppose  interpolation,  now  begin 
to  construe  and  to  interpolate.  They  say  the  Constitution  means  that  Con 
gress  shall  have  power  "  to  raise  armies '  by  voluntary  enlistment.  By 
what  authority  of  fact  or  logic  are  these  words  added  ?  Again,  men  who 
love  controversy,  say  the  Constitution  means  that  Congress  shall  have 
power  "to  raise  armies  "  by  calls  on  the  States.  By  what  authority  are  these 
words  added  ?  These  broad  and  destructive  interpolations  upon  the  Con 
stitution  are  not  only  without  excuse,  but  in  the  very  teeth  of  history. 
Under  the  articles  of  Confederation,  the  general  government  was  depend 
ent  on  the  will  of  the  States  for  troops,  and  the  system  worked  so  badly, 
even  during  the  revolutionary  war,  that  the  framers  of  the  Constitution 
determined  to  get  rid  of  it,  and  did  get  rid  of  it  in  the  most  clear,  intelli 
gent,  and  emphatic  manner. 

When  the  convention  were  engaged  in  framing  the  Constitution,  the 
very  question  of  what  powers  should  be  limited  and  what  not  limited,  was 
before  them.  Every  power  delegated  was  considered  separately,  and  the 
necessary  limitations  were  also  considered,  and  the  intention  was  to  leave  no 
words  out  which  it  was  proper  to  insert  :  Hence,  eight  of  the  eighteen 
powers  are  restricted  and  qualified  in  the  very  terms  of  the  grant.  The 
power  to  raise  and  support  armies  is  limited  as  to  the  latter  branch — sup 
port.  "  No  appropriation  of  money  for  that  purpose  shall  be  for  a  longer 
period  than  twx)  years."  Now,  the  power  to  raise  armies  is  the  major  propo 
sition,  and  either  of  the  limitations  now  proposed  to  be  inserted  is  greater 
than  the  limitation  upon  the  power  to  support.  Did  the  clumsy  framers  in 
sert  the  minor  qualification  and  leave  out  the  greater? 

But  it  is  again  said  that  this  power  to  "  raise  armies  "  is  limited  by  the 
power  to  call  out  the  militia.  With  all  due  deference,  I  must  say  this  con 
founding  the  army  with  the  militia  is  trifling  with  the  question.  The  mili 
tia  is  a  peace  establishment — exists  always  in  all  the  Stat.es.  The  States  do 
keep  the  militia,  but  not  troops  of  war  in  time  of  peace.  When  the  Consti 
tution  was  framed  the  States  had  a  large  frontier  exposed  to  sudden  invasions 
by  hostile  Indian  tribes.  History  had  also  shown  that  republics  were  sub 
ject  to  insurrections  and  resistance  to  the  process  of  law.  The  desire  was 
to  provide  a  power  ample  to  protect  this  large  frontier  from  Indian  in 
cursions,  to  preserve  internal  peace  and  security,  and  to  do  all  this  without 
a  large  standing  army.  This  was  the  very  purpose  of  the  militia.  It  was 
not  to  prosecute  war,  but  to  preserve  the  peace — to  be  used  in  sudden  emer 
gencies —  and  to  this  end  it  was  organized  to  be  kept  always  trained,  always 
officered,  and  in  every  locality.  And  as  the  militia  embraced  the  great  body 
of  the  people  whose  business  was  not  war,  but  agriculture,  commerce,  and 
all  the  industrial  pursuits,  and  ought  not,  therefore,  to  be  called  away  for  a 
long  period  from  their  pursuits,  the  power  of  Congress  is  expressly  limited 
to  call  forth  the  militia  only  to  suppress  insurrections,  repel  invasions,  and 
execute  the  laws.  The  militia  may  sometimes  aid  the  army  ;  but  always 
for  short  periods  ;  and,  therefore,  the  militia,  as  such,  has  never  been  called 
out  for  a  longer  period  than  six  months  in  this  country.  A  proposition  by 
Mr.  Giles  to  call  out  the  militia  for  two  years,  was  denounced  by  the  very 
men  who  opposed  conscription,  as  an  unconstitutional  attempt  to  convert 
the  militia  into  an  army  !  And  in  this  they  were  right.  But  "  to  declare 


L>66  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GtiOttGlA. 

war  "  is  a  wholly  different  power.  To  declare  war  is  not  to  suppress  insur 
rections,  repel  invasions,  or  execute  the  laws.  It  is  broader  and  greater. 
It  may  require  us  to  invade— to  resent  insult  and  revenge  injuries,  and  to 
accomplish  this  great  work — the  most  terrible  necessity  of  a  fallen  nature— 
( -digress  had  to  have  distinct  and  efficient  means.  And  for  this  purpose 
Congress  was  invested  with  the  power  to  raise  and  support  armies.  And 
this  is  right.  If  the  thirteen  States  had  remained  separate,  it  would  have 
required  as  large  an  army  to  wage  war  by,  or  in  defense  of  one,  as  all.  The 
expense  of  each  would  also  be  as  great.  Indeed,  each  State  would  have  re 
quired  a  larger  army  than  all  would  require,  for  with  so  many  rival  and 
conflicting  powers  so  contiguous  to  each  other,  wars  and  collisions  would 
have  been  frequent.  To  avoid  these  very  evils — to  provide  a  common 
defense — to  make  that  common  defense  easy,  and  light,  was  one  of  the  very 
objects  of  the  Confederation  ;  and  to  make  that  common  defense  equal  and  a 
unit,  the  power  to  raise  the  army  and  to  support  the  army  was  given  to  the 
common  government.  To  have  left  the  execution  of  this  power  dependent 
on  the  will  of  the  States  would  have  been  ruinous.  For  one  State  might  be 
willing  to  furnish  its  quota  of  men  and  money,  and  another  unwilling,  as 
was  soon  the  case,  and  this  state  of  things  would  have  produced  not  only 
weakness  and  injustice,  but  disagreements,  criminations,  and  collisions — 
the  very  evils  which  wrere  intended  to  be  remedied.  In  the  war  now  pend 
ing,  Congress  did  not  want  a  militia  to  repel  an  invasion.  Invasion,  it  is 
true,  was  one  feature  of  the  war ;  but  it  was  only  one  feature.  Congress 
wanted  an  army  to  prosecute  war — to  conquer  a  peace  and  win  independ 
ence. 

I  will  not  offend  your  intelligence  by  pursuing  so  palpable  an  argument. 
I  have  thought  this  much  was  due  from  me  because  of  my  relation  to  this 
legislation.  I  was  never  more  troubled  than  when  this  necessity  for  con 
scription,  in  some  form,  became  manifest.  The  country  at  the  time  was 
filled  with  gloom.  It  was  the  dark  hour  of  the  revolution.  I  had  no  doubt 
even  in  that  dark  hour  that  some  of  the  State  authorities  would  resist  the 
law  as  then  proposed.  I  said  as  much  in  the  Senate,  not  by  way  of  ap 
proval,  but  in  shame  and  sorrow.  I  feared  the  disaffection  thus  began  by 
politicians  and  local  authorities  might  extend  to  the  army.  The  law  was 
harsh  on  the  twelve  months'  men.  I  feared  they  might  be  reached  by  such 
untimely  appeals  and  hurtful  controversy.  This  would  have  wrecked  us 
forever.  The  cause  had  already  as  much  as  it  could  bear  in  the  common 
enemy,  and  the  struggle  was  fearful.  Whatever  might  be  my  opinion  of 
the  patriotism  or  wisdom  of  a  controversy  at  that  hour  of  darkness  and 
gloom,  I  did  desire,  if  possible,  to  avoid  it  ;  and  to  avoid  it  I  was  willing  to 
leave  no  room  for  the  prejudices  of  the  reckless  or  the  whims  of  the  capri 
cious.  Pending  the  subject,  therefore,  I  preferred  another  proposition  or 
bill,  a  milder  form  of  conscription,  which  I  thought  might  accomplish  the 
good  and  avoid  the  controversy.  With  the  lights  now  before  me,  I  doubt 
whether  the  milder  form  of  conscription  for  which  I  voted  would  have  been 
sufficient  for  the  crisis.  At  all  events,  the  present  proposition  became  the 
law  of  my  country,  and  I  shall,  as  a  good  citizen,  support  it ;  and  with 
equal  cheerfulness  whether  I  voted  for  or  against  it.  I  will  not  countenance 
that  sickly  patriotism,  nor  render  commendation  to  that  higher  law  fanati 
cism  which  cannot  support  as  law,  that  which,  as  a  proposition  of  expediency, 
did  not  meet  the  approval  of  individual  preference. 

Failing  in  the  argument,  the  opponents  of  the  law  seek  to  provoke  the 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,  AND    WRITINGS.  267 

jealousies,  and  to  alarm  the  fears  of  the  people.  Why,  say  they,  if  this 
power  to  raise  armies  by  compulsion  is  conceded  to  the  Confederate  Gov 
ernment,  that  government  could  destroy  the  people  and  the  States.  Thus 
they  pass  away  from  the  Constitution  to  the  motives  of  those  who  happen 
to  administer  it,  to  ascertain  the  powers  of  the  government  !  Until  the 
advent,  in  political  logic,  of  these  new  lights,  whose  theory  seems  to  be  that 
nothing  was  ever  before  understood,  and  whose  practice  seems  to  be  that 
nothing  shall  ever  be  considered  as  settled,  it  had  been  conceded  by 

O  * 

reasoners  of  supposed  ability,  that  to  prove  a  power  could  be  abused  was  no 
argument  to  show  the  power  did  not  exist.  Existence  itself  may  be  abused, 
and,  unfortunately,  all  existing  things  are  liable  to  be  abused.  Still,  all 
things  do  exist.  By  this  method  of  reasoning  you  could  soon  prove  that 
Congress  had  no  power  whatever,  for  what  power  in  the  whole  enumerated 
catalogue  might  not  be  abused  to  the  injury,  if  not  the  destruction,  of  the 
people  and  States?  Congress  would  have  no  power  "to  provide  and  main 
tain  a  navy";  for  they  might  blockade  and  destroy  all  the  ports  of  the 
States.  Congress  would  have  no  power  to  "regulate  commerce";  for  they 
might  destroy  all  the  commerce  of  the  States.  And  it  would  never  do  to 
permit  the  Confederate  States  to  build  forts  and  ironclad  vessels  for  the 
protection  of  our  cities,  and  man  them  with  Confederate  troops,  for  they 
might  turn  the  guns  on  the  cities  and  destroy  them  !  The  truth  is,  my 
friends,  when  men  or  rulers  wish  to  destroy,  they  do  not  wait  for  authority 
to  do  so.  The  best  evidence  of  a  willingness  to  assault  right  and  liberty  is 
the  exercise  of  powers  not  granted,  or  of  functions  not  conferred.  Revolu 
tions  neither  make  nor  justify  tyrants,  but  they  do  develop  them.  Place 
no  power  in  the  hands  of  those  who  betray  a  love  for  the  exercise  of  power 
— who  plead  necessity  as  the  excuse  for  usurpation,  and  revolution  as  the 
occasion  for  oppression.  The  crowning  grandeur  of  Washington's  character 
was,  that  in  the  midst  of  revolution  he  obeyed  the  laws  ;  and  the  highest 
claim  which  Mr.  Davis  presents  for  your  confidence  is,  that  with  examples 
to  the  contrary  all  around  him,  he  has,  thus  far,  strictly  refused  to  exercise 
any  power  not  expressly  authorized  by  law.  It  is  a  fact  well  attested  by  all 
history,  that  they  find  most  fault  with  power  in  others,  who  themselves 
exercise  ungranted  powers  most  freely.  This  is  the  sure  unerring  ear-mark 
of  that  ambition  which  made  Caesar  and  Cromwell  and  Bonaparte  trample 
upon  the  liberty  they  swore  to  defend,  and  grasp  empire. 

Was  the  conscript  law  intended  to  destroy  the  States  ?  Did  it  destroy 
the  States  ?  On  the  contrary,  history  will  record  the  fact,  that  it  saved  the 
States  and  saved  the  country.  Yea,  it  drove  back  the  foreign  invader  and 
secures  to  its  domestic  foes  the  privilege  of  sitting  here  in  peace,  to  defame 
the  law  as  an  usurpation,  the  government  that  enacted  it  as  oppressors,  and 
the  heroic  army  that  obeyed  it  as  slaves  ! 

Nor  will  I  omit  this  occasion  to  enter  my  protest  against  that  folly,  now 
so  common,  of  attempting  to  excite  jealousies,  controversies,  and  conflicts 
between  the  States  and  their  own  common  government.  To  hear  these  ill- 
timed  philippics  against  that  government,  a  stranger  would  suppose  that  the 
Confederate  States  was  a  government  foreign  to  the  States,  and  the  neces 
sary  and  unyielding  enemy  of  the  States.  The  people  are  constantly  warned 
not  to  trust,  not  to  help,  not  to  sustain,  but  to  distrust  and  to  resist  their 
own  government  as  some  insidious  monster  always  stretching  for  power  to 
destroy  the  States.  Now,  my  friends,  who  are  they  that  administer  the 
Confederate  States  ?  Are  they  not  citizens  of  the  States,  delegates  from 


268  SENATOR  R  II.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

the  States  ?  Are  not  their  interests  all  in  the  States  ?  Have  I  lost  my 
affection  for  my  State  because  you  have  honored  me  as  her  delegate  in  that 
government  which  was  created  by  the  States  and  whose  business  is  to  pro 
tect  the  States  ?  Is  not  my  family,  my  property,  my  home,  my  every 
interest,  and  every  hope  still  in  my  State  ?  Why  have  I  less  interest  in, 
or  less  affection  for  Georgia  than  I  had  when  I  occupied  one  of  your  seats 
in  the  State  Assembly  ?  We  have  gotten  rid  of  those  whose  interests  and 
sympathies  were  different  from  our  own.  Let  us  also  get  vid  of  the  exces 
sive  jealousies  which  those  differences  furnished  politicians  with  an  excuse 
to  inflame. 

The  government  is  your  own.  The  agents  who  administer  it  are  of 
your  own  choosing  from  your  own  citizenship.  Choose  wise  men,  good 
men  ;  then  give  them  your  confidence  and  support.  And  when  they  become 
unworthy,  return  them  to  private  life. 

Eternal  vigilance  is  the  price  of  liberty  !  I  grant  it.  But  I  deny  that 
eternal  vigilance  means  perpetual  snarling,  snapping,  fault  finding,  and 
complaining.  I  den}'-  that  vigilance  means  resistance  to  the  government, 
disaffection  to  the  law^s,  contumely  to  authority,  or  the  disorganizing  free 
dom  of  individual  opinion  to  set  itself  up  against  legal  enactments  and 
judicial  decisions. 

No,  there  is  no  foundation  for  these  constant  jealousies  and  threatened 
conflicts  between  the  State  and  Confederate  governments.  Nine  of  every 
ten  of  these  issues  spring,  not  from  any  real  well-grounded  differences,  but 
from  passion,  personal  ambition,  and  party  maneuver.  There  is  little  diffi 
culty  in  understanding  the  respective  rights  and  powers  of  the  two  govern 
ments  where  the  desire  is  sincerely  and  only  to  understand  them.  The 
powers  of  the  Confederate  Government  are  plainly  and  specifically  dele 
gated.  The  rights  of  the  States  are  covered  by  two  propositions  :  first,  to 
exercise  the  powers  reserved  or  not  prohibited  ;  and,  second,  to  have  the 
powers  delegated  exercised  according  to  the  purposes  of  the  grant.  The 
great  business  of  the  Confederate  Government  is  to  manage  the  interests 
common  to  the  States,  and  especially  to  conduct  the  relations  with  foreign 
governments.  There  is  two  much  quibbling  about  terms.  I  sometimes 
speak  of  the  Confederate  Government  as  a  nation.  What  is  meant  by  this? 
When  applied  to  the  Confederacy  it  has  no  territorial  reference.  Are  we 
not  struggling  for  admission  into  the  family  of  nations  ?  Are  we  not 
claiming  and  demanding  recognition  by  other  nations  ?  As  what  will  we 
ask  them  to  recognize  us  ?  By  what  name  will  we  be  called  ?  Agency  ? 
Created  by  a  revocable  power  of  attorney,  which  experiment  entered  into 
to-day  and  which  caprice  may  recall  to-morrow?  Partnership?  A  society 
of  convenience,  without  rank  or  national  dignity?  A  standard  writer,  con 
curred  in  by  all  standard  writers,  tells  us,  "  that  the  independent  States 
entitled  to  rank  in  the  great  family  of  nations,  are  those  powers  to  whom 
belongs  the  right  of  embassy;  the  right  to  receive  and  to  send  public 
ministers."  Will  not  this  be  the  great — the  peculiar — the  appropriate  prov 
ince  of  the  Confederate  States?  Who  shall  conclude  our  treaties  of  peace 
and  of  commerce  ;  form  alliances  ;  receive  ministers  of  foreign  nations  ; 
resent  insults  and  demand  reparation  for  injuries?  Who  shall  float  the 
flag,  and  protect  the  citizen  over  all  waters  and  in  all  lands?  Who,  but  the 
Confederate  States  ?  And  shall  we  say  they  shall  enter  this  great  family  with 
less  rank,  less  dignity,  and  less  power  for  success  than  other  nations  ?  Less 
than  England,  or  France,  or  Russia  ;  yea,  less  than  Turkey,  Brazil,  or  Mexico  ? 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,    AND   WRITINGS.  269 

Away  with  this  perpetual  effort  to  belittle  and  paralyze  our  own  govern 
ment.  We  have  prescribed  its  boundaries,  beyond  which  it  cannot  pass, 
and  within  those  boundaries  let  us  not  quarrel  over  forms  nor  quibble  about 
terms,  but  render  that  confidence  and  co-operation  so  essential  to  efficiency. 
Let  each  government — State  and  Confederate — move  in  its  own  sphere, 
neither  interfering  with,  abusing,  nor  exciting  jealousies  against  the 
other,  for  both  are  seeking  the  one  great  end — the  happiness  of  the  same 
people. 

Too  many  persons  will  not  interpret  the  Constitution  according  to  its 
plain  language,  and  clear  intent  and  meaning.  Adherence  to  some  precon 
ceived  theory ;  the  prejudices  of  education  ;  the  bias  of  association  ;  the 
desire  to  accomplish  some  given  object  ;  even  passion,  impulse,  personal 
disappointment,  or  a  dislike  of  those  who,  for  the  time,  administer  the 
government  ;  ambition,  interest,  or  caprice  often  shape  the  judgment  and 
form  the  opinion  of  men.  Every  law  which  does  not  conform  to  their 
theories  is  at  once  declared  an  usurpation  and  void,  and  the  Constitution 
itself  is  unconstitutional  when  it  does  not  suit  their  views  or  promote  their 
wishes.  It  is  according  to  the  philosophy  of  the  human  mind  that  those 
who  are  thus  influenced  rarely  see  the  right  and  as  rarely  admit  an  error. 
Such  minds  are  always  extreme,  sometimes  fanatical.  There  is  no  rule  of 

J 

logic  which  they  will  not  violate,  no  perversion  of  fact  which  they  will  not 
commit,  and  no  elevation  of  character  which  they  will  not  assail.  They 
rarely  yield  an  opinion,  yet  are  never  consistent.  They  admit  no  wisdom 
in  precedent,  no  respect  for  authority,  and  nothing  binding  upon  conscience 
but  their  own  abstract  individual  opinion.  It  was  precisely  this  spirit, 
which,  in  the  old  Union,  inaugurated  the  crusade  against  the  South.  The 
laws  of  Congress,  though  based  upon  a  plain  grant  in  the  Constitution,  were 
nullified  by  State  Legislatures,  set  aside  by  circuit  judges,  and  made  odious 
by  the  official  harangues  of  State  governors.  The  decisions  of  the  highest 
courts  in  the  land  fixed  no  obligation  upon  individual  opinion  to  conform, 
settled  no  disputes  ;  and  judges,  distinguished  for  learning,  patriotism,  and 
every  virtue,  were  openly  assailed  as  governed  by  outside  influences  !  Read 
the  records  of  Northern  fanaticism  and  find  the  verification  of  all  these 
statements.  Then  turn  your  eyes  to  the  fields  of  blood,  and  wail,  and  ruin 
all  over  the  continent,  and  you  will  see  the  only  legitimate  results  of  such 
an  insatiate  spirit  of  discord.  It  is  not  the  subject  which  this  spirit  may 
agitate  that  works  the  mischief  ;  it  is  the  spirit  itself,  which  will  always  find 
a  subject  and  make  an  occasion. 

Why,  gentlemen,  if  the  people  were  to  select  a  thousand  times,  they 
could  not  find  persons  into  whose  hands  they  could  more  safely  intrust  the 
rights  and  honor  of  the  States  than  those  who  now  administer  the  Con 
federate  Government.  The  President,  from  his  youth  up,  has  been  dis 
tinguished  for  his  devotion  to  the  States.  If  you  enter  the  Senate  Chamber 
you  find  there  the  well-balanced  Clay  of  Alabama  ;  his  colleague,  the  elo 
quent  Yancey ;  that  able,  experienced,  and  renowned  statesman,  Mr. 
Hunter,  of  Virginia  ;  Mr.  Barn  well,  of  South  Carolina,  than  whom  no  better 
man  nor  purer  statesman  ever  blessed  his  country  or  adorned  a  Senate  ;  and 
many  more  well  deserving  of  mention  ;  all  of  whom  have  ever  been 
champions  of  the  rights  of  the  States,  and  all  of  whom  voted  for  and  advo 
cated  the  conscription  laws.  Yet  the  men  of  yesterday  tell  us  that  these 

•  v  v 

men  are  usurping  power  which  may  crush  the  States  !  Has  absurdity  no 
limit  ;  effrontery  no  blush  ?  Has  statesmanship  no  avocation  but  fault- 


270  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

finding ;  patriotism  no  end  but  power  ;  ambition  no  satiety  even  in  blood, 
I  and  the  country  no  destiny  but  dissension  and  endless  divisions? 

But,  if  these  high  Confederate  characters  merit  not  your  confidence,  will 
not  the  decision  of  your  own  highest  State  court — a  court  composed  of 
judges  than  whom  none  are  more  eminent  as  jurists  nor  more  worthy  as 
men — appease  your  wrath  and  convince  your  judgments?  Is  your  own 
highest  court  engaged,  also,  in  the  terrible  work  of  destroying  the  States 
and  enslaving  the  people  ?  Can  none  be  right  but  those  who  condemn  the 
law  ?  Can  none  be  trustworthy  but  those  who  persist  in  discord  ?  Has  it 
come  to  this,  that  statesmanship  can  settle  no  principle  ;  character  excite  no 
confidence  ;  and  the  courts  end  no  controversy  ?  Does  freedom  of  speech 
consist  in  assailing  the  constituted  authorities  of  the  land,  and  freedom  of 
opinion  confer  the  right  to  disregard  adjudicated  law?  Beware,  my  coun 
trymen,  lest  with  such  wild,  unbridled  theories,  you  mistake  licentiousness 
for  freedom,  and  enthrone  bloody  anarchy  in  the  seat  of  law-restraining 
libertv !  Casuists  have  written,  and  cabinets  have  debated,  to  ascertain  the 

*  ^^_ 

best  form  of  government  and  the  true  philosophy  of  governing.  Every 
form  has  had  its  advocates,  and  every  people  their  experiments,  and  the 
bloody  arbitrament  of  war  has  shed  its  crimson  tides  in  the  ever-recurring 
controversy.  But  to  one  great  conclusion  casuists  and  cabinets,  people  and 
armies  must  agree.  All  government  is  vanity  where  the  laws  are  not 
respected.  Vain,  vain  indeed,  will  all  your  sacrifices  be  ;  your  sons  will  fall 
in  vain,  and  in  vain  will  your  heroes  roll  back  the  red  wave  of  battle  and 
vanquish  the  countless  hosts  of  the  invader,  if,  when  peace  returns,  the  law 
be  not  the  rule  of  every  man's  life,  and  the  guide  of  every  man's  opinions. 
This  is  the  rock  on  which  we  have  split.  This  is  the  rock  toward  which  we 
are  steering  again  :  the  growing,  spreading  disregard  of  law  and  disrespect 
for  authority.  The  philosophy  of  government  is  law.  The  stability  of 
government  is  law.  The  glory  of  government  is  law.  And  oh,  that  I  could 
catch  the  emphasis  which  would  force  universal  conviction  when  I  say,  the 
FREEDOM  OF  GOVERNMENT  is  LAW  !  Where  shall  conflicting  opinions  har 
monize,  save  in  the  decisions  of  legal  authority  ;  and  how  can  we  agree 
except  on  the  basis  of  well-considered  law  ? 

These,  my  friends,  are  no  new  thoughts  with  me.  I  utter  them  with 
earnestness,  because  I  have  felt  them  for  years.  Lawlessness  is  the  power 
I  never  cease  to  dread  ;  and  I  warn  you  this  night,  that  it  will  require  all 
your  vigilance  to  prevent  it  from  enslaving  yourselves,  and  establishing  its 
throne  of  ruined  hopes  in  this  land  we  leave  for  our  children,  and  all  in  the 
name  of  liberty. 

But  there  is  another  state  of  things  which  transpired  in  the  history  of 
those  conscription  laws  which  is  the  reverse  of  that  against  which  I  have 
been  speaking,  and  which  is  well  calculated  to  gladden  our  confidence  and 
inspire  our  hope. 

I  have  said  that  I  predicted  resistance  by  some  in  authority  to  these 
laws,  and  that  under  the  circumstances  then  existing  this  disaffection  might 
extend  to  the  army,  and  we  should  be  undone.  My  judgment  was  not  at 
fault  in  its  conclusions  as  to  what  politicians  would  do  ;  but  the  apprehen 
sion  that  their  teachings  might  possibly  affect  the  conduct  of  the  troops  was 
groundless.  I  know  of  no  incident  of  the  kind  in  all  history  more  beautiful 
and  touching  than  the  self-denying  patriotism  with  which  the  troops  who 
originally  enlisted  for  twelve  months,  obeyed  the  first  conscription  act. 

In  ancient  Sparta  the  evidence  of  all  worth,  the  test  of  all  courage,  and 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  271 

the  sum  of  all  virtue,  was  obedience  to  the  laws.  And  Socrates,  the  Athe 
nian,  has  been  consecrated  to  immortality  for  more  than  twenty  centuries  as 

•'  */ 

the  greatest  and  wisest  of  ancient  philosophers,  because  he  submitted  him 
self  to  the  law  of  his  country,  though  that  law  was  procured  by  false  accusa 
tion  and  doomed  him  to  the  death  of  a  felon. 

For  a  short  period  in  the  beginning  of  the  revolution,  the  government 
asked  for  volunteers  to  serve  for  twelve  months. 

In  a  very  little  time  more  than  one  hundred  thousand  enlisted.  They 
came  from  every  rank  and  condition  in  society.  They  came — the  tender 
son  of  fortune,  the  hardy  mechanic  from  his  shop,  the  student  from  his 
lamp,  the  laborer  from  his  plow,  the  bridegroom  from  his  chamber,  and  the 
old  man  from  his  household — all  peers  and  comrades — rushing  to  the  front 
in  this  dawning  struggle  for  imperiled  liberty.  They  braved  the  scorching 
heats  and  life-destroying  miasmas  of  the  tropical  South.  They  endured  the 
frozen  snows  and  icy  winds  of  the  chilly  North.  Amid  the  flowing  gardens 
of  beautiful  Pensacola  ;  by  the  wave-washed  shore  of  surf -beaten  Hatteras  ; 
on  the  banks  of  the  classic  James  and  York  ;  and  over  the  dreary  summits 
and  through  the  rugged  gorges  of  the  mountains  of  Virginia,  these  first 
enlisted  bands  of  Confederate  braves,  marched  and  camped  and  fought  and 
suffered  for  their  beleagured  country.  By  the  deeds  which  heroes  love, 
and  the  pains  which  martyrs  only  feel,  they  have  made  the  names  of 
Bethel  and  Manassas,  Leesburg  and  Belmont,  Laurel  Hill  and  Sewell  Moun 
tain,  as  familiar  as  Marathon,  sacred  as  Bunker  Hill,  and  immortal  as  York- 
town. 

The  months  rolled  by  and  the  end  of  enlistment  drew  near.  Fatigue  to 
the  extent  of  physical  strength  had  been  borne,  and  glory  enough  even  for 
the  spirit  of  the  cavalier  had  been  won.  It  was  natural  that  the  heart  should 
turn  its  longings  from  the  strife,  and  the  tired  soldier,  "foot-sore  and 
weary,"  should  desire  to  go  home  and  rest.  The  sweet  thought  made  the 
laugh  ring  merry  around  the  camp-fires,  and  was  whispered  in  earnest  hope 
from  comrade  to  comrade  along  the  line  of  battle.  In  the  quiet  night  the 
sleeping  veteran,  all  fitful  in  dreams,  would  start  and  mutter  in  half -uttered 
accents  the  names  of  the  loved  ones  rushing  to  the  gate  to  meet  him  ;  and 
the  faithful  sentinel,  wide  awake  with  the  joyous  anticipation,  would  count 
by  his  steps,  as  he  paced  his  rounds,  the  days  and  the  hours  that  lingered, 
ere  yet  that  he  should  receive  the  heart-warm  welcome  of  wife  and  family. 
Alas  !  for  the  cruel,  heartless  demands  of  relentless  war.  The  foe  still  gath 
ered  along  our  borders.  These  very  homes  were  yet  threatened  with  deso 
lation  and  ruin  by  as  piratical  an  invader  as  ever  cursed  the  innocent  of  the 
earth.  Therefore,  the  reluctant  but  stern  enactment  came,  and  said  to  these 
earliest  patriots,  "  This  return  must  not  be  yet  !  The  march  must  still  be 
made  ;  the  watch  must  still  be  kept,  and  for  two  long  years  more  you  must 
endure  the  hardships  of  camp  and  dare  the  dangers  of  the  fight ! '  What  a 
test  of  patriotism  was  this  !  No  wonder  that  statesmen  felt  anxious  for  the 
effect  of  this  trying  announcement.  No  wonder  the  enemy  expected  our 
:irmy  to  disband.  And  just  at  this  moment — this  critical  moment — the 
voice  of  the  politician  was  heard,  in  accents  as  un suited  to  the  camp  as  the 
whispers  which  seduced  from  allegiance  in  Eden,  saying  to  these  troubled 
and  disappointed  spirits  :  The  law  is  unconstitutional — unjust — unnecessary, 
and  binding  on  no  one  !  Yet,  not  one  of  that  hundred  thousand  listened  to 
the  voice  of  the  charmer,  or  questioned  the  duty  of  obedience.  No,  no, 
they  clinched  anew  the  rifle  and  started  afresh  for  the  battle.  Their  ven- 


272  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

geance  was  against  the  foe  that  made  the  law  a  necessity.  And  by  that 
triumph  our  independence  was  won. 

All  along  from  Malvern  Hill  to  Sharpsburg,  and  from  the  Potomac  to  the 
Mississippi,  these  heroes  are  sleeping  in  glory  to-night.  To  these,  that 
happy  return  will  never  come,  but  they  have  furnished  an  example  of  duty 
and  sacrifice  which  all  nations  shall  praise,  and  their  children  shall  bless  for 
ever.  Others,  more  fortunate,  have  returned,  and  many  of  them  with  one 
limb,  or  one  eye,  and  with  scars  of  honor  such  as  Trojan  never  wore  and 
Grecian  never  won,  are  everywhere  urging  obedience  to  the  laws  of  the 
country  they  defended.  If  chivalry  obeyed,  what  excuse  has  ambition  to  re 
sist  ?  If  the  army  is  satisfied,  why  should  politicians  and  people  complain  ? 
Here  let  the  gown  and  the  ermine  learn  of  the  sword  and  the  bayonet  a  les 
son  of  obedience  and  submission.  Let  the  sublime  examples  speaking  in  the 
rattling  musketry  and  deep-mouthed  cannon  along  the  Chickahominy  and  the 
Shenandoah  silence  your  cavils — ye.  of  easy  seats  and  safe  positions  !  For 
shame,  let  demagogism  slink  away  in  silence,  and  cease  forever  to  disturb 
a  people  so  worthy  to  dwell  in  peace  ;  and  with  one  voice  and  one  heart  let 
us  consecrate  to  immortality,  and  to  the  perpetual  emulation  of  our  children 
the  memory  of  these  Confederate  heroes  of  more  than  Spartan  courage,  and 
greater  than  Socratic  virtue. 

Thus,  gentlemen  and  fellow-citizens,  in  feebleness  but  in  candor,  have  I 
given  you  my  views  of  the  condition  and  prospects  of  our  country.  We  be 
gan  in  divisions  and  doubts.  These  divisions  are  healed  and  these  doubts  are 
gone.  We  began  in  weakness.  In  the  very  struggle  for  life  we  are  grow 
ing  strong.  We  began  without  arms,  without  munitions  of  war,  and  with 
out  known  resources.  We  have  procured,  and  are  daily  making  plenty  of 
arms  of  most  excellent  quality,  from  the  pistol  to  the  heaviest  ordnance.  We 
have  no  lack  of  the  munitions  of  war  ;  and  our  mountains  and  our  caves, 
our  fields  and  our  looms,  are  furnishing  resources  and  supplies  abundant  for 
every  purpose  and  for  all  our  people.  Providence  seems  to  have  hid  away 
in  our  earth  every  good  and  desirable  thing,  and  when  the  hour  of  our  need 
arrived,  kindty  guided  us  to  them.  We  have  suffered  disasters,  and  in  the 
nature  of  war  must  suffer  them  again.  But  we  have  had  four-fold  triumphs, 
and  shall  have  final  success.  But  few  differences  and  dissensions  have 
arisen,  and  time  and  patience  have  soon  shown  them  to  be  unfounded  and 
unnecessary.  The  only  remaining  difference — the  conscription  laws — was 
never  extensive,  is  narrowing  daily,  and  must  soon  pass  away  witn  the  others. 
They  are  founded  on  a  specific  grant,  were  obeyed  by  the  army,  and  saved 
the  country.  In  the  shadow  of  these  great  facts  opposition  must  sicken  and 
die.  We  have  a  better  army  than  we  have  ever  had,  and  are  stronger  in 
every  element  of  power.  We  have  already  won  success,  and  patience  will 
bring  the  full  fruition  of  our  hopes.  No  other  nation  will  molest  us.  No 
outside  power,  nor  combination  of  outside  powers,  can  subjugate  us.  We 
can  never  be  subdued  until  we  ourselves  shall  will  it.  All  the  civilized  na 
tions  commend  our  devotion  and  admit  our  wisdom.  Our  enemies,  in  fear 
and  trembling,  concede  our  power.  The  darkest  day  of  the  crisis  is  behind 
us:  and  as  surely  as  the  natural  sun  shall  rise  on  the  early  morning,  and 
brush  away  the  mists  and  darkness  which  surround  us  to-night,  so  surely 
will  the  sun  of  our  independence  arise  on  an  early  morrow,  and  driving 
away  these  murky  clouds  of  war,  give  splendor  to  the  earth,  and  light  and 
life  and  happiness  to  our  children; 


SPEECH  DELIVERED   IN  LA    GRANGE,  GA.,  MARCH   11,   1865. 

Speech  on  the  means  of  success,  the  sources  of  danger,  and  the  consequences  of  fail 
ure  in  the  Confederate  struggle  for  independence,  delivered  in  Sterling  Hall,  La  Grange, 
Gn.,  on  the  llth  day  of  March,  1865. 

"It  is  greatness  of  soul  alone  that  never  grows  old  ;  nor  is  it  wealth  that  delights  in 
the  latter  stage  of  life,  as  some  give  out,  so  much  as  honor." — Pericles. 

Mr.  Hill  had  left  his  seat  in  the  Senate  at  Richmond  for  the  purpose  of  coming  to 
Georgia  to  rally  the  people  to  the  waning  cause  of  the  South.  This  speech  was  the  last 
one  delivered  by  any  Southern  man  in  behalf  of  the  Confederacy.  I  venture  to  express 
the  opinion,  that  for  eloquence,  classic  diction,  and  learning,  it  has  few  equals.  With  the 
elegant  rhetoric  of  Burke,  it  combines  the  logic  of  Fox,  with  the  ornate  style  of  Cicero 
the  rugged  power  of  Demosthenes,  and  it  will  live  in  the  literature  of  the  country  as  an 
oration  of  rare  eloquence  and  beauty.  Mr.  Hill  revised  and  republished  it  in  1874  with  the 
following  reasons  for  his  doing  so. 

I  republish  this  speech  for  two  reasons  : 

1.  Some  of  those  who  heard  it  delivered  have  requested  its  republication. 

2.  I  desire  its  preservation  as  the  best  expression  I  can  now  give  of  the 
moral  causes  which  compelled  surrender,  as  well  as  of  the  horrors  consequent 
upon  surrender. 

With  immaterial  variances  in  details,  nearly  all  the  predictions,  in  this 
speech,  of  the  consequences  of  subjugation,  have  become  already  historical 
facts.  The  predictions  not  yet  fulfilled,  I  leave  to  that  inexorable  future 
which  shapes  human  destinies  in  logical  consistency  with  human  nature  and 
God's  laws,  despite  the  follies  of  human  wisdom,  and  the  crimes  of  human 
legislation. 

The  reader  will  see,  in  this  speech,  the  reasons  which  prompted  me  so 
earnestly  to  standby  the  Confederate  struggle  to  the  last  hour;  and  to  seek, 
by  every  means  in  my  power,  to  avert  from  the  Southern  people  that  greatest 
of  human  calamities — the  subjugation  of  one  section  by  another  section  of  a 
common  country. 

I  regret  nothing  but  the  FAILURE,  and  my  inability  to  do  more  to  pre 
vent  it. 

BENJ.  H.  HILL. 

May  22,  1874. 

SPEECH. 

From  my  youth,  most  of  you  now  before  me  have  been  accustomed  to 
honor  me  with  a  willingness  to  hear  my  opinions  upon  questions  of  public- 
interest.  This  large  assemblage  to-day  manifests  that,  through  all  our 
sufferings  and  vicissitudes,  your  confidence  remains  steadfast ;  and  most 
sincerely  I  thank  you. 

At  no  previous  period  have  I  addressed  you  with  so  thorough  a  convic 
tion  of  the  magnitude  of  the  interests  involved,  nor  with  so  deep  a  sense  of 
my  utter  incapacity  to  discuss  the  issues  upon  which  those  interests  depend, 
satisfactorily  to  myself.  I  do  not  come  to  tell  you  your  property  is  secure, 
or  your  liberties  are  unthreatened,  or  your  lives  are  safe.  I  come  to  tell 

273 


274  SENATOR  B.   H.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

you  that  the  greatest  trial  which  can  befall  a  people  is  now  upon  you.  Are 
you  willing — are  you  ready,  to  sacrifice  property,  liberty,  and  life,  to  defend, 
to  preserve,  to  establish  that  national  honor,  national  integrity,  and  national 
independence,  without  which  neither  property,  liberty,  or  life,  could  be 
either  valuable  or  desirable?  If  so,  you  will  enjoy  all — property,  liberty, 
and  life,  and  enjoy  them  more  abundantly.  If  not,  then  you  lose  all  ; 
and  with  them  you  throw  away  national  honor,  integrity,  and  inde 
pendence,  forever.  Nations,  like  individuals,  must  have  character  ;  and 
nations,  like  individuals,  must  have  that  character  tested — proven  by 
trial.  Trial  is  to  the  national  character  what  the  sculptor's  chisel  is  to 
the  marble  ;  it  cuts  away  much  of  its  substance,  but  leaves  it  in  shape, 
comeliness,  and  value.  And  this  lean  speak  for  our  encouragement,  that  no 
nation  has  ever  yet  died,  or  been  destroyed,  while  the  people  held  every 
other  interest  subordinate  to  the  preservation  of  national  honor,  virtue,  and 
independence.  While  this  I  must  say  for  our  admonition  :  that  no  nation 
has  ever  yet  survived,  whose  people  became  willing  to  sacrifice  honor,  virtue, 
or  independence  tor  individual  ease,  or  any  material  prosperity. 

As,  therefore,  no  man  can  enjoy  life,  liberty,  or  property,  except  the 
national  integrity  be  preserved,  it  follows,  that  it  is  every  man's  duty  to 
sacrifice  all  these,  when  necessary,  to  preserve  that  national  integrity  ;  and 
he  who  refuses  to  make  the  sacrifice,  becomes  an  enemy  to  that  nation,  and 
the  personal  enemy  of  every  other  individual  of  that  nation,  and  of  every 
individual  to  be  born  in  that  nation. 

I  speak  to  you,  my  friends  and  neighbors,  to-day,  but  I  speak  of  interests 
that  must  affect  our  whole  country,  and  our  whole  country's  posterity.  We 
can  have  no  divided  interests,  and  no  separate  deliverance.  I  plead  the 
cause  of  twelve  millions,  living,  and  of  twelve  millions,  many  times  multi 
plied,  yet  to  live.  And  what  a  patrimony  to  preserve,  what  a  heritage  to 
transmit,  are  involved  in  this  cause  ! 

Since  our  beneficent  Father  made  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  He  has 
parceled  out  to  His  children  no  better  portion  than  that  which  we  of  the 
Confederate  States  possess.  We  have  an  area  broader  than  the  five  great 
powers  of  Europe.  We  have  a  sky  as  bright,  and  a  climate  as  balmy,  as  the 
poet's  "  loved  Italia."  We  have  a  soil  more  fruitful  than  that  of  the  land 
selected  by  the  Father  Himself  for  His  own  chosen  people,  and  which  is 
described  as  "  flowing  with  milk  and  with  honey."  And  we  have  rivers 
which  can  float  to  the  sea  ten  thousand  cargoes,  each  richer  than  the  fabled 
golden  fleece  !  And  yet,  since  God  cursed  man  and  drove  him  from  Para 
dise,  thenceforth  to  be  the  victim  of  hatred  and  revenge,  and  of  every  pas 
sion,  no  people  have  been  threatened  with  evils  so  dire,  and  a  fate  so  terrible, 
as  those  with  which  we,  of  the  Confederate  States,  are  now  threatened ! 
For,  what  to  us  will  be  our  widespreading  lands,  if  they  are  to  be  divided 
by  the  hands  of  an  enemv  ?  What  will  it  be  to  us  that  our  skies  are  bright 

V  « 

and  our  climate  balmy,  if  the  spirits  of  our  people  are  bowed  and  broken  ? 
What  will  it  be  to  us  that  our  productions  are  rich  and  varied,  if  while  we 
may  reap  another  shall  enjoy?  What,  oh,  what  will  it  be  to  us  that  the 
sails  of  white-winged  commerce  shall  gather  in  our  waters  and  along  our 
streams,  as  the  fleecy  clouds  sometimes  gather  on  our  horizon  and  through 
our  heavens,  if  they  come  to  bear  away  our  riches  to  fill  the  coffers  of  a 
conqueror?  I  would  not  be  sacrilegious;  I  would  not  be  ungrateful;  I 
would  not  throw  away,  foolishly,  the  bounties  of  Heaven,  but  rather  than 
these  evils  should  be  fixed  upon  us,  I  could  pray  that  God  would  curse 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND    WRITINGS.  275 

these  lands   until  not  a  seed  could  vegetate,  and  darken  these  skies  until 
not  a  ray  of  light  could  penetrate  the  blackness ! 

In  view,  then,  of  the  great  interests  involved,  let  us  proceed  to  examine 
the  issue,  as  that  issue  is  now  presented  between  us  and  our  enemies  ;  how 
that  issue  is  to  be  solved  ;  our  resources  ;  the  difficulties  which  obstruct  us  ; 
the  method  of  overcoming  those  difficulties,  and  our  prospects  for  final  success. 

There  can  be  no  two  honest  opinions  as  to  the  character  of  the  issue. 
Our  enemy,  proverbial  for  deception,  is  candid  with  us,  on  this  subject, 
now.  If  we  be  deceived  here,  we  must  deceive  ourselves.  Indeed,  so  dis 
tinct  is  the  issue,  that,  in  my  opinion,  this  very  distinctness,  combined  witli 
the  character  of  the  demands  which  make  the  issue,  will,  in  history,  make 
this  the  beginning  of  the  second  epoch  in  this  revolution.  Four  years  ago, 
our  people  were  divided  in  opinion  as  to  what  our  enemies  proposed  to  do; 
and,  therefore,  were  divided  in  opinion,  as  to  what  we  ought  to  do.  Then, 
there  was  ground  for  debate;  room  for  doubt ;  tolerance  for  differences, 
and  patriots  on  both  sides.  Now,  our  enemies  declare  distinctly  what  they 
propose  to  do,  and  equally  distinct  becomes  our  duty.  There  is  no  ground 
for  debate  ;  no  room  for  doubt  ;  and  there  ought  to  be  no  tolerance  for 
difference,  for  patriots  cannot  longer  divide.  He  that  is  not  for  us,  is,  by 
the  very  nature  of  the  issue,  compelled  to  be  against  us.  This  issue,  I 
repeat,  is  formed,  made  up,  by  the  demands  of  the  enemy,  officially  an 
nounced  by  Mr.  Lincoln  to  our  own  appointed  commissioners. 

The  first  demand  is  "a  complete  restoration  of  the  authority  of  the  Con 
stitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States  over  all  places  within  the  States  of 
the  Confederacy."  What  Constitution  ?  Ah,  my  friends,  not  the  Consti 
tution  which  our  common  fathers  made  !  Not  that  Constitution  in  which 
conflicting  interests  and  opinions  made  mutual  concessions  for  the  general 
good  ;  in  which  the  South  agreed  to  contribute  to  the  commercial  and 
manufacturing  greatness  of  the  North,  and  the  North,  in  consideration 
therefore,  agreed  not  to  interfere  with,  but  to  respect,  the  industrial  pur 
suits  and  domestic  labor  of  the  South  ;  and  without  which  mutual  conces 
sions  our  fathers  distinctly  declared  they  would  never  agree  to  any  union  at 
all.  That  old  Constitution,  the  Northern  people  did  not  like.  Many  of 
them  hated  it.  They  called  it  "a covenant  with  hell,  and  a  league  with  the 
devil."*  They  refused  to  obey  it.  They  openly,  repeatedly,  grossly  vio 
lated  it ;  and,  because  of  that  bad  faith,  we  were  compelled  to  abandon  the 
Jnion  formed  by  that  Constitution.  Since  we  left  them,  they  have  made  a 
Constitution  to  suit  themselves.  They  have  annulled  all  the  concessions 
their  fathers  made  to  us  ;  but  have  retained  all  the  concessions  our  fathers, 
in  return  therefore,  made  to  them  ;  and  have  added  new  exactions  of  us, 
which  their  own  fathers,  in  the  Convention,  disclaimed,  and  which  those 
fathers  would  have  considered  themselves  disgraced  in  exacting  ;  and  which 
the  most  fanatical  enemy  of  the  South,  in  New  England,  would  not  have 

a/ 

exacted  before  our  separation.  They  have  repealed  the  old  laws,  made  for 
our  benefit,  in  pursuance  of  the  old  Constitution  ;  and  have  made  new  laws, 
in  accordance  with  the  spirit  and  purposes  of  this  new  Constitution.  And 
now,  they  take  this  new  Constitution  and  these  new  laws — spawns  of  the 
most  wicked  fanaticism,  conceived  and  perfected  in  the  most  bitter  hatred 
to  us,  even  while  they  were  invading  our  soil,  burning  our  homes,  and  shed 
ding  our  blood — and  tell  us  we  must  consent  to  have  their  authority  restored 
over  us  as  the  first  condition  of  peace  with  them  !  Did  these  people  forget 
who  our  fathers  were,  or  did  they  think  we  were  degenerate  ? 


276  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

The  next  demand  is,  that  we  must  agree  in  advance  "  to  accept  what 
ever  consequences  may  follow  from  the  restoration  of  this  authority."  It 
matters  not  how  hard  our  lot  may  be  ;  how  degrading  to  our  honor ;  how 
ruinous  to  interests  ;  how  hopeless  for  our  children  ;  we  must  agree,  in  ad 
vance,  not  to  complain  ;  not  to  plead  surprise  ;  not  to  resist  again  ;  not  to 
ask  for  a  change.  We  must  accept  whatever  consequences  may  follow ! 
Our  enemies  are  wiser,  in  their  exactions,  than  the  Venetian  Jew.  We 
must  pay  the  pound  of  flesh,  whatever  blood  shall  flow,  and  it  must  be  so 
written  in  the  bond.  If  we  sign  that  bond,  no  fair  Portia  will  give  judg 
ment  for  us,  and  no  honorable  woman  can  ever  bear  children  to  a  people  so 
bankrupt  in  manliness  ! 

But  what  are  the  changes  made  in  the  Constitution  and  laws,  and  what 
are  the  consequences  to  flow  from  these  changes?  for  Mr.  Lincoln  is  candid 
enough  to  give  us  notice  of  a  sufficient  number  of  them  to  enable  even  a 
stupid  man  to  see  that  others  must  follow. 

In  the  first  place,  our  slaves  are  emancipated  by  our  enemies,  and  we 
must  consent  to  that  emancipation.  What  need  for  "  courts  and  votes," 
after  this  consent?  Well,  this  change  alone,  is  a  great  one.  Slavery  was 
not  the  cause,  but  it  was  the  occasion  of  our  secession.  We  voluntarily 
left  a  Union  under  a  Constitution  which  our  fathers  did  help  to  make  ;  in 
which  slavery  was  recognized  ;  in  which,  even  the  Abolitionists  admitted 
it  was  recognized  in  the  States,  to  secure  greater  and  more  quiet  protection 
for  that  property.  It  is  now  proposed,  demanded  that  we  be  carried  back, 
by  force,  to  a  union  under  a  Constitution  which  our  fathers  refused  to 
make  ;  which  our  enemies  alone  have  made  ;  in  which  our  property  is  taken 
from  us  without  compensation,  and  all  at  the  bidding  of  an  enemy  who  have 
been  murdering  our  children  while  making  this  change  to  destroy  our  prop 
erty,  and  who  tell  us  they  will  continue  to  murder  until  we  accept  the 
change,  and  consent  to  the  destruction.  I  say,  to  yield  slavery  at  all,  is  to 
show  a  great  change  in  our  people.  To  yield  it  thus  to  the  enemy,  is  singu 
lar,  unusual  humiliation  for  the  Southern  people.  But  to  yield  as  a  privi 
lege — as  a  condition  of  reunion  with  that  very  enemy  ;  and  to  be  required, 
in  the  new  Union,  to  pay  a  full  proportion  of  the  debt  incurred  by  the 
enemy  while  murdering  our  people  to  force  them  to  the  surrender,  is  a  sub 
jugation  which  no  people  fit  to  live  with  would  exact,  and  to  which  no 
people  fit  to  live  at  all  would  ever  submit. 

But  I  am  speaking  to-day  of  questions  whose  solution  must  affect  all  the 
world,  and  all  the  world's  posterity.  By  what  I  this  day  utter,  I  am  willing 
to  go  before  my  country,  before  posterity,  and  before  my  Heavenly  Father 
for  judgment.  And  so  speaking  I  declare  to  you,  I  think  the  preservation 
of  property  in  slaves,  great  as  it  is,  is  yet  the  very  smallest  interest  involved 
in  this  contest.  I  believe  slavery  is  God's  own  decree.  If  I  did  not  believe 
so,  no  earthly  power  could  make  me  hold  my  slaves  until  the  going  down 
of  this  day's  sun.  In  God's  hands  I  am  willing  to  leave  the  negro's 
condition  and  destiny.  "  Best  are  all  things  as  the  will  of  God  ordained 
them."  But  as  far  as  property  in  that  negro  is  the  creature  of  human  con 
sent,  I  am  willing  to  say  I  would  freely,  cheerfully,  gladly,  if  necessary, 
give  up  slavery  for  independence  ;  but  I  will  never  consent  to  give  up  slavery 
and  independence,  for  any  price  which  human  coffers  can  pay,  nor  on  any 
terms  which  human  ingenuity  can  devise,  nor  under  any  torture  which  human 
power  can  inflict. 

But  I  say,  emancipation  simply,  is  the  smallest  question  involved,    If  this 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  277 

were  the  only  danger  ;  if 'we,  the  white  race,  were  still  permitted  to  regulate 
the  new  relations  by  our  own  State  laws,  we  might  be  able  to  protect  our 
selves  in  our  political,  civil,  and  social  supremacy  ;  and  though  in  a  different 
way,  and  on  different  terms,  we  should  still  be  able,  in  a  great  measure,  to 
control  the  labor  of  the  negro,  both  for  his  good  and  our  own.  Our  enemies 
have  seen  this  result,  and  they  have  provided  against  it. 

Therefore,  in  the  next  place,  under  this  new  Constitution,  Congress — the 
Federal  Congress — we  are  notified,  "  reserves  the  power  to  enforce  this  eman 
cipation,  by  such  legislation  as  that  Congress  shall  deem  appropriate"  That 
is  to  say,  the  people  who  emancipate  the  slave  reserve  the  power  to  say  how 
that  slave  shall  enjoy  his  freedom  ;  what  shall  be  his  political,  civil,  and 
social  status  ;  and  what  relations  shall  exist  between  the  freed  slave  and  his 
former  master.  The  people  who  hate  you,  who  have  murdered  your  sons  to 
free  the  negro,  who  impoverish  and  degrade  you  to  enrich  and  elevate  the 
negro,  is  to  be  the  sole  judge  of  what  is  appropriate  in  the  future  relations 
between  you  and  that  negro.  Do  you  imagine  such  a  people  will  judge  it 
appropriate  that  you  should  be  above  the  negro  ?  Will  it  not  be  marvelous 
if  they  even  judge  it  appropriate  that  you  should  be  his  equal  ? 

Let  us  glance  a  moment  at  some  of  the  measures  which  this  Federal 
Congress  must  deem  not  only  appropriate,  but  as  absolutely  necessary,  to 
enforce  this  emancipation  of  the  slaves  ;  without  which,  indeed,  the  eman 
cipation  would  be  idle  and  cruel. 

In  the  first  place,  of  course,  the  freed  negro  must  have  a  country  to  live  in. 
Now,  it  has  never  been  known  that  the  white  and  black  races  could  inhabit 
the  same  country,  in  any  large  proportions,  without  the  one  race  being  sub 
ject  to  the  other.  The  contrary  is  the  experience  of  mankind.  In  former 
times,  even  Abolitionists  shuddered  at  the  idea  of  turning  loose  four  millions 
of  blacks  to  live  in  the  South.  What  to  do  with  the  negro  after  freeing  him 
was  the  hardest  problem  for  the  world's  fanaticism  to  solve.  For  the  pur 
pose  of  solving  this  problem,  the  "Colonization  Society  "  was  formed.  The 
object  was  to  cany  the  freed  negroes  back  to  their  own  land,  Liberia,  and 
aid  and  encourage  them  to  pursue  and  progress  in  the  civilization  and 
Christianity  they  had  acquired  here,  and  extend  both  to  their  race  still  in 
barbarism.  Great  intellects  helped  the  scheme.  Wealth,  philanthropy, 
and  fanaticism  all  combined,  from  the  North  and  from  the  South,  to  give  it 
success.  It  failed.  The  negro  preferred  slavery  here  to  freedom  there. 
Many  in  this  very  State,  freed  by  their  masters  to  be  carried  to  Liberia,  re 
fused  to  go.  Some  did  go.  Teachers  with  books,  and  preachers  with  the 
Bible,  went  with  them.  But  even  with  these  helps,  the  freed  negro  went 
back  to  the  barbarism  of  his  race  with  more  rapidity  than  he  recovered  his 
race  from  barbarism.  Slavery  is  the  only  civilizer  of  the  negro.  Early  in  Mr. 
Lincoln's  first  term,  we  heard  much  of  his  efforts  to  get  some  Southern 
country  in  which  to  colonize  the  nesrroes.  He  failed.  The  necrro  would 

»/  ^D  ci? 

not  go.  He  preferred  to  stay  here  even  if  compelled  to  shoot  his  master; 
and  Mr.  Lincoln,  it  seems,  has  concluded  that  it  is  a  more  Christian  work. 
The  truth  is,  the  negro  will  never  voluntarily  leave  this  country.  He  much 
prefers  slavery.  And  the  Yankee  has  concluded  he  shall  neither  leave  the 
country  nor  remain  a  slave  in  it,  whatever  consequences  may  result. 

But  why  give  the  negro  his  freedom  and  a  country  to  live  in  and  not  the 
means  of  making  a  living  ?  He  must  have  lands  to  work  and  the  means  to 
work  them.  Therefore,  as  another  result,  our  lands  must  be  parceled  out 

with  the  neero.     Gen.  Sherman  has  already  commenced  the  work.     He  has 

< 


278  SENATOR  R   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

already  set  apart  certain  lands  in  Georgia  and  South  Carolina,  and  the  islands 
adjacent,  for  the  poor,  starving  negroes  who  followed  him,  and  has  forbid 
any  white  person  going  within  their  limits  except  by  military  order. 

In  the  next  place,  the  negro,  being  a  free  landed  proprietor,  must  have 
civil  rights,  and  civil  rights  are  but  a  mockery  without  civil  power  ;  and  all 
these  will  be  futile  without  social  equality.  I  tell  you  as  sure  as  there  is  rea 
son  in  logic,  or  revenge  in  hate,  these  consequences  will  all  follow.  They 
cannot  follow  naturally.  The  negro,  of  himself,  can  never  make,  administer, 
or  execute  laws  for  the  white  man.  His  intellect  is  not  equal  to  the  task  of 
either  supremacy  or  equality.  His  taste,  his  habits,  his  nature  can  never,  by 
any  innate  charm  or  power,  rise  to  social  equality  with  the  white  race.  And 
I  repeat,  these  ends  will  not  be  reached  as  results  naturally  arising  from  his 
state  of  freedom.  But  they  will  be  provided  for  by  law.  His  friend  and 
your  enemy,  his  liberator  and  your  tyrant,  will  have  the  sole  right  to  judge 
of  the  measures  appropriate  to  enforce  the  negro's  emancipation  ;  and  by 
virtue  of  laws  thus  provided,  the  negro  will  be  entitled  to  hold  your  lands, 
to  sit  in  your  legislative  halls,  to  adjudge  your  rights,  to  be  the  witness  be 
tween  you  and  his  race,  to  pass  sentence  upon  your  acts,  to  eat  at  your  tables, 
to  associate  with  your  families,  and  to  intermarry  with  your  children. 

Nor  is  the  worst  yet  told.  It  will  be  in  vain  to  give  the  negro  all  these 
rights,  and  establish  them  by  law,  and  stop  there.  All  the  laws  the  Federal 
Congress  could  devise,  could  not  by  their  simple  enactment  lift  the  negro  to  ac 
tual  equality  with  the  white  man.  His  nature  and  his  habit  is  to  fear  and  obey 
his  master.  The  nature  and  the  habit  of  the  white  man  is  to  command  and 
govern  the  negro.  This  normal  relation  must  be  overcome  by  something 
stronger  than  laws,  or  it  will  practically  prevail.  Therefore,  power — force — 
must  be  provided  to  secure  to  the  negro  the  actual  enjoyment  of  these  rights. 
The  Yankee  will  not  sacrifice  a  million  of  lives,  and  billions  of  money  to  ob 
tain  these  rights  for  the  negro,  and  then  hesitate  to  adopt  whatever  means 
may  be  necessary  to  secure  their  enjoyment,  as  far  as  that  enjoyment  can  be 
secured. 

This  force  must  come  from  without,  or  be  found  within  the 
country.  To  be  furnished  from  without  will  prove  too  expensive. 
It  will  require  three  hundred  thousand  soldiers  to  garrison  this  vast 
territory.  It  would  doubtless  be  deemed  appropriate  to  collect  the  ex 
pense  of  maintaining  this  force  from  us,  especially  as  we  would  be 
considered  the  cause  of  the  necessity  for  such  force.  But,  impoverished 
and  enervated,  and  manacled  in  all  our  energies,  we  should  never  be 
able  to  provide  the  means  for  such  payment.  The  Yankees  would  not 
long  agree  to  pay  such  expenses  from  their  own  treasury,  and  the  force  from 
without  would  be  chiefly  withdrawn.  Only  one  resource  to  accomplish  the 
end  would  remain,  and  this  would  be  adopted.  The  black  race — the  eman 
cipated  slave — would  be  armed  ;  and  the  white  race — the  dominating 
offended  master — would  be  disarmed  !  Do  not  tell  me  this  result  is  too  hor 
rid,  too  demoniac.  You  will  have  no  right  to  judge.  That  right  is  re 
served,  by  the  terms  proposed,  to  the  Federal  Congress.  Your  enemy  is  to 
be  the  only  judge.  You  are  to  agree  in  advance  he  shall  be  the  only  judge. 
That  enemy  is  fanatical  ;  that  enemy  is  mad  ;  that  enemy  is  blind  !  That 
madness  has  been  restrained  hitherto  by  your  power,  but,  even  now,  is  there 
any  cruelty  which  that  enemy  has  not  delighted  to  inflict  upon  us  where 
opportunity  presented?  Let  Atlanta,  with  her  exiled  people  and  heaps  of 
ashes,  answer  !  Let  Columbia,  given  to  a  soldiery  licensed  to  sack,  to 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  279 

riot,  and  to  burn,  close  up  the  argument.  I  tell  you,  Atlanta  depopulated 
and  destroyed  ;  Columbia  sacked  and  in  smoking  ruins,  are  happy  places, 
where  the  weary  and  pursued  may  well  fly  for  rest  and  safety,  compared  to 
the  fate  which  will  await  this  whole  land,  when  the  white  race — conquered 
and  hopeless — shall  lay  down  their  arms  and  submit  to  be  the  negro's  fellow 
on  the  Yankee's  terms.  I  will  not  detain  you  longer  with  details  of  the  con 
sequences  that  must  result  from  an  acceptance  by  us  of  the  terms  proposed 
by  Mr.  Lincoln  to  our  commissioners  in  Hampton  Roads.  I  have  shown 
you  that  he  requires  us  : 

1.  To  accept  a  new  Constitution  and  new  laws  made  by  our  enemies — 
made  in  the  midst  of  inflamed  hatred  to  us  ;  made  while  invading  our  coun 
try,  burning  our  homes,  and  shedding  our  blood  ! 

2.  To  accept  this  new  Constitution,  and  these  laws,  without  reservation 
or  qualification  as  to  the  consequences  that  may  follow. 

3.  That  we  must  agree  in  advance,  that  our  slaves  are  emancipated  ;  and 
that  the  Federal  Congress  shall,  in  future,  exercise  the  power  to  enforc  that 
emancipation  by  such  laws  as  they  may  deem  appropriate. 

4.  I  have  shown  you  that  to  enforce  this  emancipation,  it  must  neces 
sarily  be  deemed  appropriate  :  1.  That  the  freed  negro  shall  have  this  coun 
try  to  inhabit.     2.  That  he  must  be  furnished  with  lands  to  cultivate,  and 
with  means  to  cultivate  them.     3.  That  he  must  have  civil  rights  ;  civil  and 
political  power,  and  social  equality  with  us.     4.  That  he  must  have  power 
to  protect  himself  in  the  enjoyment  of  all  these  rights  against  an  old  domi 
neering  master,  and  that,  too,  to  this  end  :  the  negro  will  be  armed,  and  the 
former  master — the  white  race — will  be  disarmed  ! 

I  need  scarcely  add,  that  in  order  to  carry  out  this  policy  it  will  become 
necessary  to  obliterate  all  State  lines,  and  have  all  the  States  of  the  Con 
federacy  reduced  to  one  vast  territory.  For  this  territory  there  will  be  but 
one  law-making  power — the  Federal  Congress  ;  and  from  this  territory,  in 
that  Congress,  the  negro,  or  the  white  man  willing  to  be  his  equal,  will  be 
the  only  tit  and  accepted  representative. 

As  an  inducement — and  the  only  inducement  offered — to  accept  these 
terms,  Mr.  Lincoln  promises  us  a  liberal  exercise  of  the  pardoning  power  ! 
And,  doubtless,  those  at  the  North  who  support  him,  will  consider  this 
indeed  a  liberal  offer,  since  they  claim  the  right  to  exterminate  us  for  the 
sins  already  committed  ! 

The  very  terms  of  the  issue,  as  tendered  by  Mr.  Lincoln,  must  preclude 
any  division  of  opinion  as  to  the  manner  of  meeting  that  issue.  Diplomacy, 
on  its  own  terms,  by  its  own  champions,  has  made  an  effort  and  failed  at  the 
threshold.  Statesmanship  has  been  given  its  day,  and  not  only  failed,  but 
was  humiliated  before  one  day  ended.  How  could  it  have  been  otherwise 
when  Mr.  Lincoln  had  previously  plainly  said  :  "It  is  an  issue  which  can 
only  be  tried  by  war,  and  decided  by  victory."  The  day  for  diplomacy  and 
statesmanship  will  certainly  come  ;  and  it  will  come  early,  or  delay  long, 
just  in  proportion  to  the  earnestness  and  unanimity  with  which  we,  on  our 
side,  now  wage  the  war.  Wooing  will  drive  it  away.  Universal  defiance 
will  bring  it  on.  If  our  enemy  could  have  heard  from  our  people  but  one 
harmonious  determined  voice  of  resistance  to  death  after  the  Hampton 
Roads  conference,  that  day  would  have  come  upon  us  ere  the  springing 
grain  could  yellow  for  the  harvest.  Oh  !  dastardly  is  the  cowardice  of  that 
trooper  who  lingers  from  the  battle  now  ;  hopelessly  suicidal  is  that  avarice 
which  can  withhold  its  offering  now  ;  and  hateful,  hateful,  hateful  far  be- 


280  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

yond  the  darkest  thought  of  the  traitor's  mind,  is  that  ambition  which  can 
not  forget  its  personal  griefs  and  personal  scheming  and  cease  to  divide  our 
people  now  ! 

If  we  were  base  enough  to  desire  to  submit,  we  could  not — for  all  induce 
ments  to  such  submission  are  destroyed  by  the  terms  proposed.  We  could 
not  get  back  the  old  Union,  for  that  has  been  more  effectually  destroyed  by 
the  enemy  than  by  secession.  We  could  not  save  our  property,  for  its  surren 
der  is  the  very  first  condition  of  submission.  We  give  up  property  in  slaves 
in  advance.  We  throw  away  all  the  debt  we  have  incurred,  and  which  is 
due  to  our  own  people.  The  remainder  of  our  property,  if  sold  in  the  most 
favorable  market,  would  not  pay  our  proportion  of  the  enemy's  debt  incurred 
in  our  subjugation  ! 

We  would  not  secure  peace.  I  do  not  speak  to  you  with  threats  ;  but  I 
do  speak  in  frankness.  And  I  tell  you,  if  you,  at  home,  are  willing  to  sub 
mit  to  terms  so  degrading,  the  army  will  not!  The  soldiers  can  give  up 
property  ;  they  HAVE  given  it  up.  They  can  leave  home,  and  wife,  and 
children  ;  they  have  left  them.  They  can  endure  cold,  and  heat,  and  hun 
ger,  and  nakedness.  They  have  endured  all  these  for  four  long  years. 
They  can  climb  mountains,  wade  rivers,  make  long  inarches,  walk  without 
shoes,  sleep  without  tents,  fight  without  trembling,  and  die  without  fear  ! 
All  these  things  have  been  done  from  Texas  to  Maryland.  They  can  listen 
to  the  bursting  shells  without  quaking  knees,  and  watch  the  flashing  guns 
without  blinking  eyes.  They  have  heard  and  seen  them  in  a  hundred 
battles.  You  cannot  startle  them  with  the  enemy's  numbers  ;  they  have 
met  that  enemy  on  a  hundred  fields  without  a  count,  save  of  the  slain  and 
captured  !  They  can  bury  their  fallen  comrades,  and  still  press  on.  Ah  ! 
ten  times  ten  thousand  quick-shoveled  mounds  hide  the  still  clenched  teeth 
and  fearless  miens  of  sleeping  braves  from  Oak  Hills  to  Gettysburg.  They 
are  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  and,  to  their  memories,  the  great  father 
of  waters  will  mingle  a  hoarse,  deep  dirge  with  the  tolling  bells  of  floating 
steamers,  while  commerce  shall  gather  the  rich  fruits  of  their  labors.  They 
are  among  the  hills  of  Georgia,  and  the  sweet,  winding  Etowah  shall  hymn 
their  requiem,  as  long  as  the  iron  mountain,  around  whose  base  she  pours 
her  waters,  shall  remain.  And  Virginia — unrivaled  old  mother — holds 
them,  to-day,  all  over  her  great,  wide  bosom  ;  and  there  she  will  ever  hold 
them,  richer,  in  them  alone,  than  India  with  her  treasures,  and  prouder  than 
Egypt  lifting  her  changeless  pyramids  to  the  skies  ! 

And  what  is  it,  so  richer  than  wealth  ;  so  dearer  than  home,  and  wife, 
and  children  ;  and  so  more  valued  than  ease,  and  health,  and  life,  that  for  it,  • 
the  true,  brave  soldier,  is  willing  to  lose  all,  and  endure,  and  suffer,  and  toil, 
and  fight,  and  die,  and  never  falter  ?  It  is  that  without  which  there  can  be 
no  enjoyment  in  wealth,  no  home  for  family,  no  safety  in  ease,  and  no  pleas 
ure  in  life.  It  is  the  honor  and  independence  of  our  country  !  And  do  you 
suppose  that  these  gallant  heroes,  who  have  lost  so  much,  who  have  endured 
so  much,  who  have  suffered  so  much,  and  who  have  buried  so  many,  and  all 
to  defend  and  maintain  that  honor  and  independence,  will  tamely  agree,  that 
you,  who  have  never  felt  the  sirocco  touch  of  this  war's  wild  blast,  shall  now 
surrender  all  national  honor  and  independence  forever  ?  Will  they  agree 
that  you  shall  say  all  their  privations  have  been  endured  in  the  cause  of 
treason  ?  Will  they,  at  your  bidding,  lay  down  their  arms,  and,  like  peni 
tent  felons,  trust  the  enemy  they  have  been  fighting,  for  pardon  ?  Will  they 
ever  consent  that  you,  taking  the  friendly  hand  of  the  enemy  who  slew  them, 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND    WRITINGS.  281 

shall  go  over  the  fields  of  Manassas  and  Fredericksburg,  Shiloh  and  Chicka- 
mauga,  and  write  above  the  graves  of  their  comrades  who  are  resting  there, 
that^blackest  of  libels — "  Traitors  lie  here  "  ?  Will  Georgia  write  that  epi 
taph  for  Bartow,  and  Cobb,  and  her  thousands  of  sons  who  have  fought 
and  died  to  illustrate  her  honor?  Will  Virginians  write  it  for  Jackson? 
Whose  hand  shall  write  it,  and  not  be  paralyzed?  Whose  tongue  shall 
utter  it  and  not  grow  speechless  ?  Who  will  bear  the  message  to  those 
foreign  nations  who  are  carving  statues  and  erecting  monuments  to  his 
memory,  to  forbear  the  unholy  work  of  perpetuating  the  name  and  features 
of  a  traitor?  But  even  if  the  army  could  endure  all  this,  and  lay  down 
their  arms,  think  you  they  would  not  grasp  them  again  when  they  should 
see  that  nobler  than  Brutus,  that  purer  than  Cromwell,  and  that  greater  than 
Washington,  the  glorious  Lee,  led  up  to  the  prison  stand  to  receive  the  sen 
tence  of  an  inveterate,  or  the  pardon  of  a  penitent  culprit,  from  the  mouth 
of  such  a  jester  as  Lincoln  ?  Enough  !  enough  !  Away  with  the  thought 
of  peace  on  such  terms.  "Pis  the  wildest  dream  that  restless  ambition,  or 
selfish  avarice,  or  slinking  cowardice  could  conjure  in  the  highest  flight  of 
the  most  anguished  imaginings !  The  day  you  make  friends  with  the 
enemy  on  any  such  terms,  you  will  make  eternal  enemies  of  your  own  brave 
sons  and  brothers  who  have  been  defending  you  against  the  malice  of  that 
enemy.  You  will  have  an  enemy  in  every  household,  a  battle  by  every 
fireside,  and  a  war  that  shall  blight  your  fields,  and  curse  the  land  with  hor 
ror  forever  ! 

For  glory  is  the  soldier's  prize. 

The  soldier's  wealth  is  HONOR. 

But  even  if  our  people  and  army  were  all  to  agree  to  submit  to  Mr.  Lin 
coln's  terms,  we  should  not  have  peace.  No,  not  even  if  our  negroes  should 
not  be  armed,  or  even  the  emancipation  proclamation  should  be  abandoned. 
Policy,  safety,  and  passion  would  all  combine  to  drive  our  enemies  into  a 
foreign  war,  and  every  man  in  the  Southern  army  would  be  at  once  ordered 
to  the  conflict.  Our  sons,  husbands,  and  brothers  would  be  marched  from  the 
Mississippi  into  Mexico,  or  from  the  James  into  Canada,  or,  perhaps,  into 
both!  Let  us  not  .deceive  ourselves!  The  day  of  compromise  did  exist. 
It  lingered  long.  It  has  gone  forever  !  There  is  now  for  us  no  safety,  no 
property,  no  honor,  no  peace,  no  hope,  save  in  independence. 

The  next  question,  therefore,  becomes  an  important  one  :  What  are  our 
resources  for  prosecuting  a  defensive  war  ? 

These  resources  are  of  two  kinds,  physical  and  moral.  Physical 
resources  consist  in  men,  in  supplies,  and  in  arms  and  munitions  of  war,  and 
in  the  means  of  producing  and  procuring  them. 

It  was  my  fortune  to  be  one  of  a  joint  committee,  recently  appointed  by 
the  two  houses  of  Congress,  and  charged  with  the  duty  of  inquiring  into  the 
condition  of  our  resources,  present  and  prospective,  for  the  maintenance  of 
the  public  defense.  After  a  lenthy  examination,  the  committee  had  the 
happiness  to  conclude  and  to  report,  unanimously,  that  our  resources  were 
sufficient,  and,  with  energy  and  vigilance,  were  available  for  the  prosecution 
of  the  war  until  independence  was  won. 

It  may  not  be  improper  to  state  to  you  some  facts  on  this  branch  of  the 
subject : 

We  have  more  than  half  a  million  of  white  men  within  the  military  age, 
east  of  the  Mississippi  River. 

Taking  the  whole  country  together,  east  of  that  river,  and  we  find  pro- 


SENATOR  B.   It.  HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

visions — though  scarce  in  some  places — were  never  more  abundant.  We 
have  supplies  in  North  Carolina  and  Virginia  sufficient  to  sustain  General 
Lee's  armies  until  harvest. 

Notwithstanding  recent  losses,  we  have  an  abundant  supply  of  heavy 
ordnance  and  field  artillery.  We  have  more  small  arms  than  men  on  duty 
to  hold  them.  We  have  machinery  now  on  hand  sufficient  to  manufacture 
fifty-five  thousand  rifles  and  muskets  (not  counting  pistols  and  carbines) 
ptr  annum.  This  is  more  than  twice  the  number  manufactured  in  the 
whole  United  States  before  the  war.  What  will  critics  who  can  find  nothing 
efficient  in  our  new  government  say  to  this  fact  alone  ?  We  need  mechan 
ics  in  this  department. 

We  have,  and  can  manufacture  within  ourselves,  powder  enough  to 
carry  on  the  war  indefinite!}7".  Lead  is  not  so  abundant  as  powder,  but  suffi 
cient. 

Thus,  you  see,  God  has  not  left  us  without  all  the  physical  means  neces 
sary  for  our  defense  in  this  trying  struggle.  Truly,  it  seems  He  hid  away 
in  our  earth  all  things  needful  for  us,  and  at  the  critical  hour  of  want  he 
uncovers  them  for  our  use. 

The  moral  resources  of  a  nation  consist  in  the  will — the  spirit — the 
determined  and  united  purpose  of  the  people.  These  resources  are  devel 
oped  in  the  highest  strength,  when  all  the  people  determine  to  use  all 
the  physical  resources  to  the  one  great  end  of  defending,  protecting,  or 
establishing  their  national  integrity  and  independence.  This  will  must  be 
manifested  by  faith — faith  in  God,  in  our  cause,  in  ourselves,  in  our  gov 
ernment,  and  in  our  army.  This  faith  is  manifested  by  a  readiness — a 
cheerfulness  to  do,  to  suffer,  and  to  sacrifice.  It  is  the  province  of  the 
clergy  to  teach  you  faith  in  God.  I  trust  no  man  now  needs  to  be  taught 
faith  in  our  cause.  The  exactions  of  the  enemy  have  made  that  cause 
righteous  far  above  all  precedent.  When  this  war  began,  no  people  ever 
exhibited  a  sublirner  faith  in  themselves,  their  government,  and  their  army. 
None  will  admit  they  have  lost  faith  in  the  army  or  in  the  people.  But, 
in  this  struggle,  the  army,  the  people,  and  the  government  are  almost  the 
same.  Certainly  neither  can  be  strong,  when  either  is  weak  ;  neither  can 
survive,  when  either  shall  fail.  And  the  cause,  which  all  are  required  to 
defend,  cannot  succeed  when  these  shall  give  way.  Now,  the  skill  of  a 
commander  is  generally  exhibited  by  finding  out  and  attacking  his  adver 
sary's  weakest  point.  Our  enemy  have  not  been  stupid  or  blundering  on 
this  point. 

From  the  beginning,  Mr.  Lincoln  and  his  followers  have  desired  to 
weaken  and  destroy  our  government,  well  knowing  that  whenever  the  people 
of  the  army  should  abandon  the  government,  we  should  be  effectually 
destroyed  in  all  respects. 

Indeed,  they  believe,  that  if  they  can  disaffect  our  people  to  any  one 
branch  of  the  governnient,  especially  to  the  President,  we  shall  necessarily 
fail.  This  great  fact  is  made  very  distinct  by  Mr.  Lincoln's  last  message. 
He  says  :  "  On  careful  consideration  of  all  the  evidence  accessible,  it  seems 
to  me  that  no  attempt  at  negotiation  with  the  insurgent  leader  could  result 
in  any  good.  He  would  accept  of  nothing  short  of  the  severance  of  the 
Union.  His  declarations  to  this  effect  are  explicit,  and  oft  repeated.  He 
does  not  attempt  to  deceive  us.  He  offers  us  no  excuse  to  deceive  ourselves. 
We  cannot  voluntarily  yield  it.  Between  him  and  us  the  issue  is  distinct, 
simple,  and  inflexible.  It  is  an  issue  which  can  only  be  tried  by  war  and 


fflS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  283 

decided  by  victory.  If  we  yield,  we  are  beaten.  If  the  Southern  people 
fail  him,  he  is  beaten."  Here  Mr.  Lincoln  puts  the  whole  issue  of  the 
struggle  on  one  single  point.  He  does  not  say, — if  our  army  fails  ;  if  our 
munitions  of  war  fail  ;  if  our  supplies  fail  ;  if  our  cities  fall  ;  if  our  States 
are  overrun,  or  if  our  currency  becomes  worthless,  we  are  beaten.  No. 
Mark  his  words  :  "  If  the  Southern  people  fail."  Fail  what  ?  Fail  the 
cause  ?  No.  Fail  the  Congress  ?  No.  Fail  the  President !  "  If  the  South 
ern  people  fail  him,  he  is  beaten  ! ' 

I  repeat,  from  the  beginning,  our  enemies  have  never  expected  to  subdue 
us  by  the  failure  or  exhaustion  of  our  physical  resources.  They  have 
expected  us  to  fail  in  our  moral  resources.  They  have  relied  upon  disaffec 
tion  among  our  people  to  our  government,  and  chiefly  to  the  President. 
And  in  this  fatal  work  we  have  had  enemies  within  as  well  as  without. 
"  Why,"  said  the  greatest  of  Roman  orators  and  the  purest  of  Roman  states 
men,  "  why  are  we  speaking  so  long  about  one  enemy  ;  and  about  that 
enemy  who  avows  that  he  is  one  ;  and  are  saying  nothing  about  those  who 
dissemble,  who  remain  at  Rome,  who  are  among  us  ?  Whom,  indeed,  if  it 
were  by  any  means  possible,  I  should  be  anxious  not  so  much  to  chastise  as 
to  cure,  and  to  make  friendly  to  the  republic;  nor,  if  they  will  listen  to  me, 
do  I  quite  know  why  that  may  not  be." 

Never  were  words  more  applicable.  That  enemy  who  avows  he  is  one, 
who  bears  arms  in  his  hand,  who  meets  us  in  battle,  is  not  our  worst,  our 
most  dangerous  enemv.  We  have  enemies  who  deceive  themselves  ;  who 

«/ 

dissemble  ;  who  are  here  among  us.  And  if  we  are  conquered,  subjugated, 
disgraced,  ruined,  it  will  all  be  the  work  of  those  enemies  among  us  ;  and 
they  will  accomplish  that  work  by  destroying  the  faith  of  our  people  in  their 
own  government.  Oh,  if  I  had  a  voice  to-day  which  could  reach  every  man, 
woman,  and  child  in  the  Confederacy,  and  could  open  their  eyes  to  this  one 
ffreat  truth,  our  independence  would  be  secured  beyond  the  possibility  of 
failure. 

There  are  many  among  us  engaged  in  promoting  this  work  of  disaffection. 
They  act  from  different  motives,  and  are  in  different  degrees  of  guilt.  Many 
are  uninformed  and  thoughtless,  and  do  not  really  design  to  do  mischief. 
Some  are  misguided  ;  some  are  deceived  ;  some  are  designing,  and  some 
are  employed  by  the  enemy.  To  most  of  these  I  allude  "not  so  much  to 
chastise  as  to  cure,  and  to  make  friendly  to  the  republic." 

Many  of  our  people  were  opposed  to  secession  as  a  remedy  for  our 
grievances.  They  regarded  it  as  revolution,  and  believed  it  would  bring,  in 
its  train,  the  evils  of  revolution.  Most  of  them  are  earnest  and  devoted 
supporters  of  our  government.  This  government  has  been  regularly  adopted 
by  the  people — is  a  living  entity  by  the  "  consent  of  the  governed,"  and 
cannot  be  abandoned,  except  by  another  revolution.  And  another  revolu 
tion  now,  can  never  lead  us  back  to  the  old  Union,  but  would  lead,  with 
multiplied  horrors,  inevitably  to  subjugation.  It  is  natural,  therefore  ;  it  is 
consistent,  that  these  men  should  give  all  their  energies  to  sustain  the 
government,  and  should  deprecate  the  spirit  of  disaffection  as  the  wiliest 
serpent  of  the  crisis.  Occasionally,  however,  we  find  some  of  these,  who  are 
unable  to  follow  principle  above  prejudices,  who  still  dream  of  the  "  leeks 
and  the  onions,"  and  who,  deprecating  one  revolution,  would  insanely  rush 
us  into  another,  whose  losses,  sufferings,  and  evils  would  be  tenfold  those  of 

_  7  ^j       7 

the  present.     I  trust  not  one  of  them  will  linger  in  his  regrets  and  prejudice, 
after  hearing  of  the  Hampton  Roads  conference.     For  one,  I  buried  the 


284  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OP  GEORGIA. 

Union  as  I  buried  my  father — from  necessity,  and  in  sorrow  of  heart.  I 
would  not,  I  could  not,  unbury  it  now  ;  for,  decayed  and  fetid,  it  would 
stench  the  earth.  A  fanatical  abolition  despotism  has  been  erected  on  the 
ruins  of  the  old  Union,  and  Southern  honor  could  not  live  in  its  Upas 
shadow. 

Many  of  our  people  went  early  and  earnestly  into  the  secession  move 
ment,  from  the  highest  motives  that  can  actuate  patriots.  Many  of  them 
failed  in  their  judgment  of  results  ;  doubtless  looking  more  to  the  right 
than  the  questions  of  the  hour.  These  have  vindicated  their  faith  with  the 
highest  proofs  which  the  noblest  heroism  can  offer.  Some  have  endured 
every  privation  of  the  camp  ;  some  have  been  lifting  their  voices  urging  the 
people  to  sustain  the  government  ;  some  have  practiced  self-denial,  and 
held  their  substance  for  the  common  cause:  some  have  given  their  lives, 
and  passed  away.  These  all  let  us  honor  as  countrymen,  and  love  as  brethren. 
Almost  before  the  bill  became  a  law,  the  gallant  Bartow  tendered  his 
Oglethorpes — eager  to  be  the  first  to  enlist  to  serve  during  the  war.  I 
suggested  to  him,  that  the  position  he  then  held — chairman  of  the  committee 
on  military  affairs — was  an  important  one.  "No,  no,"  he  said,  "I  cannot 
stay  here.  Remembering  my  advice  to  the  people,  I  feel  that  the  front  of 
the  fight  is  the  only  post  of  honor  for  me."  On  his  last  trip  from  home  to 
the  army,  the  lamented  Cobb  called  to  see  me.  During  our  conversation,  he 
said  :  "  I  do  not  like  war  ;  it  is  shocking  to  me.  I  desire  to  live  a  Christian, 
and  do  only  the  peaceful  work  of  a  Christian.  But  I  urged  the  people  of 
Georgia  to  secede.  I  did  not  think  war  would  result,  but  it  has  resulted, 
and  I  cannot  remain  out  of  the  service  and  look  honest  people  in  the  face  !': 

Noble  Georgians  !  The  State,  the  people,  posterity,  will  honor  your 
memories  and  commemorate  your  virtues  ! 

But  all  our  secession  friends  were  not  Bartows  and  Cobbs,  nor  Bennings 
and  Colquitts.  Many  of  them  were  very  brave  when  no  battles  were  to  be 
fought,  and  very  liberal  when  no  burdens  were  to  be  borne.  These  "  had 
not  much  earth,"  and  under  the  first  rays  of  scorching  war  they  "  withered 
away."  They  may  be  found  in  shady  places  ;  many  of  them  protected  by 
militia  or  other  commissions,  which  they  would  have  scorned  before  the  war  ; 
and  their  chief  business  is  to  abuse  the  government  they  are  unworthy  to 
serve. 

Some  men,  as  bankrupt  in  honor  as  in  fortune,  hurried  into  the  revolution 
to  make  money.  They  early  sought  the  positions  suited  to  their  purposes, 
and,  regardless  of  oaths  as  of  duties,  have  violated  the  laws,  abused  their 
powers,  levied  contributions  upon  the  patriotism  of  the  country,  and  demor 
alized  the  people. 

In  all  countries,  some  people  are  naturally  timid,  and  others  are  made  so 
by  circumstances.  Some  are  fearful  of  losing  life,  and  some  are  fearful  of 
losing  property  ;  and  prematurely  concluding  that,  because  the  vessel  of  war 
is  rocking  in  the  storm,  it  must  necessarily  sink,  they  tie  their  gold  about 
them,  and  leap  into  the  shoreless  sea  of  subjugation. 

Others,  again,  went  into  the  revolution  with  sonorous  voice  and  lofty 
stride,  to  reap  the  honors  in  liberty's  new  struggle.  They  will  curse  any 
government  they  cannot  rule  ;  and  will  be  a  curse  to  any  people  who  will 
follow  them.  Desperate  gamblers  !  Mad  for  losses,  they  would  stake  their 
country  in  another  game  of  revolution,  only  for  one  more  chance  to  win 
honors. 

Lastly,  we  have  some  peculiar  characters  among  us,  more  fully  developed 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS:  285 

by  this  revolution  than  in  any  previous  one.  These  are  men,  who,  adding 
to  a  natural  vanity  a  long  domination  in  party  tactics,  have  become  absolute 
in  their  opinions,  and  are  unable  to  see  how  those  who  differ  with  them  can 
possibly  be  right  or  wise  ;  or  why  their  counsel  should  be  sought  and  not 
followed.  These  find  the  conduct  of  the  war  is  not  precisely  according  to 
the  policy  they  may  have  deemed  best.  Therefore,  fealty  to  the  sovereignty 
of  their  opinions  requires  them  to  believe  we  shall  fail.  They,  accordingly, 
prophesy  we  will  fail  ;  they  find  reasons  for  proving  we  will  fail,  and  never 
seem  to  suspect  that  the  very  course  they  are  pursuing  is  helping  to  failure. 

Out  of  these  various  classes — that  triune  curse  of  all  revolutions — the 
croaker,  the  critic,  and  the  traitor  is  formed.  Add  to  these  the  spies  sent  in 
or  brought  up  among  us  by  the  enemy,  and  you  have  the  different  materials 
which,  though  immalleable  in  themselves,  form  the  solid  column  which,  day 
and  night,  is  assaulting  the  government,  and  striving  to  batter  it  down  in 
the  confidence  of  the  people.  Having  nothing  to  keep  them  together  but  a 
common  hatred  to  the  government,  it  is  the  testimony  of  all  history  that 
whenever  they  succeed  in  destroying  the  government,  they  invariably  fall  to 
fighting  each  other,  and  the  people  who  are  deluded  to  follow  them  divide 
into  factions,  and  rush  headlong  into  anarchy. 

The  two  characters  which  furnish  the  most  dangerous  materials  for  this 
work  of  disaffection  and  demoralization  are  the  avaricious  and  the 
ambitious. 

I  have  nothing  to  say  against  legitimate  trade.  The  man  who  made  his 
living  by  honest  trade  before  the  war,  if  not  called  into  military  service,  may 
properly  continue  his  calling.  The  honest  middle  man  is  necessary  to  the 
non-producing  class  of  society.  Nor  will  I  stop  now  to  develop  the  sin  of 
the  unofficial  citizen  who  takes  advantage  of  political,  social,  and  commercial 
disruptions  to  gather  fortunes.  It  would  be  expecting  too  much  of  our 
people  to  look  for  the  sublime  spectacle  of  universal  self-denial.  Neverthe 
less,  if  it  could  have  been  so,  this  stream  of  blood  would  long  since  have 
ceased. 

But  I  cannot  pass  by  the  office-holding  speculator,  without  leaving  on 
record  my  opinion  of  the  unpatriotic  and  ruinous  nature  and  effect  of  his 
dealing.  I  deny  that  office-holders  have  the  right  to  speculate  at  any  time. 
All  history  shows  it  is  corrupting  ;  and  no  government  ever  remained  faith 
ful  to  itself,  or  to  the  people,  whose  administrators  became  traffickers.  But 
in  times  like  these,  the  error  becomes  a  crime — a  crime  against  the  public 
faith  and  the  public  weal. 

It  was  very  clear  from  the  beginning,  that  this  war  could  only  be  con 
ducted  on  the  public  credit.  The  note  of  the  government  was  certainly  to 
become  the  only  currency  with  the  army  and  the  people.  It,  therefore,  be 
came  the  solemn  official  duty  of  every  man  in  office,  State  and  Confederate, 
to  make,  to  administer,  arid  to  execute  the  laws  with  special  reference  to  the 
protection  and  preservation  of  this  credit.  It  is  another  fact,  equally  clear 
in  reason,  and  beyond  doubt  in  the  history  of  the  times,  that  the  amount  of 
profits  in  trade  has  been  measured  by  the  amount  of  depreciation  of  this 
public  credit.  Here,  then,  is  the  dilemma  :  It  is  the  office-holder's  duty  to 

*/ 

preserve  the  public  credit ;  it  is  the  speculator's  interest  to  depreciate  that 
credit.  If  the  office-holder  and  the  speculator  be  one,  which  feeling  will  con- 
trol — duty  or  interest  ?  I  deny  that  any  man  has  the  right  to  make  the  con 
flict  or  that  any  people  ought  to  risk  the  hazard. 

Nor  can  the  subject  matter  of  the  trade  change  or  lessen  the  guilt.     It  is 


286  SENATOR  JS.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

the  speculation,  not  the  thing  speculated  in,  that  depreciates  the  credit.  In 
fact,  large  dealings  in  property,  stocks,  bonds,  and  foreign  commerce,  are 
the  more  culpable  because  they  do  more  to  depreciate  the  credit,  and  furnish 
a  more  unrestrained  field  for  the  elasticity  of  conscience,  than  dealing  in 
provisions.  And  provision  dealers  only  hoard  their  supplies,  because  they 
know  property  dealers  will  certainly  carry  up  the  price  by  depreciating  the 
currency. 

•r 

Speculations  are,  besides,  exciting  and  absorbing  to  the  mind,  and  no  man 
so  habitually  engaged  can  be  fit  for  the  grave  and  heavy  duties  of  official 
station  in  times  like  these. 

The  example,  also,  is  disastrous.  When  people  see  those  whose  duty  it  is 
to  represent  the  public  interest,  and  preserve  the  public  credit,  engaged  in 
trafficking,  they  engage  themselves  more  readily  in  the  business  ;  and  sub 
ordinate  officers  throughout  the  country  are  glad  to  cover  their  sins  with  the 
example  of  those  in  higher  station  ;  and  thus  the  contagion  permeates  all 
degrees  of  office  and  all  ranks  of  society.  The  public  credit  rapidly  depre 
ciates  ;  the  public  debt,  and  the  public  burdens,  rapidly  increase  ;  demoral 
ization  spreads  ;  the  guilty  become  corrupt  and  careless  ;  the  honest  become 
troubled  and  discouraged  ;  the  critics  find  grounds  for  cavil  ;  and  the  gov 
ernment  is  weakened  in  all  its  sinews. 

Plato  had  a  maxim,  that  "  when  officials  bought  and  sold,  the  State 
became  corrupt." 

It  was  forbidden  in  Sparta,  and  by  positive  laws  in  Rome.  Yerres,  as 
Governor  of  Sicily,  violated  this  law,  and  went  back  to  Rome,  at  the  close  of 
his  service,  immensely  rich.  But  the  eloquence  of  the  great  and  pure  Cicero 
has  made  him  infamous  to  this  day. 

"  Whence  comes  it,"  said  Demosthenes,  in  one  of  his  patriotic  appeals  to 
arouse  the  Athenians,  "  that  all  the  Greeks  once  panted  so  strongly  after 
liberty,  and  now  run  so  eagerly  in  servitude  ?  The  reason  is,  because  there 
prevailed,  at  that  time,  among  the  people,  what  prevails  no  longer  among  us, 
that  which  triumphed  over  the  riches  of  the  Persians  ;  which  maintained  the 
freedom  of  Greece.  Neither  their  orators  nor  their  generals  exercised  the 

O 

scandalous  traffic  now  become  so  common  in  Athens,  where  a  price  is  set 
upon  everything,  and  where  all  things  are  sold  to  the  highest  bidder." 

History  is  full  of  examples,  from  Demosthenes  to  Washington,  that  true 
statesmen  have  always  declaimed  against  official  traffic  ;  and  that  a  people 
who  tolerated  it  have  always  suffered  heavy  penalties.  It  is  gratifying  to 
know,  that  among  the  highest  officers  of  our  Confederate  government  this 
sin  does  not  prevail. 

Those  men  among  us,  who  became  disaffected  because  of  disappointed  or 
ungratified  ambition,  are  by  far  the  most  dangerous.  They  are  often  men 
of  ability  and  experience,  and  generally  furnish  the  arguments  for  all,  who, 
from  any  cause,  oppose  the  government.  They  exhibit  a  "devilish  malice r 
in  the  adroitness  by  which  they  clothe  falsehoods  in  the  garb  of  truth. 
They  profess  great  love  for  the  Constitution,  the  rights  of  States,  and  the 
liberties  of  the  people  generally  ;  and  manifest  that  love  by  denouncing  all 
the  strong  measures  of  the  government,  adopted  to  carry  on  the  war,  as  un 
constitutional,  oppressive,  and  subversive  of  civil  liberty.  All  governments, 
in  revolutions  of  half  the  magnitude  of  this,  have  found  it  necessary  to  sus 
pend  the  privileges  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus.  All  history  shows  this  is 
necessary  to  restrain  treason  and  secret  schemings  to  undermine  and  destroy 
the  government,  It  is  necessary  to  protect  the  patriotic  and  the  faithful. 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND    WRITINGS.  287 

It  is  aimed  to  weaken  the  arm  of  disaffection.  It  is  natural  that  all  those 
who  work  disaffection  should  oppose  the  suspension,  and  very  many  good 
men  become  alarmed  by  their  earnest  appeals,  lest  the  government  is  seek 
ing  to  become  a  military  despotism. 

Again  :  It  is  not  possible  to  conduct  a  struggle  of  such  proportion 
without  employing  many  agents  throughout  this  vast  country.  It  is 
equally  impossible  always  to  secure  intelligent,  upright,  and  faithful 
agents,  and  many  of  them  violate  the  laws  and  deal  oppressively  with  the 
people.  All  these  acts  of  faithless  agents  are  ascribed  to  the  government 
and  the  laws  by  the  designing  and  disaffected  critics. 

There  are  many  hardships  incident  to  the  war.  Burdens  are  necessarily 
heavy.  Marauders  rob  the  people  and  defy  the  laws.  Disasters  will  happen 
to  our  arms.  The  stronger  power  will  overrun  the  country  and  commit 
desolations.  Strong  measures  are  absolutely  necessary  to  compel  men  to 
discharge  dangerous  and  unpleasant  duties,  and  make  sacrifices.  All  these 
things  are  inseparable  from  war.  Yet  critics  and  designing  men  never  lose 
an  opportunity  to  ascribe  all  these  hardships  and  misfortunes  to  the  blun 
ders  or  incompetency  of  those  who  administer  the  government  and  conduct 
the  war.  This  is  a  favorite  species  of  argument  not  only  with  critics,  but 
also  with  spies  and  traitors.  It  is  easily  made  plausible.  It  comes  home  to 
the  feeling  of  the  people,  and  it  requires  intelligence  and  patriotism  to 
detect  the  miserable  sophistry.  It  seems  to  exhibit  also  a  sympathy  with 
the  people,  and  thus  secures  their  confidence,  and  thus  prepare  the  way 
to  misrepresent  the  acts  and  malign  the  motives  of  those  in  power,  and  thus 
to  disaffect  the  people. 

The  Southern  people  are  naturally  confiding,  and  designing  men  always 
profess  good  motives.  The  serpent  professed  a  great  regard  for  mother 
Eve  when  he  sought  to  disaffect  her  to  the  Ruler  of  Heaven.  He  made  her 
believe  that  God  was  a  despot  and  dealt  untruly  with  her.  And  from  that 
day  to  this,  that  has  been  a  favorite  argument  and  a  favorite  manner  of 
using  the  argument,  to  disaffect  a  people  to  constituted  authority.  Cati 
line  used  it  in  Rome.  Arnold  used  it  in  the  first  revolution.  And,  though 
I  will  not  say,  for  I  do  not  believe,  all  who  are  using  it  now  are  Catilines 
and  Arnolds,  yet  I  will  say  that  every  Catiline  and  Arnold,  every  spy  and 
traitor  in  the  land,  are  using  all  these  very  arguments  this  very  day,  and 
for  the  one  great  purpose  of  disaffecting  the  people  to  the  government.  If 
the  curtain  which  conceals  men's  hearts  could  be  lifted,  I  have  no  doubt 
there  are  men  now  in  this  country  in  the  employ  of  the  enemy,  editing 
papers,  and  in  various  ways,  and  from  many  positions,  instructing  the  pub 
lic  mind.  Remember,  "  'twas  not  Philip,  but  Philip's  gold,  that  took  the 
cities  of  Greece  !  " 

If  a  man  desires  only  to  do  justice  and  circulate  the  truth,  why  should 
he  misrepresent  facts,  pervert  the  laws,  and  attribute  false  motives  to  the 
government?  Why  is  it  that  neither  the  Congress,  nor  the  President,  can 
do  anything  to  please  them  ?  Why  do  they  use  arguments  which  justify 
desertions  from  the  army,  and  then  attribute  these  desertions  to  the  policy 
and  laws  of  the  land  ? 

It  has  been  found  necessary,  in  all  revolutions  like  this,  for  the  govern 
ment  to  keep  its  secrets.  There  are  many  facts  and  reasons  entering  into 
the  making  of  the  laws,  and  in  conducting  the  war.  which  the  enemy  ought 
not  to  know.  The  Congress  of  the  first  revolution  sat  in  secret.  Our  Con 
gress  has  found  it  necessary  to  do  the  same.  Now,  how  can  he  be  honest, 


288  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

or  true,  or  patriotic,  who  represents  to  the  people  that  the  object  of 
the  Congress  is  to  conceal  the  votes,  and  hide  the  reasons  of  the  mem 
bers  ? 

Of  all  the  assaults  that  are  made  upon  the  President,  and  the  Cabinet, 
and  the  Congress,  I  regard  none  as  so  manifestly  dishonorable,  as  the  advan 
tage  which  is  taken  of  this  very  necessity  of  secrecy.  The  heaviest  assaults 
are  made  on  these  very  measures  and  operations,  the  reasons  for  which  are 
often  most  necessary  to  be  concealed  from  the  public  enemy.  It  matters 
not  how  many  misstatements  are  made,  how  many  false  motives  are  charged, 
there  can  be  no  defense,  for  defense  would  require  the  truth  to  be  told,  and 
this  would  damage  the  public  interests.  This  is  taking  advantage  of  the 
patriotism  of  those  in  authority,  to  destroy  the  public  confidence.  Can 
anything  in  treason  itself  be  more  dishonorable? 

I  have  heard  the  President  say,  on  several  occasions,  "  If  my  enemies 
would  tell  falsehoods  which  injured  only  me,  it  would  be  a  matter  of  small 
moment.  But  they  make  statements,  utterly  perverting  the  truth,  which 
damage  the  public  interests,  and  which  cannot  be  corrected  without  expos 
ing  facts  which  would  damage  the  public  interest  still  more  greatly." 

Washington  often  made  similar  complaints.  In  one  of  his  letters  to  Mr. 
Laurens,  he  uses  this  strong  language  : 

My  enemies  take  an  ungenerous  advantage  of  me.  They  know  the  delicacy  of  my 
situation,  and  that  motives  of  policy  deprive  me  of  the  defense  I  might  otherwise  make 
against  their  insidious  attacks.  They  know  I  cannot  combat  their  insinuations,  however 
injurious,  without  disclosing  facts  which  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  conceal. 

How  is  it  possible  that  men  who  will  take  such  a  dishonorable  advan- 
tagecan  be  patriots  ?  And  how  can  those  who  are  patriots  believe  anything 
such  men  say  ? 

The  greatest  generals  cannot  escape  the  criticisms  of  these  designing 
"sappers  and  miners"  of  the  public  confidence.  They  assume  to  know 
more  about  military  campaigns  and  military  strategy  than  the  best  com 
manders. 

In  one  of  the  most  trying  periods  of  Roman  history,  Paul  us  Emilius — a 
great  and  good  man — was  called  by  the  unanimous  voice  of  the  people  a  sec 
ond  time  to  the  consulship.  He  determined  to  take  command  of  the  army, 
then  engaged  in  a  hard  struggle  in  Macedonia.  Before  leaving  Rome,  he 
called  the  people  together,  and  made  them  a  speech,  which  was  so  full  of 
wisdom  that  it  has  been  preserved  to  this  day.  Allow  me  to  read  you  a 
portion  of  that  speech.  He  said  : 

There  are  those  who,  in  company,  and  even  at  tables,  command  armies,  regulate  the 
disposition  of  the  forces,  and  prescribe  all  the  operations  of  the  campaign.  They  know 
better  than  we,  where  we  should  encamp,  and  what  posts  it  is  necessary  for  us  to  seize  ; 
at  what  time,  and  by  what  defile,  we  ought  to  enter  Macedonia  ;  where  it,  is  proper  to 
establis  hour  magazines  ;  from  whence,  either  by  sea  or  land,  we  are  to  bring  provisions  ; 
when  we  are  to  fight  the  enemy,  and  when  to  lie  still.  They  not  only  prescribe  what  is 
best  to  be  done,  but,  for  deviating  ever  so  little  from  their  plans,  they  make  it  a  crime  in 
their  Consul,  and  cite  him  before  their  tribunal.  [In  this  day,  they  would  call  a 
convention,  to  amend  the  Constitution,  to  get  rid  of  him.]  But  know,  Romans,  this  is  a 
great  Impediment  with  your  generals.  All  have  not  the  resolution  and  constancy,  like 
Fabius,  to  despise  impertinent  critics.  He  could  choose  rather  to  suffer  the  people,  upon 
such  rumors,  to  invade  his  authority,  than  to  ruin  the  business  of  the  State,  in  order  to  se 
cure  to  himself  their  good  opinion,  and  an  empty  name.  If  there  be  any  one  who  con 
ceives  himself  capable  of  assisting  me  with  his  counsels,  in  the  war  you  have  charged  me 
with,  let  him  not  refuse  to  do  the  republic  that  service,  but  let  him  go  with  me  into  Mace- 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  289 

donia  ;  a  ship,  horses,  tents,  provisions,  shall  all  be  supplied  at  my  charge.  But,  if  he 
will  not  take  so  much  trouble,  and  prefers  the 'tranquillity  of  the  city  to  the  dangers  ami 
fatigues  of  the  field,  let  him  not  take  upon  him  to  hold  the  helm  and  continue  idle  in  port. 
\Ve~shall  pay  no  regard  to  any  counsels,  but  such  as  shall  be  given  us  in  the  camp  itself. 

The  learned  historian  who  reports  this  speech,  makes  the  following 
pointed  comment  : 

This  discourse  of  Paulus  Emilius,  which  abounds  with  reason  and  good  sense,  shows 
that  men  are  the  same  in  all  ages  of  the  world.  People  have  an  incredible  itch  for  exam 
ining,  criticising,  and  condemning  the  conduct  of  generals,  and  do  not  observe  that  by  so 
doing,  they  act  in  manifest  contradiction  to  reason  and  justice  ;  for,  what  can  be  more 
absurd  and  ridiculous  than  to  see  persons,  without  any  knowledge  or  experience  in  war, 
set  themselves  up  for  censors  of  the  most  able  generals,  and  pronounce  with  a  magiste 
rial  air  upon  their  actions  !  But  we  must  not  expect  to  see  a  failing  reformed  that  has  its 
source  in  the  curiosity  and  vanity  of  human  nature  ;  and  generals  would  do  wisely,  after 
the  example  of  Paulus  Emilius,  to  despise  these  city  reports  and  crude  opinions  of  idle 
people,  who  have  nothing  else  to  do,  and  have  generally  as  little  judgment  as  business. 

Meeting  with  General  Lee,  soon  after  General  Bragg  was  relieved  of  the 
command  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  and  feeling  great  interest  in  the 
question,  I  asked  him  to  suggest  to  the  President  the  most  proper  general  to 
take  command  of  that  army.  He  promptly  said  he  knew  of  no  better  officer 
in  the  service  than  General  Bragg.  I  told  him  I  certainly  pronounced  no 
opinion  against  General  Bragg,  but  right  or  wrong,  critics,  or  subordinate 
officers,  or  both,  had  destroyed  his  usefulness  with  that  army,  and  some  one 
else  would  now  have  to  command  it. 

"This  is  true — unfortunately  true,"  said  the  great  man,  and  then,  with  a 
dignified  sarcasm  I  shall  never  forget,  he  made  the  following  speech  :  "  We 
made  one  great  mistake,  Mr.  Hill,  in  the  beginning  of  this  revolution,  and 
I  fear  we  shall  never  get  rid  of  the  blunders  that  follow  from  it.  We  put 
all  our  worst  generals  to  commanding  our  armies,  and  all  our  best  generals 
to  editing  newspapers  !  These  editing  generals  alone  can  see  beforehand 
everything  that  ought  to  be  done  in  a  campaign,  and  how  a  battle  ought  to 
be  fought,  and  never  make  mistakes.  I  have  planned  several  campaigns  and 
battles  and  have  taken  great  pains  and  -flfct  my  best,  and  sometimes  I  have 
thought  they  could  not  be  improved  ;  but  when  I  had  gone  through  with 
the  campaign  or  fought  the  battles,  I  have  seen  where  they  could  have  been 
better,  and  have  had  to  regret  I  could  not  foresee  and  avoid  some  of  the 
errors.  Afterward,  on  reading  some  paper,  I  found  those  best  generals 
saw  all  the  mistakes  from  the  beginning,  but  were  not  kind  enough  to  point 
them  out  until  it  was  too  late.  And  now,"  added  the  patriot,  "  I  desire  to 
serve  my  country  in  this  struggle  in  any  position  in  which  I  can  be  useful. 
[  think  we  ought  to  have  our  best  military  talent  in  the  field.  I  have  done 
the  best  I  could  commanding  the  army,  and  I  know  I  have  committed  errors 
and  made  failures  ;  and  if  some  of  these  better  generals  will  come  and 
take  my  place,  I  am  willing  to  do  my  best  to  serve  my  country  editing  a 
newspaper." 

I  have  endeavored  to  be  explicit  in  explaining  the  causes  which  impair 
our  moral  resources,  and  thereby  prevent  the  efficient  use  of  our  physical 
resources,  because  I  know  they  constitute  the  greatest  obstacle  in  the  way 
of  our  success.  The  enemy  may  overrun  our  country,  but  they  can  never 
hold  it  without  the  consent  of  our  people.  They  conceded  this  much  when 
they  abandoned  Atlanta.  Our  people  will  never  consent  to  subjugation, 
unless  their  minds  are  first  disaffected  to  our  own  government,  "  If  the 


290  SENATOR  B.   R.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

Southern  people  fail  the  insurgent  leader,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  "  he  is  beaten." 
Mr.  Lincoln  knows  he  can  never  be  beaten  in  any  other  way.  The  critics, 
the  spies,  and  the  traitors  among  us  know  it.  These  are  our  most  danger 
ous  enemies,  because  they  alone  can  assault  and  destroy  this  fidelity  of  the 
people.  Mr.  Lincoln  confesses  his  hopes  lie  in  this  infidelity.  He  says, 
"  Some  of  them  we  know,  already  desire  peace  and  reunion.  The  number 
of  such  may  increase."  Yes,  they  are  among  us,  and  they  will  increase. 
We  had  but  few  of  these  critics  and  destroyers  of  the  public  confidence  in 
the  beginning.  As  the  war  has  progressed,  and  its  burdens  increased,  and 
its  hardships  multiplied,  they  have  increased.  They  thrive  on  their  coun 
try's  disasters.  We  shall  have  other  disasters,  and  they  will  grow  in  bold 
ness  and  numbers.  They  have  always  done  so.  They  strengthen  on  the 
misfortunes  that  befall  our  cause  and  oppress  our  people,  as  the  vultures 
fatten  on  the  torn  flesh  of  their  prey. 

They  have  already  done  much  to  produce  and  justify  desertions  from  the 
army.  They  have  done  much  to  dissatisfy  the  people,  and  induce  them 
to  hold  back  their  supplies.  They  have  done  much  to  prevent  our  recogni 
tion  by  foreign  powers.  They  have  done  much  to  encourage  Mr.  Lincoln 
in  the  hope  that  the  "  Southern  people  would  yet  fail  their  leader,  and  cause 
him  to  be  beaten."  They  have  done  much  to  break  down  every  movement 
at  the  North  calculated  to  stop  the  shedding  of  blood,  and  to  inaugurate  the 
peaceful  councils  of  negotiation;  for  the  North  will  never  negotiate  while 
they  are  made  to  believe  they  can  conquer.  They  have  done  much  to  pro 
long  this  war,  and  to  murder  our  people  in  battle.  I  know  the  time  has 
come  when  these  enemies  within  will  make  fresh  assaults,  with  greater  bold 
ness  ;  and  therefore  it  is  I  have  come  home  to  raise  my  voice  of  warning 
against  them.  I  know  the  grievances,  all  petty  and  imaginary,  that  redden 
the  eyes  with  vengeance  and  make  the  words  drop  oily  from  the  tongue, 
while  the  purpose  grows  dark  in  the  heart ;  and  I  dread  this  day  the  subtle 
power  of  the  serpent  that  coils  within  the  garden,  far  more  than  I  do  a  mil 
lion  of  bayonets  bristling  without  the  walls  ! 

There  is  but  one  way  to  fight  these  enemies  among  us.  The  people  must 
support  the  government  which  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  these,  his  co-workers,  fight. 
It  is  your  government,  my  countrymen.  It  is  fighting  your  battles,  and  toil 
ing,  day  and  night,  to  establish  your  rights  and  liberties.  Support  the 
President;  support  the  laws  ;  support  the  generals  ;  supply  the  army  ;  drive 
off  the  traitors  ;  confound  the  critics  ;  and  then  you  will  be  able  to  defy 
the  enemy  ;  arrest  disasters,  and  win  independence.  There  are  many  roads 
to  failure  and  bondage.  You  may  drift  there  by  lethargy  ;  you  may  wind 
there  by  treason  ;  you  may  rush  there  by  faction.  There  is  but  one  road  to 
success  and  freedom,  It  may  be  narrow,  and  require  toil  and  patience  and 
sacrifice,  but  you  are  certainly  traveling  that  road,  when  you  support  your 
own  regular  Confederate  Government.  Every  man  who  teaches  you  other 
wise  is  your  enemy. 

And  never  had  any  people  a  government  which  they  could  more  safely 
trust.  You  may  summon  a  thousand  conventions  ;  you  may  let  every 
carping  factionist  be  tried  in  his  turn  ;  you  may  cross  your  lines,  and  select 
from  all  the  cabinets  of  the  world,  and  you  will  get  no  better  chief  execu 
tive  than  him  whom  God  and  your  own  votes  have  given  you. 

You  may  resurrect  all  the  Alexanders,  and  Napoleons,  and  Washingtons, 
of  all  ages  of  the  world,  and  you  will  never  get  a  better  general  than  your 
own  unrivaled  Lee. 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  291 

And,  if  you  could  combine  in  one,  the  power  of  the  Macedonian  Phalanx, 
the  fidelity  of  the  Roman  Legion,  and  the  earnest  fire  of  the  French  Guards, 
you  could  not  get  a  better  army  than  that  composed  of  your  own  sons, 
brothers,  and  husbands,  who  have  fought  on  an  hundred  fields  ;  who  have 
endured  untold  privations,  and  who  still,  unmurmuring,  unfaltering,  and 
unflinching,  face  the  mongrel  invaders  of  our  homes. 

My  faith  has  grown  with  every  year  of  the  struggle.  That  faith  rests 
on  the  known  patriotism  of  our  leaders  ;  the  tried  courage  of  our  army  ; 
the  virtue  and  intelligence  of  the  people,  and  the  justice  of  a  chastising  and  i 
mercy  of  a  not  always  offended  God.  The  campaign  of  1864  has  taught 
me  to  know  what  I  always  believed — that  this  vast  country  cannot  be  held 
by  an  enemy  against  the  will  of  our  people.  I  dread  no  enemy,  therefore, 
as  I  do  the  factionist.  But  I  know  the  same  enemy  helped  the  hosts  of 
Persia  against  the  Greeks,  and  was  overcome.  This  enemy  helped  the 
power  of  the  conquering  Hannibal  against  the  yet  feeble  Romans,  and  was 
overcome.  This  enemy  helped  the  haughty  and  cruel  Spaniard  against  the 
Netherlands,  and  was  overcome.  This  enemy  joined  the  ranks  of  the 
British  and  Indians  and  Tories  against  our  fathers  under  Washington,  and 
was  overcome.  And  I  believe  the  Confederates  are  as  brave  as  the  Greeks, 
patriotic  as  the  Romans,  determined  as  the  Dutch,  and  as  true  as  even  their 
fathers.  And  neither  of  these  were  ever  threatened  with  such  a  fate  as 
that  with  which  our  enemies  threaten  us.  When  every  other  resource  shall 
fail,  the  cruelty  of  our  enemy's  terms  of  peace  will  still  drive  us  to  resist 
ance.  It  is  natural  we  should  be  punished  severely,  because  our  sins  have 
been  many.  For  many  years,  in  the  old  government,  wrangling  aspirants 
for  place,  losing  sight  of  the  great  duties  of  statesmanship,  were  solely 
engaged  in  heating  the  furnace  of  passion  and  hate.  In  the  beginning  of 
this  revolution  there  were  deceptions  and  frauds  and  errors  on  all  sides  ; 
but  the  Abolitionists  alone  moved  to  their  work  with  deliberate,  calculating 
malice  against  the  rights  of  man  and  the  decrees  of  God.  Therefore,  while 
all  of  us  must  suffer,  the  enemy  must  finally  fail. 

We  are  able  to  come  out  of  this  struggle  with  constitutional  govern 
ment  retained,  with  liberty  enjoyed,  and  with  slavery  preserved.  The  first 
two  are  our  rights,  and  so  dear,  that  war  with  them  is  better  than  peace 
without  them.  The  last  is  God's  law,  and  He  is  stronger  than  any  arm  of 
flesh. 

If  a  man  shall  stand  on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi,  and  watch  the  mis 
fortunes  that  occur  upon,  and  by  reason  of  the  waters  of  the  mighty  river, 
he  will  see  much  to  sadden  and  discomfort  him.  He  will  see  that  when  a 
man  falls  in  the  middle  of  the  stream,  he  can  swim  to  neither  shore,  but 
must  go  to  the  bottom.  He  will  see  floating  palaces  striking  snags,  or  meet 
ing  with  other  accidents,  and  going  beneath  the  mocking  waves  with  all  on 
board.  And,  anon,  he  will  see  the  flood  swell  high  and  break  from  its 
bounds  ;  and  now  he  will  see  beautiful  homes  swept  away  ;  and  man  and 
beast  alike  perishing  in  the  deluge.  And  then,  if  he  will  close  his  eyes,  and 
not  see  that  for  one  man  who  perishes  in  that  river  a  thousand  live  from  it ; 
that  for  one  steamer  that  sinks,  a  thousand  ride  safely,  with  wealth,  and  life, 
and  joy,  over  its  surface  ;  if  he  will  not  survey  the  wide  alluvion  spreading 
from  either  bank,  gathering  richness  from  the  swelling  flood,  and  producing 
food  and  raiment  for  millions  of  people  throughout  the  earth,  he  would 
naturally  conclude  that  philanthropy  required  the  waters  should  be  stopped, 
and  the  long,  deep  channel  dried.  And  then,  with  vivid  pictures  of  drown- 


292  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

ing  men,  and  sinking  steamers,  and  submerging  homes  ;  with  song  and 
story,  in  pulpit  and  council  chamber,  he  might  excite  the  imaginations  of  a 
fanatical  people,  and  arouse  them  to  the  expenditure  of  labor,  and  money, 
and  life,  to  stop  the  flow  of  that  river.  And  when  the  high,  long  obstruc 
tion  should  be  completed,  and  the  triumphing  dreamer  should  leap  to  the 
summit,  and  command  the  waters — back  ;  the  dancing,  rushing,  laughing 
floods,  breaking  away  on  every  side,  and  mocking  the  puny  creature,  would 
cry  with  ten  thousand  voices  :  God  bid  us  go  to  the  Gulf,  and  thither  we 
are  going,  though  we  deluge  a  continent  on  the  way  ! 

So  the  foolish  Abolitionist  looks  upon  slavery,  and  can  see  nothing  but 
its  stripes,  its  labors,  and  its  bondage.  He  will  not  see  that  for  every  stripe 
there  are  a  thousand  blessings.  He  will  not  see  that  no  pauper  population 
of  any  age,  in  any  country,  was  ever  so  well  fed,  so  well  clothed,  so  lightly 
worked,  so  cornfotred  with  home,  and  so  instructed  in  religion.  He  will  not 
see  that  this  disciplined  labor,  while  it  protects  society,  and  keeps  the  negro 
in  contented,  happy  subjection,  is  furnishing  food  and  raiment  to  millions  all 
over  the  world — even  to  the  Abolitionist  himself  and  to  his  children. 
Therefore  he  magnifies  the  evils  of  slavery.  He  arouses  the  imaginations 
and  passions  of  an  uninformed  and  fanatical  people.  He  sets  at  defiance  the 
solemn  covenant  of  a  well-considered  and  time-honored  compact  of  govern 
ment.  He  disrupts  society,  desecrates  the  pulpit,  defames  the  Senate  hall, 
and  prostitutes  learning  and  science.  He  gathers  millions  of  men  for 
slaughter,  and  billions  of  treasures  to  be  wasted.  All,  all  that  an  easy  bond 
age  may  be  broken,  and  a  happy  slave  turned  loose  !  And  suppose,  like  the 
dreamer  with  the  floods,  he  shall  seem  for  a  time  to  succeed.  Suppose  that 
the  restraints,  which  bind  four  millions  of  these  people  to  duty,  shall  be  with 
drawn.  Who  that  knows  the  negro,  or  has  faith  in  God,  does  not  see  the 
result?  Bright  homes  will  be  destroyed,  rich  fields  will  cease  to  bear, 
millions  will  become  hungry  and  naked,  society  will  rush  toward  barbarism, 
and  government  to  anarchy  and  despotism.  The  continent  will  be  deluged 
in  blood  ;  and,  after  all,  the  poor  scattering  negroes,  like  the  uncontrolled 
and  uncontrollable  waters  driven  from  their  natural  course,  will  wander  in 
unknown  ways,  weakening  the  more,  the  farther  and  longer  they  wander  ; 
caring  for  none,  and  shunned  by  all  ;  destroying  and  destroyed  wherever 
they  go  ;  until  at  last,  they  will  return  to  the  channel  of  servitude  which 
God  marked  out  for  them  to  follow,  and  will  bear,  in  happy  usefulness  again, 
the  burden  of  their  destiny.  For  He  who  bid  the  waters  go  to  the  sea,  said 
also,  by  His  servant,  that  Canaan  should  serve  his  brethren. 

Man's  impious  devices  can  no  more  annul  God's  moral  decrees  than  his 
puny  arm  can  subvert  God's  physical  laws.  He  may  pervert  and  obstruct 
both  for  a  time,  but  always  with  confusion  and  punishment  to  himself.  It 
was  such  transgression  that  put  death  in  nature,  doomed  the  Ethiopian  to 
bondage,  and  filled  the  human  heart  with  sorrows.  But  He  who  hath  the 
power  will  also  show  the  mercy.  And  as  long  as  the  Mississippi  shall  roll 
Ids  floods  to  the  Gulf,  roaring,  in  eternal  thunders,  praises  to  Him  by  whose 
command  the  waters  come  and  go,  so  long  will  the  serving  children  of 
Canaan  sow  and  reap  in  the  valley  made  rich  by  this  coming  and  going  ; 
and,  happy  with  food  and  raiment,  home  and  family,  faith  and  hope,  shall 
hymn  in  daily  thanksgivings  praises  to  Him  whose  goodness  also  made  this 
land  of  the  Confederate  the  African's  paradise  ! 

Contending,  then,  only  for  what  God  has  approved,  and  contending,  also, 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECIIES,   AND  WRITINGS.  293 

for  all  that  rewarded  the  toils  of  our  fathers,  and  all  that  can  give  us  hope 
for  our  children,  let  us  dedicate  all  that  we  are  and  have,  anew  to  the  con 
test.  Let  us,  from  this  day,  think  no  thought,  speak  no  word,  do  no  deed, 
but  for  our  country,  until  that  country  shall  be  free.  Let  us  hare  no 
friends  but  the  friends  of  our  country  ;  let  us  have  no  enemies,  but  the 
enemies  of  our  country. 

Who  can  fall,  if  his  country  shall  rise?  Who  would  rise,  if  his  country 
shall  fall?  Friends,  neighbors,  countrymen  !  we  all,  all  shall  rise  if  we  will 
only 

Onward  in  faith  !  and  leave  the  rest  to  Heaven. 


SPEECH  DELIVERED  IN  ATLANTA,  GA.,  ON  THE  NIGHT   OF 

JULY  16,  1867. 

This  is  known  as  the  "  Davis  Hall  "  speech,  so  called  from  the  name  of  the  hall  in 
which  it  was  delivered. 

It  was  the  first  speech  made  in  the  South  against  the  Reconstruction  measures  of  Con 
gress,  and  was  the  beginning  of  Southern  rehabilitation,  the  inspiration  to  united  effort 
that  had  glorious  fruitage  in  the  redemption  of  the  State  from  the  rule  of  ignorance  and 
corruption.  It  was  a  time  of  great  danger  and  required  courage  of  a  high  order  to  speak. 
One  who  was  present  described  the  scene  as  follows  : 

"  The  hall  was  insufficiently  lighted,  and  the  pallor  of  men's  faces  in  the  pit  almost 
put  to  shame  the  lamps  that  flickered  here  and  there.  Mr.  Hill  appeared  in  a  full  dress 
suit  of  black.  His  superb  figure  showed  to  best  advantage,  his  gray  eyes  flashed, 
and  his  face  pallied  into  dead  white  with  earnestness.  Just  before  he  began  the  Federal 
generals,  in  full  uniform, with  glittering  staff  officers,  entered  the  hall  and  marched  to  the 
front,  their  showy  uniforms  and  flushed  faces  making  sharp  contrast  with  the  ill  dressed 
crowd  of  rebels  through  which  they  pushed  their  way,  and  sat  in  plain  censorship  over 
the  orator  and  his  utterances.  With  incomparable  unconcern  Mr.  Hill  arose.  The 
threatening  presence  of  the  soldiers,  the  jails  that  yawned  behind  them,  the  dangers  that 
their  slightest  nod  would  bring,  had  no  effect  on  him.  Without  hesitation  he  launched 
his  denunciations  on  their  heads  and  on  the  power  they  represented .  For  two  hours  he 
spoke  as  mortal  man  seldom  spoke  before,  and  when  he  had  done  Georgia  was  once 
more  on  her  feet,  and  Georgians  were  organized  for  the  protest  of  1868  and  the  victories  of 
1870. "  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  this  speech  was  not  stenographically  reported,  and  Mr. 
Hill  never  revised  it,  and  we  can  only  present  a  synopsis. 

Ladies  and  Fellow-citizens :  Human  governments,  like  everything  else 
human,  naturally  tend  to  decay.  They  can  only  be  preserved  by  constant 
watchfulness,  courage,  and  adherence  to  correct  principles.  These  remarks 
apply  with  unusual  force  to  free  governments,  which  are  the  most  difficult 
of  all  to  maintain.  If  we,  the  people  of  the  United  States,  were  the  first  in 
history  who  had  attempted  the  experiment  of  living  under  a  democratic  or 
republican  form  of  government,  we  might  be  excused  if  we  failed  to  dis 
cover  the  symptoms  of  approaching  death,  and  to  apply  the  remedies  to 
preserve  our  liberty  and  the  blessings  we  have  heretofore  enjoyed.  But  we 
are  not  the  first  who  have  made  this  experiment.  Other  peoples  and  nations, 
for  thousands  of  years,  have  had  commonwealths,  republics,  and  democra 
cies,  which  have  risen  and  fallen  times  almost  without  number.  I  but  assert 
a  great  truth — one  which  finds  no  contradiction  or  exception  in  all  history — 
when  I  say  that  the  great  leading  and  substantial  causes  of  the  decay  of 
freedom  in  all  countries,  have  ever  been  the  same.  How  inexcusable  must 
we  be  if  we  fail  to  discover  the  symptoms,  and  how  cowardly  and  recreant 
if  we  fail  to  apply  the  proper  remedy  to  prevent  so  foul  a  death ! 

No  people  ever  commenced  to  build  up  a  free  government  under  such 
favorable  auspices  as  we.  What  a  climate,  soil,  variety  of  productions,  and 
material  resources  do  we  possess  ;  and  what  an  ancestiy  and  what  a  common 
struggle  for  liberty  did  our  fathers  pass  through  !  Did  any  people  ever 
before  commence  with  such  advantages  ?  Rome  commenced  as  a  small 
city,  and  was  despised  by  the  barbarians  around  it.  She  extended  her 
power  by  her  arms  and  increased  till  at  last  she  became  mistress  of  the 
world.  We  commenced  with  such  a  people,  country,  and  productions  as  no 

294 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,   AND   WAITINGS.  295 

people  ever  had  before,  and  we  had  fewer  dissensions  and  elements  of  dis 
cord  than  any  people  ever  suffered  from  ;  and  Providence,  as  if  to  separate 
us  from  the  crimes  and  corrupting  influences  of  the  old  world,  spread  out 
this  great  continent  before  us,  with  the  wide  sea  to  separate  us  from  them, 
with  no  influence  of  monarchy  and  oppressive  systems  to  threaten  or  make 
war  upon  us.  If  we  fail,  it  will  be  by  our  own  folly.  What  excuse  can  we 
render  to  our  posterity  and  to  the  world  if  we,  in  this  day,  with  the  lessons 
of  history  before  us,  allow  free  institutions  to  perish  on  this  continent  ? 
And  our  race  will  have  been  the  soonest  run.  We  have  not  yet  lived  a 
century.  It  is  but  seventy-eight  years  since  the  Constitution  was  framed, 
and  but  ninety-one  years  since  independence  was  declared  by  our  fathers, 
while  the  commonwealth  of  Rome  lived  four  hundred  years  before  the 
measures  which  produced  her  decay  were  proposed.  What  a  spectacle  ! 
The  best  people,  the  richest  soil,  the  most  valuable  productions,  established 
as  if  by  the  Providence  of  God,  as  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  the  world — and 
bidding  fair  to  be  the  shortest  lived  of  any  free  government  in  the  history 
of  nations  ! 

There  is  no  difficulty  whatever — and  I  assert  it  without  fear  of  contradiction 
— in  discovering  when  and  how  a  nation  is  dying.  I  cannot  now  go  into  an 
a,natysis  of  all  the  symptoms  of  national  decay  and  death.  It  is  only  important 
to  present  the  leading  one,which  controls  all  others — which  existing,  produces 
all  others,  and  which,  being  remedied,  cures  all  others.  Then  hearit :  thegreat 
symptom  of  the  decay  and  death  of  a  government  is  the  disregard  of  the 
fundamental  law  of  that  government.  Whenever  a  people  come  to  treat 
lightly  their  own  fundamental  law,  they  have  arrived  at  the  most  dangerous 
point  that  is  possible  short  of  entire  destruction.  Republics  above  all  other 
kind  of  governments  are  maintained  by  respect  for  law.  If  the  people  of 
the  United  States  fail  to  have  a  sacred  regard  for  their  own  law, — which  is 
not,  like  that  of  other  nations,  to  be  ascertained  by  argument,  by  decisions,  or  by 
searching,  but  is  a  plain  and  wisely  written  Constitution, — they  will  deserve 
that  awful  fate  that  awaits  them  ;  and  he  who  disregards  its  plain  language 
has  no  excuse  to  shield  himself  from  the  infamy  of  a  traitor.  Old  as  it  is — 
trampled  upon,  torn,  and  tattered  as  it  is,  it  is  still  the  Constitution  of  our 
country  and  the  law  of  our  country.  I  charge  before  Heaven  and  the 
American  people  this  day,  that  every  evil  by  which  we  have  been  afflicted  is 
attributable  directly  to  the  violation  of  the  Constitution.  Tinkers  may 
work,  quacks  may  prescribe,  and  demagogues  may  deceive,  but  I  declare  to 
you  that  there  is  no  remedy  for  us,  and  no  hope  to  escape  the  threatened  evils, 
but  in  adhering  to  the  Constitution. 

Fellow-citizens,  pardon  me  while  I  say  that  in  presenting  my  views,  I 
think  of  no  living  man,  individually,  to  whom  my  remarks  are  to  apply.  I 
have  come  to  talk  freely  to  you  about  the  dangers  of  the  country.  Little 
minds  ascribe  little  objects  to  those  whose  views  they  do  not  agree  with,  and  he 
has  attained  an  unenviable  reputation  whose  friends  say,  "  You  mean  him," 
when  I  am  speaking  of  treachery  and  showing  the  evil  consequences  of  a 
certain  line  of  policy.  I  have  no  personal  attacks  to  make  on  an  enemy,  even 
if  I  have  one.  God  knows,  if  I  could,  with  my  own  hands,  I  would  gladly 
place  a  crown  of  imperishable  honor  on  the  brow  of  my  most  bitter  foe, 
if  I  could  thereby  rescue  my  country  from  the  perils  that  environ  it  !  But 
if  I  have  an  enemy,  and  have  a  vindictive  spirit^  and  desired  him  to  become  for 
ever  infamous,  I  could  ask  no  more  of  him  than  that  he  should  support  the 
liellish  schemes  of  those  who  are  now  seeking  to  subvert  the  Constitution  and 


296  SENATOR  B.  II.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

destroy  our  liberty.  He  is  digging  a  grave  for  himself  which  posterity  will 
never  water  with  a  tear.  Let  him  alone.  I  have  come  to  discuss  the  present 
phase  of  the  revolution. 

We  have  had  a  war  which  raged  furiously  for  four  years.  It  originated 
simply  in  a  difference  of  opinion  as  to  our  rights  under  the  Constitution. 
This  difference  existed  from  the  first.  It  existed  among  the  framers  of  the 
Constitution.  It  could  not  be  settled  by  argument,  and  an  appeal  was  made 
to  the  sword.  In  was  an  open,  manly  fight.  There  was  nothing  secret  or 
ambiguous  in  the  issue.  It  was  waged  by  men  influenced,  in  the  masses,  by 
patriotic  emotions  on  both  sides  ;  and  it  was  not  to  destroy  the  Constitution, 
but  to  assert  on  each  side  their  different  views.  On  our  side  it  was  asserted 
that  the  States  were  separate  and  independent  sovereignties,  and  that  the 
Constitution  was  a  compact,  which  each  party  was  at  liberty  to  dissolve  at 
will,  and  so  we  seceded  and  declared  ourselves  out  of  the  Union.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  was  contended  that  we  were  not  out  of  the  Union — notwith 
standing  our  secession  acts ;  and  that  the  Constitution  was  not  a  compact, 
but  a  binding  law  upon  the  States  resulting  from  a  compact,  and  therefore 
no  one  of  the  number  could  dissolve  the  connection  at  will.  Upon  this  issue 
we  went  to  war.  The  war  was  fought  till  we  laid  down  our  arms  and  agreed 
to  what  our  enemies  said — that  we  were  in  the  Union.  + 

But  there  is  now  another  question  to  settle.  It  is  still  within  the  range 
of  argument.  Its  proportions  are  huge.  The  issues  are  startling.  It  is  not 
a  difference  of  opinion  as  to  what  the  Constitution  means,  and  what  are  our 
rights  under  it  ;  but  its  object  is  plainly,  unmistakably,  to  set  aside  the  Con 
stitution  and  provide  something  else.  I  have  never  doubted  that  we  were 
coming  to  this  issue.  In  speeches  made  by  me,  five,  six,  eight,  and  ten 
years  ago,  I  predicted  this,  and  every  page  of  our  history  since  that  time 
has  verified  the  correctness  of  the  prediction.  The  people  of  the  North 
honestly  love  the  Constitution,  but  the  leaders  there  hate  it  and  intend  to 
destroy  it,  and  the  convulsion  through  which  we  have  passed  has  thrown 
the  opportunity  of  making  the  effort  into  their  hands,  and  the  present  mili 
tary  bills,  and  the  one  which  is  not  yet  promulgated  as  law,  are  the  means 
adopted  to  accomplish  their  design.  These  bills  are  proposed  for  our  accept 
ance.  There  is  a  remarkable  feature  in  these  measures,  that  while  force  is 
employed  to  execute  them,  they  are  yet  nominally  submitted  to  us  for  our 
acceptance  or  rejection. 

I  object  to  the  whole  scheme,  because  it  is  unconstitutional.  A  distin 
guished  man — pardon  me,  I  ought  to  say  a  notorious  individual — said  to  me 
a  few  days  ago,  that  I  ought  not  to  waste  time  to  prove  the  unconstitution 
ally  of  these  measures — a  thing  which  every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  the 
country  knew — and  yet  he  was  for  accepting  !  He  spoke  truthfully.  That 
tottering,  gray-haired  candidate  in  Pennsylvania  for  perpetual  infamy,  who 
is  building  for  himself  a  monument  of  malignity  that  will  overtop  the  pyra 
mids  of  Egypt,  said  the  Constitution  had  nothing  to  do  with  it.  I  shall 
never  get  done  shuddering,  and  horrors  will  never  cease  to  rise  up  in  my 
mind,  when  I  see  men  taking  an  oath  to  support  the  Constitution,  and  then 
legislating  to  put  in  force  measures  which  are  outside  of  it.  A  great  many 
of  our  own  people  flippantly  say  the  Constitution  is  dead.  Then  your 
rights  and  hopes  for  the  future,  and  all  hope  for  your  children  are  dead.  I 
ask  every  man,  if  the  Constitution  is  dead,  why  are  we  al  \vays,  every  day, 
and  at  every  new  step,  required  to  take  an  oath  to  support  it? 

Now,  I  affirm  that  these  military  bills  are  not  only  contrary  to  the  Con- 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND    WRITINGS.  297 

etitution,  but  directly  in  the  face  of  the  amnesty  oath  you  were  required  to 
take  'after  the  surrender.  The  government  thought  proper,  in  accepting 
your  submission,  to  take  your  oath  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  and  the  Union  of  the  States.  Why  was  that  oath  required  if  the 
Constitution  was  dead  ? 

But  it  is  said  the  Constitution  does  not  apply  to  us.  Then  don't  swear 
to  support  it. 

But  it  is  said  again  that  we  are  not  in  the  Union.  Then  why  swear  to 
support  the  Union  of  these  States  ?  What  "  Union '  does  that  mean  ? 
When  you  took  that  oath,  was  it  the  Union  of  the  Northern  States  alone 
that  you  swore  to  support  ?  What  business  have  you  with  that  Union  ? 
No,  it  is  the  Union  of  all  the  States  known  to  the  Constitution  that  you^have 
sworn  to  support. 

But  they  say  that  oath  was  prescribed  by  the  President,  and  that  he  is  not , 
loyal.  Then  I  must  answer  a  fool  according  to  his  folly,  and  a  traitor  ac- 
co*rding  to  his  treason.  What  do  they  require  who  passed  these  bills — this 
military  Juggernaut  ?  They  require  every  man  who  registers  his  name  to 
vote,  to  swear  to  support  the  Constitution,  and  counsel  and  persuade  others 
to  do  so — and  still  it  is  said  the  Constitution  has  nothing  to  do  with  it  ! 
They  say  the  scheme  is  outside  of  the  Constitution,  and  yet,  in  the  process  of 
carrying  it  out,  they  require  an  oath  to  support  the  Constitution  and  to 
counsel  and  persuade  others  to  do  so  !  That  is  more  than  Mr.  Johnson  ever 
required  in  the  oath  which  he  prescribed. 

It  is  my  business  to  support  the  Constitution,  and  my  duty  and  pleasure 
to  persuade  others  to  do  so.  Some  of  you  who  favor  the  acceptance  of  the 
military  bills  take  an  oath  to  this  effect,  and  still  intend  to  vote  for  a  con 
vention  which  you  admit  to  be  ordered  contrary  to  the  Constitution  !  How 
is  this  ?  If  you  have  a  conscience,  I  have  said  enough.  If  you  vote  for  the 
convention  you  are  perjured  !  Oh  !  I  pity  the  race  of  colored  people  who 
have  never  been  taught  what  an  oath  is  nor  what  the  Constitution  means. 
They  are  drawn  up  by  a  selfish  conclave  of  traitors  to  inflict  a  death-blow 
upon  the  life  of  the  republic  by  swearing  them  into  a  falsehood  !  They  are 
to  begin  their  political  life  Jby  penury  to  accomplish  treason  !  I  would  not 
visit  the  penalty  upon  them.  They  are  neither  legally  nor  morally  respon 
sible,  but  it  is  you — educated,  designing  white  men — who  thus  devote  your 
selves  to  the  unholy  work — who  are  the  guilty  parties  ?  You  prate  about 
your  loyalty  !  I  look  you  in  the  eye  and  denounce  .you  !  You  are  morally 
and  legally  perjured  traitors  !  You  perjure  yourselves  and  perjure  the  poor 
negro  to  help  your  treason  !  You  can't  escape  it  !  You  may  boast  of  it 
now,  while  passion  is  ripe,  but  the  time  will  come  when  the  very  thought 
will  wither  your  soul  and  make  you  hide  from  the  face  of  mankind. 

I  shall  discharge  the  obligation  of  the  amnesty  oath.  It  required  me  to 
support  the  Constitution  and  the  emancipation  of  the  negro,  and  I  do.  I 
will  not  bind  my  soul  to  a  new  slavery,  to  hell,  by  violating  it.  I  talk 
plainly,  but  I  simply  want  to  strike  through  the  incrustation  of  the  hardened 
conscience,  and  make  men  feel  and  realize  their  true  situation. 

I  have  proved  that  these  military  bills  violate  the  Constitution,  and  that 
you,  in  carrying  them  out,  violate  it  and  your  amnesty  oath  and  your 
registry  oath.  And  what  is  your  purpose  ?  It  must  be  a  great  good  you 
seek  to  induce  you  to  commit  so  much  crime  and  folly. 

Sometimes  men  wink  at  what  is,  by  strict  technicalities,  wrong  in  the 
individual,  to  accomplish  some  great  good  to  the  public.  I  do  not  recognize 


298  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

the  correctness  of  such  action  ;  but  what  do  you  propose  by  trampling  upon 
the  Constitution  and  violating  your  own  solemn  oaths  ?  Is  it  to  save  the 
State  and  preserve  liberty  ?  This  is  not  the  object,  but  the  purpose  is  as 
infamous  as  the  measure  resorted  to  to  effect  it.  You  first  propose  to  abro 
gate  your  State  governments  by  authority  of  the  so-called  Congress — a  mere 
conclave  of  a  portion  of  the  members  of  that  body.  By  whom  is  this 
dictated  ?  The  principle  that  whoever  forms  a  government  should  form  it 
for  themselves  as  well  as  for  others,  is  a  correct  one  ;  but  the  men  who  pro 
pose  this  for  us  do  not  live  in  any  of  the  ten  States  to  be  affected  by  their 
legislation.  It  is  not  made  to  suit  either  black  or  white,  or  any  other  class 
of  our  people,  but  to  suit  themselves,  while  they  are  not  affected  by  it ;  and 
if  you  act  upon  their  proposition,  in  a  manner  to  suit  yourselves,  you  will 
not  be  accepted  by  them  ;  nay,  you  violate  the  Constitution  to  subvert  the 
government.  And  by  carrying  out  these  measures  you  disfranchise  your 
own  people.  Suppose  we  concede,  for  argument,  that  it  is  right  to  enfran 
chise  all  the  negroes  ;  if  this  be  right,  by  what  principle  of  law  or  morals 
do  we  disfranchise  the  white  people  ?  "  Oh,  but,"  you  say,  "  the  whites  have 
been  rebels.  Then  they  should  all  be  disfranchised,  and  not  a  part  of  them. 
Besides,  the  government  you  are  to  frame  is  to  be  a  civil  government  and 
last  for  all  time  and  for  peace,  when  there  can  be  no  rebels.  I  see  it  stated 
that  General  Sickles  has  advised  that  the  disfranchising  feature  be  repealed 
or  modified,  and  for  the  reason  that  the  enfranchised  class  are  not  fit  to  fill 
the  offices.  Well,  if  he  has  done  so,  he  has  acted  wisely,  and  has  shown 
himself  capable  of  appreciating  one  truth.  And  it  is  a  great  truth — one 
that  will  hide  a  multitude  of  sins  ;  and  it  might  be  well  for  his  fame  if  this 
recommendation  alone  could  be  remembered  of  his  administration.  In  the 
face  of  the  fact  that  a  republican  government  can  rest  upon  and  be  per 
petuated  only  by  the  virtue  and  intelligence  of  the  people,  you  propose  to 
exclude  the  most  intelligent  from  participating  in  the  government  forever  ! 

You  will  by  these  measures  inaugurate  a  war  of  races.  A  people  who 
will  abrogate  their  own  government  and  disfranchise  the  most  intelligent  of 
them  at  the  dictation  of  those  who  are  not  to  be  affected  thereby,  and  live 
under  the  dictation  of  a  foreign  power,  have  no  conscience  ;  but  if  you  have 
a  conscience  I  hope  to  reach  it.  By  all  you  hold  dear  I  warn  you  that  by 
accepting  these  military  bills  you  inaugurate  a  measure  that  will  exterminate 
the  African  race.  Some  of  you  who  have  come  among  us  are  taking  the 
negro  by  the  arm — telling  him  that  you  are  his  friend,  and  that  you  gave 
him  his  liberty  !  Ye  hypocrites  !  Ye  whited  sepulchers  !  !  Ye  mean  in 
your  hearts  to  deceive  and  buy  up  the  negro  vote  for  your  own  benefit. 
The  negroes  know  no  better  ;  but  I  would  ask  them  :  If  these  men  are  faith 
less  to  the  Constitution  of  the  country,  how  can  they  be  faithful  to  you  ? 

Yet  these  men  admit  in  the  very  act  that  they  are  disregarding  the  Con 
stitution  !  They  take  an  oath  to  support  it  with  the  purpose  and  intent 
formed  beforehand  to  violate  it,  and  vote  for  measures  contrary  to  it  !  They 
are  not  fit  to  be  trusted  by  any  animal,  dog  or  man  !  Such  a  man  would  be 
tray  his  pointer,  and  such  a  woman  sell  her  poodle  !  They  are  not  capable 
of  being  the  friends  of  anybody  but  themselves.  I  don't  pity  the  whites  so 
much  who  are  to  suffer  by  these  measures.  "  You  knew  your  duty  and  did 
it  not,"  and  if  you  are  beaten  with  many  stripes  we  have  the  authority  of 
Scripture  for  saying  that  your  punishment  is  just  ;  but  to  see  the  Africans 
led  off  by  a  claptrap  which  they  don't  understand,  and  used  because  they 
don't  understand  it,  and  thus  led  to  the  slaughter  by  men  who  are  faithless 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  299 

to  every  principle — under  the  belief  that  they  are  being  elevated  and  exer 
cising  God-given  rights — is  enough  to  make  any  man  feel  sick  at  heart  and 
experience  the  deepest  pity  for  the  unfortunate  race. 

This  is  not  the  first  time  that  such  things  have  been  attempted.  Unfor 
tunately,  there  have  before  been  both  fools  and  knaves  in  the  world,  and 
some  of  you,  it  would  seem,  will  not  learn  wisdom  from  the  lessons  of  the 
past.  If  the  Constitution  is  dead,  we  are  outside  of  it,  and,  pray,  what  gov 
ernment  have  we  ?  We,have  nothing,  in  that  case,  but  the  will  of  an  un 
lawful  conclave,  and  don't  you  know  this  means  only  anarchy,  and  then  des 
potism  and  tyranny  ?  What  inducement  is  held  oufr  to  you  to  accept  their 
propositions  ?  You  say  it  is  to  get  back  into  the  Union  !  And  for  this  you 
are  willing  to  submit  to  disfranchisement  and  the  inauguration  of  a  policy  that 
tends  to  a  war  of  races  !  all  to  get  back  into  the  Union — just  where  you  are 
already,  and  always  were  ! 

What  do  you  want  to  get  back  into  that  sort  of  a  Union  for  ?  If  you 
are  not  now  in  it,  what  can  you  expect  by  getting  in  such  as  they  present  to 
you  ?  You  say  it  is  to  get  representation  in  the  Union  !  Is  not  Kentucky 
in  the  Union  ?  Has  she  any  representation  ?  The  telegraph  informs  us 
that  a  resolution  has  been  introduced  into  the  so-called  Congress  making  in 
quiries  whether  Maryland,  Delaware,  and  Kentucky  have  State  governments 
or  not  !  Are  you  so  stupid  as  not  to  see  what  all  this  means  ?  The  result 
will  be  the  substitution  of  the  Radical  party  for  all  governments,  both  State 
and  Federal  ;  and  the  substitution  of  Radical  will  for  all  law  !  Take  that 
home  with  you  and  digest  it.  That's  where  you  are  going  !  Kentucky  is 
excluded  from  representation  because  it  is  alleged  her  representatives  were 
voted  for  by  disloyal  men.  What  is  meant  by  disloyal?  Every  man  who 
does  not  support  the  Radical  party  will  soon  be  declared  disloyal,  and  every 
State  which  does  not  vote  the  Radical  ticket  will  be  disloyal,  and  her  govern 
ment  illegal.  I  tell  you,  unless  patriotism  shall  wake  up  from  the  stun  which 
the  horrid  confusion  of  war  has  given  it,  the  Radical  party  will  be  our  only 
government,  and  Radical  will  our  only  law. 

J  look  for  this  revolution  to  go  on.  Whoever  thinks  this  war  upon  the 
Constitution  will  stop  with  the  ten  States  is  a  madman,  or  a  simpleton  to  be 
pitied,  or  a  knave  to  be  despised.  I  have  expected  them  to  take  charge  of 
Connecticut  because  she  dared  to  elect  a  governor  that  did  not  agree  with 
the  Radical  party  ;  and  sure  enough  Sumner  in  a  late  letter  strikes  that  key 
note.  He  says  a  similar  bill  for  all  the  States  is  a  short  cut  to  universal 
suffrage.  The  so-called  Congress  immediately  on  its  meeting  took  charge 
of  Kentucky  and  excluded  her  whole  delegation  with  one  exception.  If 
they  can  reject  these,  they  can  reject  every  one  who  differs  with  them,  and 
they  will  do  so  ;  and  they  will  receive  only  those  who  agree  with  them. 
These  they  will  receive.  I  care  not  what  may  have  been  their  sins  hereto 
fore  ;  if  the  very  worst  Secessionist  in  all  the  land  will  whine  around  the 

p 

streets  and  say  he  is  Radical  now,  he  is  as  good  as  the  saints  in  heaven 
for  Radical  purposes.  They  care  not  for  race  or  color,  nor  for  antecedents ; 
if  you  now  favor  Radical  schemes  you  are  loyal,  and  if  you  oppose  them 
you  are  disloyal ! 

But  you  say  you  are  in  favor  of  going  into  the  Union,  because  if  you  do 
not  your  property  will  be  confiscated.  A  gentleman  of  this  city  a  few  days 
ago  said  to  me  that  he  was  in  favor  of  the  acceptance  of  these  military  bills 
because  he  thought  it  the  best  we  could  do.  I  said  to  him  :  "  You  do  not 
say  that  for  yourself,  but  for  your  brick  stores  ! r  But,  you  are  not  half  so 


300  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

wise  as  you  are  knavish  !  You  would  lose  the  Constitution  and  the  country 
to  save  your  brick  stores,  and  thus,  by  your  very  course,  you  will  lose  your 
brick  stores  also  !  I  am  ashamed  to  talk  or  use  arguments  about  confisca 
tion  in  time  of  peace  !  It  is  a  war  power,  not  known  to  international  law 
except  as  a  war  power,  to  be  used  only  in  time  of  war,  upon  an  enemy's 
goods  !  Confiscation  in  time  of  peace  is  neither  more  nor  less  than  robbery  ! 

But  you  say  they  have  all  the  power  and  they  will  exercise  it,  unless  we 
do  as  they  bid  us.  And  will  you,  in  this  case,  abandon  your  only  protec 
tion?  It  is  like  going  out  into  the  highway  and  surrendering  your  purse 
to  the  robber  to  keep  hfm  from  taking  it. 

I  could  introduce  a  great  deal  of  high  authority  to  establish  this  point, 
but  I  will  not  insult  the  Radical  portion  of  the  audience  by  reading  from 
any  authority  for  them,  except  from  a  Massachusetts  judge.  Here  is  what 
he  says : 

It  has  been  supposed  that  if  the  government  have  the  rights  of  a  belligerent,  then, 
after  the  rebellion  is  suppressed,  it  will  have  the  rights  of  conquest,  that  a  State  and  its 
inhabitants  may  be  permanently  divested  of  all  political  privileges,  and  treated  as  foreign 
territory  acquired  by  arms.  This  is  an  error,  a  grave  and  dangerous  error.  Belligerent 
rights  cannot  be  exercised  where  there  are  no  belligerents. 

That  is  what  I  said  :  "  Confiscation  is  only  a  war  measure,  and  ceases 
with  the  war."  Again  : 

When  the  United  States  take  possession  of  a  rebel  district,  they  mean  to  vindicate 
their  pre-existing  title.  Under  despotic  governments  the  right  of  confiscation  may  be 
unlimited  ;  but  under  our  government  the  right  of  sovereignty  over  any  portion  of  a 
State  is  given  and  limited  by  the  Constitution,  and  will  be  the  same  after  the  war  as  it 
was  before. 

There  is  one  Lot  in  Massachusetts,  and  if  Abraham  were  alive  to-day  I 
would  have  him  pray  to  God  to  spare,  that  State  and  trust  it — not  only  to 
ten  men,  but — even  to  one.  There  is  at  least  one  good  man  in  it  and  he  is  a 
judge,  and  dares  to  proclaim  to  all  that  security  to  property  is  given  by  the 
Constitution,  the  same  after  as  before  the  war.  And  now  I  will  read  for 
the  patriots  of  the  audience  something  from  the  most  distinguished  of 'all 
writers  on  international  law  : 

When  a  sovereign,  arrogating  to  himself  the  absolute  disposal  of  a  people  whom  he 
has  conquered,  attempts  to  reduce  them  to  slavery,  he  perpetuates  the  state  of  warfare 
between  that  nation  and  himself.  Should  it  be  said  that  in  such  a  case  there  may  be 
peace  and  a  kind  of  compact,  by  which  the  conqueror  consents  to  spare  the  lives  of  the 
vanquished  on  condition  that  they  acknowledge  themselves  his  slaves  ;  he  who  makes 
such  an  assertion  is  ignorant  that  war  gives  no  right  to  take  away  the  life  of  an  enemy 
who  has  laid  down  his  arms  and  submitted.  But  let  us  not  dispute  the  point ;  let  the  man 
who  holds  such  principles  of  jurisprudence  keep  them  for  his  own  use  and  benefit  ;  he 
well  deserves  to  be  subject  to  such  a  law.  But  men  of  spirit,  to  whom  life  is  nothing — 
less  than  nothing,  unless  sweetened  with  liberty,  will  always  conceive  themselves  at  war 
with  that  oppressor,  though  actual  hostilities  are,  suspended  on  their  part,  through  want 
of  ability. 

My  friends,  this  was  written  by  a  man  who  lived  in  despotic  times  ;  by  a 
man  who  was  taught  under  a  despotic  government ;  and  how  his  love  of 
liberty  and  law  shames  the  praters  about  loyalty  in  free  America. 

But  I  will  dwell  no  more  on  this  subject.  Confiscation  is  the  law  of 
enemies  in  war,  and  in  peace  it  is  the  law  of  the  robber.  If  they  have  the 
will  to  rob  you,  you  will  never  escape  by  submitting  to  their  power.  If  you 
submit,  give  up  the  la\v  and  substitute  the  will  of  the  robber ;  he  boldly 
avows  that  it  is  his  purpose  not  to  give  the  black  man  his  rights,  but  to 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  301 

bring  about  such  measures  and  so  to  shape  things  as  to  perpetuate  the  rule 
of  the  Radical  party  !  Every  man  who  joins  the  party,  and  can  satisfy  them 
that  he  will  sincerely  help  in  this  work,  will  be  accepted.  They  will  put  their 
arms  around  your  necks  and  call  you  brothers.  You  can  make  a  friend  of 
the  devil  upon  these  same  terms,  and  there  is  but  little  difference  between 
them.  If  you  please  the  one  you  will  go  to  the  other,  and  I  am  not  sure  but 
you  will  get  what  you  deserve ;  but  I  object  to  your  taking  the  country 
with  you. 

But,  oh  !  it  is  sad  to  see  the  Constitution  trampled  upon  and  the  country 
destroyed,  only  to  perpetuate  their  hellish  dynasty  ;  and  then  to  see  some  of 
our  own  people  join  in  this  unholy  work,  calling  upon  us  to  submit  and 
become  the  agents  of  our  own  dishonor  !  This  is  sad,  sorrowful,  and  fills 
me  with  shame! 

These  bills  propose  at  every  step  to  abrogate  the  Constitution — trample 
upon  the  State  and  its  laws — to  blot  out  every  hope — to  perjure  every  man 
who  accepts  them,  with  every  principle  of  honor,  justice,  and  safety  dis 
regarded,  trampled  upon,  and  despised — all  to  perpetuate  the  power  of 
their  wicked  authors.  Can  this  scheme  succeed  ?  Will  it  succeed  ?  That 
is  the  question.  I  feel  truly  thankful  in  my  heart  that  I  have  an  answer 
which  lifts  my  soul  amid  all  the  gloom  and  apprehension  of  the  hour. 
Some  of  you  may  not  appreciate  it,  but  to  me  it  is  the  only  oasis  in  this 
desert.  This  scheme  will  never,  never  succeed,  and  I  proclaim  its  ultimate 
failure  to-day  in  your  hearing.  I  know  that  some  think  it  will.  The  air  is 
full  of  the  words  of  those  who  proclaim  that  there  is  no  power  to  prevent 
it.  Men  have  before  this  been  weak  and  foolish,  and  cowards  and  traitors 
have  before  believed  as  you  talk  now,  but  I  have  a  reason  for  the  faith  that 
is  in  me,  which  is  absolutely  sublime  in  the  strength  of  its  foundations. 

First.  It  will  fail  because  it  is  not  possible  to  perpetuate  a  government 
of  force  under  the  forms  of  a  democracy.  It  may  take  some  time  to  com 
prehend  this  thought,  but  you  will  not  forget  it.  That  which  is  now  pro 
posed  is  force.  It  is  proposed  by  men  who  do  not  live  in  this  State,  and 
whose  agents  do  not  live  here  ;  and  it  is  sought  to  be  accomplished  by 
military  power,  but  under  the  pretense  of  your  sanction — not  to  please 
yourselves,  but  them.  There  is  not  an  instance  in  history  where  a  govern 
ment  of  force  has  been  perpetuated  under  the  forms  of  free  institutions. 
It  is  an  impossibility,  and  can  never  succeed. 

Second.  But  it  is  sought  to  be  accomplished  by  deceit  and  fraud, 
which  cannot  much  longer  escape  detection.  The  masses  of  the  people  of 
the  North  love  the  Constitution,  and  fought  for  it  and  the  Union,  but  the 
leaders  did  not  fight  for  it,  and  do  not  love  it ;  and  they  now  seek  to 
destroy  it  under  pretense  that  we  must  give  some  further  guarantee  for  our 
future  good  behavior  than  merely  supporting  the  Constitution.  As  soon 
as  the  means  by  which  their  deceit  and  fraud  have  been  covered  up  are 
removed,  the  scheme  will  be  crushed  to  death  by  the  people.  It  is  a  double- 
shaped  monster,  like  the  sentinel  at  Hell-gate,  which  can  live  nowhere 
except  in  a  political  pandemonium. 

And  what  must  be  the  results  ?  I  do  not  say  we  will  come  out  of  all 
this  with  free  institutions  preserved,  but  this  scheme  can  never  succeed. 
A  despotism  over  the  whole  country  and  over  all  the  people,  guilty  and 
innocent  alike,  may  ensue.  You  will  fail,  but  you  may  bring  ruin  upon  all. 
Whenever  you  pull  down  the  temple  of  liberty,  you  also  will  be  crushed  by 
the  fall.  You  cannot  level  or  lower  us  and  elevate  yourselves.  We  must 


302  SENATOR  R    H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

either  all  rise  or  all  go  down  together.  Despotism  may  come,  empires  may 
rise  and  fall  among  us,  but  whether  they  do  or  not,  we  shall  not  have  the 
reign  of  a  Radical  party.  Understand  me  :  If  I  say  a  man  cannot  live  high 
up  in  the  air,  I  do  not  mean  he  cannot  go  up  in  a  balloon  and  remain  for  a 
time,  or  if  I  say  a  man  cannot  live  under  water,  I  do  not  say  he  cannot  go 
down  in  a  diving  bell  and  remain  a  while  ;  but  the  Radicals  will  as  cer 
tainly  fail  to  perpetuate  their  power  under  this  scheme,  as  that  a  man  will 
fail  who  attempts  to  dwell  in  the  air,  or  drown  who  makes  his  home  under 
water.  Such  a  government  would  be  unnatural — a  political  monstrosity  — 
and  cannot  possibly  last ;  but  you  may  destroy  the  forms  as  well  as  the 
principles  of  free  government,  and  then  you  will  have  a  monarchy,  an  autoc 
racy,  an  empire,  or  a  despotism,  as  the  case  may  be. 

This  very  scheme  was  attempted  in  Rome  by  much  better  men  than  you 
Radicals  are,  and  for  a  much  better  reason  than  you  give.  It  is  not  origi 
nal  with  you.  You  are  but  plagiarizing  traitors  at  best,  and  get  your 
scheme  from  the  criminals  of  long  ago.  If  I  did  steal,  I  would  try  to  steal 
something  better  and  from  a  more  respectable  source. 

If  you  will  examine,  arid  compare  with  former  times,  the  productions  of 
such  men  as  Stevens,  Phillips,  and  Sumner,  and  the  lesser  followers  and  sec 
ond-hand  plagiarizers  down  South,  you  will  find  all  their  miserable  jargon 
about  "  liberty  and  equality,"  the  "  natural  right  of  man,"  and  "  the  born 
right  of  manhood's  suffrage,"  are  borrowed  from  the  men  who  fomented 
social  and  civil  wars  in  Rome,  and  which  have  been  repeated  in  every  age 
since,  by  those  who  have  no  statesmanship  but  the  devilish  ability  of  exciting 
ignorant  men  to  cut  each  other's  throats.  Republican  Rome  had  an  immense 
number  of  slaves  and  freedmen,  and  non-voting  citizens.  She  had  a  landed 
aristocracy  embracing  comparatively  few  of  her  people. 

An  agrarian  law  was  proposed,  and  for  a  time  was  immensely  popular, 
but  it  failed,  and  its  first  author  was  slain.  His  brother  renewed  the  law 
and  enlarged  it  by  proposing  suffrage  to  the  slaves  and  freedmen  with  equal 
political  rights.  It  was  said  "  there  could  be  no  freedom  without  equality." 
But  the  brother  also  perished.  Then  a  great  general  became  the  leader  of 
the  Radicals  of  that  day,  and  he  had  more  fame  and  merit  and  ability  and 
honesty  than  all  the  Radical  party  of  this  day  combined,  but  he  also  failed. 
And  why  did  they  all  fail  ?  Because  they  were  attempting  to  engraft  a 
government  of  force  and  robbery  upon  republican  forms — attempting  the 
absurd  task  of  making  equal  things  which  God  had  made  unequal — attempt 
ing  equality  by  taking  that  which  industrious  and  frugal  men  had  made 
and  giving  it  to  thriftless  vagabonds,  and  by  depositing  in  the  keeping  of 
ignorance  and  vice,  powers  and  trusts  which  intelligence  alone  can  know 
how  to  exercise  and  preserve.  But  by  the  struggle  Republican  Rome  per 
ished  and  never  knew  liberty  again.  Nor  was  this  all  ;  her  history  from  the 
beginning  of  the  agrarian  attempt  was  one  of  blood  and  faction,  and  waste 
and  ruin,  until  the  goal  of  empire  was  reached.  In  the  social  and  civil  wars 
which  marked  the  struggle,  more  than  seven  hundred  thousand  of  her  best 
citizens  were  slain,  and,  besides  these,  whole  populations  of  some  of  her 
most  populous  territories  were  exterminated. 

It  may  be  that  we  of  the  United  States  have  been  so  crazy  in  leaving  the 
Constitution — the  only  ark  of  safety — that  our  Heavenly  Father  has  doomed 
us  to  perish,  but  I  am  gratified  with  a  hope  that  it  is  not  so.  If  not,  there 
is  but  one  method  for  our  rescue,  and  that  is  by  a  prompt  restoration  of  the 
Constitution.  Will  it  come  ?  Will  we  escape  an  agrarian  war,  with  result- 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  303 

ing  despotism,  and  save  our  institutions  for  our  children  ?  I  hope  we  shall. 
I  believe  we  shall.  Though  a  great  effort  is  being  made — a  designed 
effort — to  destroy  us  as  Rome  was  destroyed,  I  believe  the  effort  will  fail. 
I  have  great  faith  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  blood.  I  derive  great  encouragement 
from  Anglo-Saxon  history.  Our  liberty  was  not  born  in  a  day.  It  is  not 
the  work  of  one  generation.  It  is  the  fruit  of  a  hundred  struggles,  and  its 
guarantees  have  been  perfecting  for  eight  hundred  years.  Many  have  been 
the  efforts  to  destroy  it.  Often  the  English  Constitution  was  trampled  on. 
Often  traitors  sought  to  substitute  arbitrary  will  for  well-established  law, 
and  often  have  the  people  for  a  time  been  misled.  But  thus  far  they  have 
always  waked  up  and  called  the  traitors  and  factionists  to  account. 

Charles  I  trampled  on  the  Constitution.  He  had  judges  who  decided  that 
his  will  was  the  law,  and  all  who  resisted  that  will  and  defended  the  Con 
stitution  were  punished  as  disloyal.  And  it  did  seem  as  if  his  power  was 
irresistible.  No  doubt  if  you  weak-kneed  Radicals  of  the  South  had  lived 
in  that  day  you  would  have  said,  "  the  Constitution  is  dead  and  we  must 
consent  to  what  we  cannot  resist."  But  John  Hampden  would  not  consent. 
He  resisted.  He  was  tried  as  a  criminal  for  resisting,  and  was  condemned. 
But  what  was  the  sequel  ?  The  people  finally  asserted  their  power.  Charles 
and  his  ministers  perished.  The  very  judges  that  condemned  Hampden  were 
themselves  tried  and  condemned  as  criminals,  and  the  very  officers,  even  the 
sheriffs  who'executed  the  orders  of  Charles  and  his  courts,  were  sued  by  the 
citizens  for  damages,  and  had  to  pay  nearly  a  million  of  dollars  for  execut 
ing  the  processes  of  a  void,  unconstitutional  law  !  For  a  time  traitors  held 
the  power  and  trampled  on  rights,  but  vengeance  came,  and  perpetual 
infamy  followed. 

So  Cromwell  and  his  parliament  violated  the  Constitution,  and  though 
they  also  flourished  for  a  season,  they  too  were  overthrown.  So  James  II 
trampled  on  the  Constitution,  and  had  to  fly  from  his  kingdom  a  fugitive 
for  life.  In  all  these  struggles  good  men,  for  a  time,  suffered,  and  bad  men, 
for  a  time,  ruled,  but  the  English  race  have  never  yet  failed  to  rescue  their 
Constitution  from  the  power  both  of  traitors  and  fanatics. 

I  tell  you  the  American  people  will  not  always  be  deceived.  They  will 
rise  in  defense  of  their  Constitution — and  traitors  will  tremble.  They  who 
rallied  three  million  strong  to  defeat  what  they  considered  an  armed  assault 
on  the  Constitution  and  Union,  will  not  sleep  until  a  few  hundred  traitors 
from  behind  the  masked  battery  of  Congressional  oaths  and  deceptive  pre 
tensions  of  loyalty  shall  utterly  batter  down  the  Constitution  and  Union 
forever.  I  warn  you,  boastful,  vindictive  Radicals,  by  the  history  of  your  own 
fathers,  by  every  instinct  of  manhood,  by  every  right  of  liberty,  by  every 
impulse  of  justice,  that  the  day  is  coming  when  you  will  feel  the  power  of 
an  outraged  and  betrayed  people.  Go  on  confiscating  !  Arrest  without 
warrant  or  probable  cause  ;  destroy  habeas  corpus;  deny  trial  by  jury; 
abrogate  State  governments  ;  defile  your  own  race,  and  flippantly  say  the 
Constitution  is  dead  !  On,  on,  with  your  work  of  ruin,  ye  hell-born  rioters 
in  sacred  things  !  but  remember  for  all  these  things  the  people  will  call  you 
to  judgment.  Ah  !  what  an  issue  you  have  made  for  yourselves.  Succeed, 
and  you  destroy  the  Constitution  !  Fail,  and  you  have  covered  the  land  with 
mourning.  Succeed,  and  you  bring  ruin  on  yourselves  and  all  the  country  ! 
Fail,  and  you  bring  infamy  upon  yourselves  and  all  your  deluded  followers  ! 
Succeed,  and  you  are  the  perjured  assassins  of  liberty  !  Fail,  and  you  are 
defeated,  despised  traitors  forever  !  Ye  who  aspire  to  be  Radical  governors 


304  SENATOR  B.   H.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

and  judges  in  Georgia,  I  paint  before  you  this  day  your  destiny.  You  are 
but  cowards  and  knaves,  and  the  time  will  come  when  you  will  call  upon  the 
rocks  and  mountains  to  fall  on  you  and  the  darkness  to  hide  you  from  an 
outraged  people. 

y  Does  it  do  you  good  to  trample  on  the  Constitution — deceive  the 
v  negroes  and  ruin  the  country  ?  It  may  be  sweet  now,  but  I  tell  you  the 
sulphurous  fires  of  public  infamy  will  never  be  quenched  on  your  spirits.  I 
pity  you  from  my  soul.  Would  that  the  time  had  never  come  when  I  had 
to  stand  upon  Georgia's  soil  and  thus  talk  to  Georgians.  A  struggle  is 
coming.  It  may  be  a  long  and  bloody  one,  and  you  who  advocate  this 
wicked  scheme  will  perish  in  it,  unless  the  people  now  arouse  and  check  its 
consummation.  Let  every  true,  law-loving  man  rally  at  once  to  the  stand 
ard  of  the  Constitution  of  his  country.  Corne.  Do  not  abandon  your  rights. 
Defend  them.  Talk  for  them,  and  if  need  be,  before  God  and  the  country, 
fight  and  die  for  them.  Do  not  talk  or  think  of  secession  or  disunion,  but 
come  up  to  the  good  old  platform  of  our  fathers — the  Constitution.  Let 
all,  North  and  South,  come  and  swear  before  God  that  we  will  abide  by  it  in 
good  faith,  and  oppose  everything  that  violates  it.  The  man  who  loves  the 
Constitution  now,  and  is  willing  to  live  and  die  for  it,  is  my  friend  and 
brother,  though  he  come  from  the  frozen  peak  of  Mt.  Washington  ;  and  the 
man  who  is  for  trampling  upon  it  is  my  enemy,  and  I  shall  hold  him  so, 
though  he  come  from  the  sunny  clime  of  the  orange  and  the  cotton  bloom. 
That  is  my  issue. 

Oh  how  sorry  a  creature  is  the  man  who  cannot  stand  up  for  the  truth, 
when  the  country  is  in  danger.  There  never  was  such  an  opportunity  as 
now  exists  for  a  man  to  show  of  what  stuff  he  is  made.  How  can  you  go 
about  the  street  and  say,  "All  is  wrong,  but  I  cannot  help  it  ?  "  You  want 
courage,  my  friend  !  You  are  a  coward  !  You  lack  courage,  to  tell  the 
truth,  and  would  sell  your  birthright  for  a  temporary  mess  of  pottage,  even 
for  a  little  bit  of  a  judgeship  or  a  bureau  officer's  place. 

But  some  one  says  :  "  How  will  you  resist  it  ?  '  I  will  resist  it  first  by 
not  approving  it.  If  everybody  would  do  that  it  would  be  effectually 
resisted  so  far  as  we  are  concerned.  But  the  so-called  Congress  has  pro 
vided  a  cover  for  itself  in  advance,  under  which  to  hide  from  the  odium 
attaching  to  this  scheme.  It  has  provided  that  you  can  vote  either  for  against 
a  convention  and  again  vote  for  or  against  whatever  constitution  it  may 
frame.  It  is  sought  to  make  us  responsible  for  whatever  may  be  the  conse 
quences  and  relieve  them.  After  a  while,  when  you  become  alarmed  at  the 
results,  they  will  say,  "  We  did  not  do  this.  We  only  gave  you  a  chance  and 
you  did  it." 

But  if  we  defeat  this,  it  is  said,  military  rule  will  continue.  Certainly — 
until  wicked  men  shall  be  driven  from  power.  But  let  it  be  so.  General 
Pope  seems  to  be  a  gentleman,  and  I  infinitely  prefer  his  rule  to  the  rule  of 
such  men  as  you  will  get  under  this  scheme.  Besides,  the  new  govern 
ment,  if  inaugurated,  will  not  be  able  to  live  a  day  without  military  protec 
tion.  It  is  safer  to  be  governed  by  power  than  by  treachery. 

Perhaps  you  will  think  I  have  overdrawn  the  picture  of  the  fearful  con 
sequences  of  accepting  this  scheme.  I  recollect  an  incident  which  occurred 
over  six  years  ago,  when  I  was  urging  the  people  of  Georgia  not  to  secede, 
because  the  country  would  thereby  fall  into  the  hands  of  Radicals,  and  pre 
dicted  war  and  its  attendant  sufferings  as  the  result — though  then  deemed 
visionary.  I  would  be  almost  ashamed  now  to  read  my  remarks  of  that  day — 


fffS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  305 

my  picture  would  be  so  tame  and  so  far  short  of  the  dreadful  reality  that 
has  followed.  A  very  prominent  gentleman  replied  to  me,  urging  that  there 
would  be  no  war,  and,  to  prove  it,  he  read  an  article  from  Horace  Greeley's 
Tribune  and  old  Ben.  Wade's  speech  declaring  the  South  had  a  right  to 
secede,  and  if  she  chose  to  exercise  that  right  they  should  be  allowed  to  do 
so  in  peace.  He  then  said  that  Greeley  and  Wade  were  better  friends  of 
the  South  than  I,  who  was  born  here,  for  I  was  trying  to  frighten  the 
Southern  people  from  the  exercise  of  a  right  which  they  conceded,  and  they 
were  representative  me.,  of  their  party.  What  could  I  say  in  reply?  I  could 
only  tell  him  the  truth — that  these  men  only  desired  to  encourage  the  South 
to  disunion  for  their  wicked  purposes  to  destroy  the  Constitution  ;  and  that 
a  great  government  could  not  be  dissolved  without  blood  ;  and  what  have 
Greeley  and  Wade  done  since  that  time  ?  And  now  I  advise  you  to  reject  this 
scheme  of  force,  fraud,  and  deceit  which  Congress  has  devised.  If  you,  of 
your  own  free  will,  submit  to  it,  you  will  see  the  consequences  of  it. 

I  advise  you  to  register.  There  is  no  dishonor  in  that.  It  is  arming 
yourself  with  an  important  power  to  be  wielded  against  the  nefarious  scheme, 
but  don't  vote  for  a  convention — don't  go  for  anything  whatever  which  is 
an  assent  to  the  scheme,  but  be  against  it  at  every  step.  Never  go  half  way 
with  a  traitor,  nor  compromise  with  treason  or  robbery.  If  they  hold  a 
convention,  vote  against  ratification — vote  against  all  their  measures  and 
men,  and  indict  every  one  who,  under  such  void  authority,  invades  your 
rights  according  to  existing  State  laws.  That's  my  policy.  Fight  this 

O  O  •         •  V  4r 

scheme  all  the  time.  I  have  no  more  idea  of  obeying  than  John  Hampden 
had  of  paying  ship-money,  because  I  have  taken  an  oath  to  support  the  Con 
stitution,  and  I  intend  to  keep  it. 

This  whole  scheme  is  in  violation  of  all  the  issues  of  the  war — all  the 
promises  during  its  progress — and  all  the  terms  of  surrender.  More  than  a 
hundred  thousand  men  abandoned  Lee's  army  because  they  were  assured 
that  if  they  laid  down  their  arms  they  would  be  in  the  Union  again  with  all 
their  rights  as  before.  I  knew  the  promise  was  false,  and  warned  you  against 
the  seductions  of  the  syren.  The  people — the  soldiers  of  the  United  States — 
were  then  willing  to  fulfill  the  obligation  ;  but  the  politicians  intended  to 
deceive  you.  Such  men  as  Sunnier  and  Stevens  never  intended  to  carry  out 
the  pledge  of  the  nation.  They  would  acknowledge  the  independence  of 
the  Confederate  States  to-day,  before  they  would  agree  to  restore  the  old 
Union,  even  with  slavery  abolished.  I  respect  the  Northern  man  who 
honestly  fought  for  the  Union,  but  I  despise  the  traitors  who,  under  the 
name  of  the  Union,  have  used  the  Northern  people  to  destroy  the  South, 
and  then  to  destroy  the  Constitution.  The  people  of  the  North  have  been 
long  discovering  this  deception,  but  they  will  be  compelled  to  see  it  before 
the  traitors  can  go  much  further  in  their  worl:. 

How  many  people  in  Atlanta  belong  to  the  "  loyal  league  "  ?  I  warn  all 
decent  men  to  abandon  such  dens.  I  know  the  times  have  been  such  that 
many  good  men  have  naturally  gone  astray.  But  save  yourselves  before  it 
is  too  late  !  Destroy  all  the  evidences  of  your  membership — bind  all  your 
comrades  to  mutual  concealment  of  the  fact  that  you  were  members  and 
come  out.  You  are  pardonable  for  the  past ;  but  if  you  continue  you 
will  be  covered  with  shame,  and  your  very  children  will  disown  you.  Come, 
join  the  Patriots'  League.  Our  only  pledge  is  to  support  the  Constitution — 
love  its  friends  and  hate  its  enemies,  and  proclaim  our  love  and  hatred  at 
noon-day  and  from  the  house-tops.  Save  yourselves  now,  or  be  forever  lost 


306  SENATOR  B.  It  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

to  decent  society  and  your  own  self-respect.  All  the  brave  and  true  men, 
even  at  the  North,  respect  me  this  day  more  than  they  do  you.  The  very 
Radicals  will  use,  but  even  they  will  despise,  the  Southern  man  who  becomes 
their  sycophant. 

My  colored  friends,  will  you  receive  a  word  of  admonition  ?  Of  all  the 
people,  you  will  most  need  the  protection  of  the  law.  You  will  most  suffer 
by  anarchy  and  usurpation.  Do  you  believe  that  the  man  who  is  faithless 
to  the  Constitution  of  the  country  will  be  faithful  to  you  ?  If  a  man  will 
take  an  oath  to  support  the  Constitution  and  then  violate  it,  can  you  rely 
upon  his  keeping  any  promise  to  you  ?  No  ;  I  tell  you  such  people  are 
friends  to  nothing  but  their  own  interest.  They  are  betrayers  of  the  Con 
stitution  to  keep  themselves  in  office  ;  they  desire  to  use  you  to  help  them 
get  office,  and  they  will  betray  you  whenever  they  find  it  to  their  interest 
to  do  so. 

They  tell  you  they  are  your  friends.  It  is  false  ;  they  are  your  very 
worst  enemies.  They  tell  you  they  set  you  free.  It  is  false.  These  vile 
creatures  who  come  among  you  and  put  themselves  on  a  level  with  you, 
never  went  with  the  army  except  to  steal  spoons,  jewelry,  and  gold  watches. 
They  are  too  low  to  be  brave.  They  are  dirty  spawn,  cast  out  from  decent 
society,  who  come  down  here  and  seek  to  use  you  to  further  their  own  base 
purposes. 

They  promise  you  lands,  and  teach  you  to  hate  the  Southern  people, 
whom  you  have  known  always  and  who  never  deceived  you.  Are  you 
foolish  enough  to  believe  you  can  get  another  man's  land  for  nothing,  and 
that  the  white  people  will  give  up  their  land  without  resistance  ? 

If  you  get  up  strife  between  your  race  and  the  white  race,  do  you  not 
know  you  must  perish  ?  You  are  now  ten  to  one  the  weaker  race.  You 
will  grow  weaker  every  day.  You  can  have  no  safety  but  in  the  Constitu 
tion  and  no  peace  except  by  cultivating  relations  of  kindness  with  those  who 
are  fixed  here,  who  need  your  services,  and  who  are  willing  to  protect  you. 

The  same  experiment  which  is  now  being  attempted  with  you  by  these 
Northern  knaves  who  seek  your  votes,  was  attempted  by  similar  people  in 
France  for  the  negroes  in  Hayti.  They  passed  laws  to  give  the  negroes 
political  equality — abolished  all  distinctions  of  color — and  what  was  the 
result  ?  There  was  first  a  war  of  classes  :  then  a  war  between  the  whites 
on  one  side  and  the  blacks  and  mulattoes  on  the  other.  Then  there  was  a 
war  between  the  blacks  and  the  mulattoes,  and  neither  white,  black,  nor 
mulatto  have  ever  seen  peace  or  prosperity  in  Hayti  since. 

These  men  intend  your  extermination.  Some  of  them  are  writ 
ing  books  in  favor  of  your  extermination,  and  I  have  myself  heard 
some  of  them  avow  that  you  ought  to  be  exterminated  or  driven  from 
the  country.  These  are  the  same  people  whose  fathers  found  the 
Indians  here.  They  declared  the  earth  was  the  Lord's  and  belonged  to  his 
saints,  and  that  they  were  his  saints.  Then  they  killed  and  drove  off 
the  poor  Indian  and  took  his  lands.  If  you  do  not  make  and  keep  friends  of 
the  Southern  people,  your  fate  is  that  of  the  Indians  !  Woe  to  your  race  ! 
You  well  know  your  race  is  not  prepared  to  vote.  Why  do  you  care  to  do 
what  you  do  not  understand  ?  Improve  yourselves.  Learn  to  read 
and  to  write  ;  be  industrious  ;  lay  up  your  means  ;  acquire  homes  ;  live  in 
peace  with  your  neighbors  ;  and  drive  off,  as  you  would  a  serpent,  the  mis 
erable,  dirty  adventurers  who  come  among  you,  and  who,  being  too  low  to 
be  received  into  white  society,  seek  to  foment  among  you  hatred  for  the  de- 


LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  307 

cent  portion  of  the  white  race.  You  can  always  know  a  gentleman,  whether 
from  the  North  or  South,  and  all  such  respect  and  esteem — for  such  will  not 
deceive  you.  Do  not  desire  to  vote  until  you  are  qualified  to  vote,  and  then 
look  for  the  right  to  be  given,  not  in  a  manner  that  violates  the  Constitution, 
but  in  accordance  with  it,  and  through  your  own  State  governments.  I  feel 
more  deeply  for  you  than  I  do  for  the  white  race.  White  people  ought  to 
know  better  than  to  disregard  the  laws  and  expect  any  good.  But  you  do 
not  know  the  laws ;  you  do  not  understand  deceivers. 

I  am  willing,  anxious  to  welcome  among  us  good  and  true  men  from  the 
North,  who  come  to  help  build  up  our  country,  and  add  to  its  prosperity.  I 
wish  they  would  come  on  and  come  in  multitudes.  They  will  find  us  friends. 

V  •/ 

But  when  I  see  the  low,  dingy  creatures — hatched  from  the  venomous  eggs 
of  treason — coming  here  as  mere  adventurers  to  get  offices  through  negro  votes 
— to  ride  into  power  on  the  deluded  negro's  shoulders — and  creeping  into  se 
cret  leagues  with  negroes  and  a  few  renegade  Southern  whites,  and  talking 
flippantly  about  disfranchising  the  wisest  and  best  men  of  the  land,  because 
they  know  it  is  the  only  possible  chance  for  knaves  and  fools  like  themselves 
to  get  place,  I  can  but  feel  ashamed  that  such  monsters  are  to  be  considered 
as  belonging  to  the  human  species.  I  warn  you,  my  colored  friends,  if  you 
would  be  respectable  in  society,  or  prosperous  in  your  purse,  or  decent  in 
your  own  feelings,  to  avoid  all  such  people.  They  will  hug  you  and  call  you 
friend,  and  talk  about  your  friends,  but  they  will  pull  you  down  to 
degradation,  to  sorrow,  to  poverty,  and  to  shame.  They  have  AThite  skins 
but  black  hearts,  and  will  ruin  your  characters  if  you  associate  with  them. 

«.'  v 

They  are  creatures  born  of  political  accidency  and  treasonable  conspiracy, 
and  are  the  enemies  of  all  good  governments  and  of  all  decent  people. 

And  now,  my  friends,  of  all  races,  of  all  colors,  of  all  nations,  of  all  sexes, 
of  all  ages — let  us  resolve  to  stand  by  our  Constitution,  and  surrender  it  to 
no  enemy.  This  is  our  country.  Let  us  resolve  that  we  will  never  be  driven 
from  it,  nor  ostracised  in  it. 


•n. 


SPEECH  DELIVERED   IN  ATLANTA,  GA.,  JULY  23,    1868. 

This  speech  is  known  as  the  "Bush  Arbor"  speech,  from  the  fact  that  it  was 
delivered  under  an  immense  bush  arbor,  prepared  by  the  awakened  Democracy  of 
Atlanta  to  shelter  the  great  multitude  that  assembled.  The  writer  was  present  as  a  boy 
and  heard  the  speaking  that  day,  and  the  scene  is  ineffaceably  impressed  upon  his  memory. 
Mr.  Hill's  "  Davis  Hall"  speech  and  his  "  Notes  on  the  Situation"  had  aroused  great 
enthusiasm  in  the  State,  and  over  twenty  thousand  people  met  in  Atlanta  on  this 
memorable  day  to  hear  Georgia's  three  greatest  orators.  Kobert  Toombs  spoke  first. 
His  speech  fell  far  below  expectation  and  did  not  even  quicken  the  pulses  of  Ihe  vast 
crowd.  Howell  Cobb  followed.  His  oration  was  a  grand  combination  of  eloquence, 
logic,  and  invective.  The  enthusiasm  was  intense  when  Mr.  Hill  rose  to  speak.  The 
cheering  that  greeted  him  was  indescribable  and  lasted  for  several  minutes.  He  was 
very  pallid,  not  only  from  that  pallor  always  characteristic  of  the  great  orator,  but  he  was 
just  recovering  from  an  attack  of  fever.  In  scathing  invective  and  impassioned  eloquence 
this  speech  surpasses  any  ever  delivered  on  the  hustings  in  Georgia.  Yet,  considering  the 
occasion  and  time  of  its  delivery,  it  was  universally  regarded  as  consummate  wisdom. 
The  people  simply  went  wild  with  enthusiasm  and  excitement,  and  at  its  conclusion 
Toombs  rose  in  the  presence  of  the  crowd,  tossing  his  hat  in  the  air,  and  throwing  his 
arms  around  the  speaker,  shouted,  "  Three  cheers  for  Ben  Hill." 

The  speech  was  not  well  reported,  and  no  report  could  give  any  conception  of  the 
fervor  of  its  delivery,  and  the  reader  can  form  little  idea  of  its  power  and  compass  from 
the  synopsis  preserved. 

Mr.  President  and  Fellow-citizens :  I  especially  request  entire  quiet 
while  I  attempt  to  address  you  to-day.  In  addition  to  the  fact  that  I  have 
to  follow  two  gentlemen  who  have  no  superiors  on  this  continent,  I  am,  un 
fortunately,  laboring  under  considerable  physical  disability,  the  extent  of 
which  is  not  even  known  to  myself. 

I  greet  you  to-day,  my  countrymen,  with  a  joy  and  gladness  that  no 
language  can  express. 

One  year  ago  I  came,  in  my  humble  way,  to  this  same  city,  to  speak  to 
the  people  what  I  believe  to  be  words  of  truth  and  soberness.  There  has 
been  quite  a  change  since  then.  On  that  occasion  I  met,  in  a  quiet,  retired 
room,  some  half  dozen  gentlemen,  who  had  made  up  their  minds  to  brave 
the  storm,  that  was  coming  upon  us,  at  all  hazards.  That  little  band  of  half 
a  dozen  in  that  private  room  has  swelled  to-day  to  thousands  of  freemen,  in 
the  open  air  of  this  once  more  to  be  redeemed  country.  I  must  confess  that 
the  history  of  the  past  year  is  one  to  me  full  of  cheer  and  rejoicing.  I  may 
differ  with  most  of  you,  bnt  I  feel  that  during  the  past  twelve  months  the 
white  race  of  the  Southern  States  has  done  more  to  manifest  heroism,  endur 
ance,  and  courage  than  any  other  people  had  ever  manifested  on  a  hundred 
battle-fields.  It  is  not  uncommon  for  a  people  to  lose  their  property  ;  it  is 
nothing  new  in  the  history  of  nations  for  a  people  to  be  defeated  in  battle  ; 
it  is  not  even  altogether  new,  unfortunately,  that  a  people  should  lose  their 
cities  and  bury  their  dead,  that  they  should  be  cowed  in  their  spirits,  arid 
should  be  made  almost  hopeless  of  the  future.  But  there  is  something  else 
which  is  possessed  by  every  people  far  more  valuable  than  property,  far 
more  to  be  desired  than  cities,  far  more  to  be  coveted  than  the  victories  of 
war,  and  that  thing  you  still  possess,  notwithstanding  your  enemies  sought 
to  destroy  it — I  mean  your  honor  as  a  people.  There  were  two  propositions 

308 


LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  309 

made  to  you,  which  I  would  briefly  state,  so  that  you  can  see  clearly  what  I 
mean.  The  first  proposition,  which  affected  your  honor,  was,  that  a  Congress 
in  which  you  were  not  represented — a  band  of  foreigners,  not  one  of  whom 
has  ever  lived  or  expects  to  live  upon  your  soil — nay,  men  who  have  avowed 
that  they  hate  you,  claimed  the  right  to  destroy  the  government  you  had 
formed,  and  to  dictate  to  you  the  formation  of  a  new  government. 

This  was  done,  too,  right  in  the  teeth  of  the  Declaration  of  Independ 
ence,  which  says  that  all  government  derives  its  authority  from  the  con 
sent  of  the  governed.  You  are  asked  to  forfeit  your  honor  because  a  band 
of  foreigners — men  among  whom  you  hr,d  no  representatives — among  whom 
vou  were  denied  representation — who  confess  their  hate  of  you — these  men 
claimed  the  right  to  destroy  the  government  which  you  had  formed,  and  to 
dictate  the  formation  of  another  in  its  stead.  None  but  slaves  would  have 
acceded  to  such  a  demand,  and  none  could  have  been  other  than  slaves  who 
would  consent  to  it. 

The  second  reason  why  your  honor  as  a  people  was  so  seriously  involved, 
is  this  :  That  in  the  formation  of  the  new  government  which  this  foreign 
power  dictated,  it  was  prescribed,  as  a  necessary  condition,  that  the  intelli 
gent  and  virtuous  of  your  people — those  whom  you  had  all  your  life  deemed 
worthy  of  the  highest  trust — should  be  forbidden  to  participate,  while  those 
who  had  been  your  slaves  should  be  at  liberty,  without  discrimination,  to 
participate.  You  were  to  form  a  government,  under  the  dictation  and  by 
the  direction  of  a  foreign  power,  and  you,  in  the  formation  of  the  govern 
ment,  were  to  be  deprived  of  the  services  of  the  intelligence  and  virtue  of 
your  countrymen,  simply  because  you  had  trusted  them,  and  you  had  to  submit 
to  the  government  being  formed  by  those  who  had  recently  been  your 
slaves,  ignorant  and  debased  as  they  were.  You  wrill  remember  now  that 
these  are  the  reasons  why  your  honor  was  involved.  The  base  Congress — 
the  unprecedentedly  traitorous  Congress  who  got  its  own  consent  thus  to 
attempt,  in  the  day  of  its  power,  to  dishonor  an  unarmed  people — this 
Congress,  I  say,  had  a  vague,  lingering  suspicion  of  the  dishonor  of  its 
scheme,  and  therefore  provided  a  plan  by  which  the  infamy  should  seem  to 
spring  from  your  own  consent.  Well,  I  confess  truly  that  when  I  looked  at 
the  picture,  when  I  saw  the  issue  and  remembered  that  no  people  had  ever 
grown  great  who  suffered  their  honor  to  be  sullied — no  people  had  recov 
ered  from  misfortune  who  had  yielded  their  honor  to  the  enemy — when  I 
remembered  all  these  things  and  saw  the  condition  of  our  people,  saw  all 
the  dangers  that  surrounded  them  and  the  power  that  dictated  these  terms, — 
Oh  God  !  Thou  and  Thou  only  knowest  the  anxiety  of  my  spirit !  When 
the  smoke  of  our  burning  cities  went  up  to  heaven,  and  our  brave  men  fell 
in  battle,  I  was  grieved  exceedingly  ;  but  when  a  whole  people — millions  of 
freemen — were  asked — ordered — commanded  by  power  to  sacrifice  their 
honor  at  the  bidding  of  hate,  and  there  were  found  those  who  whispered 
that  the  sacrifice  would  be  made,  my  heart  did  sink  within  me  ;  and  when  I 
remember  now  the  means  and  appliances  brought  to  bear  to  compel  you  to 
yield,  I  do  rejoice  in  knowing  that  you  refused.  I  have  had  only  one  point 
to  accomplish  in  this  struggle  ;  some  have  troubled  themselves  about  offices, 
others  about  votes,  others  yet  about  carrying  the  election  against  the  con 
vention,  and  still  others  about  the  defeat  of  tho  Constitution.  For  all  this 
I  care  nothing ;  the  great  and  only  point  which  I  had  ever  felt  to  be  of 
serious  consequence  in  this  struggle,  was  to  induce  and  persuade  the  white 
people  of  the  South  never  to  consent  to  this  infamy.  I  knew  that  elections 


310  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

would  be  declared  successful ;  I  knew  that,  right  or  wrong,  they  would  say 
that  the  elections  were  carried.  They  came  for  that  purpose.  That  was  not 
the  point  with  me.  I  wanted  your  women  and  children  to  see  ;  I  wanted 
posterity  to  know ;  I  wanted  a  record  made  so  that  it  could  be  read  by  all 
men,  now  and  forever,  that  the  white  people  of  the  South  refused  to  give 
their  consent  to  this  iniquity.  That  is  why  I  wrote  and  spoke  ;  that  is  why 
I  despised  the  infamous  and  defied  the  powerful. 

Still,  fellow-citizens,  it  was  a  time  to  fear.  If  I  doubted  and  trembled 
on  that  occasion,  do  not  blame  me  ;  if  I  feared  you  would  not  be  equal  to 
the  great  crisis,  don't  chide  me.  Remember  the  powerful  influence  brought 
to  bear.  The  Congress  claimed  to  be  all-powerful,  and  they  avowed  their 
purpose  of  carrying  out  this  infamy,  and  if  you  did  not  accept  it,  of  making 
you  accept  a  worse.  First  of  all  these,  in  carrying  out  that  plan,  they  sent 
the  military  here  ;  they  sent  an  army  of  bayonets  to  make  war  upon  a  help 
less  people  as  another  means  of  accomplishing  this  infamy,  and  securing  the 
form  of  your  consent  ;  they  came  to  some  of  your  own  public  men — natives 
of  Georgia  and  of  the  South — men  whom  you  had  honored  of  old,  and  they 
bought  them  up  as  coadjutors  in  the  work.  I  speak  of  a  class,  and  I  affirm 
fearlessly,  and  I  want  the  people  of  the  country  to  know  it,  that  there  was 
not  a  single  Southern  public  man  who  advocated  the  acceptance  of  this 
Reconstruction  scheme  who  was  not  bought,  and  bought  with  a  price,  by 
your  enemies.  The  price  has  partially  been  paid,  and  you  are  to  pay  the 
balance.  What  arguments  did  they  use  ?  Did  they  .appeal  to  your  pride, 
your  honor,  or  your  interests  ?  Not  at  all.  They  came  among  you  and 
traveled  from  the  seaboard  to  the  mountains,  and  they  told  an  impoverished 
people,  "  If  you  don't  accept  this  infamy,  the  little  property  that  you  have 
left  shall  be  confiscated,  and  every  man  of  you  shall  be  disfranchised !  ' 
Congress,  claiming  to  be  all-powerful,  installed  an  army  in  your  midst,  and 
found  citizens  ready  and  willing  to  urge,  to  persuade,  to  intimidate,  and  to 
threaten  a  starving  and  almost  helpless  people. 

Oh,  my  countrymen,  proud  as  I  know  Southern  blood  to  be,  don't  chide 
me  if  in  this  dark  hour  I  felt  uneasy.  I  confess  that  I  did.  I  watched  the 
first  election — the  election  for  the  convention — with  intense  interest.  I 
happened  to  be  in  New  York  City  when  the  first  election  in  the  South  came 
off,  and  I  shall  never  forget  how  my  hopes  were  lifted  and  my  desires  ful 
filled  on  receipt  of  the  first  telegram  from  the  South,  giving  as  one  of  the 
facts  connected  with  the  first  day  of  the  election,  that  the  whites  refused 
to  have  anything  to  do  with  it.  I  waited  anxiously  for  the  second  day, 
thinking  that  perhaps  the  "  superior  race"  had  crowded  in,  and  the  whites 
were,  on  that  account,  unable  to  go  to  the  polls.  The  second  day  came, 
and  brought  the  news  that  the  whites  had,  almost  to  a  man,  remained  away 
from  the  polls — only  a  few  carpet-baggers  and  office-seekers  voting.  Thus 
the*  elections  went  on  to  the  last.  I  tell  vou,  fellow-citizens,  I  moved 

«/ 

among  the  inhabitants  of  the  great  commercial  metropolis  prouder  that  day 
than  ever  before.  I  shall  never  forget  meeting  some  of  the  prominent  men 
of  that  city,  one  of  whom  said  to  me,  "  We  had  been  taught  to  believe  that 
the  people  of  the  South  would  indorse  this  measure,  and  they  have  had 
nothing  to  do  with  it.  Why,"  added  he,  "  your  people  are  more  honorable 
than  we  gave  them  credit  for." 

Well,  the  power  with  the  bayonet  said  that  a  convention  was  ordered. 
All  knew,  however,  that  it  was  ordered  by  negroes — not  by  whites — though, 
in  truth,  nobody  did  order  it  but  the  bayonet  and  certain  scoundrels.  The 


HIS  LIFE  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  311 

negroes  never  ordered  it.  I  exonerate  the  negroes.  I  affirm  to-day  another 
great  fact,  which  I  want  to  be  remembered,  and  which,  whenever  the 
occasion  may  demand,  I  stand  prepared  to  support  :  The  convention  in 
Georgia  was  defeated  by  thirty  thousand  votes  !  Ah,  my  friends,  there  is 
nothing  like  it  in  history !  You  were  poor,  you  were  betrayed,  tempted, 
threatened — you  were  told  that  every  man  that  didn't  vote  for  the  conven 
tion  must  have  his  little  remaining  property  confiscated,  besides  being 
disfranchised,  and  that  the  list  of  voters  was  to  be  used  to  ascertain  who 
you  were. 

Miserable  threat  !  Proud  people — noble  people  !  The  verdict'you  gave 
was  that,  though  many  of  our  gallant  spirits  were  sleeping  under  the  sod, 
there  was  heroism  still  left  in  the  South.  Well,  the  false  convention 
assembled,  and  a  thing  called  a  constitution  was  framed.  It  had  to  be 
ratified,  and  a  governor  and  officers  had  to  be  chosen,  and  what  was  the 
appeal  then  ?  Of  course,  if  the  Southern  white  people  approved  the  consti 
tution,  this  dishonor  was  complete.  They  had  exhausted  appeals  to  your 
fears — you  could  not  be  frightened  from  your  honor — and  the  next  thing 
was  to  buy  you  up.  So  they  put  in  the  new  Constitution  something  called 
relief.  The  few  men  in  the  South  (who,  unfortunately,  were  Southern  men 
from  accident  or  other  cause)  who  had  sold  themselves  to  engage  in  this 
work,  being  entirely  conscious  that  they  were  bought  up  for  the  purpose, 
thought,  of  course,  that  the  same  means  would  answer  for  the  balance  of  the 
people.  They,  therefore,  sought  to  buy  you,  and  they  promised  you  relief. 
I  came  here  to  this  very  city,  and  I  took  occasion  to  notify  you  that  this 
promise  was  put  into  the  new  Constitution  for  no  other  purpose  than  to 
cheat  you,  and  that  the  rogues  and  hypocrites  who  put  it  in,  did  so  with  the 
distinct  knowledge  that  it  would  be  stricken  out  after  the  election.  They 
used  it  well.  They  bid  high.  The  question  was  this  :  how  many  men  in 
Georgia  are  willing  to  confess  themselves  no  better  than  negroes  if  they 
could  thereby  get  rid  of  their  debts  ?  how  many  of  you  would  be  willing 
to  be  negroes,  if,  by  being  negroes,  y^u  could  be  excused  from  paying  your 
debts  ?  Well  I  came  to  this  city  in  March  to  inaugurate  the  fight  on  that 
question,  and  some  of  you,  my  friends,  were  weak-kneed.  You  didn't  do 
right.  A  good  many  of  you  came  to  me  then,  and  said,  "  Don't  you  say 
anything  against  the  Constitution  ;  everybody  is  going  to  vote  for  it ;  every 
body  was  going  to  be  sold."  It  was  a  great  wound  to  inflict  upon  me.  I 
was  struggling  for  nothing  on  this  earth  but  to  preserve  the  honor  of  the 
people  of  Georgia,  and  knowing  that  they  could  not  be  frightened.  I 
hoped  they  could  not  be  bought.  We  made  the  fight  and  let  the  whole 
world  know  it ;  the  white  people  of  Georgia,  by  an  overwhelming  majority, 
refused  to  be  bought. 

Some  few  men,  I  apprehend,  are  about  in  the  category  of  the  poor 
negroes  who  voted  for  a  convention  to  get  "  forty  acres  and  a  mule."  Ah, 
you  poor  victims  of  a  wily  hypocrisy  ;  of  men  to  whom  God  gave  a  white 
skin  by  mistake.  You  who  went  upon  the  public  block,  before  your  country 
men  and  the  world,  and  publicly  proclaimed  that  you  were  willing  to  be 
a  negro,  if,  by  being  a  negro,  you  could  be  excused  from*  paying  your  debts, 
how  do  you  feel  to-day,  after  agreeing  to  be  a  negro  and  having  to  pay  your 
debts  too  ? 

My  friends,  General  Cobb  made  a  request  of  the  military  ;  I  shan't  make 
any — never  intended  to  ;  but  I  advise  you,  poor  fellows,  to  make  one.  The 
only  evidence  of  how  you  voted  is  in  the  possession  of  the  military.  Go 


312  SENATOR  B.   II.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

then,  before  they  leave,  and  ask  them  to  burn  up  the  record.  The  great 
majority  of  the  white  people  spurned  the  bribe  and  despised  the  bribers. 
And  let  it  be  forever  remembered,  to  your  pride  and  honor,  that  the  people 
of  Georgia,  under  the  threat  of  the  bayonet,  with  the  temptations  of  treach 
ery  all  around  and  in  the  very  ashes  of  their  poverty,  have  said  to  all  man 
kind  :  "  We  can  neither  be  frightened  nor  bought  from  our  honor." 

I  have  said  the  military  declared  a  convention  had  been  ordered,  when 
there  was  thirty  thousand  majority  against  it.  They  also  declared  that 
Gordon  was  defeated,  and  that  the  Radical  party  had  succeeded,  when,  in 
truth,  Gordon  was  elected  by  nearly  ten  thousand  votes.  I  say  that  it  is  so, 
counting  the  correctly  registered  voters  and  correcting  the  frauds  of  the  bal 
lot.  I  repeat,  counting  the  honest  registered  voters,  that  this  express 
agent  was  largely  defeated  for  governor,  and  he  knows  it,  and  they  know  it. 

We  Avon  two  victories,  and  we  won  them  against  the  bayonet,  against 
force,  against  fraud,  against  treachery,  and  against  the  negroes.  The  white 
people  of  this  country  are  not  going  to  consent  to  this  thing  ;  they  never 
have  and  never  will.  If  the  Radicals  have  been  unable  thus  far  to  get  the 
consent  of  the  white  people  to  this  scheme  of  infamy,  will  they  be  able  to  do 
it  hereafter  ?  How  can  they  ?  They  have  appealed  to  your  fears  and  your 
avarice,  and  taken  advantage  of  your  poverty,  but  they  have  been  disap 
pointed  ;  they  have  failed  in  their  schemes,  and  I  tell  you  that  there  is  no 
argument  or  appliance  which  they  can  use  in  the  future  more  powerful  than 
those  they  have  used  in  the  past.  Any  people  who  can  withstand  such  appli 
ances  of  force  and  pressure  as  have  been  brought  to  bear  upon  you  within 
the  past  twelve  months,  can  never  be  seduced  or  driven  from  their  honor.  I 
am  proud  of  Georgia,  and  I  pray  that  when  God  takes  me  hence  my  bones 
may  be  laid  in  her  honored  old  soil. 

My  friends,  I  wish  to  pass  now  to  another  subject.  The  issue  has  some 
what  changed.  I  have  told  you  what  the  issue  has  been  the  last  twelve 
months,  and  I  wish  to  state  here,  in  a  few  brief  words,  the  main  points  in 
issue  now.  Some  who  consented  to  be  bought  for  the  purpose  of  inducing 
the  people  of  the  South  to  accept  this  infamy,  offered  this  excuse.  They 
said  they  were  not  going  to  be  Radicals,  they  were  not  going  to  consent  to 
negro  government,  but  they  said  "  let  us  seem  to  go  into  this  thing,  let  us 
get  back  into  the  Union,  and  then  we'll  turn  it  all  over  and  do  as  we  please." 
That  was  an  argument  based  upon  treachery.  They  had  betrayed  you,  and 
they  were  justifying  their  treachery  to  you  by  proving  that  they  were  going 
to  betray  the  Radicals.  That  suggestion  deceived  a  great  many  people  for 
a  time.  For  myself,  I  had  nothing  to  do  with  it,  because  I  could  not  con 
sent  to  join  traitors.  I  don't  believe  in  treachery — no  people  ever  saved 
themselves  by  it.  Where  the  honor  of  a  people  is  involved,  they  cannot 
swerve  from  principle  for  the  sake  of  policy.  The  only  line  of  honor  is  a 
direct  one.  But  what  is  the  result  ?  Those  manipulators  at  Washington 
who  had  bought  these  Southern  men  had  more  sense  than  the  men  they 
bought.  They  were  not  going  to  be  caught  in  any  such  trap  as  that,  and 
in  this  respect  my.  prophecy  has  turned  out  to  be  correct.  The  issue  now, 
then,  is  this  :  Shall  this  infamy,  which  has  been  thrust  upon  the  people  of 
Georgia,  and  of  the  other  Southern  States,  be  valid  and  perpetual  ?  That 
is  the  first  point  to  which  I  wish  to  direct  your  attention.  In  order  that  it 
may  be  perpetual,  the  Chicago  platform  says  that  the  rights  of  trie  North 
ern  States  to  regulate  the  franchise  and  to  change  and  modify  their  own  Con 
stitutions  shall  not  be  infringed  but  the  Southern  people  shall  not  have  the 


HIS  LIFE,  SPKEOHES,  AND  WHITINGS.  313 

right  to  change  their  Constitutions  at  will.  Now,  if  anything  in  American 
history  never  was  disputed  before  it  is  this,  that  the  States  were  members 
of  the  Union  on  an  equal  footing  ;  and  there  is  no  man,  from  George 
Washington  down,  whether  high  or  low,  wise  or  simple,  black  or  white,  who 
ever  had  any  idea  that  the  Union  formed  by  the  States  was  a  Union  of  un 
equal  States  ;  it  was  always  admitted  that  the  States  were  equal  and  each 
retained  control  of  the  franchise.  I  state  a  mere  fact  and  history  ;  since  the 
acknowledgment  of  our  independence  we  have  added  twenty-four  new 
States  to  the  Union,  and  in  every  act  admitting  a  State  as  a  member  of  this 
Union  it  is  distinctly  stated  that  she  is  admitted  on  an  equal  footing  with 
all  other  States.  But  this  Chicago  Convention,  with  the  Georgia  Radicals 
in  it,  for  the  first  time  in  American  history,  makes  the  declaration  that  the 
Union  shall  be  a  Union  of  unequal  States.  I  want  you  all  to  remember  that 
point.  It  is  the  great  aim  of  the  Radicals.  Where  are  you  now,  my  good 
Union  men  ?  You  that  wanted  to  get  back  into  the  Union  and  were  willing 
to  sacrifice  everything  for  the  accomplishment  of  that  object ;  you  that  con 
gratulated  the  country  upon  being  again  in  "  the  Union  "  ?  It  is  a  Union  in 
which  the  Southern  States  are  vassals  and  the  Northern  States  rulers.  I 
want  you  to  hear  it  and  to  remember  it.  That  it  is  mere  sheer  naked  dis 
union  in  the  most  odious  and  traitorous  form  in  which  the  word  was  ever 
spoken.  It  cuts  the  femoral  artery — it  is  a  stab  to  the  very  heart,  and  de 
stroys  the  Union  of  equal  States,  which  our  fathers  formed. 

I  read  with  shame  and  mortification — (I  knew  the  poor  fellow  did  not 
know  much) — I  read,  I  say,  in  the  papers,  that  this  stupid  express  agent,  in 
the  presence  and  under  the  protection  of  force  and  treachery,  went  yester 
day  through  the  farce  of  being  inaugurated  a  miserable  sham  Governor  of 
Georgia.  Why,  every  word  he  uttered  shows  he  does  not,  this  day,  know 
the  difference  between  a  restored  Union  of  equal  States  and  a  constructed 
new-Union  of  unequal  States.  Take  that  fact  down — pencil  it  carefully  and 
take  it  to  your  hearts.  If  I  can  teach  you  to  take  home  with  you  that  single 
sentence,  you  will  not  have  come  here  to-day  in  vain.  There  never  was,  in 
the  history  of  any  people,  such  a  bold,  plain,  palpable,  universally  admitted 
cause  of  war,  as  that  simple  statement  in  that  Chicago  platform. 

And  yet  that  is  not  all.  You,  gentlemen,  who  think  you  are  members  of 
a  Legislature — poor,  deluded  souls,  how  I  pity  you  ! — you  who  come  here 
and  go  through  the  form  of  passing  laws,  I  want  you  to  hear  one  thing. 
Not  only  is  that  doctrine  of  unequal  States  in  the  Chicago  platform,  but  it 
is  in  what  you  call  your  Omnibus  Admission  Bill.  That  bill  prescribes  the 
manner  in  which  you  shall  go  back,  and  every  one  of  you  who  voted  the 
other  day  to  get  back,  as  you  say,  into  the  Union,  agreed  to  the  doctrine 
that  Georgia  shall  never  have  the  right  to  do  what  Ohio  can  do  ;  that  the 
Southern  States  shall  never  have  the  right  to  do  what  the  Northern  States 
ican  do.  You  agreed  to  remain  forever  an  unequal  member  of  the  Union. 
You  agreed  that  you  would  get  back  into  the  Union  by  consenting  that 
Georgia  shall  never  have  the  power  to  modify  or  to  change  her  own  State 
constitution,  as  to  her  own  domestic  affairs,  according  to  her  own  will  and 
pleasure.  Ah,  you  renegades — you  rogues — who  tried  to  steal  your  neigh 
bors'  property  and  could  not  do*  it !  Ah,  ye  men  that  adopted  the  Recon 
struction  measures  for  the  purpose  of  getting  back  into  the  Union,  and  then 
catching  the  Radicals  by  changing  the  Constitution  afterward.  Are  you 
net  ^caught — caught  by  Thad.  Stevens — caught  by  Charles  Sumner?  I 
don't  know  but  one  thing  that  is  worse,  and  that  is  agreeing  to  be  a  negro, 


314  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

to  get  rid  of  your  debts,  and  then,  after  becoming  a  negro,  having  your 
debts  to  pay. 

Remember,  oh,  my  countrywomen  ! — mothers,  teach  it  to  your  children 
as  you  rock  them  in  their  cradles  and  in  the  nursery  ditties  by  which  you 
send  them  to  sleep — tell  them  that  men — white  men — Georgians — some  of 
them  "  to  the  manor  born  " — have  come  upon  this  classical  old  hill  and  have 
deliberately  put  upon  record  their  solemn  consent  that  the  proud  old  State 
of  Georgia  goes  back  into  the  Union  on  the  express  condition  that  she  shall 
never  be  equal  to  other  States.  Oh,  you  renegades  from  everything  that  can 
make  you  hope  for  even  a  chance  of  being  gentlemen  !  You  have  buried  the 
sovereignty  of  your  State,  you  have  sullied  the  character  of  your  ancestors, 
and  agreed  to  make  vassals  of  your  children.  You  have  agreed  to  wear  a 
Radical  yoke  in  order  to  vote  yourselves  eight  dollars  a  day  for  a  few  hot 
days  in  summer.  That  is  the  Union  we  have — a  Union  of  unequal  States. 
Ye  cowardly,  base  disunionists  of  the  vilest  type,  you  disgrace  humanity 
by  calling  honest  men  rebels  !  That  is  not  all.  You  have  not  only  agreed 
to  inequality,  but  you  have  also  agreed  to  what  is  called  the  equality  of 
races  ;  that  is,  you  have  agreed  to  equality  among  the  races  as  a  condition 
of  getting  back  into  the  Union,  and  you  have  agreed  that  that  shall  never 
be  changed  ;  but  you  are  so  given  to  lying  that  you  could  not  tell  the  truth 
even  when  you  thought  it  was  to  your  interest  to  do  it. 

You  say  in  your  record  that  you  have  agreed  to  an  equality  of  the  races, 
when  you  know,  you  vile  hypocrites,  that  the  very  agreement  you  make  in 
cludes  the  disfranchisement  of  the  intelligent,  virtuous  and  educated,  and 
wealthy  white  men,  and  that  they  shall  not  be  allowed  to  hold  office  in  this 
country,  or  while  any  scalawag  or  negro  may.  Is  that  equality  ?  If  a 
negro  has  a  right  to  vote  and  hold  office,  why  not  these  men  whom  you  have 
always  trusted?  Oh,  you  whited  sepulchers — ye  who  are  degrading  the 
poor  negro  by  your  example  of  fraud  and  treachery.  Ye  vile  renegades 
from  every  law  of  God  and  every  right  of  humanity,  you  are  deceiving  the 
unfortunate  negro  to  his  ruin.  If  the  negroes  ever  get  a  permanent  right  to 
vote  in  this  country,  it  must  be  by  the  consent  of  the  people  that  live  here. 
If  the  negroes,  when  this  infamous  proposition  was  made  to  them  by  more 
infamous  white  men  to  disfranchise  the  white  people,  had  come  out  and 
said  publicly  and  openly,  "  We  are  willing  to  accept  the  franchise  ;  if  there 
is  any  benefit  in  political  equality  we  want  it,  but  we  will  never  consent  to 
disfranchise  the  intelligent  white  men  of  this  country,"'  if  the  negroes  had 
come  out  and  said  that,  they  would  have  furnished  an  evidence  that  they 
were  capable  of  exercising  the  franchise.  You  Radicals  of  the  Legislature 
have  agreed  to  degrade  your  own  State  and  people,  and  you  have  agreed 
that  that  degradation  shall  be  perpetual. 

The  question  in  this  contest  is,  whether  that  program  shall  be  carried 
out.  That  is  where  Grant  stands,  and  where  Col  fax  stands,  and  where  all 
you  vagabonds  stand.  Where  do  we  stand?  Where  do  Seymour  and 
Blair  stand  ?  Upon  the  glorious  ancestral  doctrine  that  the  States  are  equal 
and  that  white  blood  is  superior.  Now  choose  ye  which  you  will  vote  for. 
Some  of  you  got  scared  last  fall  for  fear  of  losing  your  property  by  confisca 
tion  ;  others  of  you  were  afraid  of  being  disfranchised,  and  others  still  were 
bought  this  spring  with  relief.  Where  is  relief  now  ?  Echo  answers,  Where  ? 
Now  come,  my  friends,  I  know  you  feel  very  badly.  I  know  you  don't  feel 
like  associating  with  gentlemen  ;  come  now,  go  home  immediately  ;  tell  your 
wife  to  put  on  you  a  clean  shirt  ;  take  a  good  wash  with  soap  and  warm 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  315 

water,  and  then  come  back  and  be  free  and  decent  white  men.  Come  to 
our  side  of  the  question.  We  will  try  to  forgive  you,  but  you  must  come 
quick.  I  admit  that  there  are  some  or  you  I  would  be  very  sorry  to  see  come, 
for  the  reason  that  I  know  our  party  would  be  betrayed  very  soon  !  Still, 
you  who  didn't  know  any  better,  you  who  were  sold — if  you  will  clean  up  and 
get  on  a  clean  shirt,  we  will  take  you  back. 

How  many  white  men  in  Georgia  are  going  to  say  by  their  vote  that 
Georgia  is  not  an  equal  member  of  this  Union  with  Rhode  Island,  and  that 
Virginia — proud  old  Virginia — that  State  which  has  in  its  bosom  the  ashes 
of  Washington,  and  has  furnished  more  Presidents  to  this  country  than  any 
other  State,  shall  not  be  the  equal  of  Kansas !  I  want  to  know  how  many- 
men  in  Georgia  are  willing  to  say  that  proud  old  Virginia  shall  never  be  the 
equal  of  Kansas.  I  want  to  know,  too,  how  many  white  men  in  Georgia  are 
willing  to  put  upon  the  record,  that  pauperism  shall  fix  the  burdens  for 
property,  and  ignorance  and  vice  shall  prescribe  the  law  for  intelligence  and 
virtue?  Take  this  concern  up  here — take  the  Radical  wing  of  it  and  tell 
me  how  much  property  in  this  State  they  possess  ?  It  is  true  there  is  one 
man  in  the  whole  concern  that  represents  some  property,  and  it  is  said  he 
stole  it.  I  repeat,  how  much  property  do  the  Radical  members  of  this  thing, 
that  imagined  itself  a  Legislature,  represent?  It  does  not  represent  taxable 
property  enough  to  pay  their  per  diem.  And  these  men  are  to  make  laws 
to  tax  disfranchised  property  holders  in  this  enlightened  nineteenth  century 
and  in  this  Christian  country.  Shame  !  shame  !  Is  there  a  member  of  the 
Legislature  who  hears  me  to-day?  Ah,  to  your  shame  be  it  said,  more  than 
a  hundred  of  you  have  so  recorded  your  names  !  Go,  my  friends,  and  take 
it  back,  for  I  charge  you  this  day,  in  this  bright  sun  and  in  this  central  city 
of  Georgia,  that  if  that  record  remains  as  you  have  made  it,  whereby  you 
have  covenanted  and  agreed  that  these  Southern  States  shall  be  unequal 
members  of  this  Union,  and  that  the  intelligent  men  of  this  country  shall  be 
disfranchised  and  deprived  of  their  right  to  hold  office,  and  that  pauperism 
shall  fix  the  burden  of  taxation,  and  vice  and  ignorance  make  laws  for  intel 
ligence  and  virtue,  you  will  go  down  to  posterity  so  infamous  that  when  a 
legitimate  Legislature  shall  have  assembled,  some  unfortunate  creatures  who 
may  be  compelled  by  Providence  to  call  you  father,  will  apply  to  the  Legis 
lature  to  have  their  names  changed.  I  understand  some  of  you  that  voted 
for  that  fourteenth  Article,  and  voted  to  expunge  relief,  call  yourselves 
Democrats.  You  are  vain,  deluded  creatures  if  you  think  that  the  Demo 
cratic  door  will  be  ever  open  to  receive  you  with  such  a  name.  Such  a  vote 
is  directly  against  the  Democratic  platform,  and  directly  for  the  Radical 
platform,  and  must  be  repented  of  and  changed. 

Are  these,  then,  the  terms  of  the  new  Union?  terms  of  negro  dominion, 
of  pauperism  in  power  and  ignorance  in  legislating,  I  say  such  terms  will 
never  succeed.  The  white  people  have  refused  to  consent  to  them,  and  I 
tell  you  that  they  will  not  consent  to  them,  and  you  can  never  establish  any 
government  permanently  in  this  country  against  the  consent  of  the  white 
people.  The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  made  up  their  minds  that 
the  Reconstruction  measures  were  unconstitutional  and  void,  but  they  were 
too  cowardly  to  declare  the  decision.  This  is  a  melancholy  fact,  that  the 
supreme  judiciary  of  this  country  should  have  given  way  so  cowardly.  But 
it  will  not  always  be  thus — it  cannot  forever  refuse  to  pronounce  its  decision. 
It  is  true,  a  Radical  Congress  has  taken  away  jurisdiction  in  the  McCardle 
case,  but  we  shall  have  another  case.  A  gentleman,  who  is  the  only  real 


316  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

Governor  of  Georgia,  is  making  a  case  in  which  jurisdiction  is  given  by  the 
Constitution.  Yes,  when  I  mention  him,  I  mention  a  man  who,  in  any  age 
or  nation,  is  worthy  to  be  a  governor !  I  tell  you,  then,  you  who  trade  in 
the  respectability  of  your  race — you  who  are  venders  of  your  people's 
honor — I  tell  you  to-day  that  this  very  court  will  pronounce  these  acts 
unconstitutional  and  void,  and  everything  done  under  them  unconstitutional 
and  void. 

But  we  have  a  party  now  organized,  a  strong  and  a  glorious  party,  with 
statesmen  at  its  head  and  with  correct  principles  for  its  platform.  From 
Maine  to  California  the  glorious  tramp  of  the  Democracy  is  growing  more 
and  more  distinct,  and  by  November  a  verdict  will  be  pronounced  by  the 
great  freemen  of  America  that  shall  gladden  the  hearts  of  patriots  now  and 
forever.  And  when  the  people  shall  have  pronounced  that  verdict  the  court 
will  take  courage  and  pronounce  their  judgment.  Then — ah,  then,  what 
will  become  of  you,  ye  isolated  hypocrites  ?  All  power  to  threaten  gone, 
treachery  exhausted,  relief  measures  and  Reconstruction  measures  both  dead, 
the  Radical  party  out  of  Congress,  how  on  earth  will  you  hide  your  shame, 
thus  stripped  naked  to  the  gaze  of  the  world  in  all  your  unhidden  infamy  ! 
What  will  become  of  you  ?  "  Ye  generation  of  vipers,  how  will  you  escape 
the  damnation  of  hell  ?  r  That's  what  is  coming.  Oh,  it's  coming  ;  thank 
God  it's  coming — coming  to  the  cheer  of  patriots  and  the  dismay  of  traitors. 
Yes,  I  tell  you  victory  is  coming.  We  have  suffered,  and  suffered  much. 
Our  comrades  are  sleeping.  Ah,  sleeping  !  many  of  them  by  the  streams  and 
in  the  valleys  of  Georgia.  They  are  sleeping  on  the  banks  of  the  deep-roll 
ing  Mississippi  ;  they  are  sleeping  all  over  Virginia,  grander  than  the  pyra 
mids  of  Egypt  and  richer  than  the  mines  of  India.  Spirit  of  our  departed 
braves,  we  are  not  dishonored  yet !  and  though  the  vile,  the  low,  the  cor 
rupt,  and  the  perjured  are  seeking  to  be  our  rulers,  and  have  seized  upon  our 
high  places,  the  noble,  the  valiant,  and  the  true  are  stilt  left  to  us,  and 
through  all  our  borders  are  taking  courage  and  hymning  the  notes  of  coming 
triumph.  Ye  miserable  spawns  of  political  accidency,  hatched  by  the  putrid 
growth  of  revolutionary  corruption  into  an  ephemeral  existence — renegades 
from  every  law  of  God  and  violators  of  every  right  of  man — we  serve  you 
with  notice  this  day  that  this  victory  is  coming.  The  men  of  the  South  and 
the  men  of  the  North — patriots  everywhere — are  sending  up  their  vows  to 
heaven  that  this  is,  and  shall  forever  be  a  Union  of  equal  States,  and  never 
a  hateful  Union  of  unequal  States.  Men  of  pride,  men  of  character,  women, 
— thank  God! — without  a  dissenting  voice,  and  even  children  in  their  play 
grounds,  are  proclaiming  on  hill-top  and  in  valley,  that  those  whom  God 
made  superior  shall  not  be  degraded  to  the  dominion  of  the  inferior. 

A  few  more  words  and  I  will  close.  If,  as  I  now  hope  and  believe,  we 
shall  again  have  liberty  and  law  under  the  Constitution,  what  shall  be  done 
with  those  who  have  taken  advantage  of  these  corrupt  times  to  insult  inno 
cence,  trample  upon  rights,  and  oppress  helplessness  ?  These  criminals  will 
be  among  us,  and  must  be  assigned  appropriate  positions.  What  shall 
we  do  with  them  ?  Ye  who  have  traveled  through  the  blood  and  losses  and 
sorrows  of  war,  for  asserting  nothing  but  what  the  very  framers  of  the  Con 
stitution  taught  was  your  right  ;  ye  who  have  been  taunted  and  reviled  as 
rebels  and  traitors  ;  ye  who  have  been  disfranchised  in  the  land  of  your 
fathers,  and  made  exiles  in  the  home  of  your  birth.  When  this  victory  shall 
come,  and  we  shall  once  more  be  free  men,  and  no  longer  insulted  and 
oppressed  by  miserable  vagabonds  and  renegades,  what  shall  we  do  with 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  317 

• 

the  criminals  ?  I  would  not  hurt  a  hair  of  their  heads,  do  them  no  personal 
harm,  and  deprive  them  of  no  right.  Give  them  over — oh,  give  over  the 
miscreants  to  the  inextinguishable  hell  of  their  own  consciousness  of  infamy. 
But  some  things  you  must  do  for  the  protection  of  your  children  and  of  your 
selves,  and  for  the  vindication  of  your  honor.  I  affirm  it,  and  I  want  it  heard. 
It  is  going  to  be  the  law  of  this  country,  and  a  law  more  irrepealable  than  the 
laws  of  the  Medes  and  Persians.  Not  one  man  that  dares  record  his  vote  for 
the  inequality  and  vassalage  of  the  Southern  States  and  the  degradation  of 
his  own  race,  ought  ever  to  be  received  into  a  decent  family  in  Georgia,  or 
in  the  South,  now  or  hereafter. 

And  this  rule  we  can  make  now.  If  we  have  not  the  power  to  help  make 
the  laws  for  our  government  or  for  society,  thank  God!  we  can  at  least  pass 
social  laws  for  our  own  homes.  I  charge  you  this  day,  as  you  honor  your 
children  and  your  household,  and  would  preserve  your  good  name  for  your 
posterity,  never  suffer  a  single  native  renegade  who  votes  for  the  vassalage 
of  these  States,  and  the  disgrace  of  your  children  and  your  race,  to  darken 
your  doors,  or  to  speak  to  any  member  of  your  family.  You  condemn  the 
poor  victim  to  the  penitentiary  who  steals  a  horse  or  a  hundred  dollars,  and 
yet  these  miserable  creatures  have  sought  to  bargain  away  everything  that 
you  have  or  can  value.  You  scorn  the  criminal  who  has  violated  the  penal 
laws  of  your  country.  These  miserable  renegades  are  faithless  to  every  law 
of  heaven  and  of  earth,  and  have  used  every  means  to  sell  you  to  those  who 
hate  you,  and  to  place  your  lives  and  your  all  in  the  power  of  the  ignorant 
and  debased. 

Another  thing  I  insist  shall  be  done  :  A  people  who  will  not  resent 
such  foul  innovations  of  their  right,  are  not  worthy  of  freedom.  You  have 
been  helpless — your  great  men  have  been  silenced  ;  you  surrendered  your 
arms  to  what  you  thought  was  a  gallant  foe  ;  you  surrendered  them  under 
the  assurances  of  protection — and  yet  these  men,  your  own  citizens  many  of 
them,  who  hurried  you  to  war,  have  taken  advantage  of  your  poverty  and 
helplessness,  and  of  the  presence  of  the  bayonet ;  they  have  invaded  your 
households  ;  they  have  stolen  your  property  ;  they  have  robbed  you  of  your 
goods  ;  they  have  joined  the  negro  and  the  stranger  to  tax,  insult,  and,  op 
press  you  ;  and  they  have,  contrary  to  the  laws  of  the  land,  forced  into  dun 
geons  and  before  military  commissions  the  proud  freemen  of  this  country. 
You  have  been  powerless  to  prevent  these  things. 

But  my  vow  is  recorded,  and  I  shall  redeem  it  if  I  find  the  people  willing 
to  sustain  me.  Men  who  have  trampled  upon  the  rights  of  the  citizens  of 
Georgia,  at  a  time  wrhen  the  laws  were  paralyzed,  shall  feel  the  power  of  that 
restored  law  when  liberty  is  reawaked.  Ye  vile  miscreants  of  the  conven 
tion,  who  stole  the  money  of  the  State  to  pay  your  per  diem,  I  give  you 
notice  that  you  shall  pay  it  back.  And  there  is  a  good  legal  principle  here, 
which  I  want  you  to  remember,  and  that  is,  that  where  a  number  of  men 
band  themselves  together  for  the  commission  of  a  common  purpose,  each  one 
is  responsible  for  what  all  the  others  do  or  get.  And,  therefore,  every  man 
who  took  a  portion  of  that  stolen  money,  is  liable  for  every  cent  that  negroes 
and  carpet-baggers  received,  and  we  are  going  to  make  them  pay  it.  Ye 
constitution  makers,  ye  men  that  sprung  at  one  bound  from  the  penitentiaries 
of  the  country,  to  frame  constitutions  for  honest  people  ;  ye  men  who  oscil 
late  from  grand  jury  rooms  with  charges  of  perjury  upon  you,  up  to  legisla 
tive  halls  and  other  high  places  in  the  land,  I  serve  you  with  notice  to-day, 
that  the  money  shall  be  repaid  with  interest.  And  you  who  are  depriving 


318  SENATOR  R  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

the  people  of  liberty,  threatening  and  conspiring  against  their  lives — (hold  me 
responsible  for  what  I  say) — I  tell  you  that  the  day  is  coming  when  the  judges 
shall  be  in  the  prisoners'  box,  and  the  persecutors  shall  be  clamoring  for 
mercy.  "  Thou  shalt  not  take  the  life  or  liberty  or  property  of  a  citizen, 
except  according  to  the  laws  of  the  land  and  by  the  judgment  of  his  peers," 
is  the  first  and  great  commandment  in  liberty's  decalogue,  and  upon  it  all 
the  other  commandments  hang.  It  was  given  as  a  concession  from  power 
to  the  people  more  than  six  hundred  years  ago,  at  the  political  Horeb  of 
Anglo-Saxon  history,  and  no  man  from  that  day  has  violated  or  disregarded 
it  who  was  not  a  tyrant  or  a  traitor,  or  both.  No  man  in  English  history 
ever  trampled  upon  those  sacred  rights  without  being  called  to  account. 
Wicked  men  have  the  power  now  ;  they  have  bayonets  to  protect  them,  and 
they  feel  they  can  insult  and  oppress  with  impunity  forever. 

So  did  Judas  feel  safe  when  he  helped  eat  the  Lord's  Supper  with  the 
Lord.  Catiline  held  power  in  Rome.  Arnold  once  held  a  commission  in 
the  American  army.  And  you — you  vile  creatures,  whose  infamy  no 
epithet  can  describe,  and  no  precedent  parallel — you  will  find  your  names 
more  odious  than  those  of  Catiline  and  Arnold  combined.  Return  then, 
the  day  of  grace  is  almost  passed.  Reform  now,  and  we  will  forgive  you. 
I  do  not  want  a  single  man  except  a  carpet-bagger  to  vote  for  this  Chicago 
platform.  And  you,  members  of  the  Legislature,  I  will  talk  to  you  kindly 
— you  who  voted  for  this  infamy  the  other  day — the  Fourteenth  Amend 
ment — mark  what  I  tell  you.  At  the  peril  of  your  respectability,  go  and 
take  it  back.  It  is  a  record  whose  stain  will  reach  your  children. 

And  you  who  call  yourselves  Democrats  and  who  yet  are  lying  round 
here  seeking  and  bargaining  to  get  office  from  a  Legislature  which  every 
line  of  Democratic  principles  declares  to  be  an  illegal  and  illegitimate  body, 
shame,  shame  upon  you.  If  this  usurping  Governor  and  Assembly  had 
sufficient  regard  for  the  country's  welfare  to  tender  positions  to  Democrats, 
even  the  acceptance  of  such  positions  would  present  a  question  for  serious 
consideration.  While  I  will  not  condemn  those  who  differ  with  me,  I  must 
be  permitted  to  say  for  myself  that  no  earthly  consideration  or  power  could 
induce  or  force  me  to  so  far  recognize  them  as  to  accept  an  office  at  their 
hands.  For  myself,  I  hold  them  to  be  nothing  but  wicked,  willful,  and 
corrupt  usurpers  of  power,  by  authority  of  none  but  strangers  and  deluded 
negroes,  and  wanton  conspirators  to  subvert  the  legitimate  government  of 
our  State,  and  as  such  I  shall  hold  myself  in  readiness  to  visit  upon  them, 
by  proper  legal  process,  the  penalties  due  to  their  crimes.  I  do  not,  of 
course,  include  in  these  remarks  the  Democratic  members.  These  are  there 
to  prevent  the  mischiefs  I  announce.  Their  positions  are  necessarily  un 
pleasant.  But  they  are  making  sacrifices  by  the  votes  of  our  people,  and 
are  patriots,  doing  all  the  good  they  can,  or  rather  preventing  all  the  evil 
they  can,  and  merit  our  regard.  But  those  who  voluntarily  come  forward 
to  beg  office  of  such  a  body  ;  above  all,  those  who,  either  in  the  Legislature 
or  out  of  it,  make  bargains  with  Radical  usurpers  to  get  office  for  them 
selves  and  their  friends — to  all  such  I  repeat,  shame,  shame  upon  you  ! 

One  thing  more  will  be  necessary  to  a  proper  expression  of  the  abhor 
rence  of  our  people  for  the  infamous  attempt  to  destroy  the  Union  by 
destroying  the  equality  of  the  States,  and  for  the  measures,  authors,  and 
advocates  of  this  whole  scheme  to  degrade  the  States  and  people  of  the 
South.  When  liberty  shall  return  ;  when  the  law  shall  be  again  respected, 
and  good  men  shall  again  be  our  rulers,  we  must  gather  all  the  journals, 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WAITINGS.  319 

and  constitutions,  and  enactments,  and  records  of  every  character  of  the 
conventions  and  assemblies,  thus  forced  upon  us  by  force,  and  fraud,  and 
usurpation,  and,  catching  tire  from  heaven,  burn  them  up  forever  ! 

And  right  here,  my  countrymen,  I  want  you  to  understand  that  I  am  a 
candidate  but  for  one  office  on  earth.  When  the  glorious  day  shall  come, 
and  the  free  women,  and  the  free  men,  and  the  laughing  children,  and  the 
proud  youth  of  Georgia,  shall  gather  together  to  fire  the  miserable,  hideous 
record  of  infamy,  let  the  office  be  mine  to  kindle  the  flames.  That  is  all  i 

%•   ' 

want.  I  would  have  my  children  know,  I  would  have  my  children's  children 
to  know,  if  my  humble  life  shall  be  remembered  so  long,  that  from  first 
to  last,  through  thick  and  through  thin,  I  fought  this  attempt  to  disgrace 
our  people  ;  and  that  at  the  sequel  I  kindled  the  fire  that  consumed 
the  infamous  record  of  its  existence.  That  will  be  a  proud  day,  my 
countrymen  ;  that  will  be  a  glorious  day,  when  you  and  I  can  look  each 
other  in  the  face,  and  feel  as  no  Grecian  ever  felt — as  no  Roman  ever 
felt — that  we  have  passed  through  the  most  trying  ordeal  in  the  annals  of 
humanity,  and,  as  a  people,  have  come  out  gold — pure  gold.  Take  courage, 
my  countrymen,  that  happy  day  shall  come.  The  Union  of  equal  States,  as 
made  by  our  fathers,  shall  be  ours  again.  The  disunion  of  unequal  States, 
which  Radical  treason  seeks  to  make,  shall  not  be.  With  the  records  of 
the  vile  attempt,  we  will  build  the  bonfire  of  the  Constitution's  triumph. 
By  its  light  we  shall  read  joy  in  each  other's  faces.  Around  the  burning 
pile  we  shall  gather  our  wives  and  little  ones,  and  strike  up  anew  the  song 
of  our  deliverance,  and,  as  the  ascending  smoke  shall  rise  high  in  the  skies, 
it  will  wake  the  notes  of  our  heroes  in  bliss,  and  heaven  and  earth  shall  ring 
with  the  universal  symphony  :  "  Well  done  !  well  done  !  noble  people  ! 
Through  sorrows  the  most  bitter,  through  trials  the  most  severe,  through 
misfortunes  multiplied  and  prolonged,  you  have  passed  with  your  honor 
unsullied,  growing  brighter  and  brighter.  Enter  again  into  the  joys  of 
freedom  here,  and  finally  into  the  realms  of  the  good  hereafter." 


SPEECH    DELIVERED    BEFORE    THE    YOUNG    MEN'S    DEMO 
CRATIC  UNION,  IN  NEW  YORK  CITY,  OCTOBER  6,  1868. 

This  was  the  first  speech  made  in  the  North  by  a  Southern  man  after  the  war.  It 
contains  an  elaborate  defense  of  the  South,  her  full  and  frank  acceptance  of  all  the  legit 
imate  results  of  the  war,  and  a  most  earnest  appeal  to  the  North  for  justice.  No  more 
eloquent  and  earnest  appeal  for  a  restored  Union  of  brotherly  love  was  ever  made,  and 
all  speeches  delivered  by  Southern  men  in  the  North  since,  have  only  been  a  repetition 
of  its  great  truths  and  non-sectional  patriotic  sentiments. 

People  of  the  North :  In  deference  to  the  earnest  wishes  of  a  committee 
from  the  Young  Men's  Democratic  Union  Club,  and  the  request  of  personal 
friends,  some  of  whom  differ  with  me  in  political  views,  I  depart  from  my 
original  intention  not  to  make  a  speech  in  the  North,  and  appear  before  you 
this  evening. 

O 

I  do  not  come  to  ask  any  favor  for  the  Southern  people.  The  represent 
ative,  however,  of  that  people,  who  have  experienced  burdens  of  despotic 
power,  and  the  insecurity  of  anarchy,  I  come,  all  the  more  earnestly,  to  ad 
dress  you  in  behalf  of  imperiled  constitutional  free  government.  Will  you 
hear  me  without  passion  ? 

The  South — exhausted  by  a  long  war  and  unusual  losses — needs  peace  ; 
desires  peace  ;  begs  for  peace.  The  North — distrustful,  if  not  vindictive — 
demands  guarantees  that  the  South  will  keep  the  peace  she  so  much  needs. 

In  countries  where  wars  have  been  more  frequent,  the  important  fact  is 
well  established  by  experiment,  that  magnanimity  in  the  conqueror  is  the 
very  highest  guarantee  of  contented  submission  by  the  conquered.  It  is  to 
be  regretted  that  you  seem  not  to  have  learned  this  lesson.  A  people  who 
will  not  be  magnanimous  in  victory  are  not  worthy  to  be,  and  will  not  always 
remain,  victors. 

In  the  next  place,  if  you  of  the  North  would  only  open  your  eyes,  and 
see  the  plainest  truth  of  the  century — that  the  Southern  people  fought  for 
what  they  believed  to  be  their  right — you  would  find  at  once  a  sufficient  guar 
antee  for  peace.  The  South  believed  honestly,  fought  bravely,  and  sur 
rendered  frankly  ;  and  in  each  of  these  facts  she  presents  the  most  ample 
title  to  credit.  Why  will  you  not  see  and  admit  the  fact,  which  must  go  into 
history,  that  the  Southern  people  honestly  believed  they  had  a  right  to  secede? 
Some  of  the  wisest  framers  of  the  Constitution  taught  that  doctrine.  Many 
of  the  ablest  men  in  the  North  as  well  as  in  the  South,  of  every  generation, 
have  taught  this  doctrine.  Some  of  your  own  States  made  the  recognition 
of  that  right  the  condition  of  their  acceptance  of  Union.  Even  your  own 
Webster — your  orator  without  a  rival  among  you,  dead  or  living — taught 
that  this  right  existed  for  cause — certainly  for  much  less  cause  than  now  ex 
ists.  Will  you,  then,  persist  in  saying  that  the  Southern  people  are  all 
traitors,  for  exercising,  or  attempting  to  exercise,  what  such  men  and  such 
States  taught  was  a  right  ?  Will  you  say  they  did  not  honestly  believe  such 
teachers  ?  Was  it  their  intent  to  commit  treason  ? 

Here  lies  the  whole  cause  of  our  continued  troubles.     The  North  will  not 

320 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND   WRITINGS.  321 

admit  what  all  other  people  know,  and  what  all  history  must  concede — that 
the  South  honestly  believed  in  the  right  of  secession.  As  a  result  of  this  in- 

i/ 

fidelity  to  such  plain  fact,  you  assume  that  the  Southern  people  are  criminals. 
This  idea  is  the  sum  of  all  your  politics  and  statesmanship.  It  must  be 
abandoned.  It  must  be  repudiated  thoroughly  and  promptly.  There  can 
never  be  any  peaceful  and  cordial  reunion  possible  while  one-half  the  nation 
regard  the  other  half  as  criminals.  How  can  you  trust  criminals  ?  Why 
should  you  desire  union  with  criminals  ?  Why  do  you  exact  guar- 
ahtees  of  criminals  ?  If  the  Southern  people  are  honest,  their  assent 
to  the  non-secession  construction  of  the  Constitution  is  a  sufficient 
guarantee.  If  they  are  not  honest,  but  criminals,  no  promise  they  could 
make  ought  to  be  trusted.  Power  is  the  only  guarantee  of  fidelity  in  crim 
inals,  and  if  you  cannot  believe  and  cannot  trust  the  South,  you  must,  in 
deed,  abandon  the  Constitution,  and  govern  with  power  forever,  or  you  must 
give  up  the  South  as  unworthy  to  federate  with  you  in  an  equal  government 
of  consent.  I  speak  frankly.  If  you  cannot  abandon  this  miserable  theory 
and  habit  in  your  politics,  in  your  religion,  and  in  your  schools,  of  regarding 
the  Southern  people  as  criminal  traitors  for  attempting  what  good  men,  and 
wise  men,  and  great  men  taught  was  their  right,  you  will  make  peaceful 
reunion  under  free  institutions  utterly  impossible. 

You  must  hold  them  as  friends,  or  let  them  go  as  foreigners,  or  govern 
them  as  subjects.  If  you  govern  them  as  subjects  you  must  share  the  pen 
alty,  for  the  same  government  can  never  administer  freedom  to  one  half  and 
despotism  to  the  other  half  of  the  same  nation. 

Rise  above  your  passions,  then,  and  realize  that  herein  is  your  guaranty. 
The  South  believed  honestly,  fought  bravely,  and  surrendered  frankly. 

Again.  The  exhausted  condition  of  the  South  ought  to  inspire  you  with 
confidence  in  her  professions  of  a  desire  for  peace.  Are  you  afraid  for  her 
to  recover  strength  ?  Take  care  lest  the  desperation  of  exhaustion  prove 
^tronger  than  the  sinews  of  prosperity.  Peace  is  not  desirable  without  its 
blessings. 

But  you  of  the  North  will  not  try  magnanimity  ;  will  insist  that  the 
Southern  people  are  traitors  ;  and  that  an  exhausted  people  are  dangerous, 
and  you  must  have  guarantees.  In  your  papers,  from  your  pulpits,  behind 
your  counters,  on  your  streets,  and  along  your  highways,  I  hear  the  perpet 
ual  charge  that  the  South  fought  to  destroy  the  government,  committed  trea 
son  and  murder,  and  every  inhuman  crime,  and  that  she  is  still  intractable, 
and  rebellious,  and  dangerous,  and  insincere,  and  must  concede  and  give 
guarantees. 

\\  ell,  I  am  here  to  show  you  that  the  South  has  made  every  concession 
that  an  honorable  people  would  exact,  or  an  honest  people  could  make. 

Every  day  I  read  in  your  papers,  and  hear  on  your  streets,  that  the 
Southern  people  will  not  accept  the  results  of  the  war. 

I  am  here  to  prove,  so  clearly  that  no  honest  man  shall  doubt,  that  the 
Southern  people  have  not  only  accepted  every  result  of  the  war,  but  also  they 
have  accepted  every  proposition  and  abided  every  condition  of  reunion  which 
has  been  proposed  from  any  quarter,  or  by  any  department  of  the  United 
States  Government  which  could  have  benefited  you,  or  strengthened  the 
Union,  or  not  dishonored  themselves. 

Now,  to  the  history  : 

1.  The  first  terms  of  settlement  agreed  were  the  terms  granted  to  Gen 
eral  Lee  by  General  Grant,  at  Appomattox.  These  terms  were  :  first,  that 


322  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

the  Confederates  would  not  again  take  up  arms  against  the  United  States  ; 
second,  that  they  would  obey  the  laws  of'  force  where  they  lived.  These 
terms  were  agreed  to  by  the  Confederate  armies  universally,  and  received 
the  pledge  of  the  Union  armies  in  turn,  that  they  should  never  be  further 
molested.  These  terms  must  ever  stand  as  greatly  honorable  to  both  sides. 
They  were  in  exact  accordance  with  all  the  promises  made  by  the  United 
States  Government  to  induce  surrender.  They  simply  preserved  the  Union 
with  secession  abandoned.  This  covered  the  whole  issue  of  the  war.  Gen 
eral  Grant  was  truly  great  on  that  memorable  day  of  defeat  and  magnanimity'. 

Now,  see  also  the  most  happy  effect  which  that  day's  work  produced. 
On  both  sides  there  had  been  great  fears  of  a  guerrilla  warfare  after  regular 
war  should  terminate.  These  noble  terms  of  justice  and  good  faith,  granted 
with  the  magnanimous  spirit  exhibited  by  General  Grant,  sheathed  every 
sword  of  vengeance.  All  idea  of  guerrilla  warfare  vanished,  as  these  terms 
and  scenes  were  eagerly  read  throughout  the  South.  More  than  this,  confi 
dence  was  almost  universally  restored,  and  good  will,  to  an  extent  before 
deemed  impossible  for  -generations,  at  once  revived.  Happy,  most  happy 
had  it  been  for  this  country  if  those  terms  had  been  faithfully  abided  at  the 
North,  and  exactions  had  ceased.  Not  a  single  Southern  man  has  ever  vio 
lated  the  Appomattox  covenant.  It  has  been  said  these  terms  were  confined 
to  the  army.  The  army  was  representative.  Terms  granted  to  those  who 
bore  arms  could  not  be  reasonably  denied  to  those  who  had  not  borne  arms, 
and  the  terms  were  received  at  the  South  as  a  settlement  of  the  controversy — 
an  end  of  war,  and  the  return  of  universal  peace.  And  I  desire  distinctly 
to  record  the  good  effects  produced  as  another  encouraging  lesson  of  the 
power  of  magnanimity  in  victory. 

2.  But  the  politicians  of  the  North  were  not  satisfied  with  this  settle 
ment  by  the  armies,  and  soon  we  heard  that  other  concessions  must  be  made 
by  the  South  to  guarantee  a  permanent  restoration  of  the  Union.  So  next 
to  the  army,  the  President,  the  Executive  Department  of  the  United  States 
Government,  claimed  the  right  to  fix  the  terms  of  restoration.  Accordingly, 
the  people  of  the  Southern  States  were  required  to  assemble  conventions, 
and  agree  to  the  following  terms  of  restoration  : 

(1)  The  annulling  of  the  ordinances  of  secession.     These  we  considered 
as  already  annulled  by  the  surrender  at  Appomattox,  and  therefore  readily 
agreed  to  annul  again. 

(2)  The  ratification  of  the  proposed  Amendment  13,  abolishing  slavery 
and  the  incorporation  of  like  provisions  in  the  State  Constitutions.     Well, 
we  did  not  regard  slavery  as  strictly  the  cause  of  the  war,  but  the  world  had 
regarded  the  institution  as  staked  on  the  result,  and  so  had  the  Southern 
people  generally.     Besides,  experience  had  taught  us  that  it  cost  more  to 
maintain  slavery  than  the  entire  slave  property  was  worth.     Therefore  our 
people  readily  complied  with  this  exaction,  simply  leaving  the  question  of 
compensation,  without  demand  or  expectation,  to  the  magnanimity  and  sense 
of  justice  of  the  future. 

(3)  The  repudiation  of  the  Confederate  debt  was  the  last  material  exac 
tion  of  the  President.     At  this   our  people    hesitated.     A   suggestion   of 
honor  arose.     But  nearly  all  Confederate  creditors  were  themselves  Confed 
erates,  and  repudiation  by  creditor  and  debtor  in  joint  act  relieved  us  on  the 
question  of  honor.     If,  in  the  future,  we  become  able,  and  pay  the  few  out 
side  creditors  who  remain  unpaid,  we  suppose  there  will  be  no  objection, 

we  complied  with  t^his  demand, 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  323 

Thus  we  see  the  Southern  people  complied  promptly  with  every  demand 
made  by  the  President  as  a  condition  and  under  promise  of  cordial  reunion. 

3.  But  though  the  army  was  now  satisfied,  and  the  Executive  satisfied,  yet 
we  soon  learned  that  Congress  was  not  satisfied,  and  the  Southern  people 
must  make  further  concessions — give  still  more  guarantees.  To  justify 
itself  in  this  demand,  Congress  now  denied  the  right  of  the  Executive  to 
prescribe  terms  to  the  South,  and  claimed  that  right  as  exclusively  in  Con 
gress.  Here  commenced  a  fierce  war  between  the  Executive  and  Legislative 
departments  of  the  government.  Now,  let  me  right  here  make  a  statement 
which  I  do  not  think  is  generally  understood  at  the  North.  On  this  ques 
tion  of  power  and  right,  as  between  the  President  and  Congress,  the  South 
has  never  taken  sides — never  judged.  We  thought  the  Union  was  restored 
at  Appomattox,  and  did  not  need  the  intervention  of  either  the  President  or 
Congress.  Neither  of  these  really  had  any  power  not  expressly  guaranteed 
in  the  Constitution,  and  secession  having  failed  at  Appomattox,  the  Union 
remained,  and  the  Constitution  was  the  supreme  law  of  both  rights  and 
powers. 

But  the  South  was  not  disposed  to  debate.  Her  humor  was  to  concede — 
give  guarantees. 

When  the  President  demanded  concessions,  the  South  did  not  ask  him 
for  his  authority  but  guaranteed  his  terms.  So  precisely  she  was  disposed 
toward  Congress.  Let  us  see  : 

(1)  The  first  thing  demanded  by  Congress  was  that  the  South  should  not 
have  representatives  in  Congress,  until  Congress  should  be  pleased  to  receive 
representatives,  but  in  the  mean  time  must  continue  to  pay  taxes.     The  South 
pointed  to  the  Constitution,  and  to  the  provisos  made,  during  the   war,  of 
immediate  equal  reunion,  and  to  the  great  cause  of  original  quarrel  between 
our  common  fathers  and  Great  Britain,  who  said  that  "  taxation  without 
representation  was  tyranny,"  but  only  pointed — submitted.     We  paid  the 
taxes — heavy,  discriminating  taxes.     Nay,  the  demand  went  behind  Appo 
mattox,  and  we  were  required  to  pay  taxes  levied  during  the  war.     Our  peo 
ple  had  already  paid  taxes  to  the  only  power  then  over  the  country,  but  they 
paid  again,  so  anxious  were  they  to  satisfy  with  concessions  and  guarantees. 

(2)  The  next  claim  by  Congress  was  the  right  to  separate  the  popula 
tions  of  the  Southern  States,  and  withdraw  the  negroes  from  the  absolute 
government  of  the  States,  and  place  them  under  the  government  of   the 
I'Yeedman's  Bureau.     On  this  arose  quite  a  quarrel  between  the  President 
and  Congress  ;  and  the  South,  when  thinking  at  all,  thought  that  on  this 
question  the  President,  constitutionally,  was  right ;  but  while  the  President 
and  Congress  quarreled,  the  South  submitted,  and  the  Bureau  was  allowed  to 
run  its  course  of  outrage  upon  the  whites,  and  of  peculation  on  the  poor 
blacks. 

(3)  The  next  concession  demanded  by  Congress  was  the  Civil  Rights 
bill.     Here  again  a  quarrel  arose  between  the  President  and  Congress.     But 
the  South  did  not  even  care  to  think  which  was  right,  constitutionally,  on 
this  question.     The  negro  being  free  and  deprived  of  the  protection  of  his 
master,  was  entitled  to  the  equal  protection  of  the  law,  and  to  absolute  equal 
civil  rights.     To  show  you  how  unnecessary  was  the  confusion  created  by 
Congress  on  this  subject,  I  will  state  that  before  Congress  had  passed  this 
Jivil  Rights  bill,  of  which  it  boasts  so  much,  the  Legislature  of  Georgia  had 
passed  a  bill  giving  absolute  equal  civil  rights   to  the  negro,  in  language 

precisely  the  same  with  that  afterward  adopted  by  Congress.  ;  Con- 


324  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

gress  re-enacts  the  law  of  Georgia  under  pretense,  before  the  Northern  peo 
ple,  of  a  necessity  to  compel  Georgia  to  give  civil  rights  to  the  negro  ! 

Thus  far,  ladies  and  gentlemen  of  the  North,  you  perceive  that  every 
demand  upon  the  South,  whether  made  by  the  military  or  civil  authorities, 
whether  by  the  President  or  by  Congress,  whether  inside  or  outside  of  the 
Constitution,  whether  in  accordance  with  or  in  plain  violation  of  every 
promise  made  during  the  war,  was  promptly  granted  and  sometimes  even 
anticipated.  Thus  far,  who  will  say  the  (South  was  intractable  and  not  dis 
posed  to  accept  the  results  of  the  war  ? 

(4)  But  Congress  was  still  not  satisfied,  and  made  a  fourth  demand. 
This  demand  was  in  the  shape  of  a  proposed  amendment  to  the  Constitution, 
known  as  Article  14.  There  have  been  so  many  misrepresentations  at  the 
North  of  the  action  of  the  South  on  this  amendment,  and  the  motives  of 
that  action,  that  I  am  afraid  the  amendment  originated  to  prevent  what  it 
pretended  to  desire — a  cordial  reunion. 

This  amendment  analyzed  contains  four  distinct  and  different  proposi 
tions.  (1)  The  first  was  to  confer  equal  civil  rights  upon  the  negro  as  a 
free  citizen.  Now,  this  had  already  been  done  by  the  Civil  Rights  bill  of 
Congress,  and  long  before  that,  as  to  Georgia,  by  the  Civil  Rights  bill  of 
that  State.  So  the  amendment  was  not  rejected  on  account  of  this  proposi 
tion.  (2)  The  second  proposition  of  the  proposed  amendment  was,  in  plain 
language,  that  if  the  negro  was  excluded,  in  any  State,  from  the  ballot  on 
account  of  color,  his  race  should  not  be  counted  in  the  basis  of  representa 
tion  in  fixing  the  number  of  representatives  from  such  State  in  Congress. 
The  South  thinks,  that  under  the  Constitution  the  basis  of  representation  is 
a  very  different  thing  from  the  question  of  suffrage.  But  every  possible 
injury  to  the  South  which  this  proposition  could  work,  was  easily  remedi 
able  by  a  wise  rule  of  impartial  suffrage,  and  in  the  spirit  of  concession 
which  the  South  was  determined  to  manifest,  the  amendment  would  not 
have  been  rejected  on  account  of  this  proposition,  and  was  not  for  this 
reason  rejected.  I  hope  you  of  the  North  will  now  distinctly  understand 
this,  for,  on  this  point,  the  South  has  been  greatly  misrepresented  here,  and 
this  misrepresentation  has  been  the  cause  of  much  foolish  discussion  and 
angry  bitterness  toward  the  South.  (3)  The  third  proposition  in  this 
amendment  guarantees  the  payment  of  the  national,  and  repeats  the  repudi 
ation  of  the  Confederate  debt.  Now,  I  have  already  shown  you  that  the 
Southern  States  had  already  repudiated  the  Confederate  debt  under  the 
President's  plan.  As  to  them  that  question  was  settled.  As  to  the  national 
debt  the  Southern  people,  as  I  have  shown  you,  were  paying  all  taxes 
required — heavy  taxes — to  meet  it.  The  South  has  never  stopped  to  make 
any  question  as  to  how  and  in  what  way  the  national  debt  was  to  be  paid. 
She  has  quietly  paid  her  taxes — imposed  without  representation — and  if  the 
heavy  taxes  so  paid  have  been  applied  to  maintain  the  Freedman's  Bureau, 
and  to  enforce  a  military  Reconstruction,  it  is  not  the  fault  of  the  South. 
(4)  This  brings  us  to  the  fourth  and  last  proposition  in  this  Amendment  14. 
This  was  that  about  two  hundred  thousand  of  the  most  intelligent  and 
trustworthy  white  men  in  the  South  should  never  be  chosen  by  the  people 
to  hold  any  office  whatever,  State  or  Federal.  The  exclusion  from  Federal 
offices,  if  by  act  of  Congress  or  the  North,  would  not  have  been  much  re 
gretted — especially  by  those  excluded.  But  the  Southern  States  never  so 
much  needed  the  counsels  of  their  wisest  and  best  men  in  their  State  affairs. 
Their  resources  were  exhausted,  their  whole  system  of  industry  changed, 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  325 

their  society  greatly  demoralized,  their  old  laws  not  at  all  applicable  to  the 
new  order  "of"  things.  Now  why,  at  this  critical  conjuncture,  should  the 
Southern  people  be  told  that  they  must  consent  to  deprive  themselves  of  the 
right  to  choose  their  wisest  men — those  they  were  most  willing  to  trust — to 
H'ive  strength  and  hope  to  their  counsels  ? 

Besides,  these  leaders  had  done  only  what  the  people  had  requested  them 
to  do.  The  people  were  as  guilty  as  their  agents.  To  require  the  people, 
therefore,  to  disfranchise  their  agents — to  them  faithful  agents — was  to 
require  the  people  to  dishonor  themselves.  And  how  could  this  benefit  the 
South?  How  could  Massachusetts  be  benefited  by  depriving  South  Carolina 
of  the  right  of  filling  her  own  State  offices  with  her  own  wisest  citizens? 
Now,  therefore,  because  to  agree  to  such  a  provision  as  a  part  of  the  funda 
mental  law  of  the  Republic  would  have  dishonored  the  South  as  a  section, 
and  her  people  as  a  people,  and  would  also  have  worked  incalculable  injury 
to  them,  and  brought  no  benefit  to  the  North,  nor  strength  to  the  Union, 
the  South  rejected  this  proposition.  And  because  Congress  had  so  inten 
tionally  submitted  this  Amendment  14  as  to  require  the  acceptance  of  all, 
or  the  rejection  of  all,  the  Southern  States  rejected  all  rather  than  accept 
this  dishonor.  Now  you  have  the  plain  truthful  history  of  the  rejection  of 
that  amendment.  The  time  will  come  when  you  of  the  North  will  rise  up 
and  honor  the  Southern  people  for  this  manly  conduct,  and  curse  the  crea 
tures  wrho  have  so  wickedly  deceived  you  on  this  subject. 

(5)  Under  the  pretext  of  the  rejection  of  this  amendment  Congress  be 
came  vindictive  and  determined  to  play  the  role  of  a  conqueror.  In  this 
spirit  the  measures  known  as  the  Reconstruction  measures  were  enacted. 
These  are  so  numerous  that  I  cannot  stop  to  take  them  up  in  detail.  I  will 
give  you  a  clear  view,  however,  of  the  reasons  why  the  Southern  whites 
have  never  consented  to  these  measures  and  never  will  consent  to  them. 

In  the  first  place,  these  measures  set  aside  as  illegal  the  Southern  States 
governments  of  1865.  If  these  governments  were  illegal,  then  all  they  did 
was  illegal. 

If  this  be  true,  then  Amendment  13,  abolishing  slavery,  has  never  been 
ratified,  and  the  State  constitutions  abolishing  it  are  void.  Now,  to  compel 
the  ratification  of  Amendment  14,  which  contains  no  proposition  which  is 
not  already  law,  or  which  the  South  is  not  willing  to  make  law,  except  the 
one  to  disfranchise  their  own  agents  for  nothing  but  their  fidelity  to  the 
ju'ople,  you  propose  a  legal  relinquishment  of  Amendment  13.  The  South 
is  not  willing  to  do  this.  Her  people  prefer  the  loss  of  property  by  Amend 
ment  13  to  the  loss  of  honor  by  Amendment  14.  Which  do  you  prefer? 

In  the  second  place,  Congress,  by  these  Reconstruction  measures,  created 
a  new  constituency  of  all  negroes  and  a  portion  of  whites  to  do  what  the  whites 
have  refused  to  do.  Now,  the  plain  question  is,  shall  the  Southern  States 
be  members  of  the  Union  under  constitutions  adopted  by  the  white  people 


by  ignorant 

dling  strangers  ?     How  will  you  of  the  North  decide  this  question  ? 

In  the  third  place,  Congress  intrusted  the  execution  of  these  measures- 
not  to  the  courts  and  the  civil  officers  of  the  country,  as  all  civil  laws  hereto 
fore  have  been  intrusted — but  to  the  military.      Is  it  right  to  establish  civil 
government  and  execute  civil  law   by  military  power  in  times  of  peace  ? 
You  of  the  North  must  decide. 


326  SENATOR  B.  It.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

But  even  these  measures,  which  the  South  rejected  to  save  her  honor, 
she  was  always  willing  to  refer  to  the  courts  for  decision  :  mark  you,  not  to 
her  own  courts,  but  to  the  courts  of  the  United  States.  The  Congress  was 
always  unwilling  that  these  questions  should  be  passed  on  by  your  own 
courts.  Which  party  in  this  showed  an  intractable  temper,  a  disposition  not 
to  accept  the  results  of  the  war  ? 

When  passion  shall  subside  ;  when  truth,  not  falsehood,  shall  be  be 
lieved  ;  and  when  virtue  and  honor  and  law  and  right  shall  again  be  appre 
ciated  and  loved,  the  temperate  firmness  with  which  the  South  has  rejected 
these  measures  of  lawlessness  and  dishonor,  will  constitute  the  noblest,  most 
enduring  monument  of  her  heroism,  intrepidity,  and  worth. 

You  ask  for  guarantees  that  the  South  will  be  true  to  her  professions. 
Herein  is  the  very  highest  possible  guarantee,  that  her  people,  under  every 
pressure,  and  at  every  sacrifice  of  material  interests,  reject  dislionor.  If 
they  accepted  dishonor,  the  acceptance  would  be  worthless,  and  every  con 
cession  made  under  its  influence  would  be  disregarded.  Are  you  such 
strangers  to  this  high  sense  of  honor,  that  you  cannot  see  its  force  or  appre 
ciate  its  reliable  power  ?  Your  children  will  see  it  to  your  shame,  and  to 
our  credit.  If  the  Southern  people  were  not  sincere,  they  would  seem  to 
agree  to  anything  in  order  to  regain  power,  and  then  repudiate  the  agree 
ment.  This  is  exactly  what  your  so-called  Southern  friends  propose.  But 
we  can  see  no  permanent  peace  in  such  hypocrisy,  and  therefore  frankly 
reject  what  we  cannot  in  honor  accept  and  abide. 

Note,  also,  the  fact  that  everything  rejected  by  the  South  has  been  con 
fessed  to  be  outside  of  the  Constitution,  and  based  exclusively  on  the  idea 
of  conquest,  which  your  own  government,  in  every  department,  solemnly 
promised  should  never  be,  and  which  your  own  courts  have  uniformly  de 
cided  could  not  be  the  result  of  the  war. 

I  cannot  stop  now  to  show  you  how  these  Reconstruction  measures  have 
been  executed  in  the  South.  This  history  will  be  written,  and  when  written, 
every  agent  engaged  in  enacting  this,  the  dark  age  of  American  life,  will 
sink  into  universal  infamy,  and  the  cheek  of  every  honorable  Northern  man 
will  blush  for  shame. 

Now,  I  have  gone  over  before  you  every  single  proposition  of  settlement 
or  restoration  or  reconstruction  of  the  Union,  which  has  been  made  by  the 
army,  or  by  the  President,  or  by  Congress  ;  and  what  is  the  result  ?  All  the 
terms  of  the  army  were  accepted,  and  have  been  most  faithfully  kept.  All 
the  terms  demanded  or  suggested  by  the  Executive  Department  were 
promptly  accepted,  and  have  been  faithfully  observed,  though  no  promise 
made  to  induce  their  acceptance  has  ever  been  fulfilled.  Again,  all  the  terms 
proposed  by  Congress  have  been  accepted,  and  most  quietly  submitted  to, 
except  the  single  proposition  that  our  people  should  dishonor  themselves  by 
disfranchising  their  own  faithful  agents,  and  have  refused  to  consent  to 
the  plan  of  substituting  negroes  and  strangers  as  a  constituency,  that  this 
dishonor  may  be  accomplished.  This  is  all.  I  affirm  fearlessly,  this  is  all. 
I  have  defied  your  papers,  and  I  defy  your  leaders — even  your  preachers — 
to  point  to  a  single  proposition  ever  submitted  to  the  Southern  people  as  a 
condition  of  reunion,  by  the  army,  or  by  the  President,  or  by  Congress, 
which  they  have  not  accepted  and  faithfully  abided  by,  except  the  single 
proposition  to  dishonor  themselves  by  disfranchising  their  own  agents,  or 
consenting  that  negroes  and  strangers  may  disfranchise  them.  No  man  has 
taken  up  the  challenge  ;  no  man  will  take  up  the  challenge  ;  no  man  can 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  327 

take  up  the  challenge.  But  everywhere,  by  editors,  by  preachers,  and  by 
politicians,  the  false,  wicked  charge  is  repeated,  that  the  South  is  intractable 
and  unwilling  to  accept  the  results  of  the  war. 

People  of  the  North,  will  you  not  rise  above  passion,  and  save  your  own 
honor,  and  our  common  free  government,  by  doing  plain  justice  to  a  people 
who  accepted  your  pledge  and  trusted  your  honor  ? 

I  beg  you  to  understand  the  facts  of  actual  history  before  it  is  too  late. 
I  repeat,  and  beg  you  to  note,  what  the  South  has  already  conceded  as  the 
results  of  the  war  : 

First.  The  South  conceded,  at  Appomattox,  that  the  arguments  of  the 
ablest  statesmen  America  ever  produced  i) i  favor  of  the  right  of  secession 
as  a  constitutional  remedy,  had  been  replied  to  in  the  only  manner  they 
could  be  effectually  replied  to,  by  physical  force  ;  and  the  South  consented 
that  this  judgment,  written  by  the  sword,  should  have  legal  force  and 
effect. 

Second.  The  South,  by  her  own  act,  made  valid  the  emancipation  of  her 
slaves  in  the  only  way  in  which  that  emancipation  could  be  made  valid,  and 
thus  gave  up  the  property  the  North  sold  her,  without  compensation. 

Third.  The  South  has  solemnly  repudiated  her  debts  contracted  in  her 
defense,  and  has  agreed  to  pay  a  fall  share  of  the  debt  contracted  for  her 
subjugation. 

Fourth.  The  South  has  permitted,  without  hindrance,  the  Congress  to 
enter  her  States,  and  establish  tribunals  unknown  to  the  Constitution,  to 
govern  a  portion  of  their  population  in  a  manner  different  from  the  govern 
ments  of  the  States. 

Fifth.  The  South  has  agreed  to  make  the  negroes  citizens,  and  give  them 
absolutely  equal  civil  rights  with  the  whites,  and  to  extend  to  them  every 
protection  of  law,  and  every  facility  for  education  and  improvement,  which 
are  extended  to  the  whites. 

Sixth.  In  a  word,  I  repeat,  the  South  has  agreed  to  everything  which 
has  been  proposed  by  the  civil  or  military  government  of  the  United  States, 
and  by  every  department  of  that  government,  except  the  single  demand  to 
disfranchise  their  own  best  men  from  their  own  State  offices,  at  a  time  when 
their  counsels  are  most  needed,  or  to  consent  that  negroes  and  strangers  may 
disfranchise  them. 

For  this,  and  for  this  only,  all  their  other  concessions  are  spit  upon,  and 
they  are  denounced  as  intractable,  insincere,  rebellious,  and  unwilling  to 
accept  the  results  of  the  war  !  Shame  upon  leaders  who  will  persist  in  such 
charges  ;  and  shame  upon  a  people  who  will  sustain  such  leaders  ! 

But  while  the  white  people  have  refused  to  agree  to  these  Reconstruction 
measures  for  the  reasons  stated,  the  negroes  and  adventurers  from  your 
worst  population  in  the  North,  and  the  military,  have  proceeded  with  the 
work  of  executing  them.  Governments  have  been  formed  by  them,  which 
have  consented  to  the  dishonor  required  by  Congress.  What  are  the  effects 
already  produced  ? 

In  the  first  place,  they  have  done  more  to  break  down  confidence  at  the 
South  in  Northern  pledges  and  Constitutional  justice  than  all  our  previous 
history,  including  the  war.  In  the  second  place,  they  have  stopped  both 
capital  and  emigrants  from  going  to  the  South,  and  have  put  a  sudden  end 
to  all  improvement.  In  the  third  place,  they  have  depreciated  property  in 
the  South  to  less  than  one-fourth  the  value  of  1866,  and  have  lessened  pro 
ductions  a  hundred  millions  annually.  In  the  fourth  place,  these  paralyzing 


M28  SENATOR  R  II.  HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

effects  are  daily  increasing,  and  threaten  the  utter  destruction  of  our  industry 
and  prosperity.  In  the  tifth  place,  society  has  become  demoralized,  laws 
rendered  inefficient,  property  insecure,  and  life  and  innocence  kept  in  per 
petual  hazard. 

Now,  then,  I  advance  to  the  question — Are  these  reconstructive  measures 
of  Congress,  and  the  ill-shapen  governments  they  have  produced,  to  be 
maintained  and  perpetuated  ?  The  Chicago  platform  says  they  shall  be,  and 
the  Newr  York  platform  says  they  shall  not  be.  This  is  the  issue.  Count 
the  cost,  if  you  can,  of  maintaining  them — the  cost  of  honor,  of  peace,  of 
life,  of  money,  of  freedom !  I  tell  you  no  figures  can  add  up  the  sum. 
Neither  your  bonds  nor  the  government  that  issued  them  can  stand  if  these 
measures  are  to  be  maintained.  It  is  impossible  in  the  very  nature  of  things, 
and  you  of  the  North  are  simply  rnad  if  you  will  not  see  the  destruction  you 
are  bringing  on  j^ourselves.  To  perpetuate  these  measures  is  to  perpetuate 
infidelity  to  the  Constitution,  infidelity  to  Northern  pledges,  infidelity  to 
every  object  of  the  war,  and  infidelity  to  every  hope  of  peace.  These 
measures  of  Congress  repudiate  the  results  of  the  war,  and  you  of  the  North 
alone  "  are  intractable." 

These  measures  are  bad  enough  in  themselves,  but  still  worse  in  the. 
means  adopted  to  sustain  them  at  the  North. 

The  only  argument  I  have  heard  in  their  support  is  based  upon  hatred 
of  the  Southern  people.  To  inflame  that  hatred  a  system  of  misrepresenta 
tion  of  Southern  feelings  and  utterances  has  been  adopted  which  is  without 
parallel.  I  have  seen  my  own  sentences  cut  up  and  changed,  and  made  to 
say  exactly  what  I  condemned.  I  have  seen  whole  letters  and  speeches 
manufactured  and  repeated  to  Northern  people  by  men  of  social  and  respect 
able  standing  here.  The  South  is  slandered  by  the  very  prayers  which  go 
up  from  Northern  altars.  Ministers  of  the  Gospel  turn  demagogues  in  order 
to  sanctify  calumny  !  These  things  I  see,  and  hear,  and  know,  and  they 
make  up  nine-tenths  of  the  materials  of  the  Republicans  in  this  canvass. 
I  refer  to  them  in  sorrow  and  shame,  not  in  anger. 

I  know  no  government  can  last  under  such  influences  ;  and  no  administra 
tion  can  give  hope  of  peace,  influenced  and  controlled  by  a  people  who  can 
be  the  victims  of  such  hate  and  falsehoods. 

I  know  there  are  very  many  among  you  who  tell  me  that  General  Grant 
is  not  a  Radical,  and  will  disregard  the  Chicago  platform,  and  will  do  for 
the  South  according  to  the  noble  spirit  he  exhibited  at  Appomattox.  If  so, 
he  will  find  cordial  support  at  the  South.  But  what  right  have  we  to  expect 
it?  In  my  opinion  the  question  of  what  man  shall  be  elected  is  compara 
tively  a  very  contemptible  question.  By  what  means,  and  under  what  influ 
ence  is  he  to  be  elected  ?  Here  is  the  great  question  for  one  who  loves  his 
country  and  cares  nothing  for  an  office.  How  can  we  have  faith  in  free  in 
stitutions,  when  fraud,  falsehood,  sectional  hate,  and  the  worst  feelings  of 
human  nature  are  resorted  to  as  the  most  effective  means  of  pleasing  the 
people  and  securing  the  highest  offices  in  the  land.  God,  if  not  man,  will 
destroy  such  a  nation.  Do  you  suppose  the  early  patriots,  such  as  Washing 
ton,  and  Adams,  and  Madison,  would  have  permitted  themselves  to  be 
elected  to  the  Presidency  by  a  pandering  to  sectional  hate  in  their  sup 
porters  ?  Has  sectional  distrust  become  a  stronger  passion  with  the  Ameri 
can  people  than  love  for  the  Constitution  ? 

But  we  are  told  that  this  policy  of  Reconstruction  is  a  fixed  fact,  and 
though  it  is  hated  by  every  respectable  white  man  in  the  South,  it  is  to  be 


HIS  LTFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  329 

enforced  under  General  Grant's  administration  with  the  same  vigor  which 
marked  the  prosecution  of  the  war.  That  is,  the  Constitution  is  to  be  de 
stroyed  as  vigorously  as  the  Union  was  saved,  and  only  to  force  on  the 
Southern  whites  governments  which  disfranchise  their  best  men  by  negro 
votes  under  Congressional  dictation. 

Well,  if  such  be  the  verdict  of  the  people,  what  will  the  South  do?  You 
lean  forward,  anxious  to  hear  this  question  answered. 

If  the  gravity  of  the  subject  did  not  forbid,  I  might  for  a  moment  imi 
tate  Dr.  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  and  become  facetious.  He  tells  us  that  get 
ting  outside  of  the  Constitution  is  very  different  from  going  against  it,  and' 
his  audience  greeted  the  bright  idea.  Well,  I  suppose  the  South  will  not 
actually  oppose — go  against  the  Reconstruction  measures — she  will  only  get 
outside  of  them.  In  that  event  we  shall  expect  this  ecclesiastical  interpreter 
of  Constitutional  law  to  defend  us,  and  we  retain  his  services  in  advance. 

But  what  will  the  South  do?     I  will  tell  you  first  what  the  South  will 

w 

not  do,  in  my  opinion. 

1.  The  South  will  not  secede  again.     That  was  her  great  folly — folly 
against  her  own  interest,  not   wrong  against  you.     Mark  this  :  that  folly 
will  not  be  repeated.     Even  if  the  people  of  the  South  desire  the  disruption 
of  the  Federal  Government,  their  statesmen  have  the  sagacity  to  see  that 
that  result  can  more  effectually  come  of  this  secession  by  the  North  from 
the  Constitution.     Those  ominous  words  "  outside  of  the  Constitution  "  are 
more  terribly  significant  than  those  other  words  "  secession  from  the  Union." 
The  former  is  a  secession  having  all  the  vices  of  the  latter  greatly  increased, 
and  none  of  its  virtues.    Certainly  none  of  its  manliness,  straightforward 
candor,    and  justification.     So  note  this  :  the  South  does  not  desire  or  seek 
disunion.     If  she  desired  it,  she  does  not  deem  another  secession  necessary 
to  bring  it  about.     Disunion  will  come  from  Chicago,  in  spite  of  Southern 
opposition. 

2.  The  South  will  not  re-enslave  the  negro.     She  did  not  enslave  him  in 
the  first  instance.     That  was  your  \vork.     The  South  took  your  slave-savage 
and  gave  him  the  highest  civilization  ever  reached  by  the  negro.     You  then 
freed  him,  and  kept  the  price  of  his  slavery,  and  you  alone  hold  the  property 
that  was  in  human  flesh. 

3.  But  the  Southern  whites  will  never  consent  to  the  government  of  the 
negro.     Never !     All  your  money  spent  in  the  effort  to    force  it  will  be 
wasted.     The  Southern  whites  will  never  consent  to  social  and  political 
equality  with  the  negro.     You  may  destroy  yourselves  in  the  effort  to  force 
it,  and  then  you  will  fail.     You  mav  send  down  your  armies,  and  exhaust 

*  **  •?  v 

the  resources  of  the  whole  country  for  a  century,  and  pile  up  the  public 
debt  till  it  lean  against  the  skies  ;  and  you  may  burn  our  cities  and  murder 
our  people — our  unarmed  people — but  you  will  never  make  them  consent  to 
governments  formed  by  negroes  and  strangers,  under  the  dictation  of  Con 
gress,  by  the  power  of  the  bayonet.  Born  of  the  bayonet,  this  government 
must  live  only  by  the  bayonet. 

"XT  T  • 

.Now,  I  will  tell  you  some  things,  which  in  my  opinion  the  South  will  do. 

1.  The  South  would  accept  the  election  of  Mr.  Seymour  as  a  verdict  of 
the  Northern  people  that  the  general  government  was  to  be  administered 
according  to  the  Constitution,  and  she  would  rejoice  and  come  out  of  her 
sorrow  strong,  beautiful,  and  growing. 

The  South  will  accept  the  election  of  General  Grant  as  a  verdict  by  the 
Northern  people  that  the  Constitution  is  a  nullity,  and  that  they  will"  that 


330  SENATOR  D.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

the  general  government  be  administered  outside  of  it.  But  the  South  will 
then  submit  passively  to  your  laws,  but  in  her  heart  hope  will  still  cleave  to 
the  Constitution.  It  is  her  only  port  of  safety  from  the  storm  of  fanaticism, 
passion,  and  despotism. 

The  South  surrendered  secession  as  a  constitutional  remedy  at  Appomat- 
tox,  but  she  did  not  surrender  the  Constitution  itself,  nor  the  great  princi 
ples  of  freedom  it  was  intended  to  secure. 

2.  Whether  Mr.  Seymour  or  General  Grant  shall  be  elected,  the  South 
ern  States — each  State  for  itself — will  quietly,  peacefully,  but  firmly,  take 
charge  of,  and  regulate,  their  own  internal  domestic  affairs  in  their  own 
way,  subject  only  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  What  then 
will  you  of  the  North  do  ?  What  will  President  Grant  do  ?  Will  you  or 
he  send  down  armies  to  compel  tiiose  States  to  regulate  their  own  affairs  to 
suit  you  outside  of  the  Constitution?  Will  you? 

It  is  high  time  this  people  had  recovered  from  the  passions  of  Avar.  It 
is  high  time  that  counsel  were  taken  from  statesmen,  not  demagogues.  It 
is  high  time  that  editors,  preachers,  and  stump  speakers  had  ceased  slander 
ing  the  motives  and  purposes  of  the  South.  It  is  high  time  the  people  of 
the  North  and  the  South  understood  eacli  other,  and  adopted  means  to  in 
spire  confidence  in  each  other.  It  is  high  time  the  people  of  each  State 
were  permitted  to  attend  to  their  own  business.  Intermeddling  is  the  crime 
of  the  century.  If  it  was  folly  in  the  South  to  secede,  it  was  crime  in  the 
North  to  provoke  it.  If  it  was  error  in  the  South  to  dissolve  the  Union,  it 
is  crime  in  the  North  to  keep  it  dissolved. 

The  South  yields  secession,  and  yields  slavery,  and  yields  them  for  equal 
reunion.  People  of  the  North,  now  is  the  auspicious  moment  to  cement 
anew,  and  for  still  greater  glory,  our  common  Union.  But  it  must  be 
cemented  in  mutual  good  will,  as  between  equals  and  under  the  Constitu 
tion.  Such  a  Union  the  South  pleads  for.  I  care  not  what  slanderers. say, 
what  fanaticism  represents,  or  how  selfish  and  corrupt  hate  and  ambition 
pervert ;  I  tell  you  there  is  but  one  desire  in  the  South.  From  every  heart 
in  that  bright  land,  from  her  cotton-fields  and  grain  farms,  from  her  rich 

*     '  '  C?  " 

valleys  and  metal-pregnant  mountains,  from  the  lullabies  of  her  thousands 
of  rippling  streams  and  moaning  millions  of  her  primeval  forest  trees,  comes 
up  to  you  but  this  one  voice — this  one  earnest,  united  voice  :  "  Flag  of  our 
Union,  wave  on  ;  wave  ever  !  But  wave  over  freemen  not  subjects  ;  over 
States,  not  Provinces  •  over  a  Union  of  equals,  not  of  lords  and  vassals  •  over 
a  land  of  law,  of  liberty,  and  of  peace,  and  not  of  anarchy,  oppression,  and 
strife  ! ' 

People  of  the  North,  will  you  answer  back  in  patriotic  notes  of  cheering 
accord  that  our  common  Constitution  shall  remain,  or,  in  the  discordant 
notes  of  sectional  hate  and  national  ruin,  that  there  shall  be  protection  for  the 
North  inside  of  the  Constitution  and  oppression  for  the  South  outside  of  it  ? 

If  the  latter,  then,  not  only  the  Union,  not  only  the  Constitution,  but 
that  grand,  peculiar  system  of  free  federated  governments  so  wisely  devised 
by  our  fathers,  and  known  as  the  American  system,  and  of  which  the  Con 
stitution  is  but  the  instrument  and  the  Union  but  the  shadow — will  die, 
must  die — is  dead  ! 

Have  you  ever  studied  this  American  system  of  government?  Have 
you  compared  it  with  former  systems  of  free  governments,  and  noted  how 
our  fathers  sought  to  avoid  their  fatal  defects  ?  I  commend  this  study  to 
your  prompt  attention.  To  the  heart  that  loves  liberty  it  is  more  enchant 
ing  than  romance,  more  bewitching  than  love,  and  more  elevating  than  any 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  331 

other  science.  If  history  proves  any  one  tiling  more  than  another  it  is  that 
freedom  cannot  be  secured  in  a  wide  and  populous  country,  except  upon  the 
plan  of  a  federal  compact  for  general  interests,  and  untrammeled  local  gov 
ernments  for  local  interests.  Our  fathers  adopted  this  general  plan  with 
improvements  in  the  details  of  profound  wisdom,  which  cannot  be  found  in 
any  previous  system.  With  what  a  noble  impulse  of  common  patriotism 
they  came  together  from  distant  States  and  joined  their  counsels  to  devise 
and  perfect  this  system,  henceforth  to  be  forever  known  as  the  American 
system.  The  snows  that  lodge  on  the  summit  of  Mount  Washington  are 
not  purer  than  the  motives  that  begot  it.  The  fresh  dew-laden  zephyrs 
from  the  orange  groves  of  the  South  are  not  sweeter  than  the  hopes  its 
advent  inspired.  The  flight  of  its  own  symbolic  eagle,  though  he  blew  his 
breath  on  the  sun,  could  not  be  higher  than  its  expected  destiny  !  Alas, 
are  these  motives  now  corrupted  ?  Are  these  hopes  poisoned  ?  And  is  this 
high  destiny  eclipsed,  and  so  soon, — aye,  before  a  century  has  brought  to 
manhood  its  youthful  visage  ?  Stop  before  the  blow  is  given  and  let  us 
consider  but  its  early  blessings. 

Under  the  benign  influences  of  this  promising  American  system  of  gov 
ernment,  our  w^hole  country  at  once  entered  upon  a  career  of  prosperity 
without  a  parallel  in  human  annals.  The  seventy  years  of  its  life  brought 
more  thrift,  more  success,  more  individual  freedom,  more  universal  happi 
ness  with  fewer  public  burdens,  than  were  ever  before  enjoyed  or  borne  by 
any  portion  of  the  world  in  five  centuries.  From  three  millions  of  whites 
we  became  thirty  millions.  From  three  hundred  thousand  blacks  we  became 

*r 

four  millions — a  greater  relative  increase  than  of  the  whites  with  all  the  aid 
of  immigration.  From  a  narrow  peopled  slope  along  the  dancing  Atlantic 
we  stretched  with  wide  girth  to  the  sluggish  Pacific.  From  a  small  power 
which  a  European  depotism,  in  jealousy  of  a  rival,  patronizingly  took  by  the 
hand  and  led  to  independence,  we  became  a  power  whose  voice  united  was 
heard  throughout  the  world,  and  whose  frown  might  well  be  dreaded 
by  the  combined  powers  of  earth.  Our  granaries  fed,  and  our  factories 
clothed  mankind.  The  buffalo  and  his  hunter  were  gone,  and  cities  rose  in 
the  forests  of  the  former,  and  flowers  grew,  and  hammers  rang,  and  prayers 
were  said,  in  the  play-grounds  of  the  latter.  Millions  grew  to  manhood 
without  seeing  a  soldier,  or  hearing  a  cannon,  or  knowing  the  shape  or 
place  of  a  bayonet !  And  is  this  happy,  fruitful,  peaceful  system  dying- 
hopelessly  dying  ?  Has  it  but  twenty  days  more  to  live  a  struggling  life  ? 
People  of  the  North,  the  answer  is  with  you.  Rise  above  passion,  throw 
away  corruption,  cease  to  hate  and  learn  to  trust,  and  this  dying  system 
will  spring  to  newer  and  yet  more  glorious  life.  The  stake  is  too  great  for 
duplicity,  and  the  danger  too  imminent  for  trifling.  The  past  calls  to  you  to 
vindicate  its  wisdom  ;  the  present  charges  you  with  its  treasures,  and  the 
future  demands  of  you  its  hopes.  Forget  your  anger,  and  be  superior  to 
the  littleness  of  revenge.  Meet  the  South  in  her  cordial  proffers  of  happy 
reunion,  and  turn  not  from  her  offered  hand.  From  your  great  cities  and 
teeming  prairies,  from  your  learned  altars  and  countless  cottages,  from  your 
palaces  on  sea  and  land,  from  your  millions  on  the  waters  and  your  mul 
tiplied  millions  on  the  plains,  let  one  united  cheering  voice  meet  the  voice 
that  now  comes  so  earnest  from  the  South,  and  let  the  two  voices  go  up  in 
harmonious,  united,  eternal,  ever-swelling  chorus,  "  Flag  of  our  Union  !  wave 
on,  wave  ever  !  Aye,  for  it  waves  over  freemen,  not  subjects  ;  over  States, 
not  provinces  ;  over  a  Union  of  equals,  not  of  lords  and  vassals  ;  over  a 
land  of  law,  of  liberty,  and  peace,  not  of  anarchy,  oppression,  and  strife  ! r 


SPEECH    DELIVERED    BEFORE    THE    ALUMNI    SOCIETY    OF 
THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  GEORGIA,  AT  ATHENS,  GA.,  ON  JULY 

31,  1871. 

This  speech  is  one  of  the  most  thoroughly  prepared  and  profound  ever  made  by  Mr. 
Hill.  It  furnishes  a  philosophical  and  exhaustive  review  of  the  causes  that  contributed 
to  Southern  weakness  in  the  past,  and  the  means  and  methods  by  which  the  South  could 
grow  strong  and  great  in  the  future  By  adopting  these  methods  the  South  has  become 
rich  and  potential.  The  speech  is  that  of  a  leader,  and  was  in  advance  of  the  thought 
of  the  day,  and  as  a  consequence  met  with  much  unjust  and  harsh  criticism.  We  who 
stand  in  the  light  of  the  fulfillment  of  its  wisdom  can  but  marvel  at  the  genius  of  the 
statesman  who  so  clearly  pointed  out  the  way  for  his  country's  growth  and  rehabilitation, 
and  wonder  at  that  narrowness  which  could  question  the  patriotism  of  his  motives  and 
purposes. 

The  perversions  of  the  speech  were  so  persistent,  and  the  attacks  on  Mr.  Hill  so  unjust 
that  he  deemed  it  necessary  to  make  the  following  explanation  of  the  address.  The 
explanation  itself  is  full  of  practical  wisdom. 

August  3,  1871. 

Editor  Constitution :  Much  as  I  have  been  accustomed  of  late  to  gross 
misrepresentation  of  my  opinions,  and  contemptible  flings  at  motives,  I  was 
not  prepared  for  some  of  the  very  ludicrous  statements  concerning  this 
Alumni  address.  In  the  first  place,  the  address  was  written,  and,  excepting  a 
very  few  extempore  sentences,  was  spoken  as  written.  In  the  next  place  it- 
is  known  that  by  unanimous  vote  of  the  Society  of  Alumni,  it  is  to  be  given 
to  the  public.  A  very  ordinary  sense  of  justice — even  propriety — would 
suggest  that  adverse  criticisms  be  delayed  until  the  address  appeared  in  its 
own  language.  The  language  employed  by  others  in  reporting  it,  however 
honest,  cannot  be  accepted  as  a  proper  standard  for  judging,  much  less  criti 
cising,  a  written  literary  address. 

Attempting,  nevertheless,  as  the  address  does  attempt,  however  feebly, 
to  blaze  the  only  way  by  which,  in  my  opinion,  the  Southern  States  and 
people  can  reach  wealth  and  power,  and  then,  if  they  desire,  and  necessity 
of  interest  require,  independence  ;  if  the  unjust  denunciations  which  precede 
its  appearance  shall  cause  it  to  be  read  when  it  appears,  I  shall  really  re 
joice  rather  than  complain,  that  I  was  reviled.  If  my  humble  suggestions 
shall  have  the  effect  of  arresting  the  attention  of  great  minds,  who  shall 
take  up  the  subject,  and  either  cleave  out  the  way  indicated  or  find  a  better 
to  reach  the  great  end,  I  can  afford  to  disregard  all  the  shallow  allusions  to 
"  motives  "  and  other  "  latitudes,"  and  "  tumbling  acrobat "  of  thoughtless 
scribblers  and  anonymous  slanderers. 

Therefore,  to  quiet  the  nerves  of  some,  and  prevent  the  prejudices 
sought  to  be  created  in  advance  of  its  publication,  allow  me  space  to  say, 
that  the  address  does  not  underrate  Southern  civilization  in  the  production 
of  an  elegant  select  society,  and  of  the  most  superior  individualism  in  the 
field  and  in  the  cabinet.  It  does  not  allude,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  to 
politics,  or  political  parties,  old  or  new.  It  does  not  allude  to  slavery  as  a 
moral  question  or  a  question  of  property,  nor  is  there  one  word  in  it  which 
can  by  possibility  be  construed  as  even  doubting  "our  glorious  right  to  carry 
slaves  to  Kansas." 

332 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS. 

Well  knowing  the  great  number  of  "noble  minds"  engaged  in  the  great 
work  of  saving  "  Southern  rights,"  and  seeing  the  unparalleled  success  which 
has  attended  their  wise  counsels  and  well  directed  efforts  in  this  field  hith 
erto,  I  thought  I  could  be  spared  to  inquire  whether  we  could  not  strengthen 
Southern  rights  with  a  little  Southern  power  in  the  way  of  developing  our 
natural  physical  resources  through  the  means  of  scientific  schools  and  edu 
cated  industries.  That  which  I  sought  to  typify  under  the  classical  figure 
of  Prometheus  bound  and  unbound,  and  at  whose  release  I  was  disposed  to 
give  thanks,  was  not  the  negro,  but  Southern  genius. 

Will  the  time  never  come  when  a  native  Southern  man — even  one  than 
whom  none  has  felt  more  keenly  Southern  wrongs,  nor  denounced  more  fear 
lessly  Southern  oppressors,  nor  is  willing  to  labor  more  earnestly  for  South 
ern  prosperity — can  venture  to  suggest  that  negro  slavery  is  not  the  only 
way  of  Southern  salvation,  without  having  so  many,  who  make  no  effort  to 
meet  the  argument,  denounce  him  as  "  unsound." 

In  their  countless  multiplicity  of  specimens  for  six  thousand  years,  hu 
man  annals  have  never  before  furnished  such  a  people  as  "  we  glorious 
Southerners." 

With  every  ingredient  more  abundant  at  home,  we  send  to  the  originally 
barren  North  for  fertilizers  to  give  life  to  our  originally  fertile,  now  dead 
ened,  soil  ;  with  the  finest  ores  and  exhaustless  coal  beds  peeping  at  us  from 
our  own  hill-sides,  we  send  North  for  tools  to  work  our  fields  ;  with  the 
richest  lands  on  the  continent,  we  send  North  for  bread  to  feed  our  children  ; 
with  the  noblest  trees  that  ever  lifted  their  tops  toward  heaven,  if  we  want 
a  finer  church  in  which  to  worship,  or  a  more  convenient  residence  in  which 
to  live,  we  send  North  for  the  plan,  for  the  architect,  and  for  the  builder ! 
We  spend  millions  of  dollars  sending  our  children  North  to  be  educated,  and 
refuse  the  smallest  pittance  for  the  endowment  of  universities  at  home. 
Our  physicians  and  surgeons  send  North  for  their  medicines  to  heal,  and 
for  the  tools  that  secure  skill  in  their  delicate  art.  Our  lawyers  send  North 
for  the  books  in  which  to  learn  the  rule  of  justice  for  our  people.  Our 
preachers  send  North  for  commentaries  on  the  Bible  to  teach  their 
fiock  the  way  of  salvation.  Our  editors  send  North  for  type  to  print  their 
papers  ;  and  lawyers,  preachers,  and  editors  make  long  speeches,  say  long 
prayers,  and  fill  whole  columns,  thanking  God  for  superior  Southern  genius, 
purity,  and  learning  !  And  our  politicians,  ah  !  shades  of  Demosthenes  and 
Cicero,  bend  down  and  hear  the  matchless  periods  of  true  patriotic  eloquence. 
Our  politicians  strut  like  condescending  Jtipiters  to  the  hustings  with 
Northern  hats  on  their  heads,  Northern  shoes  on  their  feet,  and  Northern 
coats  on  their  backs,  and  prove  to  gaping  crowds  their  unequaled  fitness  for 
office,  in  straining  their  lungs  as  the  thunder  gust  doth  the  yielding  clouds 
with  noisy  denunciations  of  Northern  weakness  and  greed,  and  climatic 
eulogies  on  Southern  power  and  independence. 

If  my  humble  voice  could  be  heard  by  the  Southern  people,  I  would 
urge  them  to  do  many  things  which  these  very  derided  Northern  people 
have  done.  Endow  first-class  universities  ;  provide  for  polytechnic  schools 
in  those  universities  ;  honor  labor,  and  make  the  callings  of  the  miner,  the 
manufacturer,  the  metallurgist,  the  machinist,  the  agriculturist,  and  the 
mechanic,  as  learned  and  as  honorable,  as  are  the  learned  professions  of  law, 
medicine,  and  theology.  We  cannot  live  by  bread  alone.  We  cannot  grow 
great,  or  rich,  or  independent,  by  planting  alone.  Let  us  find  in  our  children 
that  skilled  labor  which  was  impossible  in  the  ignorant  negro  slave  ;  and 


334         %  SENATOR  R  II.  HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

with  that  skilled  labor  let  us  utilize  the  unsurpassed  natural  physical  ele 
ments  of  power  with  which  God  has  filled  almost  every  portion  of  our  here 
tofore  neglected  country.  If  we  do  these  things  promptly,  vigorously,  and 
liberally,  it  will  soon  be  that  the  sun  in  his  cycles  will  not  let  fall  his  rays 
on  a  greater  or  more  prosperous  people.  If  we  do  not  these  things,  we  shall 
grow  weaker  until  we  be  despised  as  contemptible.  The  stranger — even  the 
enemy  we  hate — will  come  in  and  possess  our  heritage  ;  will  build  up  the 
land  we  neglect,  and  will  be  the  rulers  of  the  children  we  leave  behind  us. 

To  have  pointed  out  the  weakness  which  has  prevented  these  blessings 
in  the  past,  and  the  means  which  may  secure  them  in  the  future,  is  my  only 
offending.  To  see  the  work  begin  and  progress  in  my  day  is  my  greatest 
earthly  desire.  To  aid  in  that  work  is  my  highest  ambition,  and  to  be 
remembered  as  one  who  had  the  courage  to  tell  unpleasant  truths  to  a  long 
deluded  and  now  impoverished  people,  that  they  might  wake  up  and  grow 
great,  is  the  only  earthly  glory  I  crave,  when  I  have  been  interred  and 
sleep  with  the  fathers. 

Now  read  the  address,  and  by  its  own  words  let  me  be  judged. 

BENJ.  H.  HILL. 


CORRESPONDENCE. 

UNIVERSITY  OF  GEORGIA, 

ATHENS,  GA.,  July  31,  1871. 

My  Dear  Sir :  I  have  the  honor  of  submitting  to  you  the  following  res 
olution,  unanimously  passed  by  the  Society  of  the  Alumni  of  the  University 
of  Georgia,  at  their  regular  annual  meeting,  held  this  day,  viz. : 
By  Colonel  Samuel  Hall : 

11  Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  Society  of  the  Alumni  be  returned  to 
Mr.  B.  H.  Hill  for  the  able,  eloquent,  and  instructive  address  delivered  at 
their  request  before  them,  on  this  day,  and  that  a  copy  of  the  same  be  re 
quested  for  publication." 

Hoping  that  you  will  comply  with  the  wishes  of  the  society,  I  am,  with 
great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  HENRY  WADDELL, 

Secretary  of  the  Society  of  the  Alumni,  University  of  Georgia. 
Mr.  B.  H.  HILL. 


ATLANTA,  GA.,  September  9,  1871. 

My  Dear  Sir :  Your  letter  of  July  31,  communicating  the  resolution  of 
the  society,  asking  a  copy  of  the  address  for  publication,  reached  me  two 
days  ago. 

I  cheerfully  furnish  a  copy  as  requested,  and  for  the  purpose  designated. 
With  high  regard,  I  am  yours,  very  truly, 

BENJ.  H.  HILL. 
Professor  WILLIAM  HENRY  WADDELL, 

Secretary  of  Society  of  Alumni,  University  of  Georgia. 


ADDRESS. 
Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Alumni  Society  :  I  congratulate  you 

on  this  SWiemWu*S  tQ-dayt    J  congratulate  our  dear,  though  unfortunate,  old 


.575-  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  335 

State,  because  of  the  purpose  which  has  prompted  us  to  come  together. 
And  I  greet  with  words  of  cheer  and  hope  the  many  who  shall  come  after  us, 
because  of  the  work  which,  I  trust,  we  shall  this  day  inaugurate. 

Residents  in  every  portion  of  our  commonwealth — representatives  of 
every  interest  in  this,  the  land  we  love — sharers  in  all  the  trials  of  the  past 
-sufferers  in  all  the  destitutions  of  the  present,  and  yet  partakers,  all,  of  that 
bliss-inspiring  ambition  which  looks  for  compensation  to  the  glories  with 
which  ourselves  shall  help  to  enrich  the  future — we,  her  children,  gather  this 
day  in  this,  her  nursery-hall,  to  ask  our  loved  mother  what  she  needs  to  place 
and  keep  her  abreast,  the  equal  of  the  greatest,  the  peer  of  the  noblest,  in  the 
progressive  world  of  science,  letters,  and  art. 

In  the  present,  far  more  than  in  any  preceding  age,  ideas  govern  mankind. 
Not  individuals,  nor  societies  ;  not  kings,  nor  emperors  ;  not  fleets,  nor  armies, 
but  ideas — educated  intellects — using  and  controlling  all  these,  as  doth  the 
mechanic  his  tools,  uproot  dynasties,  overturn  established  systems,  subvert 
and  reorganize  governments,  revolutionize  social  fabrics,  and  direct  civiliza 
tions.  True,  we  have  the  most  wonderful  physical  developments — as  mar 
velous  in  character  as  they  are  rapid  in  multiplication.  Whether  we  look  to 
the  engines  for  war,  or  the  arts  of  peace,  to  the  means  of  destruction  or  the 
appliances  for  preservation,  to  the  facilities  for  distribution  or  the  sources  of 
production  and  accumulation,  we  shall  find  nothing  in  the  past  comparable  to 
the  achievements  of  the  present.  But  all  these  gigantic  elements  of  physical 
power  are  but  the  fruits  of  educated  minds — have  leaped  into  being  at  the 
command  of  ideas,  and  they  are  under  the  absolute  control  of  ideas  ;  and 
whether  they  shall  really  promote  or  destroy  civilizations  must  depend  alto 
gether  upon  the  wise  or  unwise  discretion  of  this  omnipotent  commander. 
Thought  is  the  Hercules  of  this  age,  and  his  strength  is  equally  a  vigorous 
fact,  whether  it  be  employed  in  throttling  the  lion  of  power,  or  in  cleaning 
out  the  Augean  stables  of  accumulated  social  errors.  Moving  by  nations,  by 
races,  and  by  systems,  this  irresistible  ruler — educated  thought — is  setting 
aside  old  and  setting  up  new  civilizations  at  will. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  now  to  analyze  the  different  civilizations  which  are 
competing  in  the  great  struggle  to  lead  humanity,  nor  to  select  any  one  for 
prominent  advocacy.  Nor  must  I  be  understood  as  saying  that  that  which 
changes  always  reforms,  nor  yet,  that  every  apparent  triumph  is  a  just  prog 
ress.  But  this  much  I  affirm  is  true  ;  that  community,  that  people,  that 
nation — nay,  that  race  or  that  system  which,  Diogenes-like,  will  now  content 
itself  with  living  in  its  own  tub,  asking  nothing  of  the  conquering  powers 
around  it,  except  that  they  stand  out  of  its  sunshine,  will  soon  find  itself  in 
hopeless  darkness,  the  object  of  derision  for  its  helplessness,  and  of  con 
tempt  for  its  folly.  Whether  civilizations,  on  the  whole,  be  going  forward 
or  going  backward,  the  result  must  be  the  same  to  those  who  insist  on 
standing  still — they  must  be  overwhelmed.  Because  all  the  world  is,  there 
fore,  each  portion  of  the  world  must  be  awake  and  thinking — up  and 
acting.  Nor  can  we  afford  to  waste  time  and  strength  in  defense  of  theories 
and  systems,  however  valued  in  their  day,  which  have  been  swept  down  by 
the  moving  avalanche  of  actual  events.  No  system  which  has  fallen  and 
been  destroyed  in  the  struggles  of  the  past  will  ever  be  able  to  rise  and  grap 
ple  with  the  increasing  power  of  its  conqueror  in  the  future.-  We  can 
live  neither  in  nor  by  the  defeated  past,  and  if  we  would  live  in  the  growing, 
conquering  future,  we  must  furnish  our  strength  to  shape  its  course  and  our 
will  to  discharge  its  duties,  The  pressing  question,  therefore,  with  every 


336  SENATOR  R  II.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

people  is,  not  what  they  have  been,  but  whether  and  what  they  shall  deter 
mine  to  be  ;  not  what  their  fathers  were,  but  whether  and  what  their  chil 
dren  shall  be. 

God  in  events — mysteriously,  it  may  be,  to  us — has  made  the  educated 
men  in  the  South,  of  this  generation,  the  living  leaders  of  thought  for  a  great 
and  a  noble  people,  but  a  people  bewildered  by  the  suddenness  with  which 
they  have  been  brought  to  one  of  those  rare  junctures  in  human  affairs 
when  one  civilization  abruptly  ends  and  another  begins.  I  feel  oppressed 
with  a  sense  of  fear  that  we  shall  not  be  equal  to  the  unusual  responsibilities 
this  condition  imposes,  unless,  conquerors,  indeed,  of  the  greatest  model,  we 
can  deal  frankly  with  these  events,  frankly  with  ourselves,  and  bravely  with 
our  very  habits  of  thought.  Though  unjustly,  even  cruelly  slain,  brave  sur 
vivors  lie  not  down  with  the  dead,  but  rise  up  resolved  all  the  more  to  be 
leaders  and  conquerors  with  and  for  the  living. 

Let,  then,  the  other  days  of  this  literary  festival  suffice  for  the  fascina 
tions  of  rhetoric  and  the  cultured  figures  of  oratory.  It  accords  alike  with 
the  grave  duties  of  our  assembling,  with  the  suggestions  of  those  who  have 
called  me  to  this  task,  and  with  my  own  convictions  of  duty,  to  deal  with 
practical  thoughts,  looking  to  results,  and  to  "  speak  forth  the  words  of  truth 
and  soberness."  I  propose,  therefore,  to  consider: 

I.  The  situation  of  the  Southern  people  in  their  relation  to  the  other  civ 
ilized  peoples  of  this  age. 

II.  The  means  by  which  that  situation  may  be  improved  and  advanced, 
and  especially  our  educational  wants  and  demands  in  this  connection. 

III.  The  application  of  the  views  presented  to  our  own  State,  to  our  own 
university,  and  thence  deduce  our  duties  as  citizens  of  the  State,  and  as 
alumni  of  the  university. 

In  1787,  when  the  States,  by  their  delegates,  were  engaged  in  the  work 
of  framing  a  government  for  a  common  Union,  and  the  then  existing  and 
prospective  relative  powers  of  the  several  States  and  sections  were  being  dis 
cussed,  there  were  wise  men  who  ventured,  with  much  confidence,  to  predict 
that  in  a  not  distant  future  the  Southern  States  would  surpass  all  others  in 
population,  wealth,  and  power.  Nor  was  this  prediction  then  unreasonable. 
The  areas  of  these  States  were  most  extended.  Their  soils  were  naturally 
the  most  fertile.  Their  climate  was  the  most  genial,  with  a  temperature 
compatible  with  out-door  labor  during  all  seasons  of  the  year.  Their  pro 
ductions  were  the  most  varied  and  deemed  of  greatest  commercial  value, 
though  at  that  time  tobacco,  rice,  and  indigo  were  the  chief  staples;  and  that 
marvelous  fibrous  texture  which  is  now  strong  enough  to  tie  the  fortunes  of 
all  people,  more  or  less,  to  these  States,  was  then  little  known  or  relied  on. 
So,  also,  their  harbors  for  commerce  were  as  many  and  as  wide  and  as  deep; 
and  although  geology  and  other  physical  sciences  had  then  scarcely  more 
vision  than  he  who  only  saw  men  as  trees  walking,  yet,  with  even  that  faint 
vision,  they  saw  gold  and  silver,  and  iron  and  lead,  and  coal  and  all  minerals, 
rich,  accessible,  and  exhaustless,  in  their  hills  and  valleys  and  mountains. 

But  the  hopeful  anticipations  of  those  wise  men  have  not  been  realized. 
Areas  less  extended  contain  more,  homes.  Soils  less  fertile  have  produced 
more  fruits.  Climates  where  the  snows  scarcely  melt  have  attracted  more 
people  than  our  sunny  skies.  Coal  and  iron,  and  all  metals,  which  in  other 
States  were  deep  buried,  have  been,  with  immense  labor  and  expenditures  and 
dangers,  dragged  from  the  bowels  of  the  opened  earth;  while  here,  where 
they  lie  at  the  surface,  and  seem  to  throw  off  the  earth's  covering  as  if  to  hear 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND   WRITINGS.  3G7 

the  zephyr  and  peep  at  the  sun,  they  are  still  undisturbed.  Many  of  our  best 
harbors,  as  fine  as  any  filled  by  the  waters  of  the  sea,  do  not  know  to  this 

%f  & 

day  but  that  the  vessels  which  carry  the  golden  fleeces  of  commerce  are  still 
of  Argonautic  pattern,  and  if  they  were  to  hear  the  fierce  blowing  of  the  fly 
ing  steamers,  they  would  testify  to  all  the  gods  of  mythology  that  old  Neptune 
had  grown  angry,  and  in  thundering  wrath  was  lashing  his  dominions.  Why 
this  failure  ?  Charge  not  God.  He  has  done  for  no  people  more  than  for  us. 
He  gave  us  not  only  the  sweetest  flowers,  the  richest  fruits,  and  the  brightest 
skies,  but  He  added  to  these  every  other  good  gift.  Nor  can  this  failure  be 
charged  to  any  deficiency  in  the  white  race.  This  earth  contains  no  white 
race  superior  to  the  Southern  people.  Still,  the  question  comes  back  to  us, 
why  have  States  with  inferior  natural  advantages  advanced  more  rapidly  in 
wealth,  in  population,  and  in  all  the  elements  and  means  of  power  ?  Our 
failure  must  be  found  in  the  manner  of  improving  our  gifts  and  not  in  the 
want  of  them.  The  beginning  of  all  greatness  in  our  future  must  be  based 
on  the  wisdom  which  shall  discern  and  the  courage  that  shall  correct  the 
real  cause  of  this,  our  failure  in  the  past. 

This  cause,  in  my  opinion,  is  to  be  found  in  one  fact,  but  a  fact  which, 
like  the  Lernean  hydra,  multiplied  itself.  That  multiplying  fact  is  this  :  The 
Southern  laborer  was  a  slave,  a  negro  slave,  and  an  ignorant  negro  slave. 

It  is  not  within  the  scope  of  this  address  to  discuss  the  morality  of  slav 
ery,  nor  the  views  of  the  Southern  people  touching  the  question  of  property 
in  slaves,  nor  even  to  allude  to  any  political  issue  of  the  past  on  the  subject 
of  slavery,  nor  yet  to  venture  so  much  as  an  opinion  on  the  effects  of  slav 
ery,  or  of  its  abolition,  on  the  fate  of  the  negro  race.  I  only  propose  to 
show  that  slavery  affected,  and  most  deleteriously  affected,  the  Southern 
States  and  people  in  general  scientific,  physical,  and  educational  progress, 
and  especially  in  material  and  commercial  development,  and,  as  a  conse 
quence,  delayed  their  growth  in  population,  wealth,  and  physical  power. 

In  the  first  place  it  must  be  conceded  that  the  most  striking  manifesta 
tions  of  progress  in  modern  civilization  are  found  in  the  extensions  of  edu 
cational  facilities  to  the  masses  of  the  people  ;  in  the  elevation  and  advance 
ment  of  strictly  industrial  pursuits ;  in  the  establishment  of  scientific, 
physical,  mechanical,  and  all  polytechnic  schools,  and  in  the  discoveries 
made  and  results  wrought  by  educated  and  enlightened  industries.  Indeed, 
I  am  not  convinced  that  this  generation  has  witnessed  any  religious,  politi 
cal,  moral,  or  professional  progress.  Religion,  the  science  of  faith,  so  to 
speak,  being  the  inspiration  of  God,  can  never  become  a  subject  for  im 
provement  by  human  skill  or  art.  It  was  altogether  perfect  when  first 
given.  It  exhausted  truth  when  first  spoken.  True,  science  does  frequently 
and  arrogantly  parade  some  new  discovery  as  proof  that  the  Bible  is  a 
fable  ;  and  hence  it  is  that  we  have  sometimes  seen  the  greatest  of  human 
intellects  become,  for  the  moment,  victims  of  the  most  pitiable  of  human 
weaknesses,  and,  discarding  the  only  true  God,  bow  down  to  some  idol  of 
their  own  creation.  This  was  strikingly  illustrated  in  the  early  days  of 
geology. 

Therefore,  while  there  can  be  no  new  discoveries  of  faith,  and  no  wiser 
utterances  than  those  of  the  despised  Nazarene,  yet  in  view  of  this  anxious 
proneness  of  the  mind  to  discover  a  god  of  its  own  for  worship,  it  is  import 
ant  that  the  ambassadors  of  heaven  should  become  the  pupils  of  all  human 
schools,  and  keep  pace  with  human  science  in  all  her  ever-freshening  fields, 
that  they  may  be  able  to  show  that  whatsoever  that  science  may  or  can  dis- 


038  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

cover,  however  new  or  startling  to  us,  it  is  only  what  He  who  guided  the 
babe  of  the  bulrush,  who  elated  the  Judean  shepherds,  and  inspired  the 
Galilean  fishermen,  always  knew  and  never  contradicted.  To  the  extent, 
therefore,  that  the  physical  and  natural  sciences  have  progressed,  the  theo 
logians  of  this  day  may  be  and  ought  to  be  more  learned  than  those  of 
preceding  ages. 

So,  again,  I  doubt  whether  this  century  has  witnessed  any  progress  in 
the  science  of  government  or  of  law.  Popularism  is  the  distinguishing  fea 
ture  of  modern  statesmanship.  Improvement  in  that  direction  is  still  a 
problem.  At  the  hazard  of  wounding  the  pride  or  offending  the  vanity  of 
the  disciples  of  modern  professional  sciolism,  I  must  be  permitted  to  ques 
tion  whether,  since  their  day,  civilized  nations  have  produced  any  lawyer 
more  profound  than  Blackstone,  any  pleader  so  accurate  as  Chitty,  or  any 
judge  wiser  than  Mansrield  ? 

Similar  remarks  might  be  made  touching  other  branches  of  learning  ; 
but  I  have  said  enough  to  fix  and  isolate  the  point  before  stated,  that  mod 
ern  progress  is  chiefly,  it*  not  entirely,  found  not  in  the  advancements  of 
what  are  called  the  learned  professions,  but  in  the  education  and  elevation 
of  the  masses ;  in  the  discoveries  and  appliances  of  the  physical  sciences ; 
in  the  establishment  of  schools  of  science,  and  in  the  promotion,  enlarge 
ment,  and  results  of  all  departments  of  industries.  To  these  we  owe  those 
remarkable  inventions  which  substitute  the  sinews  of  nature  for  the  muscles 
of  men  and  animals  in  the  work  of  productions  ;  that  wonderful  facility  of 
distribution  which  makes  the  most  delicate  fruits  of  each  clime  the  fresh 
comforts  of  every  people ;  and  that  ever-marvelous  system  of  communica 
tion  which  enables  each  living  man  to  step  to  his  door,  nay,  to  sit  in  his 
chamber  and  converse  with  all  other  men  in  whispers,  and  which  enables 
the  man  beneath  us,  with  his  head  pointing  the  other  way,  to  send  us  his 
greetings  with  each  rising  sun,  saying,  " Good-morning,  neighbor"  And  to 
these  we  owe  also  innumerable  comforts  and  conveniences  in  every  field  of 
business  and  in  every  sphere  and  department  of  life. 

Now,  let  me  ask,  how  much  to  all  this  wonderful  progress  of  modern 
civilization,  to  all  these  comforts,  conveniences,  and  facilities  of  man  and  of 
society,  have  the  slaveholding  States  and  people  contributed?  Nay,  how 
much  of  all  these  works  of  others  have  we  even  appropriated  and  reproduced 
except  as  cupidity  has  tempted  others  to  furnish  them?  We  have  railroads, 
and  telegraph  lines,  and  a  small  proportion  of  needed  manufactories.  But 
whence  came  the  educated  engineers  who  build  and  operate  them?  We 
have  a  few  machine-shops,  but  whence  came  the  machinists?  Go  even  into 
our  laundries,  our  kitchens,  our  chambers,  and  our  parlors,  and  tell  me  how 
many  of  the  comforts,  the  conveniences,  the  elegancies  you  find  there  were 
made  by  slave  labor  ;  indeed  by  labor  in  slaveholding  States  ?  These  things 
can  be  so  truthfully  said  of  no  other  people  entitled  to  position  in  the  column 
of  advancing  civilizations. 

In  accounting  for  these  shortcomings  my  predicate  is,  that  the  cause 
must  be  found,  not  in  the  absence  of  natural  gifts  or  resources,  and  not  in 
any  inferiority  of  our  white  race,  but  in  the  fact  that  hitherto  the  laborer 
of  the  South  has  been  a  slave,  and  a  negro  slave.  The  first  step  in  the 
argument  is  this : 

Because  of  the  condition  of  slavery,  the  supposed  nature  of  the  slave, 
and  the  external  pressure  which  aggravated  both,  it  was  deemed  essential, 
for  internal  peace  and  social  security,  to  make  ignorance  the  primal  condi- 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND   WHITINGS.  339 

tion  of  the  slave,  and,  as  a  result,  the  primal  law  of  labor.  Thus  the  South 
ern  States  were  driven  to  the  fearful  disadvantage,  in  competing  with  a 
world  advancing  by  means  of  educated  industries,  of  making  it  a  penal 
offense — a  punishable  crime — to  educate  their  laborers. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  necessities  of  such  a  policy  as  touching 
the  safety  of  society  or  the  well-being  and  proper  subjection  of  the  slave, 
it  must  be  said  that  no  greater  curse  can  be  inflicted  upon  any  people  than 
that  of  being  compelled  to  keep  as  their  chief  laborers  persons  who,  for  any 
cause,  it  cannot  be  both  wise  and  safe  to  educate. 

The  first  effect  of  this  state  of  things  was  the  necessity  of  confining  our 
principal  labor  to  the  simplest  processes — processes  requiring  muscle  and 
not  skill.  But  this  itself  is  a  paradox,  for  I  deny  that  there  can  be  any 
labor  which  skill  cannot  progress,  elevate,  and  improve.  Another  effect, 
and  one  still  more  serious,  was  that  labor,  in  a  great  degree,  became  degraded 
to  the  condition  of  the  laborer.  The  real  supporter  of  all  society — the  pro 
ducer  and  the  true  author  of  all  comfortable  appliances  and  physical  im 
provements — the  mechanic,  the  machinist,  and  the  artisan — felt  the  weight 
which  thus  pressed  them  from  the  front  seats  of  social  consideration,  and 
assigned  them  a  kind  of  half-way  position  between  the  gentleman  and  the 
slave.  A  large  proportion  of  our  white  population,  not  born  to  fortune  nor 
blessed  with  first-class  educational  advantages,  struggled,  by  all  practicable 
means,  to  avoid  the  kinds  of  labor  performed  by  slaves,  and  labor  itself,  if 
possible.  They  would  resent,  as  an  insult  impeaching  their  respectability, 
all  invitations  to  occupy  the  same  useful  positions  in  our  society  which  the 
same  class  of  population  in  all  other  countries  were  glad  to  fill.  "Thank 
you,  sir ;  I  am  not  a  slave,"  was  the  ever-ready  answer  of  starving  pride  to 
the  most  courteous  offers  for  service  by  opulence. 

The  educated  minds  of  the  South  sought,  almost  exclusively,  the  profes 
sional  fields  for  employment.  Our  social  fabric  was  built,  in  great  measure, 
upon  the  distinctions  which  these  results  created.  Even  intellectual  and 
professional  labors  were  avoided,  if  the  number  of  slaves  doing  vicarious 
service  would  permit  the  enjoyment  of  those  most  generally  desired  of  all 
positions  in  society — elegant  leisure,  luxurious  abandon,  and  hospitable 
idleness.  Even  the  business  of  teaching — the  calling  of  Plato — did  not 
obtain,  save,  perhaps,  in  our  first-class  universities,  the  position  of  estima 
tion  to  which  it  is  always  so  justly  entitled,  because  its  followers  were 
either,  in  some  sense,  laborers,  or  were  supposed  not  to  possess  the  number 
of  slaves  deemed  necessary  to  an  easy  independence. 

Thus  it  was  that,  in  a  world  whose  greatest  necessity  is  labor,  and  in  an 
age  when  all  other  peoples  were  being  prized  into  power  by  the  Archime 
dean  lever  of  educated  labor,  we  of  the  Southern  States  were  earnestly 
defending  and  maintaining  a  system  of  labor  whose  legal  status  was  igno 
rance,  and  whose  social  impression  was  that  labor  was  the  badge  of  a  slave, 
entailing  a  sort  of  social  degradation,  while  idleness  was  the  lucky  fate  of  a 
gentleman,  entitling  to  social  excellence.  Many  of  our  "best  societv"  would 

"1  1        •  v 

nave  deemed  it  a  scandal  to  have  been  suspected  of  being  capable  of  dis 
charging  the  simplest  functions  of  many  necessary  labors.  How  many  of 
our  educated  young  men,  especially  sons  of  large  slaveholders,  were  willing, 
like  Abraham,  to  bring  with  their  own  hands  the  tender  kid  from  the  flock  ; 
and  how  many  of  our  accomplished  and  fashionable  young  ladies  were  either 
willing  or  able,  like  Sarah,  "to  knead  three  measures  of  fine  meal,  and 
bake  cakes  on  the  hearth,"  to  induce  even  angels  to  tarry?  They  could 


340  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

well  entertain  them  with  exhibitions  of  imported  millinery,  with  lively  ac 
counts  of  the  last  romance,  and  with  marvelous  sounds  of  operatic  music,  all, 
doubtless,  novelties  in  their  country  ;  but,  I  fear,  if  some  sable  Dinah  were 
not  about,  even  angels  would  have  to  go  away  hungry  !  * 

So,  again,  our  politics  became  absorbed,  passionately  absorbed,  with 
issues  involving  slavery  ;  and  those  theories  of  our  government,  with  the 
maintenance  of  which  the  existence  and  protection  of  slavery  were  supposed 
to  be  intertwined,  became  the  specialty  of  our  statesmanship.  Here,  indeed, 
we  produced  lengthy,  learned,  and  able  disquisitions,  combined  with  logical 
power  and  exhibitions  of  oratory  such  as  no  people  ever  surpassed,  and  thus 
most  abundantly  demonstrated  that  Southern  intellectual  capabilities  were 
equal  to  any  task.  But  what  real  permanent  progress  have  these  made  for 
us?  Take  our  most  distinguished,  able,  and  renowned  statesmen  of  this 
generation  ;  exclude  from  their  works  those  portions  devoted  to  slavery  and 
the  theory  of  government  alluded  to,  and  pray  tell  me,  what  is  left  ? 

Where  are  our  Bacons,  or  Newtoris,  or  Blackstones,  or  Burkes,  who,  by 
labors  long  and  vigils  many,  have  wrought  out  theories  of  government, 
codes  of  law,  and  revelations  of  science,  applicable  alike  to  all  people  and 
blessing  all  conditions  of  mankind  ?  Nay,  where  are  even  our  Storys,  Ban 
crofts,  and  our  Noah  Websters  ?  There  are  many  whom  the  ghost  of  our 
dead  civilization  may  justly  call  champions,  her  champions  ;  but  how  many 
have  we  whom  living,  growing,  immortal  civilizations  will  honor  as  victors 
in  the  world's  field  of  thought  ?  Then,  turning  our  attention  to  those  fields 
of  thought  and  of  progress  which  I  have  described  as  peculiarly  distinguish 
ing  the  civilizations  of  other  peoples,  and  where  are  our  trophies — any 
trophies  for  us  ? 

It  has  been  said  the  South  was  intended  by  nature  to  be  only  an  agricul 
tural  country.  This  is  one  of  the  sickening  excuses  of  slavery.  But  con 
cede  it,  and  the  question  recurs  with  terrible  force,  What  have  we  done  in 
agriculture  save  to  wear  away  our  soils  by  the  application  of  ignorant  mus 
cle  ?  Do  the  millions  of  acres  of  land  originally  fertile,  now  deserted,  as 
barren,  given  up  to  sedge-grass  and  clump-pines,  attest  the  skill  of  igno 
rant  slave  labor  in  this  its  chosen  field?  If  this  were  the  only  field  for  slave 
labor — and  it  was  certainly  a  rich  gift  from  nature — how  vigorously  has 
slavery  been  destroying  it. 

But  why  did  God  pile  up  our  mountains  and  fill  them  with  coal  and  iron 
and  all  metals  and  minerals,  if  He  did  not  intend  us  to  be  a  mining  and  me 
chanical  people  ?  Why  did  He  send  through  every  neighborhood  the  finest 
of  earth's  streams  with  exhaustless  water-powers,  if  He  did  not  intend  us  to 
be  a  manufacturing  people  ?  Why  did  He  dig  along  our  shores  such  mag 
nificent  harbors,  and  give  us  productions  which  exceed  all  others  in  com 
mercial  value,  if  He  did  not  intend  us  to  be  a  commercial  people  ?  Nay,  God 
has  given  us  every  element  of  progress  possessed  by  any  other  people,  and  to 
none  did  He  give  them  in  greater  profusion.  But  they  all  lie  unimproved, 

'  That  great  Southern  man,  Thomas  Jefferson,  in  speaking  of  the  evils  of  slavery  on 
the  Southern  people,  says:  "  With  the  morals  of  the  people  their  industry  also  is  destroyed. 
For  in  a  warm  climate,  no  man  will  labor  for  himself  who  can  make  another  labor  for 
him.  This  is  so  true,  that,  of  the  proprietors  of  slaves,  a  very  small  proportion,  indeed, 
are  ever  seen  to  labor."  (Jefferson's  Works,  vol.  viii,  404.)  Now,  I  admit  that  slavery 
did  have  the  industrial  effect  described  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  but  I  deny  the  moral  effect.  I 
think  no  people  ever  exhibited  a  more  hospitable  and  refined  society,  nor  one  in  which 
the  standard  of  morals  was  higher,  than  did  the  Southern  people  under  slavery. 


II1S  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  341 

because  labor,  by  which  alone  they  can  be  utilized,  has  been  degraded  as  a 
thins:  of  muscle,  meet  to  belong  to  the  slave,  and  not  honored  as  the  God- 

^j  ^j  * 

intended  means  by  which  educated  genius  and  skill  should  convert  every 
thing  into  power. 

So,  too,  while  our  native  labor  was  thus  kept  by  law,  by  ignorance,  and 
by  consequent  social  distinctions,  incapable  of  developing  our  physical  re 
sources,  the  educated  skill  of  other  countries,  in  great  measure,  declined  to 
abide  among  and  work  for  a  people  with  whom  labor  was  the  fate  of  the 
slave  and  the  aversion  of  a  gentleman.  For  every  one  of  these  who  was 

*/ 

willing  to  make  his  home  among  us  and  work  up  our  raw  material  on  the 
spot,  there  were  ten  who  preferred  hastily  to  gather  up  that  raw  material 
and  freight  it  away,  and  then  freight  back  a  proportion  of  the  manufactured 
result  for  our  use,  with  all  charges  added.  Thus,  our  exhaustless  natu 
ral  resources  seem  to  exhibit  the  more  glaringly  our  inability,  under  our  sys 
tem  of  labor,  to  convert  them  into  things  of  wealth,  use,  and  power. 

When  controversy  over  slavery  lately  culminated  into  war,  our  enemies 
had  only  to  shut  np  the  South  from  the  outside  world  most  effectually  to 
exclude  her  from  all  the  modern  facilities  for  conducting  that  war.  In  this 
condition,  thrown  upon  our  own  strength,  we  found  ourselves  unable  to 
manufacture  those  facilities.  Every  raw  material  we  possessed  in  abundance, 
but  we  had  neither  the  machinery  to  make  that  material  available,  nor  the 
skilled  labor  to  make  or  operate  the  machinery,  save  only  in  the  persons  of 
a  few  who  were  educated  in  other  countries  and  consented  to  cast  in  their 
lots  with  us.  We  were  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  trusting  to  the  skill  and 
daring  of  bold  adventurers,  stimulated  with  promises  of  large  rewards,  to 
elude  the  wary  sentinels  of  wrath  in  the  darkness,  to  bring  in  a  scant  supply 
of  munitions  of  war,  and  of  even  clothing  to  hide  the  nakedness  of  our  troops. 
One  of  the  most  remarkable  features  of  our  struggle,  without  a  parallel  in 
historic  civilized  annals,  was  that  our  soldiers  often  resorted  to  the  most 
courageous  strategy  to  capture  enemies,  desiring  less  the  enemy  than  their 
improved  weapons  of  war  ;  and  often  did  it  happen  that  our  brave  sons 
threw  away  the  inferior  arms  in  which  they  began  the  fight,  and  rearmed 
themselves,  in  the  raging  midst  thereof,  with  the  better  arms  taken  from 
the  foe. 

If,  before  the  war,  the  Southern  States  had  kept  pace  with  the  world  in 
physical  progress  and  scientific  schools,  they  would  have  been  invincible  by 
any«force  which  the  enemy  could  have  sent  against  them.* 

We  failed,  but  not  for  the  want  of  skilled  leaders.  These  we  had,  and 
human  annals  never  furnished  their  superiors.  Not  for  the  want  of  coura 
geous  armies;  for  these,  too,  we  had,  and  human  conflicts  never  marshaled 
braver  for  battle.  We  had  learned  counselors,  able  generals,  gallant  soldiers, 

*  Since  the  address  was  delivered,  a  very  intelligent  gentleman  has  placed  in  my  hands 
a  very  able  work  on  "Coal,  Iron,  and  Oil,"  written  by  a  gentleman  of  Pennsylvania 
since  the  war.  In  this  work  I  find  the  following  confession":  "  If  the  Southern  States 
had  kept  pace  with  the  Northern  in  developing  their  physical  resources  there  would  have 
occurred  no  rebellion  ;  but  if  it  had  occurred,  it  would  have  been  utterly  impossible  to 
have  subdued  that  people." 

Coal  lands  sell  in  England  for  from  $5000  to  $7000  per  acre  ;  in  Pennsylvania  for 
from  $500  to  $1000  per  acre.  Lands,  fully  equal  in  natural  value  in  Georgia,  sell  from 
$1  to  $5  per  acre.  Pennsylvania  has  $230,000,000  invested  in  the  anthracite  coal  business 
alone,  more  than  the  taxable  value  of  the  State  of  Georgia.  The  City  of  Pittsburgh,  built 
and  sustained  by  the  coal  and  iron  business  alone,  has  a  population  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand,  more  than  the  six  of  the  largest  cities  of  Georgia  combined. 


342  SENATOR  B.  II.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

and  an  earnest  people,  all  stimulated  with  the  belief  that  independence,  liberty, 
and  hope  hung  upon  the  issue  of  the  struggle  ;  but  we  had  not  those  physi 
cal  elements  of  power  which  modern  sciences  and  skilled  labor  have  fashioned, 
and  without  which  it  is  now  vain  to  make  war,  and  therefore  we  failed.  In 
the  right  for  which  we  fought  was  the  weakness  by  which  we  fell.* 

In  fine,  it  is  no  extravagance  of  thought  nor  straining  of  language  to 
affirm  that  for  two  generations  Southern  progress,  Southern  development, 
and  Southern  power  have  been  in  bondage  to  the  negro  ;  and  Southern  fail 
ure,  Southern  dependence,  and  Southern  sorrow  are  the  heavy  penalties  we  suf 
fer  for  that  bondage.  For  more  than  thirty  years  Southern  genius,  with  all 
its  glorious  natural  spirit  of  Promethean  daring  and  venture,  has  been  chained 
by  some  offended  god  of  jealous  vengeance  to  this  solid  rock  of  slavery,  and 
vultures  have  preyed  upon  it. 

'Tis  LOOSED  !  We  inquire  not  how,  whether  by  fate  or  by  folly  ;  whether 
in  right  or  in  hate  ;  nor  whether  the  human  agency  was  wicked  in  purpose 
and  cruel  in  manner  ;  we  thank  thee,  God,  for  the  fact — 'TIS  LOOSED  ! 

II.  Understanding  now  the  causes  of  our  shortcomings  hitherto,  the  next 
question  is,  by  what  means  shall  our  situation  be  improved  ?  Suddenly  and 
without  remedy  slavery  has  been  abolished.  The  peculiar  civilization  wrought 
by  slavery  must  perish  with  it,  and  a  great  proportion  of  the  labors  of  the 
South,  being  mere  supports  and  results  of  that  civilization,  must  perish  too. 
But  does  it  follow  that  Southern  genius,  Southern  prosperity,  and  the 
Southern  people  must  perish  also  ?  Are  we  to  admit  that  our  deficiencies 
were  attributable  to  the  governing  race  of  the  South  rather  than  to  the  want 
of  skill  and  efficiency  in  our  system  of  labor  ?  The  attempt  to  locate  the 
cause  of  our  failure  to  advance  in  population,  wealth,  and  power,  in  the  laws 
of  immigration,  by  parallels  of  latitude,  and  in  the  exclusive  adaptedness  of 
the  South  to  agriculture,  will  not  convince.  The  truth  is,  immigrants  com 
ing  from  free  countries  did  not  follow  parallels,  but  followed  systems,  habits, 
and  feelings,  and  avoided  slavery ;  and  negro  slave  labor  was  chiefly 
confined  to  agriculture,  because  it  did  not  possess  the  skill  and  intelligence 
needed  for  educated  industries.  Let  us  see  plainly  the  cause,  and  let  us  ap 
ply  vigorously  the  remedy.  If  this  generation  of  our  educated  men  will  now 

*  In  that  great  speech  of  Mr.  Burke,  "On  conciliation  .with  America,"  we  have  a  true 
and  philosophical  description  of  the  dominating  and  invincible  spirit  and  love  of  freedom 
found  in  slave  countries.  Every  page  of  American  history  since  that  day  has  illustrated 
the  correctness  of  the  utterance  in  that  speech.  And  for  that  very  feature  in  the  philos 
ophy  of  slavery,  so  tersely  expressed  by  Mr.  Burke,  I  believe  if  the  slaveholding  States 
had  been  content  to  remain  integral  portions  of  the  United  States,  and  had  sought  redress 
for  grievances  only  in  the  Union,  and  as  the  faithful  adherent  and  defender  of  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  Union  under  the  Constitution,  they  would  have  continued,  as  they  had 
ever  been,  the  controlling  power  in  that  Union.  They  would  have  furnished  the  leaders 
of  the  cabinet  in  peace,  and  the  leaders  of  the  armies  in  war.  It  was  so  in  the  first  revo 
lutionary  war.  It  was  so  in  the  war  of  1812.  It  was  so  in  the  war  with  Mexico.  And  if 
in  1861  the  united  sections  had  gone  to  war  with  a  foreign  power  instead  of  with  each 
other,  who  doubts  that  even  the  Northern  people  would  have  placed  Lee  and  Jackson  at 
the  head  of  the  combined  armies  ?  And  against  such  a  people,  the  South  furnishing 
unequaled  skilled  leaders,  and  the  North  unequaled  skilled  labor  and  materials — the 
world  might  have  united  in  vain. 

But  that  same  dominating  spirit  and  love  of  freedom  spoken  of  by  Mr.  Burke  made 
slavery  insist  upon  standing  alone.  Then  we  found  that  modern  science  and  skilled  labor 
since  Mr.  Burke's  day  had  made  something  besides  brains  and  courage  necessary  to 
success  in  war.  Fatal  mistake  ?  It  was  death  to  slavery  !  I  pray  God  it  may  result 
in  the  final  death  of  nothing  else  ! 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS. 

bestir  themselves,  we  shall  soon  find  that  only  our  fetters  have  been  broken, 
and  the  day  of  unequaled  greatness  and  prosperitywill  dawn  and  brighten 
to  glorious  and  lasting  noon  in  the  South. 

All  our  natural  advantages,  damaged  only  by  a  worn  soil,  ignorantly 
worked,  remain  in  all  their  freshness  and  plenty.  We  must  utilize  them. 
And  that  we  may  utilize  thehi  we  must  honor,  elevate,  and  educate  labor, 
and  to  this  end  we  must  establish  schools  of  science,  and  train  our  children 
to  businesses  and  callings  other  than  law,  medicine,  and  theology. 

If  our  own  people  shall  not  be  educated,  and  thus  enabled  to  appropriate 
and  convert  into  power  and  wealth  the  natural  resources  we  possess,  other 
educated  peoples  will  now  come  in  and  appropriate  them,  and  the  orig 
inal  Southern  population  and  their  descendants  will  indeed  perish  with  sla 
very,  or  pass  away  like  the  Indians,  or  will  sink  into  a  condition  of  inferi 
ority  and  dependence  more  galling  and  ignoble  than  death  or  exile. 

The  first  step  of  upward  progress  is  to  build  up  our  universities.  Flow 
ing  down  from  these,  education  must  reach  the  masses.  Our  own  sons  must 
be  taught  to  build  and  operate  all  machinery.  Furnaces  and  foundries, 
studios  and  workshops,  must  be  as  honorable  and  abundant  as  the  offices  of 
the  learned  professions,  and  they  must  be  filled  with  our  own  children,  made 
experts  in  our  own  schools  of  science.  Then  population  will  also  flow  in  from 
other  States  and  countries,  and  in  a  form  not  to  displace  or  dominate  over  us 
but  only  to  add  to  our  strength.  Then  wealth  will  increase,  homes  will 
multiply,  power  become  a  fact  and  not  a  theory,  and  then,  and  not  till  then, 
we  shall  see  and  feel,  taking  bodily  shape  and  form,  those  tantalizing,  per 
plexing  myths  after  which  we  have  so  long  vainly  grasped — State  rights, 
State  sovereignty,  and  State  independence  ! 

And  what  shall  we  do  with  ['the  negro  ?  He  is  still  among  us.  His 
capacities  still  form  a  problem.  But  our  duty  is  plain,  and  our  interest  is 
equally  plain.  We  must  do  all  in  our  power  to  educate,  elevate,  protect, 
and  advance  the  negro.  If  his  capabilities  prove  sufficient  to  enable  us  to 
promote  him  into  an  intelligent  laborer,  the  country  will  reap  the  benefit. 
If  they  prove  insufficient,  we  shall  have  demonstrated  the  fact,  and  others 
will  take  his  place.  We  must  have  an  educated  labor.  We  must  have 
multiplied  industries.  We  must  have  schools  of  agriculture,  of  commerce, 
of  manufactures,  of  mining,  of  technology,  and,  in  short,  of  all  polytechnics, 
and  we  must  have  them  as  sources  of  power  and  respectability,  and  in  all 
our  own  sons  must  be  qualified  to  take  the  lead  and  point  the  way. 

III.  Let  us,  in  the  third  place,  apply  the  views  presented  to  our  own 
State,  to  our  own  university,  and  thence  deduce  our  duties  to  both. 

No  portion  of  the  habitable  globe  surpasses  Georgia  in  natural  gifts.  In 
coal,  iron,  and  metals  she  equals  Pennsylvania.  In  timber  and  water  power 
for  machinery  she  exceeds,  beyond  computation,  Massachusetts.  In  capacity 
to  sustain  population  she  is  greater  than  New  York  ;  and  in  the  value  and 
variety  of  her  productions  and  the  genial  healthfulness  of  her  climate  she 
is  excelled  by  no  equal  area  of  the  earth's  surface.  Those  wise  men,  there 
fore,  who,  in  1787,  predicted  the  superior  growth  of  the  Southern  States  in 
wealth,  population,  and  power,  were  certainly  not  unreasonable  in  reference 
to  our  own  State.  Then  why,  with  such  vastly  superior  natural  gifts,  is 
Georgia  so  far  behind  each  of  the  States  mentioned,  and,  indeed,  so  far 
behind  other  younger  and  smaller  States  not  mentioned  ?  Only  because  the 
art  and  skill  which  utilize  natural  advantages  have  been  applied  there,  and 
have  not  been  applied  here.  We  have  looked  almost  exclusively  to  the 


344  SENATOR  R  If.  HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

negro  slave  as  our  laborer.  We  have,  by  law,  kept  even  the  negro  an 
ignorant  laborer.  We  have  thus  fixed  a  social  brand  on  labor  itself,  and 
have  thus  made  it  promotive  of  social  caste  to  be  able  to  live  idly,  and  one  of 
the  greatest  of  misfortunes,  entailing  a  sort  of  social  exclusion,  to  be  compelled 
to  labor.  This  system  has  rendered  our  own  people  unwilling  and  unquali 
fied  to  multiply  our  fields  of  industry,  and  this  same  system  has  kept  away 
the  educated  laborers  of  other  countries.  The  result  is,  that  almost  the 
only  field  of  labor  occupied  in  our  State  is  that  one  of  agriculture  supposed 
to  be  adapted  to  the  capacities  of  the  uneducated  negro  slave,  and  in  that 
field  we  find  our  natural  strength  greatly  lessened  by  the  perpetual  wear  of 
ignorant  muscle,  instead  of  being,  as  in  the  States  mentioned,  improved  by 
educated  skill.  We  have  not  only  refused  to  mine  our  metals  and  give 
employment  to  our  water-powers,  but  we  have  been  cutting  down  and  burn 
ing  up  our  forests  ;  we  have  so  stirred  our  soils  that  the  rain  which  kindly 
came  to  fructify  them  were  compelled  cruelly  to  wash  them  away  ;  we  have 
converted  into  the  flesh  and  bones  of  the  slaves  the  wealth  which  God 
placed  in  our  lands,  and  then  carried  the  slaves  west  to  repeat  the  process  ; 
and  in  all  the  natural  elements  of  agricultural  wealth  we  are  weaker  to-day 
than  we  were  in  1787.* 

Now,  this  process  cannot  continue.  Our  coal  and  iron  will  not  always 
sleep  in  the  shallow  earth  because  we  think  it  unbecoming  the  social  position 
of  an  educated  gentleman  to  wake  them  up  and  lift  them  out.  Our  magnifi 
cent  trees  will  not  always  grow  and  fall  and  decay  because  our  young  men 
think  the  style  of  a  gentleman  is  a  soft  hand  in  a  kid  glove.  Nor  will  the 
educated  laborers  of  other  States  and  countries  always,  or  even  much  longer, 
send  here  and  freight  away,  at  great  expense  and  labor,  our  raw  material  to 
foreign  shops  for  manufacture.  No  ;  that  supposed  necessity  which  enacted 
the  law  that  labor,  as  a  thing  of  muscle,  must  be  kept  ignorant,  has  been 
swept  away.  Its  consequences,  social  and  otherwise,  must  cease.  The  time 
is  coming,  and  now  is,  when  professional  gentlemen  will  not  be  regarded  as 
the  only  class  of  occupied  society  who  need  a  first-class  education,  and  who 
may  compete  with  the  more  fortunate  idle  in  social  excellence  and  matri 
monial  preference. 

Whether  we  educate  them  or  not,  and  whether  in  the  persons  of  our 

*  General  T.  R.  R.  Cobb,  in  his  work  on  slavery,  speaking  of  the  migratory  habits  of 
slaveholders,  uses  this  strong  language  : 

"  In  a  slaveholding  State,  the  greatest  evidence  of  wealth  in  the  planter  is  the  number 
of  his  slaves.  The  most  desirable  property  for  a  remunerative  income  is  slaves.  The 
best  property  to  leave  to  his  children,  and  from  which  they  will  part  with  greatest  reluc 
tance,  is  slaves.  Hence,  the  planter  invests  his  surplus  income  in  slaves.  The  natural 
result  is  that  lands  are  a  secondary  consideration.  No  surplus  is  left  for  their  im 
provement.  The  homestead  is  valued  only  so  long  as  the  adjacent  lands  are  profitable 
for  cultivation.  The  planter  himself  having  no  local  attachments,  his  children  inherit 
none.  On  the  contrary,  he  encourages  in  them  a  disposition  to  seek  new  lands.  His 
valuable  property  (his  slaves)  are  easily  removed  to  fresh  lands  ;  much  more  easily  than 
to  bring  the  fertilizing  material  to  the  old.  The  result  is  that  they,  as  a  class,  are  never 
settled.  Such  a  population  is  almost  nomadic.  It  is  useless  to  seek  to  excite  patriotic 
emotions  in  behalf  of  the  land  of  birth,  where  self-interest  speaks  so  loudly.  On  the 
other  hand,  where  no  slavery  exists,  and  the  planter's  surplus  cannot  be  invested  in 
laborers,  it  is  appropriated  to  the  improvement  or  extension  of  his  farm,  the  beautifying 
of  the  homestead  where  his  fathers  are  buried,  and  where  he  hopes  to  lie." — (Cobb,  On 
Slavery,  217.) 

The  truth  is  that  those  wonderful  patriots,  who  become  hysterical  when  a  defect  in 
slavery  is  admitted,  are  of  very  modern  growth.  It  almost  seems  as  if  God  raised  them 
up  to  run  the  people  mad,  that  slavery  might  be  destroyed  !  . 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  345 

own  children  or  not,  the  practical  geologist,  the  mineralogist,  the  chemist, 
the  miner,  the  manufacturer,  the  machinist,  the  mechanic,  the  engineer,  the 
artisan,  the  earnest  alumni  of  all  schools  of  applied  science,  with  diplomas 
in  their  pockets,  are  all  to  inhabit  and  will  inhabit  and  work  and  build  up 
this  State  so  favored  with  rich  gifts  and  spreading  fields  for  all. 

Our  tired  soil  will  strike  up  a  song  like  unto  Miriam's,  when  it  feels  the 
touch  of  accomplished  skill.  Our  ores  will  leap  from  their  beds,  and  in 
ringing  mirth  make  and  feed  active  machinery.  Our  flowers  and  plants  will 
load  the  air  with  merry  fragrance  as  they  yield  their  hidden  essences  to 
heal  and  to  comfort.  Our  water-falls,  wearied  with  the  solos  of  centuries, 
will  join  in  musical  duets  with  the  shuttle  and  loom.  Our  pine  and  oak, 
and  walnut  and  cypress,  will  take  every  form  of  beauty  and  every  shape  for 
use.  Our  fields,  renewed  like  a  strong  man  from  his  couch  of  fever,  will 
vield  tenfold  sheaves  for  our  garners.  Our  wildernesses  will  be  filled  with 

*.  t__r 

cottages  ;  our  villages  will  grow  into  cities,  and  our  cities  will  enlarge  their 
borders  and  increase  their  spires  ;  and  our  harbors  will  proudly  ride  the 
ships  of  the  whole  earth,  bearing  away  the  products  of  mine  and  field,  and 
shop  and  factory,  ready  wrought  into  everything  of  ornament  and  value. 

And  I  tell  you,  nay,  in  the  earnest  words  of  one  whose  very  soul  feels 
the  pressing  weight  of  the  utterance,  I  warn  you  this  day,  that  they  who 
icork  these  results  will  govern  in  this  country.  If  the  present  gives  sure  prog 
nosis  of  anything  in  the  future,  if  the  examples  of  other  countries  like 
developed  teach  any  lesson,  it  is  that  the  physical  and  scientific  develop 
ments  of  this  country  will  fix  the  character  of  our  institutions,  and  furnish 
the  rulers  of  our  people.  Progressive  civilization  has  issued  its  new  decree. 
Professional  men  shall  have  rivals  for  the  seats  of  power  ;  and  those  rivals 
are  the  devoted  children  of  applied  science,  the  educated  leaders  of  labor, 
who  hold  in  their  grasp  the  ever-enlarging  fields  which  employ,  improve, 
and  control  mankind. 

The  only  question  is,  whether  our  children  or  the  children  of  others  shall 
occupy  these  fields  and  be  these  rulers.  They  will  be  occupied,  and  by 
rulers.  God  never  gave  this  Southern  country  so  many  rich  gifts  to  lie 
forever  unappropriated.  Those  who  know  their  value  will  not  permit  them 
to  remain  forever  useless  when  all  the  world  needs  them.  We  must  answer 
the  question.  Will  we,  like  wise  fathers,  like  thinking,  educated  citizens, 
wake  up  to  the  full  realization  of  the  new  civilization  that  is  now  throwing 
its  light  in  floods  upon  us,  and  provide  for  our  children  and  people  the 
facilities  by  which  they  may  retain  the  possessions  they  occupy  ?  Shall  we 
teach  them  to  pine  away  or  fret  to  exhaustion  for  imaginary  treasures  hope 
lessly  lost  rather  than  how  to  reach  out  their  hands  and  gather  richer  real 
treasures  piled  up  all  around  them  ? 

The  beginning  of  all  improvement  in  Georgia  lies  in  the  enlargement  of 
our  system  of  education.  Education  is  like  water  ;  to  fructify,  it  must 
descend.  Pour  out  floods  at  the  base  of  society,  and  only  at  the  base,  and 
it  will  saturate,  stagnate,  and  destroy.  Pour  it  out  on  the  summit,  and  it 
will  quietly  and  constantly  percolate  and  descend,  germinating  every  seed, 
feeding  every  root,  until  over  the  whole  area,  from  summit  to  base,  will 
spring  "  the  tender  blade  and  then  the  ear,  and  then  the  full  corn  in  the 


ear.'' 


The  first  necessary  step  in  any  educational  system,  therefore,  and  the 
first,  the  highest,  the  holiest  duty  now  pressing  upon  every  Georgian,  is  to 
build  up  this  university.  This  is  our  summit.  This  is  the  Ararat  on  which 


346  SENATOR  B.   If.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

the  ark  that  bears  all  that  is  left  of  our  old  civilization  must  rest  from  the 
storms  and  waves  of  revolution,  and  send  out  the  life  and  strength  and  hope 
of  a  better  civilization,  which  shall  not  again  be  destroyed. 

In  organizing  a  complete  university  I  would,  in  the  first  place,  preserve 
a  full  and  rigid  college  curriculum  for  all  who  desire  a  strictly  classical  and 
literary  education.  I  would  then  add  all  independent  polytechnic  schools, 
courses  of  study,  abstract  and  applied,  scientific,  regular,  and  elective.  I 
would  provide  every  facility  to  make  and  accomplish  the  universal  scholar 
and  the  special  expert.  Nothing  desirable  or  useful  in  knowledge  should  be 
better  or  more  thoroughly  and  cheaply  acquirable  elsewhere.  I  would  have 
teaching  by  lectures,  by  recitations,  and  by  experiments  and  sifting  examina 
tions,  individual  and  class,  oral  and  written. 

In  the  next  place,  I  would  make  tuition  free  in  every  department  of  the 
university.  I  would  pull  down  the  toll-gates  which  bar  the  passage  of  light, 
and  knowledge  should  go  to  the  ignorant  mind  as  air  goes  to  the  tired  lungs, 
and  water  to  the  parched  lips.  Every  father  in  Georgia  should  be  taught 
to  feel  and  made  to  rejoice  that  his  son  had  a  patrimony  in  the  university 
of  his  State.  And  not  only  this,  I  would  provide  for  the  proper  selection 
from  every  portion  of  the  State  of  the  promising  children  of  orphanage  and 
indigence,  who  should  find  here  that  parental  kindness  and  smile  of  fortune 
which  would  secure  food  and  raiment,  with  education.  I  would  establish 
systems  of  scholarships  and  fellowships,  and  would  require  their  recipients 
to  distribute  throughout  the  State  the  blessings  they  had  thus  received  from 
the  State.  We  have  had  in  the  past,  nominally,  a  university  of  Georgia, 
and  I  would  have  in  the  future  really  a  university  for  Georgia. 

The  field  of  power  and  glory  opened  by  this  thought  for  our  State  in  one 
generation,  from  the  present  standpoint  of  humiliation,  is  rich  and  inviting, 
but  too  broad  for  exploration  to-day. 

Let  it  not  be  objected  that  a  system  like  this  would  require  means. 
Education  is  the  one  subject  for  which  no  people  ever  yet  paid  too  much. 
Indeed,  the  more  they  pay  the  richer  they  become.  Nothing  is  so  costly  as 
ignorance,  and  nothing  so  cheap  as  knowledge.  Even  under  old  civilizations, 
the  States  and  people  who  provided  the  greatest  educational  dissemination 
and  advantages  were  always  the  most  wealthy,  the  most  powerful,  the  most 
feared  and  respected  by  others,  and  the  most  secure  in  every  right  of  person 
and  property  among  themselves.  And  this  truth  will  be  tenfold  more  mani 
fest  in  the  future  than  it  has  been  in  the  past.  The  very  right  arm  of  all 
future  national  power  will  rest  in  the  education  of  the  people.  Modern 
civilizations  mock  any  extent  of  brute  force  in  the  hands  of  ignorance. 
Power  is  leaving  thrones  and  is  taking  up  its  abode  in  the  intelligence  of  the 
subjects.  Liberty,  weakened  with  perpetual  treacheries  and  worn  out  with 
constant  alarms  for  her  safety  in  the  forms  of  government,  will  soon  find  no 
abiding  home  save  in  the  intelligence  of  the  people.  Modern  physical 
sciences  are  writing  many  changes  in  the  long- established  maxims  of  political 
economy.  Capital  no  longer  patronizingly  employs  labor,  but  enlightened 
labor  takes  capital  by  the  hands  and  directs  it  where  and  when  and  how 
it  should  be  invested.  Industry — educated  industry,  has  taken  possession  of 
the  exhaustless  stores  of  nature,  and  of  nature's  forces  ;  is  daily  lifting  up 
her  hands,  full  of  all  new  inventions  ;  is  filling  the  earth  with  her  instru 
ments  of  elevation  and  improvement ;  is  grasping  continents  and  binding 
the  nations  in  a  bundle,  and  with  right  royal  confidence,  is  bidding  kings 
and  rulers,  empire  and  republics,  obey. 


HIS  LIFE,    SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  347 

I  affirm  to-day  that  the  wealth  and  the  power  and  the  security  and  suc 
cess  of  existing  nations  are  exactly  measured  by  the  standards  and  extent  of 
their  educational  systems,  and  that  those  nations  possess  the  highest  standards, 
and  the  most  efficient  and  widely  diffused  systems  of  education,  which  have 
devoted  the  largest  means  and  taken  the  greatest  pride  in  endowing  and 
enlarging  their  universities. 

What  is,  and  long  has  been,  the  secret  of  the  power  of  England  ?  You 
will  say  her  well-balanced  government,  her  almost  perfect  administration  of 
law,  her  navy,  her  material  improvements,  her  vast  industries,  her  educated 
people,  and  her  experts  in  every  known  science.  But  whence  come  those 
who  maintain  that  well-balanced  government  ;  who  administer  her  laws  ; 
who  build  and  command  her  navy  ;  who  multiply  her  industries  ;  who  de 
velop  her  resources,  and  who  gather  tribute  for  old  England  from  everything 
and  everywhere  ?  There  stands  the  grand  answer — Cambridge  and  Oxford. 
And  is  England  wasteful,  or  unwise,  or  oppressive  upon  her  people  because 
upon  each  one  of  these — her  eyes,  her  ears,  her  arms,  her  wealth,  her  power, 
her  glory — she  annually  bestows  two  millions  of  dollars  ? 

Prussia  annually  appropriates  to  nine  of  her  universities  more  than  one 
million  thalers.  Need  I  tell  you  now  that  the  victories  of  Sadowa  and 
of  Sedan  were  won  in  the  school-rooms  and  the  workshops  ?  It  was  educated 
artillery  to  which  Austria  so  readily  courtesied,  and  before  the  approach  of 
\vhich  France,  haughty  France,  lifted  her  crown,  yielded  her  capital,  and 
bowed  in  humility.  What  would  become  of  the  statesmanship  of  Gladstone 
and  Bismarck  if  they  moved  to  discontinue  these  universities  on  the  ground 
that  they  were  costly  ? 

Let  us  look  nearer  home. 

Massachusetts  has  one  university  with  an  endowment  of  over  two  millions 
of  dollars.  Connecticut  possesses  one  with  an  endowment  of  over  one  million. 
New  York  contains  two  universities  with  an  aggregate  endowment  of  over 
six  millions  of  dollars.  The  universities  of  the  North,  and  chiefly  of  New 
England,  have  lately  received  appropriations  amounting  to  nine  millions. 
The  university  of  Georgia  has  received  not  one  dollar.  Even  the  small 
pittance  she  receives  annually  from  the  State  is  only  the  interest  on  funds 
she  turned  over  to  the  State  for  a  safe  investment ! 

Of  twenty-two  observatories  in  the  United  States,  only  two  are  south  of 
the  Potomac.  Both  of  these  were  erected  by  Northern  gentlemen,  and 
neither  is  now  in  use. 

Even  some  of  the  new  States,  more  than  a  century  our  juniors  in  age, 
have  given  a  hundred-fold  more  than  Georgia  to  establish  and  endow  their 
universities  and  industrial  schools. 

But  these  Northern  States  are  all  rich  and  we  are  poor  !  They  are  strong 
and  we  are  weak  !  Yes,  add  therefore  is  it  so.  And  if  the  same  process 
shall  continue,  they  will  grow  richer  and  we  poorer,  they  stronger  and  we 
weaker  !  We  have  theorized  about  rights,  and  have  degraded  labor  with 
ignorance  to  preserve  rights.  They  have  worked  for  power,  and  have 
educated  labor  to  secure  power.  The  result  is,  we  have  scarcely  any  right 
or  power,  while  they  have  population,  wealth,  rights,  and  powers,  and  every 
means  of  maintaining  and  increasing  them. 

And  were  we  ready  for  independence  ?  Were  we  not  deceived  as  to  the 
real  source  of  our  weakness,  and  also  as  to  the  extent  of  that  weakness  ? 
A\  ith  every  natural  resource,  but  with  no  art  or  skilled  labor  to  render  them 
available,  is  it  wonderful  that  we  failed  ?  Rather  is  it  not  the  world's 


348  SENATOR  fi.    H.   JJTLL,    OF  QEOKGTA. 

marvel,  that  individual  skill,  social  pride,  and  almost  unarmed  courage  were 
able  to  sustain  the  unequal  struggle  so  long  ?  If  we  had  won  the  acknowledg 
ment  of  our  political  independence,  would  we  not  have  been  compelled  to 
send  among  our  late  enemies  for  an  architect  to  plan  and  build  a  capitol  for 
the  new  nation ;  and  even  for  men  of  science  to  lead  us  into  our  own  hills 
and  mountains,  to  show  us  the  power  sleeping  there,  and  how  that  power 
could  be  aroused  and  made  valuable  in  peace  and  mighty  in  war  ? 

The  people  of  Georgia,  annually,  send  to  other  States  and  countries  for 
very  many  articles  which  they  possess  in  greater  abundance  at  home.  Edu 
cated  industries  at  the  North  take  our  raw  materials,  apply  to  them  their 
skill  and  art,  and  resell  them  to  our  people  increased  in  value — some  thirty, 
some  sixty,  and  some  five  hundred  fold  !  If  one  fourth  the  sum  expended 
in  any  one  year  by  the  people  of  this  State,  for  either  one  of  several  of  these 
imported  articles,  were  set  apart  as  an  endowment  fund  for  this  university, 
every  school  of  science  taught  at  the  North  or  in  England  or  in  Prussia 
could  be  at  once  established  here  ;  tuition  could  be  made  free  ;  a  system  of 
education  covering  the  State  could  be  inaugurated  and  carried  into  effect ; 
and  the  result  would  be  that  the  next  generation  of  our  own  educated  sons 
would  find  those  same  articles  in  our  midst,  would  supply  our  own  people 
with  tenfold  the  quantity  they  are  now  able  to  import  and  at  less  cost,  and 
would  have  a  large  surplus  remaining  for  export,  as  articles  of  commercial 
value  to  the  North  and  to  England  and  to  Prussia. 

Shall  this  waste  continue  ?  Are  our  sons  and  daughters  unworthy  or  in 
capable  of  proficiency  in  the  industrial  arts  ?  Go  now  to  the  library  room 
of  this  university,  and  look  again  upon  the  perfect  features  of  one  of  the 
noblest  of  our  own  lamented  curators,  caught,  cast,  and  preserved  by  the 
beautiful  genius  and  skillful  touch  of  one  of  Georgia's  own  fair  daughters, 
and  then  say  if  Southern  intellect  need  anything  but  the  opportunity  and 
the  effort  to  win  trophies  in  any  field  ? 

No  period  in  the  history  and  fortunes  of  our  State  was  ever  half  so 
critical  as  is  the  present.  And  in  this  anxious  hour — this  crisis  of  her  fate — 
to  whom  shall  the  State  look  with  hope  if  not  to  her  own  educated  sons  ? 

On  whom  shall  this  loved  university  now  lean  with  faith,  if  not  on  her 
own  alumni  ? 

Who  shall  stay  the  coming  of  Philip,  if  Athenians  abandon  Greece  ? 

Who  shall  save  our  Rome  from  the  clutch  of  the  despot  and  the  tread  of 
the  vandal,  if  our  Anthonies  still  madly  follow  the  fleeing,  faithless,  fallen 
African  ? 

Gentlemen,  we  cannot  escape  the  responsibility  pressing  upon  us.  If  we 
prove  unequal  to  our  duties  now,  then  a  State,  with  every  natural  gift  but 
worthy  sons,  appropriated  by  others,  and  a  university  fallen  in  the  midst  of 
her  own  listless,  unheeding  children,  must  be  the  measure  of  our  shame  in  the 
future.  But  if  we  prove  equal  to  those  duties  now,  then  a  State  surpassed 
by  none  in  wealth,  worth,  and  power,  with  the  university  made  immortal  for 
her  crown,  will  be  the  glory  that  is  waiting  to  reward  our  ambition. 

And  we  shall  escape  this  shame  and  win  this  glory  if  we  now  will  fully 
comprehend  and  manfully  act  upon  three  predicate  propositions  : 

1.  That  the  civilization  peculiar  to  the  Southern  States   hitherto    has 
passed  away,  and  forever. 

2.  That  no  new  civilization  can  be  equal  to  the  demands  of  the  age  which 
does  not  lay  its  foundations  in  the  intelligence  of  the  people,  and  in  the 
multiplication  and  social  elevation  of  educated  industries. 


HIS  LIFE,    SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  «349 

3.  That  no  system  of  education  for  the  people,  and  for  the  multiplication 
and  elevation  of  the  industries,  can  be  complete,  or  efficient,  or  available, 
which  does  not  begin  with  an  ample,  well  endowed,  and  independent  uni 
versity. 

These  three  postulates  embody  the  triunity  of  all  our  hope  as  a  people. 
Here  the  work  of  recovery  must  begin,  and  in  this  way  alone,  and  by  you 
alone,  can  it  be  begun. 

The  educated  men  of  the  South,  of  this  generation,  must  be  responsible 
for  the  future  of  the  South. 

The  educated  men  of  Georgia  now  before  me  must  be  responsible  for  the 
future  of  Georgia.  That  future  will  be  anything  you  now  command.  From 
every  portion  of  this  dear  old  commonwealth  there  comes  this  day  an  earnest, 
anxious  voice  to  you,  saying,  shall  we  command  or  shall  we  serve  ?  Shall 
we  rise,  or  shall  we  fall  vet  lower  ?  Shall  we  live,  or  shall  Ave  die  ? 

%/ 

Gathering  in  my  own  the  voices  of  you  all,  and  with  hearts  resolved 
and  purposes  fixed,  I  send  back  the  gladdening  response  :  We  shall  live  ! 
We  shall  rise  !  !  We  shall  command  !  !  ! 

We  have  given  up  the  dusky  Helen  !     Pity  we  kept  the  harlot  so  long  ! 

True,  alas  !  Hector  is  dead,  and  Priam  is  dethroned  ;  and  Troy,  proud 
Troy,  has  glared  by  the  torch,  and  crumbled  'neath  the  blows,  and  wept 
'mid  the  jeers  of  reveling  Greeks  in  every  household.  But  more  than  a 
hundred  ^Encases  live  !  On  more  than  a  hundred  broader,  deeper  Tibers  we 
will  found  greater  cities,  rear  richer  temples,  raise  loftier  towers,  until  all  the 
world  shall  respect  and  fear,  and  even  the  Greeks  shall  covet,  honor,  and 
obey  ! 


SPEECH  IN  SUPPORT  OF  THE  « GREELEY  MOVEMENT,"  OR 
WHAT  WAS  CALLED  THE  «  NEW  DEPARTURE,"  DELIVERED 
IN  ATLANTA,  GA.,  IN  JUNE,  1872. 

Mr.  Hill  was  a  strong  advocate  of  what  was  known  as  the  "  Greeley  Movement"  in 
the  Democratic  party,  and  this  speech  was  an  argument  demonstrating  the  wisdom  of 
such  movement.  It  was  received  with  great  enthusiasm,  and  paved  the  way  for  the 
almost  unanimous  acceptance  by  the  Democrats  of  Georgia  of  the  platform  of  the  "  New 
Departure."  General  Toombs,  who  was  against  the  movement,  was  present  on  the  ros 
trum  for  the  purpose  of  replying  to  Mr.  Hill's  argument.  On  its  conclusion,  so  greatly 
was  he  impressed,  that  he  declined  to  attempt  a  reply,  but  when  called  on  arose  and  said  : 
"You  have  heard  one  of  the  most  eloquent,  one  of  the  grandest  addresses  that  you  will 
ever  hear  in  favor  of  Mr.  Greeley.  He  is  entitled  to  the  thanks  of  this  country.  Go  home 
and  consider  it.  It  was  clear,  eloquent,  and  impressive.  I  am  against  Greeley,  but  at  the 
same  time,  you  have  got  the  best  of  the  case  on  his  side,  and  I  call  for  three  cheers  for 
Mr.  Hill."  A  most  remarkable  tribute  from  a  political  opponent. 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen :  In  my  early  youth  I  impressed  upon  my  mind 
the  vital  thought  that  passion  was  the  greatest  foe  of  good  sense  and  right 
reason.  The  criminality  of  the  indulgence  of  passion  in  the  investigation 
of  any  truth  is  in  exact  proportion  to  the  great  interest  upon  the  correct 
solution  of  that  truth.  There  are  wise  people  in  this  nation,  and  many  of 
them,  who  believe  that  upon  the  results  of  the  pending  canvass  for  Presi 
dent  the  whole  continuance  of  the  original  theory  of  American  government 
depends.  There  are  wise  men  in  the  South,  and  many  of  them,  who  believe 
that  upon  the  results  of  this  contest  hang  the  absolute,  material,  moral,  and 
political  destinies  of  especially  the  Southern  States.  Whether  these  States 
shall  continue  to  be  oppressed,  to  be  insulted  ;  whether  they  shall  continue 
to  be  mere  vassals  to  the  Federal  Government,  or  whether  they  sliall  be 
loosed  from  their  fetters  and  allowed  to  restore  their  own  prosperity  in 
their  own  way,  are  the  questions  which  many  believe  to  be  dependent  upon 
this  canvass.  It  does  seem  to  me  that,  in  view  of  this  fact,  duty  to  our 
selves,  duty  to  our  children,  duty  to  the  high  trust  committed  to  us  by  those 
who  have  gone  before  us,  requires  that  we  should  enter  upon  the  investiga 
tion  of  the  questions  involved  with  coolness,  with  calmness,  with  dispassion 
ate  reason.  I  am  not  here  to-night  to  address  enemies,  I  am  here  to  address 
friends,  some  doubtless  differing  with  us,  but  still  friends,  and  I  shall  not 
employ  toward  them  the  language  which  they  have  justly  provoked  and  the 
punishment  they  justly  deserve. 

That  you  may  understand  clearly  and  distinctly  the  present  political 
situation,  you  will  allow  me  briefly  to  review  a  few  of  the  events  in  the 
preceding  months,  which  have  wrought  this  situation.  The  termination  of 
the  war  left  both  sections,  to  a  large  extent,  under  the  domination  of 
passionate  feeling  engendered  by  that  war.  That  war  itself,  having  been 
preceded  by  a  long,  heated  sectional  controversy,  necessarily  engendered 
passions  of  unusual  heat  and  animosity  during  its  progress,  and  unfortunate 
circumstances  occurred  at  its  close  which  were  greatly  calculated  to  influence 
the  passions  so  engendered.  The  result  was  that  the  administration  of  the 

350 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND    WRITINGS.  351 

government  was  absolutely  taken  possession  of  by  the  passions  of  the  hour, 
and  statesmanship  itself  seemed  to  be  the  mere  child  and  creature  of  those 
passions.  The  States  which  had  entered  that  war  and  came  out  of  it  un 
successful,  being  prostrate,  being  paralyzed,  suffered  to  an  unusual  extent 
from  the  actions  of  these  passions  and  prejudices,  and  it  would  not  be  very 
extravagant  to  say  that  they  suffered  during  the  four  years  that  succeeded 
the  termination  of  the  war,  wrongs  and  insults  exceeding  in  infamy  if  not 
equaling  in  losses  all  the  calamities  of  the  war  itself. 

This  thing  could  not  last  always,  and  two  years  ago  this  state  of  things 
became  patent  to  the  wise  men  of  the  country,  men  who,  getting  rid  of  the 
domination  of  passion,  began  to  reflect.  The  party  in  power  seemed  to  find 
no  end  of  what  might  be  justly  termed  war  measures,  especially  as  applicable  to 
what  they  pleased  to  term  the  "  Rebel  States."  They  not  only  passed  what 
were  called  the  Reconstruction  acts,  by  which  the  governments  of  ten  of  the 
States  were  absolutely  subverted,  and  other  governments  created  by  congres 
sional  power  organized  in  their  stead.  They  not  only  passed  amendments  to 
the  Constitution  to  preserve  the  fruits  of  the  war,  as  they  said,  but  they  con 
tinued,  after  these  amendments  were  adopted,  to  exercise  congressional  pow 
ers  unknown  to  the  Constitution,  and  absolutely  startling  in  their  character, 
and  exclusively  of  a  war  nature.  Force  was  the  power  employed  to  govern 
this  country  in  a  very  large  degree.  Not  only  had  these  amendments  been 
passed  by  the  dominant  party,  who  passed  them  and  incorporated  them  by 
force  into  the  Constitution,  but  a  construction  upon  those  amendments  which 
gave  absolute  power  to  the  General  Government,  a  construction  centralizing 
the  government  to  the  extent  of  obliterating  State  constitutions.  Where 
the  end  was  to  be  no  man  could  tell.  This  state  of  things  alarmed — I  use 
the  proper  term — this  state  of  things  alarmed,  and  justly  alarmed,  many  of 
the  best  and  wisest  men  of  the  Republican  party.  They  saw  that  measures 
which  they  had  adopted  in  a  moment  of  passion,  and  which  they  thought 
were  necessary  after  the  war  ended,  were  to  be  repeated  and  repeated,  until 
it  seemed  the  party  in  power  absolutely  intended  to  subvert  Republican 
government  and  institute  centralism,  despotism  in  its  stead.  It  was  believed 
that  there  was  a  sufficient  number  of  patriotic  men  in  the  United  States  to 
correct  this  evil,  if  by  any  means  they  could  combine  together. 

Here,  then,  was  the  situation.  Here  was  the  Democratic  party  a  unit 
against  these  measures.  Here  was  a  large  portion  of  the  Republican  party 
<  aily  increasing,  becoming  more  and  more  alarmed,  that  condemned  these 
encroachments  upon  the  Constitution  and  the  rights  of  the  States,  and  these 
added  together,  it  was  believed,  would  be  sufficient  to  correct  this  evil  and 
turn  out  of  power  the  party  who  were  disposed  to  continue  the  encroach 
ments.  But  the  question  was,  how  could  this  combination  be  effected  ? 
Could  any  purpose — gentlemen,  I  submit  it  to  you — could  any  purpose  have 
been  higher,  nobler,  or  more  patriotic  ?  How  could  these  different  elements, 
agreeing  in  principle,  equally  alarmed,  equally  patriotic — how  could  they 
be  combined  into  one  solid,  compact  organization  for  the  purpose  of  making 
opposition  to  this  party  ?  The  Democratic  party  had  said  in  its  platform  of 
1868,  that  all  the  Reconstruction  policy  of  Congress  was  revolutionary, 
unconstitutional,  and  void.  They  had  proclaimed  their  purpose,  if  they 
acquired  power  in  the  government,  to  declare  this  whole  Reconstruction 
policy  a  nullity.  On  that  position  it  was  utterly  impossible  to  get  the 
dissatisfied  Republicans,  the  Liberal — what  I  call  the  patriotic  Republi 
cans — to  unite  with  Democracy.  And  why  ?  Because  upon  that  theory  they 


352  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

would  be  required  to  put  a  party  in  power  who  proclaimed  beforehand  that 
it  was  their  purpose  to  undo  everything  that  had  been  done,  and,  even 
though  they  might  deprecate  much  that  had  been  done,  much  they  had 
done  themselves,  yet  the  process  of  undoing  they  feared  might  work  another 
revolution,  and  where  the  process  of  undoing  would  end  nobody  could  tell. 
It  was  impossible,  therefore,  for  the  Republicans  to  unite  with  the  Demo 
crats  upon  this  point,  and  besides  to  ask  them  to  do  it  was  to  ask  them  to 
stultify  themselves.  On  the  other  hand,  it  was  impossible  for  the  Demo 
cratic  party  ever  to  say  that  these  amendments  and  Reconstruction  acts  were 
wise,  Avere  just,  were  right.  They  did  not  believe  it.  They  were  not  wise, 
they  were  not  just,  they  were  not  right,  and  it  was  impossible  for  that  por 
tion  of  the  Democratic  party  living  in  the  Southern  States  ever  to  dishonor 
themselves  by  such  a  concession  as  that.  How,  now,  was  it  possible  to 
bring  these  elements,  for  a  common  purpose,  together  ?  When  men  really 
wish  to  accomplish  a  good,  common  purpose,  the  old  adage  that  "  where 
there  is  a  will  there  is  a  way,"  is  true  in  politics  as  in  other  things.  Here 
was  a  solution  of  the  whole  matter.  The  Democratic  party  and  the  Demo 
crats  engaged  in  this  move  were  not  required  to  admit  that  either  the 
amendments  or  the  Reconstruction  policy,  in  substance  or  in  form,  were  either 
wise,  just,  or  right.  But  they  did  agree  to  admit  that  they  were  accom 
plished  facts.  Right  or  wrong,  the  thing  had  been  done,  and  right  or 
wrong,  the  thing  had  to  remain  done  until  the  people,  in  the  exercise  of 
their  own  sovereign  power,  should  recover  sufficient  virtue  to  undo  them  in 
the  peaceable  constitutional  way.  This  was  the  only  concession  on  earth  any 
member  of  the  Democratic  party  ever  proposed  to  make.  To  concede  that ' 
a  fact  exists,  by  no  means  implies  or  concedes  that  it  ought  to  exist.  It 
does  not  make  you  responsible  for  its  existence. 

But  what  was  the  concession  to  be  made  by  the  Republicans  who  were 
dissatisfied  with  their  own  party  ?  Why,  they  were  absolutely  to  quit  their 
party — to  abandon  it  in  the  zenith  of  its  power,  to  abandon  it  in  the  control 
of  the  government,  and  unite  their  fortunes  with  the  Democratic  party  for 
the  purpose  of  turning  out  their  former  comrades,  and  they  were  perfectly 
willing  to  unite  with  the  Democracy  on  this  basis  ;  simply  ignore  all  issues 
upon  the  Reconstruction  policy,  put  it  back  where  you  put  the  war  of  seces 
sion,  as  things  of  the  past  ;  unite  together  in  the  living  present  to  make  a 
glorious  future.  Well,  these  gentlemen  of  the  Republican  party  were  per 
fectly  willing  to  do  this,  and  to  unite  with  the  Democratic  party  for  these 
purposes,  on  condition  only  that  the  Democratic  party  should  show  that  it 
was  capable  of  organizing  upon  that  position,  for,  if  the  Democratic  party 
in  attempting  to  organize  upon  that  position  should  go  to  pieces,  or  fail,  of 
course  there  could  be  no  inducement  for  the  Liberal  Republicans  to  unite 
with  a  divided  Democracy.  I  believe,  and  I  will  say  it  to  their  credit,  that 
every  single  prominent  leading  member  of  the  Democratic  party  in  the 
Northern  States  believed  that  .the  Democratic  party  would  come  to  this 
position. 

Mr.  Vallandigham  made  the  initiative  move.  Why?  Because  of  all 
men  in  the  North,  he  was  supposed  to  be  the  last  one  who  would  be  sus 
pected  of  possible  infidelity  to  the  Democratic  party.  Born  a  Democrat, 
raised  a  Democrat,  incapable  of  any  infidelity  to  the  principles  or  purpose 
of  the  Democratic  party,  but  a  patriot  as  he  was,  he  came  forward  to  begin 
this  movement,  which  I  confidently  believe  will  succeed,  with  the  sole  pur 
pose  of  saving  the  country.  Now,  fellow-citizens,  I  call  your  attention  to 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  353 

the  fact  that  this  movement  made  not  the  slightest  concession  of  principle 
on  the  part  of  the  Democratic  party.  It  made  nothing  in  the  world  but  the 
concession  of  a  historical  fact.  It  based  that  concession  upon  two  ideas. 
One  was,  that  the  central  government,  in  every  department,  would  recognize 
and  administer  these  amendments,  right  or  wrong  ;  that  there  was  no  right 
of  appeal  to  any  higher  power  ;  that  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  would  fail  to  give  any  relief  against  them  upon  the  ground  that  they 
were  unconstitutional,  declaring  them  political,  to  be  decided  by  Congress, 
and  beyond  the  power  of  the  court  to  review.  That  being  the  case,  there 
was  no  other  alternative  left  by  which  to  tight  that  policy,  except  to  appeal 
to  the  people,  and  the  people  at  this  time,  it  was  believed  were  not  in  a 
condition  to  hear  the  appeal,  therefore  they  were  simply  allowed  to  pass  by 
and  be  treated  as  historical  facts,  and  I  call  your  attention  to  one  distinct 
fact.  I  wish  vou  to  understand  there  was  no  member  of  the  Democratic 

*/ 

party,  North  or  South,  who  ever  dreamed,  under  any  circumstances,  of  con 
ceding  the  justice  or  righteousness  of  the  Reconstruction  policy.  Every  as 
sertion  to  the  contrary  is  a  slander  which  ought  to  bring  the  blush  of  shame 
to  all  who  have  uttered  it.  There  was  no  purpose  in  the  movement  to  collude 
with  what  is  called  the  Radical  party  in  power.  On  the  contrary,  the 
avowed  underlying  purpose  was  to  organize  the  patriots  of  the  country,  in 
order  to  turn  that  party  out  of  power.  Higher,  nobler,  more  patriotic  im 
pulses  never  entered  the  bosoms  of  any  men  in  this  country  in  any  period  of 
its  history.  Convention  after  convention  of  the  Democratic  party  was  called 
at  the  North  and  it  failed  only  because  unfortunately,  opposition  in  the 
party  itself  was  made  to  such  an  extent  as  to  defeat  any  capacity  in  the 
Democratic  party  to  organize  with  all  its  forces  upon  that  platform,  and  the 
saddest  view  of  the  fact  is  that  that  opposition  came  in  bitter  terms  and 
chieflv  from  the  Southern  States,  which  were  to  be  chiefly  benefited  by  this 

•/  7  *  «/ 

movement.  That  great  and  good  man — that  man  who  I  shall  go  down  to 
the  grave  loving — that  true  patriot  and  noble  statesman,  in  an  hour  of 
thoughtlessness,  and  with  no  expectation  of  being  misunderstood,  or  to  take 
the  position  ascribed  to  him — our  former  President,  Jefferson  Davis, — in  the 
State  of  Georgia,  at  this  juncture,  unfortunately  said  that  he  accepted  noth 
ing — unfortunately  said  to  the  people  of  the  South,  that  their  cause  would 
yet  triumph.  These  remarks  were  caught  up  by  the  miserable  creatures 
hanging  around  him  for  the  purpose  of  misrepresenting  him.  They  were 
circulated  throughout  the  North  and  heralded  as  evidence  to  the  people  of 
the  North  that  the  Southern  people  would  never  come  into  this  movement, 
not  even  recognize  the  amendments  as  historical  facts  or  make  any  conces 
sions  at  all,  but  were  simply  rebellious  still.  Unfortunately  other  distin 
guished  gentlemen  indulged  in  very  extreme  utterances  upon  this  subject. 
Some,  I  have  no  idea,  ever  intended  what  was  attributed  to  them,  but  they 
were  understood  as  meaning  that  the  Southern  people  wanted  another  war. 
Unfortunately  another  great  and  good  man,  Mr.  Stephens,  commenced 
editing  a  paper,  and  his  paper  was  full  of  statements  that  these  amendments 
should  be  treated  as  nullities,  and  when  the  Democratic  candidate  was 
elected,  that  he  was  to  proclaim  them  as  such.  These  men  were  repre 
sented  as  the  representative  men  of  the  South — as  controlling  the  South — 
and  without  the  South  the  Democratic  party  was  powerless,  and  therefore 
the  leaders  at  the  North,  feeling  that  the  party  at  the  South  was  unjust  to 
them,  they  lost  spirit,  they  became  indifferent  and  said  if  the  South  will  ac 
cept  no  movement  which  will  relieve  it,  if  it  will  not  act  on  patriotic 


SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

grounds,  why  let  the  South  go.  That  indifference  North,  thus  produced, 
caused  this  movement  to  fail.  The  Democracy  was  defeated  in  nearly  all 
the  State  elections  last  fall. 

It  is  one  of  the  saddest  portions  of  the  history  of  this  country  that  those 
who  brought  forward  this  movement  were  slandered  as  unworthy  of  your 
trust  and  confidence.  That  great  and  noble  man,  Vallandigham,  was 
declared  to  be  no  Democrat,  was  declared  to  be  a  traitor  to  his  party, 
He  was  held  up  by  men  who  where  neophytes  in  their  party  as  false  and 
untrue.  Unfortunately,  the  man  was  not  allowed  to  see  his  vindication. 
He  went  to  his  grave,  doubtless  his  proud  and  noble  spirit  more  pained  by 
the  slanders  of  men  who  were  not  worthy  to  loose  the  latchets  of  his  shoes, 
than  was  his  body  by  the  cruel  bullet  which  took  away  his  life. 

But  I  must  hasten  on.  What  now  was  to  be  done  ?  But  before  I  pass 
from  this  point  I  desire  to  call  your  attention  distinctly  to  one  thought.  It 
has  been  charged  as  an  outrage,  that  a  few  hundred  thousand  Republicans, 
at  most,  should  require  the  whole  Democratic  party  with  its  reported  three 
millions  of  votes,  to  come  over  to  them,  instead  of  the  few  hundred  thousand 
Republicans  going  to  them,  and  that  is  compared  to  a  tug-boat  carrying 
a  big  steamer  into  the  harbor.  Well,  let  me  tell  you.  The  original  belief  was 
that  these  Republicans  would  come  into  the  Democratic  party,  but  only  on 
the  condition  that  the  Democratic  party  could  manifest  sufficient  strength 
to  win  the  fight  upon  that  principle,  and  if  the  attempt  was  made  and  failed 
by  reason  of  the  extreme  opinions  to  which  I  have  alluded,  the  Republicans 
could  not  be  expected  to  join  a  divided  Democracy.  Well,  what  was  to  be 
done  ?  Something  was  to  be  done.  Was  the  whole  cause  to  be  sur 
rendered  ?  Was  centralism  to  go  on  ?  Was  the  general  government  still 
to  continue  its  oppression  ?  Day  by  day  these  outrages  continued  to  be 
multiplied.  They  passed  what  was  called  the  bayonet  bill  in  its  second 
edition.  Then  came  the  Ku-Klux  bill,  then  came  the  authority  to  suspend 
the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  in  time  of  peace.  What  was  to  be  done  ?  It 
was  now,  for  the  first  time,  suggested  that  that  portion  of  the  Republican 
party  which  was  dissatisfied  with  the  administration  of  the  government 
should  manifest  their  sincerity  and  their  faith  to  principle  by  first  separating 
themselves  from  the  party  to  which  they  belonged  and  organizing  a  new 
party  of  their  own.  It  was  now  remembered  that  it  had  just  been  tried  in 
Missouri.  In  that  State  the  Democrats  were  oppressed,  and  this  extreme 
wing  of  the  Republican  party  was  in  power.  Gratz  Brown,  Carl  Schurz, 
and  General  Frank  Blair  made  what  you  call  the  coalition.  The  Republi 
can  party  in  Missouri  organized  upon  substantially  the  same  position  to 
which  I  have  alluded  and  they  dethroned  the  Radical  party  of  Missouri. 
They  found  the  State  in  fetters  and  unfettered  it,  and  enfranchised  the 
Democrats,  and  made  Missouri  the  most  Democratic  State  in  the  Union. 
The  suggestion  then  was  that  these  Republicans  should  organize  in  the 
nation  upon  this  same  idea,  and  if  they  could  successfully  organize  upon 
that  position,  the  belief  was  that  the  Democratic  party  would  come  to  their 
support.  Very  well,  a  call  was  made  that  the  Republicans  entertaining  this 
purpose,  and  willing  to  cut  loose  from  the  ruling  dynasty,  should  meet  at 
Cincinnati  on  the  1st  of  May  and  organize  upon  that  basis.  One  of  the 
most  distinguished  orators  of  the  Union  took  the  lead,  and  going  into  the 
different  parts  of  the  West,  and  coming  as  far  South  as  Nashville,  made 
speeches  in  favor  of  the  move,  and  they  were  grand  orations,  full  of  patriot 
ism.  But  soon  the  move  seemed  to  wane,  and  those  who  looked  to  it  with 


HIS  LIFE,    SPEECHES,    AND    WRITINGS. 

hope,  as  the  means  of  redemption  from  the  oppression  then  existing,  began 
to  grow  faint,  and  just  at  this  critical  period  of  the  move,  a  large  number 
of  the  Republicans  of  New  York,  with  Horace  Greeley  at  the  head,  came 
out  and  joined  the  movement. 

Soon  the  Cooper  Institute  meeting  was  called,  and  then  for  the  first  time 
Senator  Trumbull,  of  Illinois,  took  open  and  firm  position  with  the  Liberals. 
It  went  on  swelling  daily.  It  grew  into  large  proportions.  One  of  the 
most  patriotic  conventions  of  our  history,  assembled  in  Cincinnati  the  first 
day  of  May  last.  They  organized,  and  the  platform  which  they  adopted 
embodies  in  a  large  degree  the  principles  of  the  Democratic  party.  They 
put  in  a  few  words  that  contain  a  little  pepper  and  vinegar,  but  they  were 
slight.  Nobody  dreamed  that  Mr.  Greeley  would  become  the  nominee  of 
the  party  because  a  revenue  tariff  was  expected  to  be  a  plank,  and  it  was 
considered  an  insuperable  barrier  to  Mr.  Greeley's  nomination.  But  wise 
and  patriotic  men  in  a  great  cause  will  not  let  small  things  stand  in  their 
way  of  success.  Therefore  it  was  proposed  that  this  question  of  the  tariff 
should  be  referred  back  to  the  people  and  let  the  people  settle  the  question 
to  suit  themselves.  This  removed  the  difficulty,  and  Mr.  Greeley,  a  timely 
supporter,  was  nominated,  and  Gratz  Brown,  one  of  the  original  movers, 
who  struck  the  shackles  from  the  Democrats  of  Missouri,  was  put  as  the 
second  man. 

With  this  movement  at  Cincinnati  the  Democratic  party  had  no  active 
connection.  It  is  true  that  a  great  many  sympathized  with  it.  It  is  true 
that  a  large  portion  of  the  Democrats  declared  that  if  the  convention  at 
Cincinnati  should  succeed  in  adopting  a  sensible  platform  they  would  recom 
mend  their  party  to  make  no  nomination,  but  unite  with  them  in  defeating 
a  common  enemy. 

Now,  fellow-citizens,  you  have  in  a  few  words  the  origin,  the  meaning, 
the  purpose  and  the  philosophy  of  what  some  have  styled  the  "  New  De 
parture."  And  it  is  brim  full  of  patriotism  from  its  original  inception  to 
this  hour. 

Now  the  question  is,  what  will  the  Democratic  party  do  ?  That  is  the 
question  I  came  here  to  discuss  with  you  to-night.  The  regular  Radical 
thoroughbred  centralizing  party  have  since  assembled  at  Philadelphia,  made 
a  platform  in  direct  antagonism  with  the  platform  at  Cincinnati,  have  nom 
inated  their  candidates  and  asked  your  support.  The  issue  is  joined  be 
tween  these  two  parties.  They  are  getting  ready  for  the  battle.  It  is  to 
be  a  contest  for  liberty.  It  is  to  be  a  contest  against  empire.  It  is  to  be  a 
contest  against  the  suspension  of  the  glorious  writ  of  habeas  corpus.  It  is 
to  be  a  contest  against  Federal  bayonet  supervision  of  State  elections.  It 
is  to  be  a  contest  for  the  equality  of  the  Southern  States  and  the  Southern 
people.  The  wager  of  battle  has  been  given  ;  the  tocsin  of  conflict  has  been 
sounded,  and  these  gallant  men — I  am  courageous  enough  to  call  them  gal 
lant — these  men  who  quit  their  party  in  the  zenith  of  its  power,  who  sur 
render  the  offices  that  were  in  its  gift,  and  organized  a  new  party  for  this 
great  battle,  invite  your  co-operation.  That's  all.  Now  the  Democratic 
party  has  to  do  one  or  two  things. 

It  must  either  nominate  at  Baltimore  a  ticket  of  its  own,  or  it  must  sup 
port  the  Cincinnati  movement.  I  need  not  answer  another  alternative  pro 
pounded  by  Judge  Stephens  last  night.  He  said  :  Suppose  the  convention 
at  Baltimore  should  nominate  Grant.  I  don't  suppose  any  such  foolish 
thing.  What  I  suppose  is  that  the  Democratic  party  will  either  nominate 


356  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

a  ticket  of  its  own,  on  a  platform  of  its  own,  or  it  will  co-operate  with  the 
Cincinnati  move — one  or  the  other,  and  whatever  it  shall  do,  it  is  going  to 
do  as  a  party  ;  it  is  going  to  do  by  its  organization,  and  it  is  not  going  to 
disband  and  turn  you  all  loose  to  stray  anywhere  you  want  to  go.  Now  I 
admit  this  is  a  question  upon  which  Democrats  may  honestly  differ,  whether 
you  shall  go  in  favor  of  an  independent  nomination,  or  whether,  under  the 
circumstances  you  will  be  useful  to  the  country  by  co-operating  with  the 
Cincinnati  movement.  It  is  a  question  on  which  the  Democrats  can  honestly 
differ,  and  on  which  they  ought  to  be  allowed  to  differ,  and  on  which  they 
do  differ.  The  matter  is  becoming  warm,  and  I  exceedingly  deprecate  the 
feeling  that  is  being  engendered  in  some  quarters.  We  are  all  friends,  we 
all  desire  the  same  end. 

No  enemy  is  engaged  in  this  move.  I  tell  my  friend,  who  spoke  last 
night  so  eloquently,  no  man  is  engaged  in  this  move  who  is  opposed  to 
State  rights. 

The  only  difference  between  us  is,  what  is  the  most  effective  policy  to  re 
cover  the  lost  rights  of  the  States.  Some  think  our  most  effective  course 
would  be  going  to  Cincinnati.  Well,  if  you  think  so  you  ought  to  go  there. 
Some  think  we  can  succeed  more  effectively  by  nominating  a  straight  ticket 
at  Baltimore.  Well,  if  that  be  so,  thank  God,  no  man  is  more  willing  to 
take  that  course  than  the  one  who  addresses  you.  I  admit  that  it  is  a  ques 
tion  that  ought  to  be  calmly  and  dispassionately  discussed,  and  I  protest 
against  the  spirit  which  denounces  all,  who  will  not  go  in  a  certain  direction, 
as  traitors.  We  all  are  Democrats  in  this  move,  and  we  all  want  to  get 
back  to  the  Canaan  of  local  State  government  and  constitutional  limitations 
upon  Federal  power.  The  only  difference  is  some  of  our  friends  want  to 
get  to  the  land  of  Canaan  at  one  bound,  and  some  hesitate  because  the  Red 
Sea  and  the  wilderness  are  to  be  crossed. 

I  am  willing  to  traverse  the  wilderness,  and  tread  even  a  winding  way, 
if  it  only  can  lead  me  back  to  Canaan.  But  some  declare  they  never  intend 
to  leave  the  bondage  of  Egypt  unless  they  can  reach  the  promised  land  at  a 
bound.  Well,  my  opinion  is  that  they  will  die  and  be  buried  in  Egypt. 

Well,  who  is  to  settle  this  question  ?  Who  is  to  determine  whether 
the  Democratic  party  will  go  with  Cincinnati  or  go  by  itself  ?  AVho  is  to 
determine  it  ?  When  friends  differ,  there  ought  to  be  an  umpire.  We  have 
got  no  court  to  appeal  to,  who  can  determine  it  ?  I  say  Democrats  assem 
bled  in  Baltimore  will  determine  it,  and  you  ought  to  go  with  them,  what 
ever  they  determine. 

Well,  said  my  distinguished  friend  last  night,  I  will  agree  to  abide  by 
Baltimore,  provided  Baltimore  will  decide  according  to  my  ideas.  Well,  if 
everybody  has  a  right  to  agree,  provided  Baltimore  will  decide  the  principle 
as  he  understands  it,  and  every  man  is  a  party  by  himself.  What  is  to  be- 

A/  »/  » 

come  of  us  ?  I  put  it  to  your  candor,  I  put  it  to  your  reason,  is  it  reasonable 
for  one  man,  for  two  men,  for  three  men,  for  I  believe  that  is  about  all  to 
stand  up  before  the  Democracy  of  this  country  and  say  they  will  agree  with 
the  party,  provided  the  party  will  agree  with  them  first  ?  Well,  if  that  is 
reasonable,  then  there  is  no  use  of  going  to  Baltimore  at  all.  Just  let  the 
three  call  you  together  and  tell  you  what  to  do.  We  have  either  got  to  do 
it,  or  else  we  have  to  be  traitors,  and  cowards,  and  thieves,  and  Radicals.  I 
remonstrate  against  all  such  arguments.  If  I  were  firing  shot  at  an  enemy, 
I  would  make  him  feel  it  on  this  point,  but  I  am  firing  only  at  erring  friends, 
and  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart  I  call  to  them,  come  back  and  let  us  go  to 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND    WRITINGS.  357 

Baltimore.  Let  us  all  go  together,  and  let  us  all  co-operate  together,  and  if 
there  is  any  fighting  to  be  done,  let  us  all  fight  together,  and  if  there  is  any 
dying  to  be  done,  let  us  all  die  together.  Xow  this  is  just  what  I  want 
to- do. 

Fellow-citizens,  if  it  were  not  for  a  certain  reason,  which  perhaps  you  will 
see  in  the  progress  of  the  argument,  I  would  end  this  address  right  now.  I 
would  not  enter  upon  this  discussion  of  that  question  still  behind,  as  to  what 
nomination  Baltimore  ought  to  make.  Whatever  may  be  my  individual 
opinion  upon  that  subject,  I  want  you  to  understand  that  if  Baltimore  differs 
from  me,  I  admit  my  opinion  is  wrong,  and  I  am  going  with  Baltimore.  I 
shall  not  set  my  judgment  up  as  against  the  whole  party.  When  I  set  out 
with  this  move  eighteen  months  ago,  God  knows  there  was  not  the  smallest 
crevice  in  my  heart  that  could  harbor  a  purpose  to  do  anything  but  contrib 
ute  all  my  humble  powers  would  permit  to  devise  some  scheme  by  which  the 
Democratic  party,  under  its  own  colors,  under  its  own  standard  bearers, 
could  go  to  victory.  I  may  remark  here,  in  passing,  that  I  anticipated  Mr. 
Vallandigham's  movement  by  some  months,  for  a  reason  applicable  alone  to 
Georgia.  Knowing  that  steps  would  be  taken  by  certain  parties  to  endeavor 
to  secure  another  reconstruction  of  the  State,  by  setting  aside  the  election  if 
it  should  go  Democratic — I  simply  put  myself  in  a  position  to  counteract 
that  movement,  and,  as  far  as  this  State  has  been  concerned,  the  result  has 
been  entirely  satisfactory.  Everywhere  the  people  are  sending  up  shouts 
that  we  have  the  government  in  our  own  hands.  This  truly  is  an  occasion 
for  rejoicing,  but  let  it  be  remembered  lest  this  result  is  not  attributed,  in 
that  degree,  to  our  ultra  friends.  On  the  contrary,  these  results  have 
been  accomplished,  not  only  without  their  aid,  but  in  spite  of  their  un 
fortunate  folly.  If  these  gentlemen,  who  took  extreme  position,  had  been 
concurred  with,  you  would,  to-night,  while  I  speak,  be  under  the  adminis 
tration  of  a  Radical  Legislature,  with  Bullock  for  governor,  and  bonds  issu 
ing  like  thumb-papers. 

But,  I  say,  what  shall  Baltimore  do  ?  Shall  she  go  with  Cincinnati,  or 
shall  she  nominate  a  ticket?  Fellow-citizens,  I  confess  to  you  frankly  that 
this  question  has  given  me  great  trouble.  I  do  not  disguise  it.  I  do  not 
know  that  any  question  for  solution  has  been  submitted  to  my  mind,  to 
which  I  have  given  more  serious  and  earnest  consideration.  I  have  en 
deavored  to  look  at  it  in  every  light  possible.  I  have  endeavored  to  exercise 
upon  it  clear,  cool,  dispassionate  reason  ;  suppressing  my  feelings,  for  I  con 
fess  to  you  if  I  allowed  my  prejudices  and  my  feelings  to  take  possession  of 
my  judgment,  I  would  ever}''  hour  of  my  life  pray  God  to  spare  me  to  the 
day  that  I  could  gather  this  whole  record  of  Reconstruction  infamy  into  one 
pile  and  make  ona  grand  bonfire  of  it.  But,  hush  !  hush  !  You  and  I 
have  been  taught  by  bitter  experience  to  submit  to  many  things  that  were 
net  agreeable,  and  we  may  have  to  submit  to  many  more.  We  must  obey 
what  the  courts  declare  to  be  the  law.  We  have  no  right  to  set  our  judg 
ment  as  the  only  standard  of  our  action,  whether  we  approve  or  not.  There 
fore  I  am  perfectly  willing  to  gather  secession,  the  war,  and  Reconstruction 
into  one  triune  bundle  and  bury  them  out  of  sight  forever.  But  my 
reason  brings  me  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Baltimore  convention  ought 
and  will  accomplish  most  good  by  co-operating  with  the  Cincinnati  move 
ment,  If  I  could  have  had  the  construction  of  the  platform,  I  would  have 
made  it  in  some  respect  different.  If  I  could  have  had  the  nomination  of 
the  candidates,  I  certainly  would  have  made  them  different.  If  the  Demo- 


358  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

cratic  party  could  muster  all  its  forces,  I  might  be  willing  to  see  them  make 
an  independent  nomination.  I  wish  it  could  be  done  and  done  successfully, 
and  if  it  shall  turn  out  that  it  can  be  done,  no  man  will  rejoice  more  earnestly 
than  myself.  But  I  will  proceed  to  give  my  reason  why  I  think  we  had 
better  co-operate  with  Cincinnati. 

Mr.  Greeley  has  said  and  done  many  tilings  which  I  need  not  tell  you  I 
do  not  approve,  but  Mr.  Greeley  has  always  been  in  favor  of  one  policy  which 
relieves  me  of  the  most  vital  objection  to  his  support.  He  never  has  at  any 
time  approved  of  those  odious  features  of  the  Reconstruction  policy,  which  dis 
franchised  the  virtue  and  intelligence  of  the  South  and  enfranchised  the 
ignorance  and  vice  of  the  South.  He  has  stood  up  like  a  man  from  the  be 
ginning  and  protested  against  every  one  of  these  odious  features  of  the  Re 
construction  policy.  You  know  that  the  main  reason  why  I  never  could,  I 
never  can,  and  never  will,  while  God  gives  me  grace  to  remember  that  I  am 
a  Southern  man  and  a  white  man,  approve  these  measures,  is  because  they 
will  affect  my  honor,  because  they  ask  the  Southern  people  to  give  that 
policy  validity  by  their  own  consent,  asks  them  to  consent  to  a  policy  which 
degraded  the  white  men  of  the  South  by  consenting  that  the  masters  should 
be  in  chains,  while  their  slaves  should  be  unfettered  to  rob  them.  That  is 
the  reason  why  I  never  could  and  never  can  indorse  that  policy.  As  I  said 
before,  in  1867  and  in  1868,  when  all  of  you  concurred  with  me,  I  do  not  and 
did  not  propose  to  resist  the  United  States,  nor  anything  they  might  do.  I 
said  all  that  then  and  tried  to  prove  it,  but  said  that  when  Congress  passed 
outside  of  the  Constitution  to  oppress  the  Southern  people,  when  the  mem 
bers  of  that  body  trampled  upon  their  oaths  to  gratify  their  feelings  of  ven 
geance  against  the  Southern  people  and  asked  the  Southern  people  to  give 
vitality  to  that  action  by  their  consent,  I  said  to  General  Grant  and  I  said  to 
General  Pope,  and  I  thank  God  that  I  said  it,  that  I  would  take  anything — 
death,  confiscation,  exile — but  consent  to  that  infamy,  never !  Now,  Mr. 
Greeley  conies  to  our  relief  upon  that  point.  Though  acting  with  the  Re 
publican  party,  he  from  the  beginning  protested  against  these  features  of 
that  policy.  Therefore,  I  don't,  nor  do  you,  violate  that  principle  of  honor 
that  we  should  ever  hold  dear,  by  supporting  Mr.  Greeley.  That  I  put  fore 
most  as  the  first  reason  why  I  am  willing  to  vote  for  him. 

There  is  another  reason  why  I  like  Mr.  Greeley.  He  has  never  been  what 
is  called  a  partisan  ;  and  an  independent  thinker,  I  think  has  the  greatest 
honesty.  I  pity  the  man  who  gets  up  before  an  audie#ice  and  talks  about 
building  up  a  party.  You  must  use  party  to  accomplish  a  good  purpose. 
You  must  act  harmoniously  with  your  party  ;  but  when  it  comes  to  thought, 
be  independent.  Independence  of  thought  and  harmony  in  action  is  the 
business  of  all  who  associate  in  party  movements.  Now  to  the  history  of 
Mr.  Greeley. 

Why,  I  remember  before  the  war  he  defied  his  party  in  the  very  hour  of 
its  fanaticism,  and  boldly  declared  that  if  the  Southern  people  desired  to 
secede,  they  had  the  right  to  do  so. 

But,  said  the  gentleman,  after  the  war  began  he  prosecuted  the  war.  That 
is  true.  Can  you  object  to  that  ?  Mr.  Greeley  honestly  thought  that  the 
Southern  States  had  a  right  to  secede.  But  when  the  North  waged  war  any 
how,  and  the  South  waged  war  also,  why  Mr.  Greeley  joined  his  own  side. 
Well,  I  opposed  secession  and  a  great  many  other  gentlemen  opposed  secession, 
but  when  our  States  seceded  we  went  with  the  States  through  the  war. 

Now,  if  you  quarrel  with  Mr.  Greeley  for  going  with  his  State,  you  must 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  35 § 

proscribe  me  for  the  same  reason.  I  would  go  with  it  again  under  the  same 
circumstances.  I  have  nothing  to  take  back  nor  to  apologize  for  upon  that 
subject.  The  only  difference  between  us  is,  that  he  happened  to  be  on  that 
side  and  I  on  this.  That  is  all.  But  Mr.  Greeley  was  against  the  whole 
party  upon  the  subject  of  peace.  There  was  no  day  of  the  war  that  he  was 
not  willing  to  negotiate  upon  the  subject  of  peace,  on  terms  honorable  to  both 
parties.  Some  represent  Mr.  Greeley  as  a  vindictive  man  ;  but  it  is  not  true. 

I  call  to  my  mind  that  at  one  time,  when  the  Confederate  Government 
sent  Commissioners  around  to  Canada,  to  open  negotiations  with  Western 
Democrats.  Our  Commissioners  were  there,  and,  so  far  as  I  know,  or  believe, 
or  remember,  Horace  Greeley  was  the  only  man  in  the  North,  Democrat  or 
Republican,  that  had  the  courage  to  go  to  Canada  and  have  friendly  and 
honorable  communication  with  our  people.  Even  the  Democrats — even  the 
Democrats  of  the  North  refused  to  entertain  propositions  from  us,  or  to 
treat  with  us.  Horace  Greeley  was  the  only  man  that  defied  his  party  and 
acted  upon  his  conscience  as  a  patriot,  and  went  there  ready  to  enter  into 
terms  of  peace  consistent  with  the  honor  of  both  sections  on  the  basis  of  pre 
serving  the  Union. 

After  the  war  terminated,  and  our  flag  was  furled  and  our  noble  chief, 
than  whom  no  people  ever  had  nobler,  was  a  prisoner,  in  chains,  and  the 
bloodhounds  of  the  North  were  after  his  blood,  be  exhibited  the  highest 
moral  courage.  As  I  walked  through  the  streets  of  New  York,  myself  a 
prisoner,  the  first  time  I  ever  saw  that  city,  I  saw  streaming  from  all  their 
public  buildings,  humiliating  pictures  of  Jefferson  Davis,  in  women's 
clothes  and  in  chains.  I  heard  their  maniac  cries  for  his  blood.  The  first 
sound  that  saluted  my  ears,  when  I  entered  the  dungeon,  was  the  miserable 
jailor,  saying  :  "  You  ought  to  feel  honored  because  you  occupy  a  dungeon 
in  which  I  had  prepared  to  chain  Jeff  Davis."  I  replied  to  him  :  "  I  do  feel 
honored,  and  if  you  had  chained  him,  a  criminal  would  have  chained  a  patriot." 
Soon  after  Mr.  Lincoln's  unfortunate  assassination,  when  passions  were 
inflamed,  as  I  never  saw  them  among  any  people,  it  was  then  that  this  man 
Horace  Greeley  defied  his  party  alone  and  went  to  Richmond  and  dared  to  be 
come  the  surety  of  this  man,  and  did  do  it.  Because  of  the  manhood,  because 
of  the  moral  courage  it  exhibits,  that  is  why  I  admire  it.  "  Why,"  said  the 
gentleman,  "  he  deserves  no  more  credit  than  General  Grant,  who  threatened, 
if  General  Lee  was  molested,  he  wrould  resign  his  commission."  Why,  my 
friends,  don't  you  see  the  vast  difference  between  the  two  ?  Grant  did  that 
as  a  soldier.  That  was  the  condition  on  which  Lee  surrendered — that  he 
was  not  to  be  disturbed.  Grant  was  under  a  solemn  pledge  to  protect 
General  Lee.  He  would  have  been  false  to  his  honor  as  a  soldier  if  he  had 
not  done  it.  But  Mr.  Greeley  had  given  no  pledge  to  Jeff  Davis.  His  act  was 
a  voluntary  act.  His  act  was  not  done  for  the  purpose  of  redeeming  a 
pledge  but  to  illustrate  a  principle. 

I  am  not  saying  these  things  to  pronounce  a  eulogy  on  Mr.  Greeley  ;  but 
I  like  independence  and  moral  courage.  In  some  matters  I  like  a  man  that 
is  yielding,  that  defers  to  the  opinions  of  others,  but  when  it  comes  to  acts  of 
manhood,  then  it  is  that  I  like  to  see  a  man  act  as  becomes  a  man.  That 
Horace  Greeley  has  done  in  his  whole  history.  There  is  no  political  principle 
in  this,  I  admit  ;  but  I  am  just  giving  the  reasons  why  the  Southern  man  is 
not  inconsistent  to  vote  for  Horace  Greeley. 

I  am  willing  to  co-operate  with  this  Cincinnati  movement  for  another 
reason,  which  is,  for  the  good  that  I  believe  it  will  accomplish,  as  evi- 


360  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OP  GEORGIA. 

denced  by  the  good  it  has  already  accomplished.  Now,  fellow-citizens,  I 
want  to  call  your  attention  to  the  fact  that  this  very  move  has  already  ac 
complished  three  important  things.  In  the  first  place,  it  has  accomplished  a 
large  amnesty.  The  Republican  party  had  refused  to  pass  the  bill  removing 
the  disabilities  from  the  Southern  people  at  all.  It  had  come  up  over  and 
over  again.  They  had  managed  tto  vote  it  down.  Greeley  had  always  ad 
vocated  it.  When  this  Cincinnati  convention  met  and  passed  resolutions 
demanding  it,  and  Grant's  party  saw  that  the  issue  would  be  joined  upon 
that  subject,  they  promptly  passed  the  bill,  and  thus  disabilities  were  re 
moved  from  all  but  a  few  of  our  Southern  people. 

My  distinguished  friend  said  last  night  that  he  was  an  outlaw,  and  that  it 
was  an  outrage.  And  so  it  is.  Horace  Greeley  says  it  is  an  outrage. 
Horace  Greeley  has  always  said  so.  The  nomination  has  stricken  the  fetters 
from  my  limbs.  The  election  of  Horace  Greeley  will  strike  the  fetters  from 
yours  [pointing  to  General  Toombs]. 

Another  good  thing  that  this  move  has  accomplished  is  this.  The  most 
dangerous  bill,  in  my  opinion,  ever  attempted,  for  the  purpose  of  cen 
tralizing  the  American  Government,  is  known  as  what  is  called  the  "  Force 
Bill " — the  "  Bayonet  Bill,"  by  which  the  Federal  Government,  through  its 
own  officers,  takes  charge  of  the  election  precincts  of  the  country  through 
out  the  nation.  I  saw  the  infamy  of  this  measure.  I  made  a  visit  to  New 
York,  expressly  to  beg  the  people,  the  authorities  of  New  York,  when  the 
experiment  was  first  attempted  upon  the  State,  to  resist  it,  and  it  was  the 
passage  of  that  measure,  as  one  of  the  outrages,  that  preceded  and  gave  rise 
to  this  new  departure.  When  that  measure  was  passed,  it  then  only  applied 
to  a  few  large  towns.  General  Grant  tried  the  experiment  of  enforcing  the 
measures  upon  New  York.  My  own  opinion  was,  and  the  opinion  of  the 
leading  Democrats  was,  that  if  New  York  submitted  to  that  interference 
with  State  elections  that  the  Republican  party  would  enlarge  its  powers,  and 
by  1872  would  have  a  bill  passed  which  would  authorize  General  Grant  to 
take  control  of  all  the  precincts  and  declare  the  election  as  he  pleased. 
Sure  enough,  in  1870  and  1871  an  amendatory  bill  was  introduced  and 
passed  enlarging  the  powers  of  the  President  upon  that  subject,  and  during 
the  last  session  of  Congress  a  bill  was  introduced  to  give  the  President 
authority  to  take  possession  of  every  election  precinct  in  the  United  States. 
How  was  that  move  defeated  ?  It  was  not  altogether  defeated ;  a  hard 
struggle  ensued.  It  was  modified  and  the  most  of  its  odious  features  were 
stricken  out,  and  now  the  President,  instead  of  the  right  to  arrest  and  im 
prison  voters,  without  the  privilege  of  habeas  corpus,  till  the  election  is  over, 
has  no  right,  but  simply  to  allow  men  to  go  and  look  on  and  make  report. 
How  was  that  accomplished  ?  By  a  coalition — by  a  combination  of  the 
Democracy  and  the  Liberal  Republicans.  That  victory  was  won  and  that 
iniquity  was  defeated,  and  that  I  consider  one  of  the  greatest  victories  won. 
Fellow-citizens,  I  congratulate  you.  His  chief  machinery,  the  great  engine 
which  was  to  be  put  in  the  hands  of  General  Grant  during  the  pending 
election,  by  which  he  would  be  enabled  to  control  it,  has  been  defeated  by 
the  management,  by  the  combination,  by  the  coalition  if  you  please,  of  the 
Greeley  men  and  the  Democrats.  Oh,  in  the  face  of  such  a  patent,  such  a 
glorious  truth,  how  I  could  look  with  utter  contempt  upon  the  poor  creature 
that,  hyena  like,  could  go  back  into  the  far  records  of  this  patriot  and  dig 
up  some  little  thing  to  object  to.  I  feel  that  this  move  has  accomplished 
much  for  you  and  me.  Now  I  don't  believe  the  Democratic  party  could 


TltS  LlFK,    SPEECHES,   AND    WRITINGS.  361 

have  acme  that,  because  Grant  was  willing  to  resist  to  the  last  that  party 
alone;  but  General  Grant  and  his  party  could  not  resist  the  Greeley  and  Cin 
cinnati  convention  united  in  this  work. 

The  third  thing  to  which  I  alluded  as  accomplished  by  this  move  is  this  : 
You  remember  that  at  the  last  session  of  Congress  a  bill  was  passed  author 
izing  the  suspension  of  habeas  corpus,  and  the  bill  was  to  be  in  force  till  the 
adjournment  of  the  present  session.  Prior  to  the  adjournment,  that  party, 
the  Republican  party,  brought  forward  a  move  for  the  purpose  of  continu 
ing  that  act  in  force,  and  it  was  a  most  dangerous  blow  at  the  liberties 
of  the  people. 

Even  the  bayonet  bill  would  be  shorn  of  some  of  its  power  by  the  defeat 
of  the  suspension  of  habeas  corpus  /  but  when  the  President  had  the  right 
to  arrest  a  voter,  right  at  the  polls,  and  imprison  him  until  after  the  election, 
you  see  what  the  consequences  would  be.  Well,  my  friends,  when  the  Re 
publicans  brought  forward  the  bill  to  prolong  this  power,  again  the  Demo 
crats  and  Greeley  men  united  and  defeated  it,  and  thus  to  this  move  it  is 
owing  that  you  and  I  to-day — to-night — need  no  longer  dread  martial  law. 
Martial  law  has  been  threatened  upon  this  State  several  times,  as  it  has  been 
actually  enforced  in  North  Carolina  and  in  South  Carolina.  Their  citizens 

«/ 

have  been  in  chains  in  time  of  peace  with  this  writ  suspended,  and  marched 
off  to  Northern  prisons  for  imprisonment.  Thank  God  this  can  no  longer 
be.  Grant  has  no  more  power  to  take  away  the  liberties  of  the  people  by 
the  suspension  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  than  you  and  I  have,  and  that 
glorious  result  is  attributable  to  the  combination  of  the  Democrats  and 
Greeley  Republicans.  Now,  these  are  the  three  things — amnesty,  the 
modification  of  the  bayonet  bill,  and  the  restoration  of  the  writ  of  habeas 
corpus.  These  three  things  alone  are  worth  the  Cincinnati  movement,  and 
are  enough  to  inspire  the  great  and  noble  with  gratitude  for  the  accomplish 
ment  of  it.  Therefore,  as  this  much  good  has  already  been  done,  I  argue 
from  that  that  much  other  good  may  be  done  and  will  be  done. 

There  is  another  reason  why  I  am  willing  to  support  the  Cincinnati 
movement  if  the  Baltimore  convention  shall  so  order  it,  and  that  is  this  : 
that  Mr.  Greeley  had  no  expectation  of  being  elected  without  the  Demo 
cratic  voters,  and  if  Greeley  should  be  elected,  that  same  election  will  carry 
into  the  House  of  Representatives  a  majority  of  Democrats,  and  when  you 
have  got  in  that  body  a  majority  of  Democrats,  the  President  is  powerless 
to  do  harm. 

Again,  the  indications  from  Democratic  action  already  had,  show  very 
clearly  that  the  great  body  of  the  party  is  decidedly  in  favor  of  co-operat 
ing  with  the  Cincinnati  movement.  It  matters  but  little  now  what  you  and 
I  might  have  preferred.  We  cannot,  if  we  would,  arrest  this  current.  Of 
thirteen  States,  which  have,  up  to  this  time,  held  conventions  and  appointed 
delegates  to  Baltimore,  only  one  has  instructed  her  delegates  to  insist  on 
what  is  called  a  straight  Democratic  ticket.  That  one.  exception  is  Dela 
ware,  which  has  three  votes  in  the  Electoral  College.  You  cannot  forget 
your  friends  who  so  greatly  outnumber  you.  You  but  help  the  enemy  by 
quarreling  with  your  friends.  There  can  be  neither  safety,  nor  policy,  nor 
principle,  except  in  going  with  Baltimore. 

The  distinguished  gentleman  who  addressed  you  last  night  [General 
Toombs]  said  he  was  glad  this  test  of  party  fidelity  had  come.  He  was 
now  going  to  winnow  the  Greeley  chaff  from  the  true  Democratic  wheat, 
and  he  was  going  to  chalk  the  true  Democrats  on  tke  back  and  kick  the 


362  SENATOR  R   H.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

others  out !  Well,  I  will  not  quarrel  with  this  true  and  valiant  gentleman, 
but  I  will  suggest  a  bargain  for  his  own  ease  and  benefit.  If  he  will  post 
pone  the  chalking  division  of  his  labors  for  sixty  days,  I  think  he  will  find 
in  Georgia  only  three  backs  to  chalk,  and  they  will  be  so  sick  as  to  be 
utterly  indifferent.  If  he  will  only  forbear  to  begin  the  kicking  process  for 
over  a  much  less  period,  he  will  find  the  undertaking  so  huge  he  will  recon 
sider  his  rash  resolve  and  abandon  the  job.  If  he  will  not  so  abandon  it,  he 
will  illustrate  the  wisdom  and  courage  of  a  certain  wise  animal,  who  seeing 
the  engine  and  train  coming  toward  him  under  full  speed,  bravely  planted 
himself  on  the  track,  threw  his  tail  in  the  air,  pawed  the  ground  with  his 
two  feet,  and  loudly  bellowed  out,  "  If  that  traitorous  and  cowardly  Greeley 
engine  run  against  him,  he  would  butt  it  off  the  track." 

The  last  I  saw  of  that  animal  he  was  badly  chalked.  In  the  same  breath 
our  friend  said,  "he  would,  with  great  pleasure,  vote  for  the  devil  or  John 
Brown's  ghost  before  he  would  vote  for  either  Greeley  or  Grant."  How 
harmoniously  men's  ideas  with  their  feelings  unconsciously  flow  !  On  his  line 
of  passion  and  hate,  I  think  the  devil  for  President  and  John  Brown's  ghost 
for  Vice-President  would  be  the  very  best  ticket  he  could  nominate  !  On 
that  line  our  poor  deluded  South  has  been  carried  lower  and  lower  and  still 
lower,  until  I  now  know  of  no  lower  place  save  the  dominions  of  our  friend's 
favorite  candidate.  If  the  gentlemen's  candidate  should  be  elected,  I  pray 
that  he  may  not  find  place  in  that  administration. 

Kick  out,  indeed  !  Kick  out  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Indiana — all  the 
States  but  Delaware  !  Kick  out  Hendricks  and  Pendleton,  and  Seymour, 
and  Hoffman,  and  Adams,  and  all  the  great  life-long  leaders  of  the  Democratic 
party,  except  three  latter,  born  in  Georgia  ! 

Judge  Stephens,  last  night,  begged  you  in  most  excited,  pathetic  strains 
to  repudiate  Mr.  Greeley  for  the  sake  of  downtrodden  South  Carolina,  while 
South  Carolina  herself,  with'  the  unanimous  voice  of  her  convention,  implores 
you  in  tones  louder  than  the  clank  of  her  chains  to  elect  Mr.  Greeley  as  the 
only  hope  for  her  relief.  Mr.  Toombs  has  been  alluded  to  as  advising  for  a 
straight  Democratic  ticket.  But  Mr.  Voorhees's  State  (Indiana)  has  spoken, 
through  her  convention,  in  the  most  emphatic  manner,  for  Cincinnati  in 
dorsement,  and  Mr.  Voorhees  himself  will  abide  the  decision  at  Baltimore, 
and  he  is,  and  ever  has  been,  an  honest  man,  a  true  man,  and  a  patriot.  The 
truth  is,  the  decision  for  Baltimore  has  been  rendered  by  the  Democratic 
people  before  Baltimore  meets,  and  whether  you  like  it  or  not,  it  is  your 
duty  to  concur. 

So  then,  if  the  Democratic  party  as  a  unit  could  elect  a  straight  Demo 
cratic  ticket  with  the  divisions  now  manifest,  success  on  that  line  would  be 
impossible.  And  here  I  wish  I  could  impress  upon  the  South  one  truth  our 
people  ought  to  learn.  It  is  this  :  There  are  thousands  of  the  best  Demo 
crats  in  the  North  who  believe  and  affirm  that  one  cruel  reason  why  the 
Democratic  party  is  kept  in  the  minority  in  the  nation  and  in  the  Northern 
States  is  because  of  certain  ultraisrns  at  the  South  which  they  have  been  and 
are  required  to  bear  in  season  and  out  of  season.  They  applaud  you  for  re 
fusing  to  give  vitality  to  the  Reconstruction  policy  by  your  consent.  This 
was  necessary  to  save  your  honor.  But  without  your  consent,  by  force,  Re 
construction  has  become  an  accomplished  fact.  Every  department  of  the 
government  recognizes  and  enforces  the  amendments.  All  the  people  sub 
mit  fo  them.  Now,  for  us  of  the  South  to  insist  that  the  Democratic  party 
shall  go  before  the  people  on  a  platform  and  with  candidates  pledged  to 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WAITINGS.  363 

treat  the  amendments  as  nullities,  is  simply  to  insist  that  the  Democratic 
party  shall  subject  itself  to  the  charge  of  defying  the  government,  of  dis 
obeying  the  courts,  and  of  seeking  to  get  power  only  to  undo  all  the  results 
of  the  war,  even  to  the  extent  of  re-establishing  slavery.  If  every  law  re 
sulting  from  force  and  successful  usurpation  is  but  a  nullity  ;  that  everything 
done  since  secession  is  a  nullity ;  and  to  require  the  Democratic  party  to 
approve  or  refute  this  logic,  is  a  burden  they  cannot  bear  before  the  Northern 
people  in  their  present  temper,  and  must  constantly  insure  their  defeat,  and 
make  the  wrongs  and  usurpations  of  which  we  complain  perpetual.  They, 
therefore,  do  not  ask  us  to  approve,  but  only  to  bury  Reconstruction  with  the 
surrender,  and  secession  with  the  dead  past,  and  obey  the  laws  as  the  courts 
and  the  authorities  decide  them,  as  the  only  way  to  stop  the  ever-increasing 
evils  of  a  revolution  which  secession  madly  began  and  which  Reconstruction, 
with  greater  madness,  seems  determined  shall  never  end.  And  I  tell  you, 
my  Southern  friends,  abuse  what  you  call  the  new  departure  as  you  may, 
you  will  get  no  other  platform  at  Baltimore.  The  Democracy,  whether 
with  or  without  Cincinnati,  will  not  go  into  the  canvass  with  Southern 
ultraism — such  as  you  heard  here  last  night — as  their  recognized  and  repre 
sentative  sentiments.  Whether  Greeley  and  Brown,  or  straight-out  nomi 
nees  be  the  candidates,  they  will  stand  on  what  you  call  the  New  Depart 
ure  platform.  They  will  pledge  you  to  abide  and  to  obey,  in  good  faith, 
all  the  amendments  and  all  the  laws  as  verities,  until  the  people,  in  a  legal 
way,  shall  choose  to  change  them.  Our  Northern  friends  complain,  and 
justly  complain,  of  those  ultra  Southern  men  who  allow  themselves  to  utter 
contrary  sentiments  as  the  only  true  Democracy.  To  get  rid  of  these 
ultraisms  and  the  charges  to  which  they  subject  the  Democratic  party  before 
the  Northern  people,  is  one  of  the  chief  reasons  which  creates  the  necessity, 
as  they  think,  of  adopting  the  Cincinnati  platform  and  nominees. 

Still  another  reason  for  co-operating  with  Cincinnati  results  from  the  one 
just  stated.  If  the  Democratic  party  were  to  enter  the  race  on  the  platform 
of  1868,  and  under  their  own  nominees,  and  were  to  get  an  actual  majority 
of  the  votes,  it  is  believed  they  would  still  not  secure  the  offices.  As  against 
Democracy  on  the  platform  that  the  amendments  are  nullities,  it  is  believed 
that  the  ruling  party  would  and  could  hold  the  government  by  force,  and 
would  be  sustained  by  the  Northern  people  ;  while  as  against  the  platform 
and  candidates  of  the  Liberal  Republicans  so  securing  a  majority  of  the 
votes,  they  would  not  dare  to  make  such  an  attempt. 

And  behold  here  another  illustration  of  the  dangers  of  extreme  views  and 
intolerant  tempers.  How  long,  Southern  people,  must  you  suffer  bitter  ex 
periences  before  you  learn  the  great  lesson  that  indiscreet  zealots,  controlled 
by  passion,  may  do  more  to  destroy  the  cause  they  advocate  than  all  the 
power  of  the  most  malignant  enemy  could  do  ?  What  have  you  not  already 
lost  and  suffered  from  every  evil  ?  I  do  not  desire  to  stir  any  unpleasant 
feeling,  but  we  must  not  refuse  to  learn  wisdom  from  our  errors.  I  speak 
what  history  must  record  as  true  when  I  say  that  the  reopening  of  the 
slavery  agitation,  by  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  did  more  to 
destroy  slavery  than  all  the  abolition  societies  of  the  world.  Yet  that  repeal 
was  made  in  the  avowed  interest  of  the  rights  of  slavery,  and  every  Southern 
man  who  did  not  approve  it,  and  support  the  party  that  sustained  it,  was 
denounced  as  unsound  on  slavery,  and  not  fit  to  be  trusted  by  the  people  ! 

History  will  adjudge  that  when  we  hurried  unprepared  and  in  passion  into 
secession,  we  made  the  movement  which  destroyed  the  partisan  power  of 


364  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

the  South  in  the  government.  And  yet  that  movement  Was  made  to 
secure  Southern  independence  and  promote  Southern  power,  and  every 
man  who  could  not  approve  it  was  denounced  as  a  traitor  to  his  section. 
History  will  declare,  when  all  the  facts  are  known,  that  the  internal  dissen 
sions  created  by  the  quarrel  kept  up  with  their  own  side  by  distinguished 
men  in  the  Confederacy,  did  more  to  bring  on  Southern  defeat  and  humilia 
tion  than  all  the  armies  of  Grant  and  Sherman.  Yet  that  war  was  made  by 
the  Confederates  on  the  Confederate  Government  avowedly  in  the  name  of 
liberty,  and  every  man  who  united  in  giving  earnest  and  unmurmuring  sup 
port  to  our  leaders  in  the  field  and  in  the  cabinet  were  denounced  as  enemies 
of  liberty,  seeking  to  establish  a  military  despotism. 

In  the  name  of  slavery,  slavery  was  destroyed.  In  the  name  of  independ 
ence,  Southern  independence  was  destroyed.  In  the  name  of  liberty  and 
right,  Southern  defeat  and  humiliation  was  wrought.  And  this  fell  spirit  of 
extreme  unreasoning,  unyielding,  intolerant,  self -sufficient,  and  self-immacu 
late  egotism  and  zeal,  for  twelve  months  has  been  binding  into  its  exclusive 
deadly  embrace  the  Democratic  party,  and  in  the  name  of  the  "  only  true 
Democracy"  will  destroy  Democracy  itself  forever,  if  not  now  rebuked  and 
repudiated  by  the  people.  It  will  then  have  but  one  more  work  of  destruc 
tion  to  perform,  and,  that  will  be  sure — that  now  being  done.  Dinning  for 
ever,  in  place  and  out  of  place,  into  the  ears  of  the  people,  their  own  self -pat 
ented  exclusive  right  to  define  and  protect  State  rights.  Indiscreet  zealots 
seem  determined  never  to  cease  their  ill-timed  clamoring  until,  in  the  name 
of  State  rights,  they  shall  destroy  the  States  themselves. 

These  tireless  outragers  of  everything  they  advocate,  are  always  known 
by  the  fluent  facility  with  which,  they  denounce  everybody  as  a  traitor,  or 
robber,  or  fool  who  will  not  be  as  indiscreet  and  destructive  as  themselves. 
What  a  catalogue  we  had  last  night  of  thieves,  and  robbers,  and  Radicals, 
made  up  of  all  classes,  and  trades,  and  professions  of  men  who  were  willing 
to  support  Mr.  Greeley. 

I  tell  these  gentlemen  there  are  thousands  in  Georgia  just  as  honest,  as 
true,  and  wise  as  themselves,  and  who  intend  to  vote  for  Mr.  Greeley,  if  Balti 
more  shall  so  decide.  Nay,  I  tell  them  more  :  if  to  be  willing  to  obey  the 
laws  of  the  land  ;  if  to  be  anxious  to  co-operate  with  all  who  are  willing 
to  restore  local  State  government  and  Constitutional  limitation  upon  Federal 
power;  and  above  all,  if  to  be  willing  to  adopt  any  honorable  means  of  arrest 
ing  the  wrongs  under  which  we  suffer,  and  to  secure  equal  rights  to  the 
Southern  States  and  people  in  the  Union,  constitutes  a  man  a  traitor,  a  fool, 
and  a  robber,  then  the  greatest  traitor,  the  biggest  fool,  and  the  worst  rob 
ber  in  America  stands  before  you  to-niorht. 

%/  O 

Now,  in  the  beginning  of  this  canvass  I  enter  my  remonstrance  against 
this  intolerant  oratory,  and  if  the  gentlemen  who  indulge  in  it  have  no  re 
spect  for  themselves,  they  should  at  least  respect  the  character  of  our  people 
and  the  gravity  of  the  issue,  and  abandon  the  ugly  if  not  criminal  habit. 

Another  reason  why  I  am  willing  to  support  Mr.  Greeley,  if  the  Balti 
more  convention  shall  so  decide,  is  because  we  of  the  South,  by  such  support, 
offer  to  the  North  the  highest  possible  evidence  of  our  sincere  desire  to  end 
sectional  discord  and  have  a  cordial  reunion.  It  has,  heretofore,  been  diffi 
cult  for  the  Northern  people  to  believe  we  were  sincere  in  laying  down  our 
arms,  and  that  we  agreed  cheerfully  to  the  emancipation  of  the  negro.  It 
has  been  impossible  for  the  Democratic  party  to  inspire  this  needed  confi 
dence,  because  that  party  was  charged  with  bringing  about  secession,  and 


HTS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,    AND   WRITINGS.  365 

with  a  desire  to  nullify  all  the  results  of  the  war,  and  the  extreme  and 
thoughtless  utterances  of  a  few  Southern  men,  have  aided  the  Radicals  in 
their  impeachment  of  Democratic  sincerity  on  these  questions.  I  have  already 
explained  to  you  the  origin  and  meaning  and  purpose  of  what  is  called  the 
"  new  departure."  That  movement  had  the  warm  approval  of  all  the  most 
prominent  Northern  Democrats,  and  was  indorsed  by  all  the  Northern  State 
conventions.  It  had  no  purpose  but  to  prepare  the  Democracy  to  make  this 
Presidential  race  under  their  own  flag,  borne  by  their  own  standard-bearer, 
and  a  large  number  of  Liberal  Republicans  were  willing  to  co-operate  with 
the  Democracy  on  this  line,  if  the  party  could  organize  on  it.  There  was  no 
concession  of  a  single  principle.  There  was  only  the  admission  of  the  facts, 
which,  right  or  wrong,  had  occurred.  There  was  no  trouble  with  the  Demo 
crats  at  the  North.  But,  unfortunately,  an  unexpected  bitterness  against  this 
movement  was  exhibited  at  the  South,  and,  it  is  painful  to  add,  chiefly  in 
Georgia. 

All  these  utterances  were  eagerly  caught  up  by  the  extreme  Radicals  of 
the  North  and  paraded  as  evidence  that  the  Democratic  party  was  not 
sincere  in  the  proposed  movement  to  combine  with  the  Liberals  to  beat  the 
Extremes  and  save  the  country.  The  charges  were  false  ;  the  movement 
was  sincere  and  patriotic  as  you  now  see,  but  there  are  many  at  the  North 
as  unreasoning  as  many  at  the  South — mere  creatures  of  the  war  passions. 
The  result  was,  the  Democratic  party  was  defeated  and  thus  rendered 
unable,  by  these  Southern  utterances,  to  organize  the  party  on  this  move 
ment  and  make  the  race  under  their  own  flag,  aided  by  the  Republicans. 

The  extreme  demagogues  of  the  North  will  not  be  able  to  make  the  peo 
ple  believe  that  Mr.  Greeley  will  nullify  all  the  results  of  the  war  and  restore 
slavery.  The  people  of  the  South  exhibit  a  magnanimity  which  must  excite 
the  admiration  of  the  world,  and  offer  conclusive  evidence  of  their  willing 
ness  to  give  up  slavery,  to  give  the  negro  his  political  and  civil  rights  under 
the  law,  and  to  have  permanent  peace  and  concord  on  a  basis  of  universal 
equality  between  the  States  of  the  Union,  and  of  civil  supremacy  and  local 
freedom,  by  supporting  the  Cincinnati  candidates.  If  the  Northern  people 
do  not  respond  to  this  magnanimous  and  patriotic  feeling  of  the  South,  then 
let  them  blame  only  themselves  if  discord  reign  until  empire  come. 

The  last  reason  I  specify  to-night  for  being  willing  to  support  Mr.  Greeley, 
if  the  Baltimore  convention  shall  so  decide,  is,  that  as  his  election  is  more 
probable  than  that  of  a  Democratic  ticket,  so  the  prospect  for  our  deliverance 
from  Federal  interference  in  our  local  affairs  through  that  election  on  the 
Cincinnati  platform,  is  more  hopeful  and  will  be  more  speedy.  And,  after 
all,  my  Southern  countrymen,  this  is  the  greatest  reason  of  all.  We  have  but 
little  interest  in  what  becomes  of  the  Federal  Government,  if  we  cannot  get 
and  keep  control  of  our  own  State  governments.  For  seven  years  we  have 
suffered  under  disadvantages  which  no  other  people  ever  had  to  contend  with. 
We  have  been  insulted  and  robbed,  in  our  poverty  and  weakness,  by  strangers, 
vagabonds,  and  negroes,  under  the  protection  of  the  Federal  bayonet.  Our 
laws  have  been  deranged,  our  industry  paralyzed  and  society  demoralized,  and 
our  intellectual,  virtuous  men  forbidden,  under  the  penalties  of  felony,  to  em 
ploy  their  qualifications  to  bring  about  order,  security,  and  prosperity.  For 
five  years  thousands  of  our  best  people  have  slept  without  ease  and  waked 
without  hope.  Our  lands  have  continued  to  decrease  in  value,  the  fruits  of 
our  soil  have  been  taken  by  law-making  and  law-ruling  robbers.  Thousands 
have  been  arrested  without  guilt,  only  to  continue  in  power  the  strangers  and 


3.66  SENATOR  B.   IL  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

thieves  who  ruled  without  authority  and  plundered  without  compunction. 
Even  now,  while  I  speak,  they  are  carrying  citizens  of  a  neighboring  State  by 
the  score  from  their  desolate,  but  still  sunny  homes  to  Northern  prisons  ! 
Oh,  my  countrymen,  let  us  believe  the  day  of  our  deliverance  is  dawning. 
Let  us  hope  the  time  for  us  to  begin  to  improve  is  near.  Weary  watchers 
for  returning  right  to  the  war-ridden  plains  of  the  South,  take  courage  ! 
It  seems  to  me  I  am  catching  the  rays  of  a  new  star  in  the  East,  guiding 
you  to  a  new  political  Bethlehem,  where  is  born,  not  a  man,  but  that  Divine 
conception,  a  new  hope  for  local  State  government  and  Constitutional  limita 
tions  upon  Federal  power,  which  means  redemption  for  you,  peace  for  the 
nation,  and  good-will  to  mankind. 

A  gentleman  having  a  distinguished  name  said,  but  yesterday,  he  was 
glad  to  hear  I  was  willing  to  accept  the  Cincinnati  movement,  as  it  was  good 
evidence  the  people  would  not  accept  it,  as  they  had  never  followed  me.  It 
is  difficult  to  determine  whether  the  truth  or  the  stupidity  of  this  remark 
preponderates.  It  is  true,  I  have  not  led  our  people  to  their  present  condi 
tion.  But  when  you  see  whither  they  have  been  led,  is  it  not  strangely 
stupid  for  any  man  to  refer  to  such  leadership  as  an  achievement  for  boast 
ing  ?  No,  my  friends,  I  have  never  led  you.  During  the  whole  time  of  my 
connection  with  politics  you  have  been  rushing  wildly  down  a  declivity,  and 
I  have  done  nothing  but  labor  to  avert  your  fall.  No  man  can  have  an 
humbler  estimate  of  my  abilities  than  myself.  When  I  have  so  often  seen 
so  clearly,  evil  after  evil  coming  upon  you,  and  remember  how  unable  I  have 
been  to  avert  it,  I  feel  humble  and  insignificant.  But  your  fall  is  complete. 
Let  it  be  at  an  end.  We  must  win  again.  And  if  God  would  commission 
me  with  an  intellect  worthy  to  be  a  leader,  I  would  ask  no  other  or  higher 
ambition  than  to  lead  you  from  poverty  back  to  wealth,  from  defeat  back 
to  power,  and  from  humiliation  and  sorrow  back  to  happiness  and  pros 
perity  ! 


SPEECH  DELIVERED  IN  UNITED  STATES  CIRCUIT  COURT,  IN 

ATLANTA,  GA.,  MARCH  14,    1873. 

Purity  of  the  Jury  System — Has  any  Power  but  the  State  Government  the  Right  to 
Prescribe  the  Qualifications  of  Jurors  ?— Argument  of  Hon.  B.  H.  Hill. 


AEGUMENT. 

May  it  please  your  Honor :  The  question  now  to  be  decided  cannot  be 
of  more  importance  to  the  prisoner  at  the  bar  than  to  every  other  man  and 
woman  in  the  State,  and  in  the  United  States.  I  rejoice  that  I  am  to  engage 
in  its  discussion  before  one  who  possesses  the  ability  to  discern,  and  the 
courage  to  declare  the  law  as  it  is. 

The  motion  challenging  the  array  affirms  that  this  is  a  legally  incompe 
tent  jury,  because  the  order  or  rule  of  court  of  the  last  September  term, 
under  which  the  qualifications  of  the  jurors,  in  the  box  from  which  this  jury 
was  drawn  and  brought  here,  were  ascertained  and  fixed,  ignored  and  disre 
garded  the  laws  of  the  State  of  Georgia  on  the  subject,  and  therefore  vio 
lated  the  statutes  and  laws  of  the  United  States. 

A  proper  discussion  of  this  question,  especially  in  view  of  its  treatment 
by  the  learned  gentlemen  who  have  argued  against  the  motion,  will  bring 
into  review  what  I  have  always  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
features  of  our  system  of  double  governments — State  and  Federal. 

The  district  attorney  (Mr.  Farrow)  and  the  ex-attorney  general  (Mr. 
Akerman)  treat  as  a  monstrous  absurdity  the  proposition  that  the  great 
government  of  the  United  States  has  left  its  courts,  sitting  in  the  several 
States,  dependent  upon  the  laws  of  those  States  for  the  qualifications  of  their 
jurors.  Because  such  a  proposition  is,  as  it  appears  to  them,  so  very  prepos 
terous,  therefore,  they  conclude,  such  cannot  be  and  is  not  the  law. 

I  most  respectfully  suggest  that  such  a  proposition  can  be  considered 
absurd  only  because  of  the  distempered  passions  of  the  times.  Neither  in 
the  light  of  the  language  of  the  Federal  Constitution,  nor  in  the  purposes 
and  objects  of  its  framing,  nor  in  the  spirit  which  animated  its  framers,  is 
this  proposition  absurd.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  exceedingly  natural,  wise,  and 
becoming.  A  mere  casual  reading  of  that  Constitution  will  show  us  that  not 
only  in  this  respect,  but  in  other  respects,  and  to  a  much  greater  extent,  was 
the  Federal  Government  and  each  of  its  departments  left  by  our  fathers 
(dependent,  indeed,  leaning  in  trust  and  confidence  upon  the  States,  the 
people  of  the  States,  and  the  government  of  the  States.  The  first  work  of 
the  framers  of  the  Constitution  was  to  frame  a  legislative  department  for  the 
Federal  Government.  The  second  section  and  second  sentence  they  wrote 
in  this  work  was  in  the  following  words : 

The  House  of  Representatives  shall  be  composed  of  members  chosen  every  second 
year  by  the  people  of  the  several  States,  and  the  electors  in  each  State  shall  have  the 
qualifications  requisite  for  electors  of  the  most  numerous  branch  of  the  State  Legislature. 

Thus  the  work  of  qualifying  voters  for  members  of  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  of  the  United  States  was  left,  by  Constitutional  provision,  solely 

367 


368  SENATOR  B.   H.    HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

to  the  several  States,  aiid  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  now  so 
boastingly  called  great,  was  left  without  the  power  to  prescribe  a  single 
qualification  for  a  single  voter  at  such  elections  !  And  this  power  of  quali 
fying  voters  is  still  exclusively  in  the  several  States — each  State  for  itself — 
and  the  power  is  unabridged  save  only  by  the  Fifteenth  Amendment,  which 
prohibits  a  discrimination  in  such  qualifications  "  on  account  of  race,  color, 
or  previous  condition  of  servitude." 

So,  again,  the  senators  in  Congress  are  chosen  solely  by  the  Legislatures 
of  the  several  States,  which  Legislatures  are  chosen  solely  by  the  qualified 
voters  by  the  laws  of  the  State.  So  that  for  every  member  of  its  legislative 
department  the  Government  of  the  United  States  is  required  by  the  Consti 
tution  to  lean  upon  the  States  and  upon  voters  qualified  solely  by  the  laws 
of  the  States. 

And  here  let  us  note  the  difference  between  qualifying  an  elector  and 
holding  an  election.  The  Constitution  provides  : 

Section  4.  The  times,  places,  and  manner  of  holding  elections  for  senators  and  repre 
sentatives  shall  be  prescribed  in  each  State  by  the  Legislature  thereof,  but  the  Congress 
may  at  any  time  by  law  make  or  alter  such  regulations,  except  as  to  the  places  of  choos 
ing  senators. 

The  power  to  qualify  electors  is  left  exclusively  and  absolutely  with  the 
States.  In  this  work  Congress  has  neither  power  nor  discretion.  But  Con 
gress  may  have  a  hand  in  the  ministerial  work — the  manner  of  holding  the 
elections. 

The  second  work  of  the  f  ramers  of  the  Federal  Constitution  was  to  pro 
vide  an  executive  department  for  the  Government  of  the  United  States. 
The  executive  power  was  vested  in  a  president.  This  president  and  a  vice- 
president  were  to  be  chosen  by  a  body  of  electors.  These  electors  were  to 
be  chosen  by  the  States — each  State  for  itself — "  in  such  manner  as  the 
Legislature  of  the  State  may  direct."  The  power  of  qualifying  voters  to 
choose  these  electors  was  left  exclusively  in  the  State.  South  Carolina  chose 
her  electors  by  the  Legislature. 

Thus,  again,  we  find  that  for  a  person  to  be  her  chief  executive,  the  Gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States  was  required  by  the  Constitution  to  lean  on 
the  States,  and  Congress  was  left  without  the  power  to  prescribe  a  single 
qualification  for  a  single  voter  for  those  who,  as  an  Electoral  College,  should 
designate  the  President.  Here  let  us  note  again,  that  the  ministerial  work, 
especially  the  counting  of  the  votes  of  the  Electoral  College,  was  given  to 
Congress. 

We  next  come  to  the  third  work  of  the  framers  of  the  Constitution,  that 
of  providing  a  judicial  department  for  the  Government  of  the  United  States. 

The  judicial  power  is  vested  in  certain  courts.  The  judges  are  not 
elected,  but  to  be  appointed  by  the  President,  by  the  advice  and  consent  of 
the  Senate.  It  is  provided  that,  "  The  trial  of  all  cases,  except  in  cases  of 
impeachment,  shall  be  by  jury."  As  to  what  power  or  authority  shall  pre 
scribe  the  qualifications  of  jurors  to  compose  the  jury,  the  Constitution  is 
silent.  It  was  not  given  to  Congress,  and,  under  the  rule  of  interpretation 
of  the  fathers,  could  not  therefore  exist  in  Congress.  It  certainly  could  not 
exist  except  as  a  resulting  or  implied  power.  Various  clauses  of  the  Consti 
tution  strengthen  the  position  that  the  framers  of  the  Constitution  intended 
that  the  courts  of  the  United  States  should  depend,  for  qualified  jurors,  upon 
the  same  powers  upon  which  the  legislative  and  executive  departments 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND    WRITINGS,  369 

depended  for  qualified  voters,  upon  the  laws  of  the  several  States  in  which 
the  courts  should  sit.  Thus,  in  the  original  Constitution  the  language  is, 
"  The  trial  of  all  crimes,  except  in  cases  of  impeachment,  shall  be  by  jury, 
and  such  trial  shall  be  held  in  the  State  where  the  crimes  shall  have  been 
committed."  Of  course  by  juries  in  that  State,  and  by  juries  composed  of 
jurors  made  such  by  the  law  of  that  State. 

In  the  early  amendments  of  the  Constitution  we  find  these  provisions  : 

No  person  shall  be  held  to  answer  for  a  capital  or  otherwise  infamous  crime,  unless 
on  a  presentment  or  indictment  of  a  grand  jury,  except  in  cases  arising  in  the  land  or 
naval  forces,  or  in  the  militia,  when  in  actual  service  in  time  of  war  or  public  danger ; 
nor  shall  any  person  be  subject  for  the  same  offense  to  be  twice  put  in  jeopardy  of  life  or 
limb  ;  nor  shall  be  compelled  in  any  criminal  case  to  be  a  witness  against  himself;  nor 
be  deprived  of  life,  liberty,  or  property,  without  due  process  of  law  ;  nor  shall  private 
property  be  taken  for  public  use  without  just  compensation. 

In  all  criminal  prosecution,  the  accused  shall  enjoy  the  right  to  a  speedy  and  public 
trial,  by  an  impartial  jury  of  the  State  and  District  wherein  the  crime  shall  have  been 
committed. 

In  suits  at  common  law,  where  the  value  in  controversy  shall  exceed  twenty  dollars, 
the  right  of  trial  by  jury  shall  be  preserved,  etc. 

The  jury  must  be  a  jury  in  the  State,  and  can  only  be  such  when  com 
posed  of  persons  qualified  as  jurors  by  the  laws  of  the  State. 

These  clauses  of  the  Federal  Constitution  are  precious.  They  are  the 
sacred  civil  jewels  come  down  to  us  from  an  English  ancestry,  hallowed  by 
the  blood  of  a  thousand  struggles,  and  stored  away  by  our  fathers  for  safe 
keeping  in*  the  casket  of  the  Constitution.  It  is  infidelity  to  forget  them. 
It  is  sacrilege  to  disregard  them.  It  is  despotism  to  trample  upon  them  ! 

But,  sir,  whether  Congress  has  the  power  or  not  to  prescribe  the  qualifi 
cations  of  jurors  for  the  United  States  courts,  we  need  not  now  further  dis 
cuss.  It  is  very  certain  that  Congress  has  never  exercised  nor  proposed  to 
exercise  such  a  power.  Nor  has  Congress  authorized  any  court  to  exercise 
such  a  power.  On  the  contrary,  Congress,  by  its  legislation,  as  I  shall  pres 
ently  show,  has  always  relied,  and  exclusively  relied,  on  the  laws  of  the  sev 
eral  States  to  fix  the  qualifications  of  jurors,  as  the  Constitution  itself  relies 
exclusively  on  the  laws  of  the  States  to  fix  the  qualifications  of  voters.  And 
from  the  formation  of  the  government  to  the  present  time  neither  the  Gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States  nor  any  department  of  that  government  has 
ever  qualified  or  proposed  to  qualify  a  voter  or  a  juror,  except  in  that  ab 
normal  work  of  Reconstruction,  which  its  own  authors  have  sought  to  justify 
only  on  the  pretense  that  a  portion  of  the  States  themselves  were  in  a  power 
less  and  abnormal  condition. 

I  have  thus  brought  in  brief  review  these  features  of  the  Federal  Consti 
tution  to  show  that  the  learned  gentlemen  who  represent  the  government  in 
this  argument  are  not  justified  by  anything  in  the  Constitution  itself  for  ex 
hibiting  such  loyal  horror  at  the  idea  that  the  United  States  Government 
should  depend  on  the  States  and  the  laws  of  the  States  for  anything.  Sir, 
it  depends  on  the  States  and  on  the  people  of  the  States  for  everything.  If 
the  people  of  this  generation  would  only  read  this  Constitution  in  the  same 
spirit  which  animated  those  who  made  it,  this  reign  of  discord,  of  hatred,  of 
jealousy,  of  strife,  and  wrong  between  the  general  and  State  governments 
would  die  and  be  buried  in  the  universal  ignominy  it  merits.  The  framers 
of  the  Constitution  were  citizens  of  the  several  States.  They  had  come  out 
pf  a  common  struggle  for  a  common  liberty  won  by  the  States.  They 


370  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

desired  to  form  a  government  of  union  between  the  States  to  perpetuate  the 
liberties  so  won.  Thus,  sir,  the  Federal  Constitution  was  framed  by  the 
States,  and  the  government  of  the  Union  under  that  Constitution  became  the 
child  of  the  States,  begotten  by  the  sovereignty  of  the  States  in  the  sweet 
embrace  of  the  chaste  Goddess  of  Liberty !  Was  it  not  natural  that  the 
child  should  lean  upon  the  parents?  Was  such  an  idea  shocking  them? 
Nay,  sir,  the  nurses  did  lay  that  child,  with  beautiful  trust  and  confidence,  in 
the  arms  of  its  fond  parents,  and  bid  it  rest  there  and  grow.  It  was  well 
nourished.  It  has  grown.  It  is  vigorous.  Shall  it  scoff  at  leaning  now  ? 
Shall  we  have  in  this  Union  another  Goneril,  plethoric  with  a  too  liberal 
patrimony,  and  mocking  the  sorrows  of  the  parent  who  gave  her  being  and 
strength  ?  Sir,  to  this  child  of  the  States  more  earnestly  than  to  any  born 
of  woman — should  the  solemn  admonition  be  addressed  :  "  Honor  thy  father 
and  thy  mother,  that  thy  days  may  be  long  in  the  land  which  the  Lord  thy 
God  giveth  thee." 

I  proceed  now  to  show  that  Congress  has  never  attempted  to  prescribe  the 
qualifications  for  jurors  in  the  States,  nor  authorized  the  United  States  courts 
to  prescribe  such  qualifications  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  has  always  directed 
that  the  qualifications  prescribed  by  the  States  shall  be  accepted  and  ob 
served  by  the  United  States  courts  sitting  in  the  respective  States. 

The  first  enactment  by  Congress  on  this  subject  is  to  be  found  in  the 
great  Judiciary  Act  of  1789,  and  in  the  29th  section  of  that  act  we  find  the 
following  language  : 

And  the  jurors  (in  the  United  States  courts)  shall  have  the  same  qualifications  as  are 
requisite  for  jurors  by  the  laws  of  the  State  of  which  they  are  citizens,  to  serve  in  the 
highest  courts  of  law  of  such  State. — 1  United  States  Statutes  at  Large,  88. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  this  is  the  exact  language  employed  in  the 
Constitution  itself  on  the  subject  of  the  qualification  of  electors  for  mem 
bers  of  Congress,  and,  under  it,  no  person  can  be  qualified  as  a  juror  in  the 
United  States  courts,  who  is  not  qualified  as  a  juror  in  the  State  courts  by 
the  laws  of  the  State. 

I  pass  over  other  legislation  by  Congress  on  this  subject  (all  like  the 
above),  and  come  directly  to  the  last  act,  which  was  approved  July  20, 1840. 
This  act  provides  : 

That  jurors  to  serve  in  the  courts  of  the  United  States,  in  each  State  respectively,  shall 
have  the  like  qualifications  and  be  entitled  to  the  like  exemptions  as  jurors  of  the  highest 
courts  of  law  of  such  State,  now  have  and  are  entitled  to,  and  shall  hereafter,  from  time 
to  time,  have  and  be  entitled  to,  and  shall  be  designated  by  ballot,  lot,  or  otherwise,  ac 
cording  to  the  mode  of  forming  juries  now  practiced,  and  hereafter  to  be  practiced  there 
in,  in  so  far  as  such  mode  may  be  practicable  by  the  courts  of  the  United  States  or  the 
officers  thereof;  and  for  this  purpose  the  said  courts  shall  have  power  to  make  all  neces 
sary  rules  and  regulations  for  conforming  the  designation  and  empaneling  of  juries  in 
'  substance  to  the  laws  and  usages  now  in  force  in  such  State,  and  further,  shall  have 
power  by  rule  or  order,  from  time  to  time,  to  conform  the  same  to  any  change  in  these 
respects  which  may  be  hereafter  adopted  by  the  Legislature  of  the  respective  States  for 
the  State  courts. — 5  United  States  Statutes  at  Large,  394. 

In  considering  this  statute,  let  us  first  note  the  difference  between  a 
"juror"  and  a  "jury."  A  juror  is  a  person,  and  must  have  certain  personal 
qualifications  to  render  him  competent.  A  jury  is  a  body  of  persons  so 
qualified,  and  must  be  empaneled.  Qualifications  to  be  possessed  by  a  juror 
must  be  prescribed,  fixed  by  legislation.  The  drawing,  summoning,  and 
empaneling  a  jury  is  mere  ministerial  work,  and  may  be  done  by  the  court 


HIS   LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  371 

or  its  officers,  and  the  drawing  or  designating  of  the  persons  to  compose  a 
jury  at  any  given  time  of  the  court,  may  be  by  "ballot,  lot,  or  otherwise." 

By  the  language  of  this  act  of  Congress  it  is  very  clear  that  the  qualifica 
tions  of  jurors  as  declared,  prescribed,  and  fixed  by  the  laws  of  the  State,  are 
adopted,  prescribed,  and  fixed  as  the  qualifications  for  jurors  in  the  courts 
of  the  United  States. 

The  word  "  like  r  in  this  act  is  the  word  "  requisite  "  in  the  Constitution 
and  in  the  act  of  1789,  and  both  words  are  interchangeable  with  the  word 
"same."  The  word  "same"  is  used  in  the  act  of  1789.  This  court,  there 
fore,  has  no  power  to  fix  the  qualification  of  the  persons  to  serve  as  its  jurors 
nor  to  authorize  its  officers  to  fix  such  qualifications.  This  court  is  com 
manded  by  Congress  to  respect  and  observe  the  qualifications  fixed  by  the 
laws  of  this  State.  The  laws  of  this  State,  for  this  purpose,  became  the 
laws  of  the  United  States.  No  person,  therefore,  is  qualified  to  sit  as  a  juror 
in  this  court,  who  is  not  qualified  to  sit  as  a  juror  in  the  courts  of  the  State. 
I  will  not  say  that  the  name  of  every  person  found  in  the  jury-box  of  the 
counties  composing  the  northern  district  of  this  State,  must  be  found 
in  the  jury-box  of  this  court,  though  this  would  be  better,  and  is,  especially 
as  far  as  convenient  and  practicable,  but  I  do  affirm  that  the  name  of  no 
person  can  be  placed  as  a  competent  juror  in  the  jury-box  of  this  court, 
which  has  not  been  placed  as  a  competent  juror  in  the  jury-box  of  some  one 
of  those  counties  of  this  State.  And  this  court  has  no  power,  authority,  or 
discretion  to  place,  order,  or  recognize  a  name  in  its  jury-box  which  can 
not  also  be  found  in  the  jury-box  of  the  State. 

In  the  ministerial  work  of  designating  from  the  jury-box,  so  made  up,  the 
persons  to  serve  and  constitute  a  jury  at  a  given  term,  and  of  bringing  these 
persons  to  the  court  and  empaneling  them  into  a  jury,  this  court  must  act 
and  use  its  own  officers  ;  but  even  in  this  designation,  drawing,  summoning, 
and  empaneling,  this  court  is  required  by  this  act  to  "  conform  as  nearly  as 
practicable  "  to  the  modes  practiced  by  the  State  courts  in  doing  the  same 
ministerial  work.  And  this  court  has  power  to  make  orders  and  rules  to 
secure  this  conformity  as  far  as  practicable,  and  power  to  change  your  rules 
to  conform  to  the  changing  modes  practiced  and  adopted  in  the  State.  You 
can  make  no  rule  or  order  to  evade  that  conformity,  and  much  less  to  put 
an  unqualified  juror  in  your  panel.  In  fact,  even  in  this  ministerial  work, 
you  are  commanded  to  conform  to  the  modes  of  the  State  if  you  can  con 
form,  and  as  far  as  you  can. 

There  can  be  no  other  logical,  fair,  or  just  analysis  of  this  Act  of  1840. 

But  I  will  not  rest  the  case  here.  The  courts  of  the  United  States  have 
given  this  very  construction  to  this  act.  In  the  case  of  the  United  States 
vs.  Wilson,  the  court  presided  over  by  that  very  able  judge,  McLean,  after 
quoting  this  act  as  above,  unanimously  proceed  to  say  : 

By  the  first  clause  of  this  statute,  the  enactment  is  positive  in  its  requirements,  that  so 
far  as  the  qualifications  and  exemptions  of  jurors  in  the  Federal  courts  are  concerned, 
they  should  be  the  same  us  those  of  the  highest  courts  of  law  of  the  State,  and  that  the 
mode  of  forming  juries  should,  so  far  as  practicable,  conform  to  the  mode  of  the  State. 
So  far  as  relates  to  the  qualifications  and  exemptions  of  Federal  juries,  the  courts  have  no 
iiscretion.  The  law  is  positive  that  they  shall  have  the  like  qualifications,  and  be  entitled 
to  the  like  exemptions,  as  jurors  of  the  highest  courts  of  law  of  such  State  had  at  the  time 
of  passing  the  law,  or  should  thereafter  have  in  such  State. 

Can  language  be  more  unmistakable  ?  And  I  affirm,  there  is  not  a  decis 
ion,  or  dictum,  or  intimation,  or  order  to  the  contrary,  in  all  the  decisions 


372  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

and  proceedings  of  the  United  States  courts,  save  in  the  order  now  here 
being  discussed. 

Now,  then,  here  is  the  conclusion  :  Your  Honor  has  no  jurisdiction,  no 
discretion  in  the  work  of  making,  fixing,  or  modifying  the  qualifications  of 
persons  to  serve  as  jurors  in  your  court.  On  this  subject  you  can  pass  no 
order  or  rule.  Your  order,  your  rule,  is  the  law  of  the  State.  The  State 
qualities  her  jurors,  and  out  of  the  jurors  so  qualified  you  may  designate, 
draw,  summon,  and  empanel  your  jury  ;  and  in  doing  even  this  much,  you 
must  designate,  draw,  summon,  and  empanel  in  the  same  mode,  as  nearly  as 
possible,  as  the  State  does,  and  you  can  pass  orders  and  rules  to  compel 
your  officers  to  conform  to  the  modes  of  the  State. 

The  ex-attorney  general  (Mr.  Akerman)  says  the  State  may  abolish  jury 
trials  and  have  no  qualified  jurors  !  The  only  reply  needed  to  this  is  to  say 
that  the  State  of  Georgia  has  a  jury-box  full  of  the  names  of  well-qualified 
jurors  in  every  county. 

The  district  attorney  (Mr.  Farrow)  says  the  clerks  in  the  several  counties 
may  refuse  to  send  up  the  lists  of  the  qualified  jurors  when  called  on.  The 
only  reply  needed  to  this  is  to  say,  the  clerks  have  never  refused  to  send  up 
such  lists,  and  this  court  has  never  been  without  a  well-filled  jury-box  of 
well-qualified  jurors  until  that  box  was  emptied  of  such  names,  and  refilled, 
under  this  order,  with  the  names  of  unqualified  persons  to  serve  as  jurors. 

The  learned  gentlemen  hasten  to  violate  the  laws  of  Congress,  and  tram 
ple  on  the  laws  of  [the  State,  and  to  place  the  lives,  the  liberties,  and  the 
property  of  our  people  in  the  hands  of  unqualified  jurors,  upon  the  pretext 
that  a  State  which  has  never  been  without  a  jury  might  possibly  abolish 
jury  trial,  and  that  officers  of  the  State,  who  had  always  promptly  and 
cheerfully  filled  your  Honor's  jury-box  with  qualified  jurors,  might  possibly 
not  fill  them! 

In  the  next  place,  let  us  examine  the  law  generally  on  this  subject  of  the 
qualification  of  jurors,  and  then  the  law  of  this  State,  and  ascertain  who  are 
qualified  by  law  to  serve  as  jurors  in  Georgia. 

The  annals  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race,  perhaps,  contain  nothing  more  inter 
esting  than  the  history  of  juries,  the  qualification  of  jurors,  and  jury  trial. 
It  has  often  been  said  that  the  right  of  trial  by  jury  is  the  palladium  of  our 
liberties.  It  may,  with  equal  truth,  be  said  that  intelligence  and  virtue  con 
stitute  the  palladium  of  the  jury  system  itself.  Trial  by  jury  would  be  a 
weak  palladium  of  liberty  if  ignorance  and  vice  did  not  disqualify  persons 
from  serving  as  jurors.  The  jury-box  holds  more  directly  in  its  keeping  the 
life,  the  liberty,  and  the  property  of  the  citizen  than  the  ballot-box,  and 
it  needs  to  be  watched  with  equal  if  not  greater  and  more  sleepless  vigilance. 

In  the  reign  of  Henry  IV.,  an  act  was  passed  declaring  that  grand  juries 
should  be  selected  "  from  the  King's  liege  people,"  who  had  not  been  out 
lawed,  "  nor  fled  to  sanctuary  for  treason  or  felony."  The  selections  were 
to  be  made  by  the  sheriffs  and  bailiffs  of  the  franchise.  Heavy  penalties 
were  prescribed  for  the  introduction  of  unqualified  jurors  in  the  jury-box. 
The  courts  of  England  always  held  that  the  presence  of  an  unqualified  juror 
in  the  panel  vitiated  the  entire  panel,  and  rendered  every  indictment  found, 
void. 

The  Court. — Can  you  show  authority  for  that  position  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — I  can,  sir,  and  am  now  prepared  to  do  so. 

The  case  of  Hovey  vs.  Hobson,  Taunton,  is  a  leading  authority  for  construing  the  act, 
and  declares  that  the  mischief  was,  that  persons  were  put  on  the  jury  who  were  not 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  373 

qualified  to  serve  ;  that  they  had  no  right  on  the  jury,  and  that  their  presence  vitiated 
the  whole  panel,  and  rendered  their  action  void  ;  and  for  the  plain  reason  that  the  bill 
must  be  found  by  at  least  twelve,  and  the  disqualified  juror  might  be  one  of  the  twelve. — 
6  McLean  R.  610. 

The  rulings  have  been  equally  rigid  in  America.  In  the  case  of  The  Com 
monwealth  vs.  Parker,  2  Pickering,  and  of  Doyle,  17  Ohio,  the  same  doctrine 
is  laid  down.  "  The  principle  established  is,"  says  the  court  "  that  if  a  per 
son  is  on  the  panel  not  having  the  qualification  of  a  juror  as  required  by 
law,  the  action  of  the  whole  jury  is  vitiated,  and  an  indictment  found  by 
them  would  be  void." 

Thus  we  see,  sir,  what  value  the  law  places  upon  the  proper  legal  qualifi 
cation  of  a  juror.  One  unqualified  voter  does  not  vitiate  an  election.  No 
number  of  unqualified  voters  will  vitiate  an  election  if  there  be  a  sufficient 
number  of  qualified  votes  to  fix  the  result.  But  one  single  unqualified  juror 
in  a  panel  will  vitiate  the  entire  action  of  the  panel,  though  all  the  other 
jurors  be  qualified.  And  this  is  right.  The  office  of  a  juror  is  a  high  trust. 
The  juror  does  not  pass  upon  his  own  life,  or  liberty,  or  property,  but  he 
does  pass  upon  the  life,  the  liberty,  and  the  property  of  his  fellow.  How 
indispensable  is  it  to  justice,  then,  that  the  jury  should  be  composed  of  men 
of  uprightness,  of  intelligence,  and  a  correct  sense  of  right  ?  No  man  is  a 
juror  from  natural  right.  The  law  makes  him  a  juror  to  execute  the  highest 
trusts. 

In  every  State  of  the  Union  the  qualifications  of  jurors  are  prescribed  by 
law.  In  some  of  the  States,  a  freehold  qualification  was  prescribed.  This 
was  so  in  South  Carolina  always.  Education  is  required  in  other  States.  In 
some  States  the  qualifications  of  electors  and  of  jurors  are  the  same  except 
as  to  age.  In  all  the  States  which  have  made  their  own  laws,  the  upright 
and  intelligent  are  included  among  the  jurors,  and  the  idiotic  and  criminal 
are  excluded. 

These  views  applied  with  peculiar  force  to  the  condition  of  Georgia  at 
the  time  the  present  Constitution  of  1868  was  adopted. 

A  large  portion  of  our  population  had  but  recently  been  emancipated 
from  slavery.  The  chief  purpose  of  the  Convention  in  framing  this  Consti 
tution,  Avas  to  clothe  these  people  with  equal  civil  and  political  rights  and 
privileges.  The  great  body  of  them  were  not  educated.  It  cannot  be 
charged  upon  that  Convention  that  its  members  intended  to  exclude  them 
from  the  jury-box  "  because  of  their  color,  race,  or  previous  condition  of 
servitude."  There  was  no  such  intention.  But  there  was  a  desire  with 
some  to  save  the  jury-box  from  ignorance  and  vice,  whether  black  or  white. 
One  of  the  ablest  members  of  that  Convention  did  make  known  to  me  his 
anxiety  on  this  subject.  There  is  no  reason  for  endangering  the  rights  of 
all  citizens,  in  order  to  confer  powers  on  the  black  race.  The  gentleman 
alluded  to  did  submit  to  me  the  clause  now  in  the  Constitution  before  it  was 
submitted  to  the  convention.  It  was  afterward  submitted  and  adopted,  and 
I  take  this  occasion,  in  the  name  of  our  people,  to  thank  the  gentleman  for 
proposing  it,  and  the  convention  for  adopting  it.  It  has  secured  our  State 
from  much  of  the  injury  suffered  by  other  Southern  States.  Here  is  the 
clause  of  the  Constitution  in  question  : 

The  General  Assembly  shall  provide  by  law  for  the  selection  of  upright  and  intelli 
gent  persons  to  serve  as  jurors. 

The  purpose  of  this  clause  was  not  to  delegate  to  the  General  Assembly 
the  power  to  prescribe  the  qualifications  of  jurors.  That  power  already 


374  SENATOR  #.   IT.   HILL,    OP  GEORGIA. 

existed.  The  purpose  was  to  place  limitations  on  that  power.  Three  propo 
sitions  fully  analyze  this  clause  : 

1.  Persons,  to  be  qualified  as  jurors,  must  be  upright  and  intelligent. 

2.  They  must  have  been  selected  as  persons  of  uprightness  and  intelli 
gence. 

3.  This  selection  must  have  been  made  in  a  manner  authorized  by  law — 
legislative  enactment. 

by  Mr.  Akerman  says,  every  upright  and  intelligent  person  in  the  State  is  a 
qualified  juror.  Here  is  the  mistake.  Only  those  who  have  been  selected 
as  upright  and  intelligent — selected  in  a  manner  provided  by  law — are 
qualified  jurors.  Who  is  upright  ?  Who  shall  decide  ?  It  is  a  matter  of 
opinion.  Does  not  every  man  think  himself  upright  ?  Did  not  the  Pharisee 
thank  God  he  was  better  than  his  neighbor  ?  Did  not  Satan  himself,  in  the 
sulphurous  lake  of  Pandemonium,  boast  loudly  of  the  "  wearied  virtue  ''  of 
his  fallen  fiends  ?  So  again,  who  is  intelligent  ?  Who  shall  decide  ?  It  is 
a  question  of  opinion.  Do  not  fools  parade  their  wisdom  ?  Do  not  lunatics 
insist  that  all  men  but  themselves  are  crazy  ?  Do  we  not  all  know  that  the 
chief  feature  of  this  age  is  the  energetic  impudence  with  which  incompetents 
push  themselves  into  positions  whose  heavy  duties  demand  all  the  strength 
of  the  ablest  intellects  ?  Truer  now  than  when  the  English  poet  wrote 
them  are  the  words  : 

Fools  rush  in  where  angels  fear  to  tread. 

There  must,  then,  be  a  standard — a  legal  standard — for  making  these 
opinions  adjudicated  facts.  Therefore  the  Constitution  requires  the  General 
Assembly  to  provide  by  law  the  manner,  the  way,  the  tribunal  for  selecting 
upright  and  intelligent  persons  to  serve  as  jurors. 

The  General  Assembly  did  make  the  provision.  Here  it  is,  an  act 
approved  February  15,  1869  : 

That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  ordinary  in  each  county  in  this  State,  together  with 
the  clerk  of  the  Superior  Court  and  three  commissioners  appointed  for  each  county  by 
the  presiding  judge  of  the  Superior  Court,  removable  at  his  pleasure,  to  meet  at  the 
court-house  on  the  first  Monday  in  June,  biennially,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  select  from 
the  books  of  the  receiver  of  tax  returns  "  upright  and  intelligent  persons"  to  serve  as 
jurors,  and  to  make  out  tickets  with  the  names  of  the  persons  so  selected,  which  said 
tickets  shall  be  put  in  a  box  to  be  provided  at  the  public  expense,  which  box  shall  have 
two  apartments,  marked  number  one  and  two. 

Now,  sir,  who  is  a  qualified  juror  in  Georgia  ?  Is  it  not  he,  and  he  only, 
who  has  been  selected  as  upright  and  intelligent  in  the  manner  provided  by 
this  law,  and  whose  name  is  found  on  a  ticket  in  the  jury-box  ?  Let  us 
apply  a  test  :  If  a  juror  were  challenged  on  the  ground  he  was  not  upright 
and  intelligent,  what  would  be  the  issuable  fact  to  determine  the  question  ? 
Would  it  not  be  whether  he  had  been  selected  as  such  by  this  legal  board, 
and  his  name  placed  in  the  jury-box  ?  Suppose,  again,  a  person  offered  as  a 
juror  were  challenged  on  the  ground  that  he  was  not  qualified,  in  that  he 
had  not  been  so  selected  by  this  board,  and  his  name  was  not  in  the  jury- 
box  ?  Would  it  be  an  answer  to  say  he  was  upright  and  intelligent,  and 
ought  to  have  been  selected  ?  Sir,  there  can  be  no  two  views  of  this  ques 
tion.  And  there  can  be  no  evasion  of  the  conclusion  that  he,  and  he  only, 
is  a  qualified  juror  in  Georgia  who  has  been  selected,  in  the  manner  provided 
by  law,  as  an  upright  and  intelligent  person,  and  his  name  placed  in  the 
jury-box. 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  375 

Let  us  now  apply  this  law  to  the  rule  of  this  court  now  under  discussion. 
That  rule  says  : 

The  court  shall  appoint  three  of  the  United  States  commissioners  residing  in  the 
Northern  District  of  Georgia,  and  the  said  commissioners,  with  the  marshal  for  the  dis 
trict  of  Georgia  and  the  clerk  of  the  court,  shall,  within  ten  days  after  the  adjournment 
of  this  court,  select  from  the  body  of  the  Northern  District  of  Georgia  five  hundred 
upright  and  intelligent  persons,  citizens  of  said  district,  between  the  ages  of  twenty-one 
and  sixty  years,  without  regard  to  race,  color,  or  previous  condition,  to  serve  as  jurors. 

Now,  sir,  in  the  first  place,  is  this  new  board  thus  directed  to  say  who  is 
upright  and  intelligent,  authorized  by  law,  by  act  of  the  General  Assembly  ? 
Does  not  the  Constitution  say  "  the  General  Assembly  shall  provide  by  law 
for  this  selection  ?'; 

If  this  court  can  provide  this  legislative  act  in  Georgia,  is  there  any 
other  legislative  act  it  cannot  provide  ?  We  say  this  board,  thus  authorized 
by  this  order  to  qualify  persons  to  serve  as  jurors,  is  in  the  teeth  of  the  law 
of  the  State,  and  in  the  teeth  of  the  law  of  the  United  States  which  adopts 
the  law  of  the  State.  Again,  in  the  second  place,  from  what  body  does  this 
order  empower  that  board  to  select  its  jurors  ?  Not  from  the  jury  lists  of 
the  counties.  If  so,  the  error  might  be  largely  cured.  But  they  are  to 
select  from  the  "  body  of  the  district,"  doubtless  to  evade  the  legal  jury- 
box.  Under  this  order  this  board  could  select  persons  rejected  as  neither 
upright  nor  intelligent  by  the  legal  county  boards.  They  could  select 
upright  and  intelligent  women  to  serve  as  jurors  if  they  could  find  any  over 
twenty-one  years  of  age.  We  say  the  jury-boxes  of  the  several  counties 
contain  the  only  qualified  jurors  for  this  court  under  the  laws  of  the  United 
States. 

Let  us  look  next  at  the  result.  "  A  tree  is  known  by  its  fruit ! '  I  will 
forbear  to  say  many  things  of  this  list  of  five  hundred  which  I  might  justly 
say.  Your  clerk  I  know  well,  and  he  is  an  honest  and  true  man.  Your 
marshal  I  know  slightly,  and  have  nothing  to  say  against  him.  Your  three 
commissioners  are,  doubtless,  "  all  honorable  men."  I  have  examined  their 
selections.  In  some  of  the  counties  I  know  intimately  the  population.  The 
district  attorney  said  if  they  were  required  to  send  to  the  clerks  for  the  jury 
lists  of  the  several  counties,  some  wag  might  answer  the  letter  with  a  false 
list.  Well,  sir,  if  there  is  a  wag  in  this  country  who  can  send  a  worse  list 
than  this  of  five  hundred,  he  would  certainly  deserve  the  premium  for 
waggery !  More  than  half  of  them,  whites  and  blacks,  are  not  to  be  found 
in  the  jury-boxes  of  the  State.  In  the  list  are  the  names  of  some  good  men 
— thrown  in  to  give  character  to  the  whole,  and  shining,  like  gas  jets  at  long 
intervals,  in  a  general  darkness. 

Are  not  the  boards  of  commissioners  authorized  by  law  in  the  several 
counties  more  competent  to  judge  of  the  uprightness  and  intelligence  of  the 
citizens  in  their  respective  counties  than  this  board  appointed  under  this  rule  ? 
They  live  in  the  counties  and  know  personally  the  citizens.  The  ordinary 
and  county  clerk  are  chosen  by  the  voters  of  these  counties.  The  other 
commissioners  are  appointed  by  the  judges  of  the  Superior  Courts  presiding 
in  the  respective  counties.  These  gentlemen  comprising  the  board  appointed 
under  your  rule  were  never  even  in  many  of  the  counties,  and  perhaps  do 
not  personally  know  a  single  citizen  in  them,  and  doubtless  have  no  knowl 
edge  of  the  uprightness  or  intelligence  of  many  who  are  returned  by  them 
to  serve  as  jurors  in  this  court. 

But  the  district  attorney  says  there  was  a  necessity  for  this  new  rule, 


376  SENATOR  B.   II.   HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

because,  under  the  old  rule,  which  required  qualified  jurors,  he  could  not 
enforce  the  laws  of  the  United  States — he  could  not  convict  prisoners,  we 
must  infer,  as  he  desired.  He  objects  to  the  old  rule  because  it  required  that 
application  should  be  made  to  State  officers  to  furnish  lists  of  persons  from 
which  jurors  were  to  be  selected,  and  they  might  not  furnish  them.  Have 
they  ever  failed?  Has  the  court  ever  failed  to  get  a  jury  ? 

He  objects  again,  because  it  will  cost  something  to  get  these  lists.  Does 
it -cost  more  to  draw  your  juries  from  lists  already  made  up  of  qualified 
jurors,  than  it  does  to  appoint  a  board  to  make  up  such  lists  and  then  draw 
your  juries  from  them? 

But  he  also  objects,  and  earnestly,  that  the  old  rule  requires  him  not 
only  to  select  from  the  jury  lists  upright  and  intelligent  persons,  but  the 
"most  upright  and  intelligent."  Is  it  possible  the  laws  of  the  United  States 
cannot  be  enforced  before  the  most  upright  and  intelligent  jnries?  And  do 
the  United  States  demand  ignorant  and  vicious  juries  to  enforce  their  laws? 
What  a  confession  !  No,  sir  ;  there  is  no  trouble  with  the  government.  The 
trouble,  perhaps,  is  that  the  learned  district  attorney  cannot  be  gratified,  by 
upright  and  intelligent  juries,  with  convictions  according  to  his  own  desires, 
and  therefore  this  demand  for  the  ignorant  and  vicious. 

Again  :  assuming,  for  the  sake  of  the  argument,  the  discretion  allowed  by 
the  act  of  1840  to  the  court  in  drawing  and  empaneling  juries,  applies  also 
to  the  work  of  qualifying  jurors,  yet,  even  then,  this  court  is  required  by 
that  act  to  conform  "  as  nearly  as  practicable ':  to  the  laws  and  usages  of 
the  State.  Did  your  Honor  ever  find  the  old  rule  impracticable  or  inefficient 
in  obtaining  juries  ?  Does  this  new  rule,  which  utterly  ignores  and  disre 
gards  the  jury  lists  of  the  State,  conform  more  nearly  to  the  laws  and  usages 
of  the  State  than  the  old  rule  adopted  at  the  March  term,  1871  ?  View  this 
question  in  any  light,  and  the  conclusion  is  irresistible  that  this  order  or 
rule  of  the  last  September  term  violates,  in  language  and  substance,  the  laws 
of  the  State,  and  fills  your  jury-box  with  unqualified  jurors,  in  direct  and 
palpable  violation  of  the  laws  of  the  United  States.  I  respectfully  submit 
it  should  be  abandoned,  sir,  and  at  once.  And  it  should  be  the  more  readily 
abandoned  because  Congress,  so  far  from  manifesting  a  disposition  to  repeal 
or  weaken  the  laws  on  this  subject,  has  actually  enlarged  the  rule.  By  the 
act  of  June  1,  1872,  this  court  is  required  to  conform,  as  nearly  as  may  be, 
even  its  practice,  pleadings,  and  modes  of  proceeding,  other  than  in  equity 
and  admiralty  causes,  to  the  practice,  pleadings,  and  mode  of  proceedings 
in  the  courts  of  the  State.  And  why  should  it  not  be  so  ?  Is  not  your  bar 
filled  with  the  same  attorneys  ?  Are  not  your  juries  and  officers  supplied 
from  the  same  citizens  ?  Do  not  your  judgments  operate  upon  the  property, 
the  liberties,  and  the  lives  of  the  same  people  ?  And  why  should  all  these 
be  denied  the  forms  to  which  they  are  accustomed  because  they  come,  and 
are  brought  into  your  Honor's  court  ? 

If,  may  it  please  your  Honor,  I  have  been  fortunate  in  making  myself 
understood,  I  have  established  by  the  argument  the  following  propositions  : 

1.  That  it  is  neither  unusual,  nor  unnatural,  nor  unwise,  that  the  govern 
ment  of  the  Union  should  trust,  confide  in,  and  lean  upon  the  government 
of  the  respective  States  in  executing  its  functions  in  those  States. 

2.  That,  from  the  beginning  until  now,  the  government  of  the  Union  has 
always  left  with  the  States  the  exclusive  legislation  for  the  qualification  of 
jurors,  as  also  did  the  Constitution  itself  the  legislation  for  the  qualification 
of  voters. 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND   WRITINGS.  377 

3.  That  the  acts  of  Congress  now  in  force,  expressly  require  the  United 
States  courts,  sitting  in  the  respective  States,  to  empanel  their  juries  exclu 
sively  of  persons  qualified  as  jurors  by  the  laws  of  the  States. 

4.  That  the  order  under  review  ignores  and  disregards  these  State  laws, 
and  brings  into  this  court  persons  to  serve  as  jurors  who  have  not  been 
qualified  as  such  by  the  laws  of  this  State,  and  is  therefore  in  contravention 
of  the  laws  of  the  United  States. 

The  learned  gentlemen  who  have  argued  to  sustain  this  rule,  have  pre 
sented  no  reason  to  your  Honor  which  was  not  based  on  the  assumption  of 
some  antagonism  between  the  government  of  the  Union  and  the  government 
of  the  States.  A  stranger  to  our  institutions,  listening  to  these  gentlemen, 
would  necessarily  conclude  that  these  governments  were  not  only  rival,  but 
actually,  inimical.  Nor  are  these  gentlemen  singular  in  this  respect.  They 
represent  a  too  current  sentiment  and  feeling.  They  are  but  creatures  of  the 
ideas  they  advance  and  defend.  How  common  is  it  now  to  find  those  in 
office  and  out  of  office  who  claim  to  be  immaculate  in  their  devotion  to  the 
Union,  and  who  furnish  no  evidence  of  that  devotion  but  in  abuse  of  the 
States  ?  So,  also,  how  often  have  we  found  those  who  claim  to  be  immacu 
late  in  their  devotion  to  the  States,  and  who  furnished  no  evidence  of  that 
devotion  but  in  abuse  of  the  Union  ?  Sir,  this  spirit  was  not  born  in  the  Con 
stitution.  It  is  enmity  to  the  Constitution.  These  two  extremes  are  equally 
the  enemies  of  the  State  and  the  Union.  There  is  nothing  in  the  nature  or 
functions,  or  purposes  of  the  government  of  the  States  and  of  the  Union  to 
justify  collision.  Neither  was  ever  intended  to  be  either  under  or  over  the 
other.  They  execute  different  functions  in  the  same  great  work  of  preserv 
ing  the  liberties  of  the  same  people.  Distempered  passions  and  selfish  ambi 
tions  alone  brought  them  into  collision  and  would  keep  them  in  collision. 
The  sword  of  revolution  has  severed  many  of  the  ligaments  of  confidence  be 
tween  the  Union  and  the  States,  but  that  one  confided  to  the  judiciary  re 
mains  untouched.  Let  the  sword  be  sheathed.  Soil  not  your  records  with 
an  order  that  finds  no  plea  for  its  justification  but  in  the  spirit  which  bred 
and  would  continue  these  collisions.  Sir,  I  will  use  no  word  of  regal  coinage 
in  speaking  of  republican  institutions  ;  but  utter  a  sentiment  which  should 
fill  every  heart,  and  in  language  which  should  be  written  upon  every  fore 
head  in  America,  when  I  say,  He  is  truest  to  the  Union  who  is  most  faithful 
to  the  States  ;  while  he  is  most  faithful  to  the  States  who  is  truest  to  the 
Union.  How  long,  God  of  reason,  how  long  ?  shall  they  only  be  trusted  as 
patriots  who  decry  the  dignity  and  oppress  the  people  of  the  States  ?  How 
long  shall  they  be  denounced  as  rebels  who  only  cling  with  fondness  to  the 
Constitution  of  their  fathers  ?  How  long  shall  the  people  of  this  country 
suffer  the  multiplied  and  ever  multiplying  horrors  which  mad  antagonisms 
breed,  before  they  learn  the  simple  lesson  that  he  is  no  friend  of  the  Union 
who  is  an  enemy  to  the  States  ;  that  lie  can  neither  strengthen  nor  preserve 
the  Union  who  weakens  or  destroys  the  States  ;  that  a  Union  without  States 
is  a  country  without  freemen,  an  empire  without  citizens,  and  a  court  with 
out  juries. 


Irif 


SPEECH  DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY  OF 
THE  STATE,  AT  ATLANTA,  GA.,  JANUARY  16, 1873. 

This  speech  was  delivered  in  response  to  requests  made  by  members  of  the  Legisla 
ture.  A  United  States  senator  was  to  be  elected  to  succeed  the  Republican,  Joshua  Hill, 
and  Mr.  Hill's  friends  desired  to  present  his  name  for  the  position.  He  had  been  the 
subject  of  many  bitter  and  unjust  assaults  by  press  and  politicians  since  he  wrote  his  let 
ter  of  December,  1870.  The  shadow  cast  upon  his  political  career  by  the  Delano  banquet 
and  State  Road  lease  had  not  fully  lifted.  Besides,  he  had  been  an  earnest:  advocate 
of  the  Greeley  movement,  which  had  met  with  such  a  disastrous  failure.  The  beautiful 
allegory  with  which  he  begins  his  address,  is  intended  to  typify  the  injustice  of  his  critics. 
He  reviews  the  history  of  Reconstruction,  and  arraigns  the  Republican  party  for  its  viola 
tions  of  the  Constitution.  The  address  also  contains  an  exhaustive  statement  of  the  great 
undeveloped  resources  of  the  South,  and  suggests  plans  for  their  development.  In  read 
ing  the  speech  at  this  day,  in  the  light  of  Mr.  Hill's  service  in  the  Senate,  one  cannot  help 
but  regret  that  the  opportunity  for  such  service  was  not  given  to  him  in  1873. 

Gentlemen  of  the  General  Assembly  and  Fellow-citizens :  There  is  a  beau 
tiful  Eastern  allegory  that  runs  in  this  wise  :  A  celebrated  artist  painted 
a  picture,  and  declared  there  was  not  a  subject  in  the  kingdom  who  could 
tell  its  true  color.  The  king  selected  what  he  considered  his  most  expert 
servant,  and  sent  him  to  examine  the  picture.  The  artist  exhibited  it,  and 
it  was  solid  green.  The  servant  returned  to  the  king  and  said  :  Your  Ma 
jesty,  the  picture  is  green — green  as  the  fresh  foliage  of  the  full-fledged 
spring-time.  If  it  be  not  so,  your  servant  is  willing  not  to  live  till  the  trees 
shall  bud  again."  That  the  king  might  be  assured  his  first  servant  was 
right,  he  sent  another  trusty  servant,  and  the  artist  exhibited  to  him  the 
picture,  and  the  color  was  perfectly  yellow  ;  and  the  servant  returned  to  his 
master  and  said  :  "  Your  Majesty,  the  picture  is  yellow — yellow  as  the 
seared  leaves  of  the  full-frosted  autumn.  If  it  be  not  so,  your  servant  is 
willing  to  fall  when  those  leaves  shall  fall."  The  king,  perplexed,  sent  a 
third  servant,  and  the  artist  exhibited  the  picture  to  the  servant,  and  it  was 
solid  blue.  And  the  servant  returned  to  the  king,  and  said  :  "  Your  Majesty, 
the  picture  is  blue — blue  as  the  azure  heavens  when  there  is  not  a  fleece  of 
cloud  to  darken  its  eternal  beauty.  If  it  be  not  so,  your  servant  is  willing 
never  again  to  look  upon  those  blue  heavens."  And  so  the  king  continued 
to  send  one  after  another,  until  he  had  sent  six  servants,  and  each  reported 
a  different  color.  The  king,  greatly  perplexed,  commanded  that  the  artist 
should  bring  the  picture  before  him,  in  the  palace.  And  the  artist  brought 
the  picture  and  he  showed  it  to  the  king,  and  behold,  the  picture  was  still 
another  color — a  perfect  red  !  And  the  king  said  :  "  All  my  servants  have 
reported  falsely,  and  they  shall  die  ! '  "  Wait,"  said  the  artist,  and  he 
showed  the  picture  again,  and,  true  enough,  it  was  a  solid  green.  "  One  of 
my  servants  has  reported  truthfully  then,"  said  the  king,  and  shall  live. 
But  the  others  shall  die.  "  Wait,"  said  the  artist,  and  he  showed  the  picture 
again,  and  it  was  a  beautiful  yellow.  And  again,  and  it  was  a  solid  blue; 
and  again  and  again,  till  he  went  through  all  the  colors.  The  king,  more 
than  ever  perplexed,  offered  a  reward  to  any  subject  of  his  kingdom,  who 

378 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WHITINGS.  379 

would  explain  the  mystery  of  the  picture,  and  tell  its  true  color,  declaring 
he  should  be  received  into  the  royal  family  and  have  the  king's  beau 
tiful  daughter  in  marriage.  "  Then,"  said  the  artist,  "  I  claim  the  reward," 
and  he  exhibited  the  picture  in  all  its  lights  at  once,  and  the  picture  was  a 
true  transparent  white.  And  the  king  made  a  decree  that  no  subject  should 
ever  report  upon  the  color  of  a  picture  until  he  had  seen  it  in  all  lights  and 
from  all  directions. 

The  lesson  of  this  picture  is  exceedingly  instructive.  There  is  scarcely  a 
subject  of  human  thought  that  any  man  can  correctly  comprehend  by  look 
ing  at  it  from  one  standpoint  or  in  one  light.  And  as  the  artist  explained  to 
the  king  that  color  was  the  creature  of  light,  and  therefore  he  had  so  painted 
the  picture  that  it  would  be  of  any  color  with  a  given  light,  so  it  is  true  in 
human  experience,  that  opinions  are  often  the  mere  creatures  of  the  feelings — 
of  prejudice,  of  passion,  hate,  affection,  all  !  Gentlemen,  I  invite  you  to  dis 
card  from  your  minds  and  feelings  everything  that  can  possibly  prevent  a 
fair  and  honest  conception  of  the  truth,  the  real  truth — not  a  one-sided  view, 
not  a  prejudiced  view,  not  a  view  in  the  light  which  represents  only  one  con 
dition  of  feeling.  But  let  us  look  at  it  in  every  light,  without  any  prejudice, 
or  passion,  or  predilection  !  Of  all  subjects  presented  for  human  study,  the 
science  of  government  is  the  most  difficult.  The  wisest  statesmen  of  the 
world,  for  six  thousand  years,  have  debated  and  debated,  and  experimented 
and  experimented,  and  yet  the  problem  as  to  how  government  shall  be  best 
formed  to  protect  the  people  from  their  own  passions  on  the  one  hand,  and 
from  the  encroachments  of  power  on  the  other,  is  a  problem  still  ;  and  the 
remarkable  fact  strikes  us  at  the  outset  that  there  are  no  two  countries  in 
civilized  Christendom,  even  in  this  enlightened  age,  that  have  adopted  ex 
actly  the  same  government  to  accomplish  the  same  end.  All  the  king's  ser 
vants  that  reported  upon  the  picture  were  sincere  !  They  were  truthful  as 
they  understood  it  !  And  so  it  often  happens,  that  men  have  the  most  in 
correct  views  who  are  honest,  and  indeed  sometimes  very  honest  !  As  a 
general  rule,  it  is  true  that  men  who  look  at  a  subject  from  but  one  standpoint, 
through  the  prism  of  their  prejudices,  of  their  feelings,  talk  not  only  of  con 
victions,  but  they  become  bigoted,  egotistic,  and  intolerant  to  all  who  differ 
with  them.  Whereas,  those  who  look  at  the  whole  subject,  in  all  lights,  are 
tolerant  of  others'  opinions.  Each  of  the  servants  who  reported  to  the  king 
was  willing  to  stake  his  life  upon  his  report  ;  yet  none  of  them  reported  the 
truth. 

Revolution  means  change.  A  revolution  in  government  means  a  funda 
mental  change  in  the  political  organization.  Revolutions  are  of  two  kinds. 
They  are  peaceful  and  violent.  Some  have  an  idea  generally,  that  when 
you  speak  of  revolution  you  speak  of  violence.  Revolutions  may  be  peace 
ful.  Often,  unfortunately,  they  are  violent,  and  the  sad  fact  is  that  the 
majority  of  revolutions  in  governments  have  been  accomplished  by  violence. 
A  revolution  by  peace,  a  revolution  by  consent,  a  revolution  as  the  result  of 
argument  and  reason,  is  one  of  the  rarest  occurrences  in  human  experi 
ence.  It  is  so  !  It  is  sadly  so  !  Leaving  out  the  displacement  of  the 
Indians  in  this  country,  and  the  establishment  of  colonies  by  European 
sovereigns,  there  have  been  three  revolutions  in  the  American  government 
since  our  history  began.  The  first  commenced  in  1776,  when  the  colonies 
changed  the  character  of  their  government  from  dependency  upon  England, 
to  independence,  resulting  in  the  establishment  of  the  several  States.  That 
was  a  revolution  accomplished  by  violence.  True,  it  ended  in  a  treaty,  as 


380  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

almost  all  wars  do  end,  but,  nevertheless,  he  would  be  a  singular  statesman  who 
would  say  that  the  revolution  of  1776,  by  which  England  lost  her  dominion 
over  the  colonies,  and  the  thirteen  colonies  became  independent  States,  was 
a  peaceful  revolution.  It  was  a  revolution  of  force.  And  this  single  illus 
tration  impresses  upon  our  minds  the  truth  that  these  revolutions  by  vio 
lence  are  sometimes  right,  though  often  wrong ;  and  that  revolutions  by 
violence  become  permanent  and  established  as  well  as  revolutions  by  peace 
ful  means.  If  the  sword  can  settle  no  question  of  right,  we  are  all  still  sub 
jects  of  Queen  Victoria,  because,  sure,  it  required  a  seven  years'  struggle  to 
cast  off  the  dominion  of  that  power. 

The  second  revolution  was  that  of  1787.  The  States,  after  declaring 
their  independence  of  Great  Britain,  for  the  purpose  of  making  that  declara 
tion  good,  by  a  common  struggle,  uniting  their  energies  for  a  common  pur 
pose,  entered  into  what  are  generally  known  as  Articles  of  Confederation, 
and  under  those  articles  they  prosecuted  the  war.  But  when  peace  came, 
they  found  that  those  articles  were  incompetent  to  preserve  the  general 
government,  to  accomplish  its  purposes,  or  preserve  its  own  existence.  I 
will  not  go  into  specific  reasons  why  they  were  defective.  They  are  known 
to  all  lawyers,  and  ought  to  be  at  the  tongue's  end  of  every  American  states 
man  ;  but,  suffice  it  to  say,  those  defects  became  manifest.  The  general 
government  had  no  power  to  enforce  its  own  laws  ;  no  courts  to  administer 
them,  and  no  executive  to  execute  them.  The  confederation  had  no  power 
to  collect  its  own  revenue,  and  it  failed.  Well,  our  fathers  were  wise  enough 
to  revolutionize  by  peaceful  means,  and  they  sent  delegates  to  a  convention 
of  the  several  States,  and  those  delegates,  in  convention  at  Philadelphia, 
agreed  upon  a  constitution.  That  constitution  was  submitted  back  to  the 
States.  It  was  ratified  by  the  States,  and  became  the  government  estab 
lished  between  the  States,  and  it  was  a  radical  or  fundamental  change  of 
the  political  organization  from  the  Articles  of  Confederation, — many 
features  preserved,  many  features  changed, — but  it  was  actually,  according 
to  the  definition  of  publicists,  a  revolution,  because  it  was  a  material  or 
fundamental  change  in  the  organic  law  of  the  government.  That,  I  say, 
was  a  revolution  that  was  peacefully  accomplished,  by  peaceful  means  alone, 
and  its  eulogy  is  this  :  it  lasted,  with  immaterial  changes,  for  seventy  years, 
and  the  people  who  were  citizens  under  it  had  more  thrift,  more  prosperity, 
and  increased  more  rapidly  in  population  and  power,  and  in  all  the  elements 
of  happiness,  than  can  be  found  in  any  country,  among  any  people,  in  the 
same  length  of  time,  in  the  world's  history. 

But  for  reasons  which  I  am  not  going  to  discuss,  a  revolution  began  in 
1860,  and  though  asserted  on  our  side,  I  think  correctly  asserted,  that  we  had 
the  right  to  make  the  revolution  peacefully,  that  right  was  denied  by  our 
enemies,  and  what  we  intended  to  be  a  peaceful  revolution  became  one  of 
very  great  violence.  That  revolution  has  gone  on  for  twelve  years,  and  I 
come  now,  fellow-citizens,  to  analyze  its  true  character  before  you.  It  is  im 
possible  that  any  man  should  understand  his  duties  now  as  a  citizen  of  this 
country,  who  fails  to  understand  the  direct  and  controlling  causes  now  influ 
encing  the  state  of  public  opinion  and  public  conduct.  You  must  understand 
the  causes.  You  must  see  the  dangers,  and  you  must  study  and  apply  the 
remedy.  Some  people  think,  it  is  a  very  common  idea,  that  the  greatest 
feature  of  this  revolution  was  the  war.  We  had  a  wonderful  struggle.  We 
had  brave  troops  and  great  generals  and  large  armies ;  great  slaughters, 
devastations,  burnings,  sufferings  and  losses.  These  were  certainly  great,  but 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,   AND  WHITINGS.  381 

they  were  temporary  in  one  sense.  Time  will  repair  them.  Some  think  the 
revolution  is  wrapped  up  in  secession,  and  it  is  the  habit  of  the  Northern 
people  to  charge  all  its  fault  and  misfortune  on  secession.  Others,  on  our 
side,  think  the  great  fault  was  the  assertion  of  the  doctrine  of  coercion,  by 
which  the  general  government  made  war  upon  the  sovereign  States. 
Others,  that  the  great  fault  was  in  Reconstruction.  All  these  think  that 
they  are  correct.  But  he  poorly  understands  the  real  character  of  this  revo 
lution  who  stops  to  take  any  one  or  all  of  these  opinions.  The  worst,  the 
most  dangerous  feature  of  this  revolution  is  yet  behind — is  yet  to  be  told. 

After  the  formation  of  the  Constitution  of  1787 — soon  thereafter — there 
sprang  up  two  parties  in  this  country,  and  those  parties  were  divided,  not  so 
much  upon  the  character  of  the  government — indeed,  not  at  all  upon  the 
character  of  the  government,  for  it  was  admitted  upon  all  hands  that  it  was 
a  federal  republic.  But  when  they  came  to  subdivide  and  to  fix  the  limits 
of  the  federal  power  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  rights  reserved  to  the  States 
on  the  other,  the  country  \livided  into  two  parties.  Those  parties  were  not 
always  consistent  with  themselves,  and  they  were  divided  then  upon  the  sub 
ject  of  the  interpretation  of  the  Constitution.  One  party  contended  that 
there  were  certain  implied  powers  in  the  Federal  Government.  The  other 
party  contended  that  there  were  no  implied  powers.  One  party  contended 
for  a  more  latitudinarian  construction  ;  another  for  a  strict  construction  ex 
clusively.  And  there  were  various  gradations  and  shades  of  opinion  among 
them,  but  the  fact  I  wish  to  impress  upon  your  minds  now  is,  that  all  parties, 
Whig,  Democratic,  Republican,  all  the  Presidents  from  Washington  to 
Buchanan,  all  Congresses,  all  judges,  all  courts,  State  and  federal,  aye, 
and  all  statesmen,  conceded  as  common  ground  the  one  grand  idea  that  the 
Federal  Government  was  a  government  of  limited  powers,  and  the  States  had 
an  uncontrolled  right  of  self-government,  outside  of  it. 

That  is  the  great  fact  I  wish  to  impress  upon  you,  in  order  to  a  correct 
understanding  of  the  argument  which  I  am  going  to  present  to  you  to-night. 
The  very  first  breach  of  that  idea  of  all  parties  before  the  war,  is  contained 
in  a  most  remarkable  announcement  by  the  President  elected  in  1860.  The 
announcement  was  made  in  1861,  early  in  that  year,  by  Mr.  Lincoln,  on  his 
way  to  Washington  City,  and  it  was  this — it  was  a  suggestion,  whether  the 
States  of  the  Union  did  not  bear  the  same  relation  to  the  general  govern 
ment  that  a  county  in  a  State  bears  to  a  State.  Fearful  idea  !  I  say,  that 
was  the  first  announcement  of  this  heresy  to  which  I  am  going  to  call  your 
attention.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  elected  President,  and  the  country  was  in  a 
very  excited  condition.  He  followed  up  this  very  significant  suggestion  con 
tained  in  one  of  his  speeches,  soon  after  hostilities  commenced.  In  fact,  the 
very  beginning  of  hostilities  ought  to  be  considered  an  act  in  accordanee 
with  the  idea  which  he  had  advanced,  for,  up  to  that  period,  it  was  not  the 
theory  of  any  party,  or  of  any  class  of  statesmen,  in  this  country,  that  the 
uvneral  government  had  the  right  to  use  coercion  upon  a  sovereign  State. 
Therefore  the  determination  to  make  war  itself  upon  the  States  was  a  very 
remarkable  stretch  of  the  Constitution,  as  construed  up  to  that  day.  But 
for  the  first  time  the  idea  was  then  broached  that  self-preservation  was  the 
first  law  of  governments  as  well  as  of  individuals,  and  that  it  was  an  inhe 
rent  right  in  all  governments  to  preserve  themselves  from  destruction. 

Well,  Mr.  Lincoln  soon  followed  this  up  (for  these  encroachments  came 
first  from  the  executive  department  of  the  general  government)  by  the  sus 
pension  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  arresting  citizens  without'  warrant, 


382  SENATOR  B.   II.    HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

depriving  citizens  of  life,  liberty,  and  property,  without  due  process  of  law, 
and  various  other  acts  which  I  cannot  stop  to  mention,  because  I  want  you 
to  keep  in  view  the  principle.  The  judiciary  department  of  the  government, 
headed  at  that  time  by  that  noble  Roman,  and  true  statesman,  and  honest 
man,  Chief  Justice  Taney,  raised  its  feeble  arm  and  voice  to  arrest  these  en 
croachments  of  the  Federal  Executive,  and  declared  that  the  President  had 
no  right  to  suspend  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  without  the  authority  of  Con 
gress.  But  the  armed  minions  of  power  mocked  the  ermine  of  the  judge — 
disregarded  it,  and  marched  along  without  respecting  it.  Congress  soon 
after  assembled,  and  it  is  remarkable  that  Congress,  at  that  time,  was  rather 
tender-footed  about  these  encroachments.  They  had  some  conscience. 
They  did  not  rely  on  the  innate  correctness  of  the  acts  of  Mr.  Lincoln. 
They  did  not  consider  them  constitutional,  and  they  manifested  that  convic 
tion  in  the  most  emphatic  manner,  by  passing  what  they  called  the  "  healing 
act,"  to  make  that  constitutional  which  was  not  constitutional  before — an 
act  that  itself  was  remarkably  unconstitutional. 

»/ 

Soon  after,  Congress  itself  embarked  into  this  idea,  that  self-preservation 
is  the  first  law  of  nations,  and,  therefore,  that  the  general  government  had 
all  power  inherent  in  it  necessary  to  protect  itself.  The  Congress  then  exer 
cised  more  absolute  power  than  the  Executive.  Congress  passed  bills  very 
soon  abnegating  the  fugitive  slave  law,  and  declared  the  negroes  in  some 
portions  of  the  country  free.  Mr.  Lincoln  himself  issued  a  proclamation 
emancipating  all  the  slaves  in  the  rebellious  States.  He  himself  doubted 
the  justification  of  such  a  proclamation,  and  spoke  of  it  as  a  bull  against  the 
comet.  But  there  was  soon  accord  between  the  departments  of  the  govern 
ment  ;  and  the  judicial  department,  whatever  might  have  been  its  will  to 
stay  this  unconstitutional  exercise  of  power,  became  utterly  insufficient  for 
the  purpose.  These  extraordinary  exercises  of  power,  as  well  as  the  princi 
ple  upon  which  their  justification  was  sought  to  be  rested,  were  placed  upon 
the  ground  that  I  have  stated — that  the  necessities  of  war  made  it  necessary 
to  preserve  the  integrity  of  the  government.  They  were  not  justified  by 
any  rule  of  construction  known  to  the  lawyers,  or  to  the  statesmen,  or  to 
the  publicists,  or  to  the  courts,  or  to  any  rule  of  logic,  or  to  any  law  of 
reason,  but  they  were  placed  upon  the  ground  that  the  necessities  of  the 
war  justified  this  monstrous  exercise  of  power.  The  natural  conclusion 
would  be  that  when  the  war  ended,  the  principle  would  be  abandoned.  But 
the  real  fact  is  that  that  is  not  true,  and  it  shows  the  dangerous  character  of 
the  encroachment.  For  when  the  war  ended,  Congress  invoked  the  same 
system  of  interpretation,  and  now  placed  it  upon  the  idea  that  the  States 
which  had  attempted  to  secede,  had  disjointed  themselves  from  the  body 
politic,  and  needed  to  be  reset.  That  there  was  no  power  in  the  general 
government  thus  to  take  charge  and  reconstruct  them  is  most  manifest,  from 
the  fact  that  a  quarrel  at  once  sprang  up  between  the  Executive  and  Con 
gress,  as  to  which  had  this  power.  It  was  clear  that  neither  had  it,  for  each 
denied  it  to  the  other.  President  Johnson  claimed  it,  and  at  first  exercised 
it  mildly.  But  Congress  asserted  that  Congress  alone  had  the  power,  and 
they  commenced  its  exercise.  Thus,  fellow-citizens,  under  the  Constitution 
as  our  fathers  made  it,  all  those  extraordinary  powers  were  exercised  both 
during  the  war  and  afterward,  even  to  the  extent  of  overturning  State 
governments,  and  setting  up  other  governments  ;  in  a  word  verifying,  even 
as  to  the  States,  the  remarkable  assertion  of  Mr.  Seward,  during  the  war, 
that  he  had  as  much  power  as  the  Czar  of  the  Russians,  which  was  true. 


HIS  LIFE.    SPEECHES.    AND  WRITINGS.  383 

I  hasten  on.  Congress  itself  was  not  satisfied  that  these  acts  of  power 
would  long  remain  if  they  rested  for  their  preservation  upon  the  Constitution 
as  it  stood.  Determined  to  accomplish  the  purposes,  however,  announced  in 
these  acts  of  Reconstruction,  they  then  went  to  work  to  devise  schemes  to 
lift  their  work  above  the  future  adjudication  of  the  courts,  above  the  re 
actions  which  the  subsidence  of  passion  must,  sooner  or  later  produce,  and 
the  idea,  therefore,  was  adopted  of  making  amendments  to  the  Constitution 
by  which  the  work  of  Reconstruction  could  be  put  into  the  fundamental  law. 
That,  itself,  the  very  existence  of  these  constitutional  amendments,  as 
deemed  by  them  necessary  to  accomplish  these  ends,  is  a  most  remarkable 
admission  of  the  unconstitutionality  of  the  previous  legislation  ;  because 
there  is  nothing  in  the  world  in  any  one  of  these  amendments  that  had  not 
been  previously  accomplished  by  one  of  these  acts,  especially  as  to  our 
Southern  States. 

Now,  fellow-citizens,  if  you  have  kept  up  with  me,  you  have  arrived  at 
the  point  at  which  you  will  comprehend  the  one  grand  political  idea  of  this 
era — the  one  upon  which  all  your  destinies  and  mine  hinge — an  idea  more 
dangerous  than  war,  and  more  to  be  dreaded  than  pestilence.  We  thought 
that  the  system  of  interpretation  invoked  by  the  necessities  of  war  would 
pass  away  with  those  necessities  ;  but  they  did  not.  We  thought  the  system 
of  interpretation  invoked  for  the  purposes  of  Reconstruction  would  pass  away 
with  Reconstruction.  We  thought  that  when  that  work  was^made  permanent 
and  secure  in  the  estimation  of  its  authors,  by  the  incorporation,  even  by 
force,  of  the  amendments  into  the  fundamental  law,  that  surely  now  the 
system  so  dangerous,  that  had  worked  such  results,  would  be  abandoned,  and 
all  parties  would  return  either  to  the  one  or  the  other  theory  of  construction 
entertained  by  the  different  parties  before  the  war. 

Now  I  will  put  in  your  minds  what  you  are  not  to  forget  while  you  live. 
Your  children  will  see  its  power  and  force  if  you  do  not.  It  is  this  :  so  far 
from  abandoning  that  system  of  construction,  Congress  asserted  the  remark 
able  purpose  to  apply  that  same  system  of  construction  to  the  amendments 
themselves,  and  to  the  Constitution  as  amended.  There  is  the  danger !  It 
is  the  danger  of  all  dangers  !  I  will  show  you  :  The  amendments,  while 
odious  from  the  manner  in  which  they  were  forced  upon  the  country,  are  in 
themselves,  if  subjected  to  the  well-established  rules  of  construction  con 
ceded  and  known  by  all  statesmen  and  courts  and  parties  before  the  war, 
would  really  have  made  a  very  immaterial  change  in  the  fundamental  law 
itself — certainly  no  change  from  what  had  been  accomplished  already  by 
congressional  legislation.  But,  I  impress  it  upon  your  minds,  it  is  the  begin 
ning  of  a  new  danger.  You  must  see  its  character  ;  you  must  measure  its 
extent ;  you  must  weigh  its  purpose  ;  you  must  comprehend  its  dangers ; 
you  must  seek  the  remedy.  It  is  that  the  system  of  construction  applied  to 
the  Constitution,  invoked  only  by  the  necessities  of  war  and  justified  only 
by  the  power  of  the  sword,  is  now  to  be  applied  as  the  system  of  construc 
tion  for  the  amendments,  and  the  powers  of  the  Federal  Government  are  to 
be  deduced  from  the  Constitution,  according  to  that  system  of  construction! 

Now,  I  want  you  to  understand  this,  friends.  Let  us  apply  this  system 
of  construction  to  the  Fourteenth  Amendment.  I  have  it  before  me.  The 
only  material  part  of  the  amendment  outside  of  the  disabilities,  paying  the 
Confederate  debt,  etc.,  is  what  is  called  that  portion  that  secures  civil  rights 
to  the  colored  population.  Now  let  us  read  that.  It  is  in  these  words  :  "  No 
State  shall  make  or  enforce  any  law  which  shall  abridge  the  privileges  or 


384  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

immunities  of  citizens  of  the  United  States ;  nor  shall  any  State  deprive  any 
person  of  life,  liberty,  or  property,  without  due  process  of  law,  nor  deny  to 
any  person  within  its  jurisdiction  the  equal  protection  of  the  laws."  Now, 
mark  you  !  The  Radical,  the  disciple  of  the  party  now  in  power,  when  he 
comes  to  interpret  the  powers  in  the  Federal  Government,  vested  by  this 
amendment,  says  that  it  is  intended  to  protect  the  life,  the  liberty,  and  the 
property  of  the  citizen,  and  therefore  that  the  right  to  regulate  the  laws  and 
to  make  the  laws,  and  to  administer  the  laws  that  secure  and  protect  life, 
liberty,  and  property,  is  vested  in  Congress.  Why,  always  !  right  from  the 
beginning,  the  fundamental,  cardinal  idea  was  that  the  right  to  regulate 
civil  rights,  provide  laws  for  the  protection  of  life,  liberty,  and  property, 
existed  in  the  State,  belonged  to  the  State,  each  State  for  itself,  in  its  own 
way.  It  never  was  denied,  because  that  at  least  makes  up  the  idea  of  State 
Government.  Nobody  can  deny  that  this  purpose  is  wholly  at  war  with  the 
original  character  and  design  of  the  Federal  Government. 

But  the  disciple  of  the  new  school  of  interpretation  says  that  the  Con 
stitution  contains  a  clause  that  no  State  shall  pass  laws  that  impair  these 
rights  ;  therefore  Congress  has  power  to  take  jurisdiction  of  all  those  rights. 
Now  they  apply  the  same  system  of  construction  to  the  Fifteenth  Amend 
ment.  That  amendment  reads  in  this  wise  :  "  The  rifjht  of  citizens  of  the 

O  » 

United  States  to  vote  shall  not  be  abridged  by  the  United  States  nor  by  any 
State  on  account  .of  race,  color,  or  previous  condition  of  servitude."  The 
disciple  of  the  school  to  which  I  refer  says  that,  as  that  amendment  now  in 
the  Constitution  declares  that  the  right  to  vote  shall  never  be  interfered 
with  on  account  of  race,  color,  or  previous  condition  of  servitude,  the  power 
is  vested  in  the  Federal  Government  to  take  charge  of  elections,  regulate 
the  question  of  suffrage,  and  supervise  the  elections  in  the  States,  to  see 
that  these  rights  are  not  impaired.  You  see  at  once  to  what  dangerous 
tendencies  this  assertion  of  power  goes.  You  see  at  once  it  is  putting  the 
ax  to  the  root  of  the  tree,  and  if  the  theory  be  correct,  there  must  be  an 
inevitable  and  hopeless  subversion  of  the  entire  sovereignty  of  the  States. 

Now,  I  h'ave  brought  you  thus  far  in  my  argument,  to  the  very  point 
which  induced  me  to  write  a  letter  in  December,  1870,  which  you  have 
heard  much  of,  and  of  which,  I  assure  you,  you  seem  to  understand  but 
little.  This  very  idea  as  a  dangerous  one,  which  I  have  now  presented  to 
you — growing  out  of  the  application  by  the  party  in  power — of  their  theory, 
or  system  of  interpretation,  to  the  Constitution,  as  amended,  resulting  in 
the  destruction  of  the  States,  and  conferring  upon  Congress  the  supervision 
of  the  States,  is  the  simple  idea  of  that  letter,  and  I  wish  to  call  your 
attention  to  it.  Please,  understand,  that  I  am  not  here  to  vindicate  my 
record,  but  I  am  here  to  impress  the  idea  upon  you,  and  I  call  attention  to 
this  letter  for  that  purpose. 

In  that  letter  I  use  this  language  :  "  The  first  changes  I  notice  are, 
perhaps,  the  only  ones  which  the  popular  mind  seems  to  be  aware  of  as 
accomplished  at  all.  The  amendments,  in  the  order  named,  establish,  with 
a  qualification,  the  freedom,  civil  equality,  and  political  equality  of  the 
races — all  races  and  colors. 

"  But,  in  truth,  these  changes  in  the  relative  status  of  the  different  races 
are  the  most  insignificant  effects  of  these  amendments.  Not  only  has  the 
civil  and  political  status  of  the  negro  race  been  changed,  but,  what  is  inex 
pressibly  far  more,  the  jurisdiction  over  the  civil  and  political  status  of  all 
the  races  in  all  the  States  will  be  held  to  have  been  transferred  by  thoso 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND   WRITINGS.  385 

amendments  from  the  States  severally  to  the  general  government.  This 
effects  a  great  change  in  the  character  of  the  general  goverment — greatly 
increasing  the  national,  and  as  greatly  lessening  its  Federal  features. 
Indeed,  language  cannot  express  ideas  more  intensely  national  than  are  the 
ideas  covered  by  the  words  *  jurisdiction  over  the  civil  and  political  status  of 
the  citizen.'  These  powers  being  conferred,  it  will  be  difficult  to  say  what 
power  has  not  been  conferred.  While  State  governments  may  remain  as 
convenient  regulators  of  limited  local  interests,  it  will  be  held  that,  under 
these  amendments  to  the  new  national  Constitution,  the  general  government 
has  acquired  revisory  powers  over  the  entire  State  government,  and  over  all 
legislative,  executive,  and  judicial  departments  of  the  State  governments." 

Now,  fellow-citizens,  I  remind  you  that  there,  twice,  I  explicitly  say  that 
this  is  what  will  be  held,  and  yet  the  whole  State,  for  a  long  time  clamored 
with  the  thought  that  what  was  then  intended  and  expressed  as  a  warning, 
was  intended  to  be  the  expression  of  my  own  convictions,  that  that  was 
a  correct  interpretation  of  these  amendments.  There  is  no  such  thing  in  the 
letter.  I  was  warning  you  of  a  coming  evil — of  what,  in  my  opinion,  was 
the  greatest  danger  that  had  yet  presented  itself  to  the  American  people, 
and  that  was  the  application  of  this  system  of  construction  to  these  amend 
ments.  By  whom  ?  Of  course  by  the  party  in  power.  They  would  hold — 
the  party  in  power  would  hold — that  that  was  the  proper  construction  of 
the  amendment,  and  thereby  acquire  this  power  to  the  distraction  of  the 
States.  And  this  is  made  manifest  in  another  place — most  remarkably 
manifest.  I  say  there  :  "  In  view  of  the  thorough  changes  thus  wrought  by 
these  amendments  in  the  whole  character  of  the  general  and  State  govern 
ments,  the  next  question  becomes  of  exceeding  great  importance.  Have 
these  amendments  become,  in  fact,  fixed  parts  of  the  national  Constitution, 
and  will  they  be  so  held  ?  After  giving  this  subject,  not  only  a  careful,  but 
a  most  anxious  consideration,  I  have  been  driven  to  the  conclusion  that  these 
three  amendments  are  in  fact,  and  will  be  held  in  law,  fixed  parts  of  the 
Constitution,  as  binding  upon  the  States  and  people  as  the  original  provis 
ions  of  that  instrument." 

I  never  admitted  that  they  were  anything  but  accomplished  facts.  That 
I  stated.  I  drew  the  distinction  that  they  are  amendments  in  fact,  but  will 
be  held  by  others  to  be  amendments  in  law,  of  course,  by  the  party  in  power. 
It  is  with  very  great  pleasure  that  I  call  the  attention  of  gentlemen  to  that. 
I  was  warning  you  of  a  coming  danger ;  telling  you  what  would  be,  so  that 
you  might  prepare  to  meet  it.  Well,  was  the  warning  true  ?  That  is  the 
main  point.  If  the  warning  was  true,  surely  there  is  no  criminality  in 
making  it.  If  the  warning  was  false,  I  am  willing  to  be  considered  weighed 
in  the  balance  and  found  wanting.  The  highest  office  of  a  statesman  is  to 
discern  early,  forecast  clearly,  and  proclaim  fearlessly  the  evil  he  sees 
coming.  The  invariable  office  of  the  mere  demagogue  is  to  wait  until  the 
evil  comes,  see  which  way  the  majority  is  going,  and  float  into  office  with 
them.  I  thought  I  saw  the  evil.  I  believe  I  saw  it.  Not  that  I  claim  any 
prescience  or  gift  of  prophecy  for  myself,  but  it  is  by  reason,  by  argument, 
by  logic,  that  I  arrived  at  the  conclusion.  I  was  familiar  with  the  history 
of  this  country  during  the  war,  and,  indeed,  from  its  very  birth.  I  have 
been  seeing  that  these  claims  of  power  by  this  party  were  more  dangerous 
than  the  tread  of  armies.  This  I  have  been  watching.  When  thev  arrived 

V 

at  the  point  that  this  system  of  construction   was  to  be  applied  to  these 
amendments,  I  at  once  saw  the  danger  to  the  States  and  liberties  of  the 


3  SO"  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

people,  and  I  announced  it,  and  I  did  it  fearlessly,  and  thank  God,  I 
had  the  courage  to  do  it.  Is  it  true  ?  That  is  the  main  question.  Why,  I 
can  take  the  principles  of  any  party,  by  the  well-established  rules  of  con 
struction,  well  known  to  all  constitutional  lawyers,  and  I  can  work  out  a 
result.  Who,  that  is  accustomed  to  reason,  cannot  take  premises  and  work 
out  conclusions — cannot  take  doctrines  and  work  out  consequences?  Who 
can  take  this  system  of  construction  and  apply  it  to  these  amendments,  and 
arrive  at  any  other  result  than  the  one  I  announced  two  years  ago  ?  Within 
a  short  time  after  I  published  that  letter,  Congress  passed  the  Ku-Klux  bill. 
That  Ku-Klux  bill  is  founded  upon  this  very  clause  of  the  Fourteenth 
Amendment.  That  is  its  only  authority  in  the  Constitution,  and  that  Ku- 
Klux  bill  is  framed  throughout  upon  the  sole  idea  that  the  powers  that  I 
have  described  are  vested  by  these  amendments  in  the  Federal  Government 
— that  is,  that  the  Federal  Government  has  the  right  to  enter  a  State  and  take 
jurisdiction  of  controversies  between  the  citizens  of  the  States,  and  try  them 
in  the  United  States  courts,  and  punish  them  in  their  own  prisons.  Under 
that  claim  of  power,  South  Carolina,  to-night,  has  hundreds  of  citizens  lan 
guishing  in  dungeons  at  the  North.  And  you  see  your  own  citizens  brought 
to  this  city  in  handcuffs.  Under  this  bill,  any  vagabond  can  go  before  a 
United  States  commissioner,  and  swear  that  you  interfered  with  his  right  of 
liberty  or  property  because  of  his  political  opinion,  and  you  are  arrested  and 
brought  away,  without  warrant  or  bail,  to  some  United  States  court,  perhaps 
a  hundred  miles  away. 

So,  again,  in  less  than  thirty  days  after  that  letter  was  written,  an  amen 
datory  enforcement  act  was  introduced  into  Congress,  under  the  Fifteenth 
Amendment,  by  which  the  right  to  supervise  elections,  the  right  to  control 
elections,  and  the  right  to  determine  questions  of  voting  are  all  transferred 
to  the  United  States  Government,  and  are  absolutely  lodged  in  a  measure  in 
United  States  officials.  Under  that  bill,  any  vagabond  can  swear  that  you 
interfered  with  his  rights  to  vote,  and  you  are  arrested  and  spirited  away  for 
trial  hundreds  of  miles  away,  before  the  courts  of  the  United  States.  And 
is  not  the  language  I  used  strikingly  true,  when  I  told  you  that  under  this 
power  they  will  claim  that  the  jurisdiction  over  the  civil  and  political  status 
of  the  citizen  has  been  transferred  to  the  general  government,  and  in  the 
exercise  of  that  power,  they  will  supervise  your  State  governments  and  every 
department  of  the  State — legislative,  executive,  and  judicial?  Here  they 
have  done  it  !  Nay,  more  !  The  most  startling  exercise  of  this  power  has 
recently  occurred  in  the  State  of  Louisiana.  There  a  controversy  arose  as  to 
the  authority  of  two  boards  of  canvassers,  and  a  most  remarkable  and 
astounding  picture  is  now  presented  to  the  American  people — that  a  United 
States  district  Judge  took  jurisdiction  to  determine  not  only  whether  one 
member  was  elected  to  the  Legislature,  but  to  exclude  by  injunction  a  whole 
Legislature,  elected  by  the  people,  and  put  in  another  by  the  United  States 
marshal.  Nay,  more  ;  he  has  claimed  the  right,  by  interlocutory  order,  to 
remove  one  governor  and  to  put  in  another — a  negro — as  governor,  who 
never  had  a  single  vote  of  the  people.  Think  of  it,  my  countrymen  !  A 
United  States  district  judge,  by  an  interlocutory  order  at  chambers,  upon  an 
ex  parte  application,  without  notice  to  the  other  side,  absolutely  turning  out 
one  Legislature,  or  enjoining  it  from  assembling — upsetting  one  government 
and  setting  up  another.  Why,  such  an  exercise  of  power  would  startle  the 
Czar  of  Russia.  It  would  shock  the  Pasha  of  Egypt  or  of  Turkey.  Yet  you 
see  it  occurred, 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  387 

If  the  arrest  of  your  citizens,  if  the  handcuffing  of  your  citizens,  upon 
no  charge,  does  not  alarm  you,  pray  tell  me  what  means  this  continued 
march  of  the  Federal  power,  by  which  we  have  arrived  at  the  point  that 
States  can  be  subverted  by  the  interlocutory  decree  of  a  judge,  and  the 
decree  enforced  by  a  telegram  from  the  President  ?  It  is  startling !  Where 
is  Louisiana  to-night  ?  Why,  the  interference  in  Alabama,  though  not  so 
important,  on  account  of  its  extent  and  the  effects  of  it,  still  is  just  as  glar 
ing.  There  a  controversy  arose  between  different  parties  of  the  Legisla 
ture,  as  to  who  held  a  right  to  a  seat.  Why,  all  those  questions  had  to  be 
settled  by  the  States  and  by  the  members,  necessarily.  True,  it  came  as  a 
mild  suggestion  from  the  attorney-general,  but  they  accepted  it  because  they 
knew  an  order  would  follow  the  suggestion  if  they  did  not  accept.  Think  of 
it  !  Who  is  safe  ?  What  State  is  safe  ?  I  am  arguing  principles  to  their 
conclusions.  I  am  not  talking  about  men.  I  want  this  country  to  under 
stand  the  principles  that  underlie  the  political  situation.  And  will  you  not 
understand  ?  Look  across  the  Savannah  !  There,  "  each  new  morn,  new  wid 
ows  howl,  new  orphans  cry,  new  horrors  strike  heaven  in  the  face,"  because 
freemen  are  chained  at  the  midnight  hour,  and  hurried  away  to  pine  and 
perish  in  Northern  dungeons  !  Stretch  your  vision  to  the  banks  of  the  Mis 
sissippi  !  Behold  commerce  languishing  :  trade  prostrated  ;  business  dam 
aged  ;  property  unsafe  ;  life  insecure  ;  a  negro  seizing  the  office  of  gov 
ernor  without  a  single  vote  of  the  people  ;  State's  sovereignty  in  the  dust  ; 
liberty  in  chains  ;  aye,  miscegenating  baccanalians,  guarded  and  protected 
by  Federal  bavonets,  rioting  in  usurped  dominion  over  the  fairest  city  of 
the  South.  When  is  this  thing  to  end  ?  What  is  to  be  the  result  ?  There 
is  nothing  else  worth  your  consideration  but  to  see  the  evil,  and,  if  possi 
ble,  provide  the  remedy.  I  tell  you,  my  friends,  if  a  remedy  is  not  pro 
vided,  the  time  is  coming  when  you  will  have  no  power  to  regulate,  to  pro 
tect,  to  make  laws,  either  for  the  life,  liberty,  or  the  property  of  the  citizens 
of  your  own  State.  Your  labor  will  not  be  under  your  control.  Your 
system  of  industry  will  not  be  regulated  by  your  Legislature.  Your  social 
rights  will  be  transferred  to  the  dominion  of  another  power !  And  this 
country  will  pass  into  contempt,  and  become  uninhabitable  by  decent 
people  ! 

I  do  not  say  these  things  to  alarm  you ;  but  the  greatest  danger  of  a 
people  is  that  they  refuse  to  see  the  danger  in  time  to  avert  it. 
most  remarkable  feature  in  human  experience,  that  men  will  not  look  at  the 
danger  as  soon  as  thev  should.     They  will  not  believe  it  is  coming,  and 

O  •/  *  •  _     I  5* 


M  •    v»    y        %*t  i    v  *~  »         I       »    ^f  i   '  v^  *    v    j         » -»  *-*  ••->       PW  W  ^-  •  •  •  *  1 

still  you   sleep,  and  you   will  sleep  on,  and  power  is  marching  on  am 
growing,  absorbing,  crushing  as  it  goes,  and  ere  long  the  whole  nation  wi 
be  waked  from  its  slumber,  and  by  the  startling  cry,    'A  king  !   a  king 
Our  ruler  is  a  king  !     Who  dreamed,  who  thought  of  such  a  tiling  : 

Well,  what  is  the  remedy  ?     You  see  the  evil.     I  have  endeavored,  11 
my  feeble  way,  to  point  to  the  danger.     I  trust  you  will  not  do  as  you  < 
two  years  ao-o,  because  I  told  you  of  the  danger,  say  that  [  am  in  favo     rt 
the  danger's  coming.     I  hope,  'if  I  have  the  kindness  to  warn  you  that 
you  will  go  in  a  given  direction,  robbers  will  assault  and  assassins  will  , 
Vou,  vou  will  not  conclude  that  I  am  in  favor  of  your  robbery  and  deatl 
ThaVis  the  very  kind  of  charity  I  have  received  for  two  years 


388  SENATOR  R    H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

some  virtuous  protector  of  his  country's  rights  says,  "  Oil  !  Ben  Hill  is  so 
inconsistent  that  you  cannot  rely  on  him."  I  suggest,  in  all  kindness,  the 
inconsistency  may  be  in  your  mistake  instead  of  in  me.  Doubtless  you  are 
honest  in  it.  Like  the  picture,  it  is  all  green,  or  all  black — nothing  but 
black,  because  you  look  at  it  from  your  own  standpoint.  You  charge  it  on 
me  !  That  is  unkind  !  I  told  you  two  years  ago  you  would  be  ashamed  of 
this.  I  think  you  are  now.  I  say  this  in  kindness,  but  I  have  cause  to 

say  it. 

Now,  what  is  the  remedy  ?  Fellow-citizens,  it  is  as  simple  as  the  right 
is.  There  is  not  a  particle' of  difficulty  in  understanding  the  right  of  this 
question  and  how  to  begin  the  work.  What  is  the  true  construction  of  these 
amendments?  To  that  I  call  your  attention.  Now  let  us  apply  the  system 
of  construction  that  obtained  before  the  war,  with  all  parties.  I  am  will 
ing  to  go  before  any  tribunal  in  this  country — executive,  legislative,  or  judi 
cial — and  take  the  theory  of  Clay,  or  of  Webster,  or  of  Jefferson,  or  of 
Calhoun,  or  take  the  theory  of  any  pure  statesman  before  the  war,  and  I 
will  establish  certain  propositions  as  inevitable,  demonstrable,  from  the 
language  of  these  amendments  !  What  is  it !  Now  understand,  that  pre 
viously  to  the  war,  according  to  the  Constitution  and  the  practice  of  the 
fathers  for  seventy  years,  the  States  had  the  right  to  pass  all  laws  regulat 
ing  the  life,  liberty /and  property  of  the  citizens,  each  State  for  itself.  You 
all  understand  that  the  question  of  civil  rights  under  the  old  Constitution 
was  vested  absolutely  in  the  States,  with  a  few  exceptions,  such  as  requiring 
excessive  bail  and  some  things  of  that  sort. 

Now,  what  does  this  amendment  do? 

No  State  shall  make  or  enforce  any  laws  which  abridge  the  privileges  or  immunities 
of  citizens  of  the  United  States  ;  nor  shall  any  State  deprive  any  person  of  life,  liberty, 
or  property  without  due  process  of  law,  nor  deny  to  any  person  within  its  jurisdiction 
the  equal  protection  of  the  laws. 

Now,  you  see,  that  is  simply  an  inhibition  upon  the  State.  It  is  not  at 
all  a  delegation  of  power  to  the  general  government.  To  qualify  the  power 
of  a  State  is  not  to  delegate  that  power  to  the  general  government.  If  I 
deny  a  right  to  one  man,  that  does  not  convey  the  right  to  another  ;  and  for 
the  Constitution  to  say  that  a  State  shall  not  do  a  thing,  does  not  mean  to 
say  that  it  delegates  to  the  general  government  power  to  do  so.  By  no 
means.  What,  then,  is  it  ?  Here  it  is  :  The  States  still  have  the  right  to 
control  civil  rights  absolutely  by  their  own  Legislature,  without  interference 
by  the  Federal  Government,  except  that  in  controlling  them,  you  shall  not 
violate  this  provision.  You  shall  not  make  distinctions  on  account  of  color. 
Pass  any  law  you  please  in  relation  to  civil  rights  ;  regulate  life,  liberty, 
and  property,  as  you  please,  by  your  State  legislation,  but  do  not  make  dis 
tinctions,  in  that  legislation,  on  account  of  race,  color,  or  previous  condi 
tion  of  servitude.  That  is  all.  And  I  defy  the  most  astute  lawyer  in 
Christendom  to  controvert  the  position.  So  take  the  Fifteenth  Amend 
ment.  What  is  that?  "The  right  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  vote 
shall  not  be  denied,  or  abridged,  on  account  of  race,  color  or  previous  con 
dition  of  servitude."  Previous  to  the  war,  the  whole  question  of  suffrage 
was  with  the  States.  Each  State  could  regulate  suffrage  as  it  pleased,  and 
discriminate  as  it  pleased,  and  each  State  did  have  the  right  to  discriminate. 
This  amendment  makes  only  this  difference:  Go  on,  you  still  have  the  right 
to  regulate  your  own  suffrage  ;  you  still  have  the  right  to  regulate  your  own 


SIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS. 

elections,  to  order  and  supervise  your  elections,  as  you  please.  But,  take 
care.  In  fixing  the  right  to  vote,  don't  you  discrimate  on  account  of  race, 
color,  or  previous  condition  of  servitude.  Prescribe  any  condition  you  please 
to  the  white  man,  but  prescribe  the  same  to  the  black.  And  I 'affirm,  to 
night,  there  is  not  a  particle  of  authority  in  the  whole  annals  of  jurispru 
dence,  settling  the  canons  of  construction,  to  justify  this  extraordinary 
claim — that,  because  the  right  of  a  State  is  qualified,  the  whole  power  is 
delegated  to  the  general  government,  therefore  ! 

™  ^j  d3  ' 

Now,  each  of  these  amendments  has  this  clause  :  "Congress  shall  have 
power  to  enforce  this  amendment  by  appropriate  legislation."  What 
docs  that  mean  ?  Just  this  ;  you  have  the  right  to  enforce  the  amendment. 
What  is  the  amendment?  Why,  that  the  State  which  shall  regulate  anv 

*    *  O  * 

civil  rights,  shall  not  discriminate  on  account  of  color  ;  that  the  State,  in 
fixing  the  right  to  vote,  shall  not  discriminate  on  account  of  color.  If  a 
State  should  undertake  to  discriminate,  in  the  matter  of  civil  rights  or 
suffrage,  Congress  would  have  the  right  to  come  in  and  provide  a  remedy 
for  the  party  aggrieved,  and  the  only  appropriate  legislation  would  be 
to  provide  a  remedy  whereby  the  party  aggrieved  might  apply  to  the 
courts.  That  is  the  whole  of  this  amendment,  and  that  is  exactly 
what  Mr.  Greeley  said  in  his  letter  of  acceptance,  which  has  been  so 
strangely  criticised  by  some  people.  Now,  hear  what  he  said  : 

That,  subject  to  our  solemn  constitutional  obligations  to  maintain  the  equal  rights  of 
all  citizens,  our  policy  should  aim  at  local  self-government,  and  not  at  centralization, 
....  and  that  there  shall  be  no  Federal  supervision  of  the  internal  polity  of  the 
several  States  and  municipalities  ;  but  that  each  shall  be  left  free  to  enforce  the  rights  and 
promote  the  well-being  of  its  inhabitants,  by  such  means  as  the  judgment  of  its  own 
people  shall  prescribe. 

What  is  that  ?  What  does  that  mean,  about  which  so  much  strange 
noise  has  been  made  ?  It  means  that,  subject  to  the  single  qualification,  that 
you  shall  not  discriminate  in  voting  on  account  of  color ;  subject  to  that 
single  qualification,  that  you  shall  not  discriminate  in  civil  rights  on  account 
of  color,  the  States  shall  be  left  free  to  regulate  their  own  internal  polity 
without  Federal  interruption.  He  recognizes  the  rights  of  the  States,  and 
that  is  the  correct  interpretation.  Now,  my  kind  friends,  I  hold,  if  it  is 
material  to  say  what  I  hold— I  hold  that  the  Fourteenth  Amendment  has 
not  changed  the  right  of  the  State  to  regulate  its  civil  affairs,  save  only  to 
qualify  its  exercise  by  saying  you  must  not  discriminate  on  account  of 
color.  I  hold  that  the  Fifteenth  Amendment  has  not  affected  the  right  of 
the  States  on  the  subject  of  suffrage,  except  that  in  exercising  the  power 
they  always  had,  they  must  not  make  a  discrimination  on  account  of  color. 

Now  I  pass  on.  'What  is  the  difference  between  these  two  systems  of 
construction  ?  Why,  under  the  first,  the  construction  of  the  present  party 

*  .i.l  T"l          T  _   1       /""I    _  •-*  4-  i  i   i      t  • ,  .  i  i  i  .  >      111       Oil      /•  I  %*  1  I 


U1*V,V       C*  I  ^      4*H  W  YT   ^  V4.      UV/*\-/l.  **€***•  A  "11 

Under  the  other  theory,  we  hold  that  the  general  government  is  i 
ernment  of  limited  power,  and  that  the  States  have  still  the  right  of 
government,  and  that  subject  to  these  qualifications,  made  by  these  amend 
ments  in  fact,  the  States  are  still  as  supreme,  and  have  just  as  much  ngli 
regulate  their  internal  affairs,  as  they  had  before  the  war      Now  ^ 
to  this  trouble,  under  the  depressing  effects  of  a  very  bad  cold,  \ 


390  SENATOR  B.   H.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

pose  of  setting  before  you  to-night  the  distinctive  issue  between  the  two 
parties  of  this  country.  The  Grant  party  hold  that  the  government  is  a 
goverment  of  unlimited  powers,  that  they  have  the  right  of  exercising  these 
powers  absolutely.  Or  if  they  allow  the  States  to  do  it,  they  do  it  subject 
to  the  supervisory  power  of  Congress,  that  the  States  are  mere  provinces  or 
proconsulates. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Liberal  Democracy,  assuming  these  amendments 
to  be  parts  of  the  Constitution,  still  hold  that  these  amendments  have  not 
made  the  Federal  Government  a  government  of  unlimited  powers,  but  that 
that  government  is  still  one  of  limited  powers,  and  that  States  are  States 
still,  without  interference  by  the  Federal  Government.  I  was  astonished, 
startled,  in  talking  with  one  of  the  most  learned  gentlemen  of  the  State  the 
other  day,  who  was  talking  about  the  Cincinnati  movement  as  the  abandon 
ment  of  principle.  When  I  told  him  that  this  was  the  distinctive  difference 
between  the  two  parties — "  Oh,"  he  said,  "  he  did  not  know  there  was  such 
language  in  that  platform."  Why,  that  is  all  that  was  worth  anything  in  it. 
All  the  rest  is  policy.  The  only  principle  in  the  whole  concern  is  intended 
to  antagonize  the  great  absorbing,  swelling  power  asserted  by  the  Radical 
party,  that  the  Federal  Government  is  a  government  of  unlimited  power. 
We  say  it  is  a  government  of  limited  power,  that  the  States  have  the  right 
to  self-government,  without  interference  by  the  Federal  Government.  Now, 
which  party  do  you  belong  to  ?  You  talk  about  principle  !  Did  you  ever 
see  a  bigger  principle  than  that — a  greater  principle  than  that  ? 

Now,  where  is  the  error  of  our  Straight  friends  ?  I  want  you  to  see  it 
so  clearly  that  you  will  never  forget  it.  Where  is  the  error  of  our  Straight 
friends  ? — for  I  speak  of  you  kindly.  I  know  you  are  going  to  be  brethren 
very  soon.  Here  is  your  error  :  You  refuse  to  make  issue  with  the  Radical 
party  unless  we  will  stop  first  and  define  the  extent  and  theory  of  the  limi 
tations.  You  refuse  to  make  common  cause  with  us,  unless  we  will  stop 
and  say  whether  we  will  do  it  on  the  theory  of  Calhoun,  or  on  the  theory 
of  Jefferson,  or  on  the  theory  of  Clay,  or  on  the  theory  of  the  moon  !  That 
is  all.  You  don't  intend  to  save  the  rights  of  the  States.  You  refuse  to 
join  in  an  attempt  to  save  the  rights  of  the  States  unless  we  agree  to  save 
them  on  your  idea.  Now,  what  is  common  sense  ?  What  is  our  idea  ? 
Now,  there  were  men  before  the  war,  all  of  whom  admitted  that  the  States 
had  the  right  of  self-government.  Clay  had  a  theory  of  the  government ; 
Webster  had  a  theory  ;  Calhoun  had  a*  theory  ;  but  all  these  men  had  the 
theory  of  State  rights.  Here  comes  a  new  party,  however,  and  says  that 
Clay  was  wrong,  and  Webster  was  wrong,  and  Calhoun  was  wrong  ;  and 
they  assert  themselves  the  enemies  of  all  those  parties,  and  assert  the  broad 
ground  that  there  are  no  State  rights.  That  is  the  whole  of  it.  And  you 
refuse  to  join  us  in  fighting  that  common  enemy  unless  we  will  swear  before 
hand  that  we  will  go  your  way.  That  is  the  whole  of  it.  Why,  my  Cal 
houn  friend,  my  Jeffersonian  friend,  my  Clay  friend,  my  Webster  friend,  there 
is  no  use  for  you  and  me  to  be  quarreling  about  our  theory  of  State  rights, 
about  the  extent  to  which  they  go.  Why,  look  here!  *Here  is  a  great 
combination  that  is  denying  the  right  to  all  of  us,  and  they  make  war  upon 
us  all  at  once.  Let  us  all  at  once  join  to  whip  them.  That  is  all.  And 
that  is  the  Cincinnati-Baltimore  movement.  That  is  the  Cincinnati  plat 
form.  Two  men  owned  a  house,  and  they  differed  as  to  what  use  that 
house  was  to  be  put,  or  as  to  how  it  should  be  furnished.  One  said  it 
should  be  for  a  wholesale  establishment — the  other,  for  a  retail  establish- 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  391 

ment ;  and  while  they  were  controverting  that  point,  here  came  a  common 
enemy,  denying  their  right  to  have  the  house  at  all.  One  said  :  "  Here, 
let's  stop  this  quarreling  between  ourselves,  and  whip  this  man  who  denies 
the  right  of  both  of  us."  "  No,"  says  the  other,  "  I  won't  help  to  fight  for 
the  house  unless  you  agree  to  use  it  my  way  when  we  get  it."  And  that  is 
the  way  you  all  do.  When  we  made  this  fight — when  the  great  army  of 
Democrats,  reinforced  by  Liberals,  marched  out  to  fight  a  grand  battle 
against  the  common  enemy,  alas,  alas  !  so  many  staid  in  the  camp  and 
grumbled  and  roasted  potatoes — nay,  even  fired  volleys  into  our  rear  at 
every  step  we  took.  And  when  we  were  defeated  and  came  back,  these 
fellows  came  with  their  hurrahing,  right  up  from  the  fireside,  with  their 
guns  smoking,  and  said  :  "  Yes,  I  told  you  so."  Yes,  you  did  ;  no  mistake 
about  that.  You  told  us  so,  and  you  helped  so,  too. 

I  don't  say  this  in  any  spirit  of  unkindness.  The  whole  point  of  the 
contest  was  clear  to  me  all  the  time.  True,  some  things  done  at  Cincinnati 
I  did  not  like.  True,  I  would  have  made  different  nominations.  True, 
when  I  wrote  that  letter,  I  expected  to  make  the  fight  under  the  flag  of  the 
glorious  Hendricks,  of  Indiana,  or  some  such  leader  ;  that  was  my  expecta 
tion.  Still,  keeping  the  great  purposes  in  view — keeping  the  great  principle 
to  be  maintained  in  view" — I  did  not  refuse  to  go  into  the  battle  because  it 
was  not  according  to  the  plan  I  preferred.  To  whip  the  enemy  was  the  great 
purpose  ;  to  save  the  Constitution  ;  to  save  the  right  of  the  States  to  regu 
late  their  own  affairs,  without  interference  by  the  Federal  Government. 
Save  that,  and  you  save  the  ark  of  your  safety.  Lose  that,  and  your  are 
silly  to  be  quarreling  about  the  consequences  to  subordinate  theories.  If 
the  States  be  lost,  there  can  be  no  Jeffersonian  theories  left. 

Well,  we  were  defeated,  you  say.     So  we  were.     Well,  now,  what  are 
you  going  to  do  ?     lam  going  to  keep  fighting.     On  what  line?     On  the 
line  that  will  bring  everybody,  of  every  shade  of  opinion,  that  holds  to  the 
doctrine  that  the  general  government  is  a  government  of  limited  powers  ; 
that  holds  to  the  States'  right  to  local  self-government.     I  want  to  whip 
that  battle,  to  establish   that  principle.     Then  we  will  talk  about  how  we 
shall  use  the  house,  whether  for  wholesale  or  retail.     Drive  away  the  common 
enemy.     Save  the  common   property.     Then   we  will  regulate  its  use  ! 
am  not  discouraged,  I   am   sad   and  mortified,  I  confess.     At  one  time 
thought  very  probably  we   would    succeed.     Very  early  in  the  canvass,  ] 
thought  we  would  not  in  this  last  election.     After  the  battle  is  over  and 
the  smoke  has  cleared  away,  we  can  see  more  clearly  and  understand  what 
before  we  could  not  understand,  and  we  see  now  that  800,000  Democrats 
either  staid  in  the  camp,  or  fired  in   our  rear.     If  they  had  gone  with  us  to 
battle,  the   enemy  would   have   been   routed.     I   won't   abuse  you. 
human  nature.     One  man   sees  an   evil  quicker  than   another.     Some  men 
will  insist  on    looking  upon    a   picture   from   only  one   standpoint  longer 
than  another.     That  is  all.     But  I  take  it  for  granted  that  you  will  take  the 
picture  and  look  at  it  in  all   lights,  from  all  directions.     You  will  find  it  is 
the  simple  truth  we  vindicated.     You    can   go  nowhere  else.     It  is  utterly 
impossible,  in  the  very  nature  of  political  logic,  to  organize  a  party  in  this 
country  and  carry  it  to  victory,  upon  any  one  theory  of  State  rights,  when 
you  go  to  war  with   an   enemy    who  denies   all  theories  of  State  rights. 
Don't  you  see  that?     Isn't  it  palpable  and  plain? 

I  see  by  a  statement  in  the  papers— I   have  not  looked  carefully  at  the 
count  myself— that  the  majority  of  the  whites  voted  for  Greeley.      Then  Mr. 


392  SENATOR  B.   H.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

Grant  was  elected  because  the  negroes  voted  for  him,  and  the  Democrats 
did  not  vote  for  Greeley.  Then  we  had  the  whole  patronage  of  the  gov 
ernment  to  fight.  That,  itself,  was  equal  to  half  a  million  of  votes.  And 
even  with  all  these  disadvantages,  Mr.  Greeley  received  more  votes  than  did 
Mr.  Seymour  in  1868.  Now,  therefore,  what  can  you  do?  My  friends,  I 
tell  you,  stand  !  Hold  to  your  principles  !  Hold  to  your  organizations  ! 
Hold  a  high  purpose  !  Don't  be  discouraged  !  Few  parties,  in  this  country, 
ever  won  their  first  battle  !  We  must  win,  or  liberty  is  lost !  We  must 
succeed,  or  the  States  are  blotted  out  !  We  must  triumph,  or  empire  is  a 
certainty'!  I  invoke  you,  do  not  divide  the  ranks  because  of  a  subdivision 
of  theory  ;  do  not  refuse  to  fight  by  the  side  of  your  comrades,  because  you 
do  not  like  the  plan  of  battle.  Come  in  to  a  common  struggle,  to  a  common 
purpose.  Right  or  wrong,  there  has  been  a  revolution.  Right  or  wrong- 
that  revolution  has  worked  changes.  Right  or  wrong,  those  changes  breed 
new  questions.  Right  or  wrong,  for  weal  or  woe,  the  wise  or  unwise  solu 
tion  of  these  questions  settles  your  destiny  forever  ! 

Georgians,  representatives  of  Georgia,  I  am  afraid  many  of  you  do  not 
appreciate  the  weight  of  responsibility  on  you  in  this  question.  Fortunately 
for  us,  we,  for  the  first  time  since  the  war,  occupy  a  position  from  which  we 
can  be  heard.  And  up  to  this  last  campaign,  we  were  charged  with  stand 
ing  consolidated  on  the  theory  of  government  under  which  we  went  into 
secession.  That  very  fact  inflamed  and  kept  enraged  the  passions  of  the 
Northern  people.  We  could  not,  therefore,  be  heard,  because  they  were 
blinded  and  believed  we  wanted  to  establish  the  doctrine  of  secession,  and 
ultimately  put  the  negro  back  into  slavery  and  destroy  all  the  results  of  the 
war.  But  this  campaign  has  left  us  upon  higher  ground.  The  South,  the 
white  people  of  the  South,  almost  unanimously  indorsed  this  position,  and  it 
has  lifted  you  up  at  once.  Now,  you  have  the  right  to  be  heard.  Oh  ! 
what  a  proud  picture  it  was.  I  have  sometimes  thought  of  it  with  rapture. 
The  world  says  we  went  to  war  for  slavery,  or  in  a  factious  spirit,  because 
we  lost  power.  A  great  many  reasons  have  been  ascribed  for  it.  We  have 
said  we  went  into  secession  because  we  believed  it  was  the  onl}T  plan  to  pre 
serve  a  Constitutional  government.  And  here,  in  this  last  campaign,  the 
South  presented  the  sublime  spectacle — slavery  gone,  property  gone,  her 
cause  lost,  armies  scattered,  her  pride  humbled  ;  but  from  the  ashes  of  her 
poverty,  she  lifted  high  to  the  gaze  of  the  nation  the  scroll  of  Constitutional 
liberty,  and  said  :  "for  this  alone  will  we  shake  hands  and  be  friends  again." 

That  great  principle  is  dearer  to  us  than  slavery,  dearer  to  us  than  property, 
dearer  to  us  than  prestige  and  power,  oh,  dearer  to  us  than  independence  ! 
Give  us  that  ;  meet  us  upon  that  common  ground  where  our  fathers  stood. 
We  won't  stop  to  say  that  you  must  come  to  the  ground  of  Calhoun,  or  to 
the  theory  of  Jefferson  or  of  Clay.  We  only  say  come  to  the  common 
ground  that  Constitutional  government  shall  be  preserved,  and  that  the 
States  shall  have  the  right  to  regulate  their  affairs  without  any  interference 
by  the  general  government.  Grand  position  !  Are  you  going  back  on 
it  ?  The  Radicals  charge  that  we  were  not  sincere  ;  that  we  did  not  intend 
to  do  it.  They  said  a  few  gentlemen  who  differed  with  us  down  here  were 
the  only  representatives  of  the  public  mind,  and  that  it  was  all  a  trick  to 
get  power,  and  that  we  would  then  return  to  secession,  and  put  the  negroes 
back  into  slavery.  Don't  you  see  now  that  if  by  any  act  of  yours  you  go 
back  on  this  platform,  you  verify  their  charge  of  insincerity*?  Don't  you 
see  you  put  your  friends  at  the  North  to  shame  for  having  said  you  were 


777,9  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  393 


And    yet  you    are    asked    to    do  that   thing  !     Importuned  and 
do  that  thing  !     The  cry  goes  forth,  "  To  the  camp,  ye  of  the 


sincere  ? 

urged   to  do  uiai  ruing:      me  cry  goes  lortn,  "  10  tne  camp,  ye 
Jeffersonian    Democracy!'     as    you    call    it.     Why,    the    question    is    still 
pending,  whether  you  have  a  right  to  go  anywhere. 

The  true  question  is,  whether  the  government  is  a  government  of  limited 
powers,  and  whether  the  States  have  any  right  of  self-government.  I  say  to 
you,  in  all  kindness  and  frankness,  if  you  go  back  upon  this  record,  if  you 
repudiate  the  principles  of  the  people  who  sent  you  here,  if  you  verify  the 
charges  of  your  Northern  enemies  that  you  were  insincere  in  taking  this 
position,  you  bring  the  whole  Democracy  of  the  North  to  shame  ;  you  strike 
a  fatal  stab  at  the  movement,  and  you  will  enrage  again  the  war  passions  of 
the  North,  and  you  will  tighten  your  own  fetters  !  All  this  party  in 
power  want  is  for  you  to  just  offer  some  pretext  for  their  interference. 
They  are  anxious  to  believe  that  you  are  insincere.  When  you  have 
come  up  to  this  grand  principle  of  the  Constitution,  where  all  lovers 
of  the  Constitution  can  stand,  you  get  free  from  this  charge  of  seces 
sion,  free  from  this  charge  of  going  back  into  power  to  put  the  negroes 
into  slavery,  and  you  will  be  heard,  and  you  will  have  the  right  to  be  heard. 
It  is  a  high  public  trust  you  have  to  execute.  No  general  assembly  of 
Georgia  ever  stood  in  as  responsible  a  position.  The  grandeur,  the  wisdom, 
the  patriotism,  the  immense  interest  represented  in  this  move,  are  now  more 
and  more  developing  themselves  to  the  people.  Everything  you  have  rests 
on  it.  You  will  have  no  right  directly  to  regulate  your  own  labor,  except 
this  theory  be  established,  and  I  exhort  you,  my  countrymen,  stand  by  the 
principles  of  the  people  that  sent  you  here  ;  for  Georgia  has  at  least 
redeemed  herself,  by  taking  this  high  position.  And  the  responsibility  is 
increased  upon  you,  because  the  other  sister  States  are  in  manacles.  North 
Carolina  spoke  her  feeble  voice.  The  Democrats  had  a  small  majority  in 
the  Legislature,  but  was  so  sn.all  they  have  been  defeated  in  their  first  choice. 
Alabama  has  been  compelled  to  accept  the  kind  suggestion,  which  is  such 
as  the  spider  gave  the  fly  ;  and  by  accepting  it,  will  be  forced  to  send  a 
Radical  to  the  Senate.  Louisiana  made  a  gallant  fight  and  redeemed  her 
self,  but  a  Federal  judge,  without  the  slightest  jurisdiction  in  the  case,  has 
reforged  her  chains.  That  is  the  most  unmitigated  usurpation  in  the  history 
of  Reconstruction,  by  which  Louisiana  is  manacled.  Georgia  alone  is  free, 
at  least  free  enough  to  express  her  honest  conviction.  Free  enough  to  send 
to  Washington  the  representatives  of  her  real  wishes  and  opinions.  What 
will  you  say?  Will  you  send  the  representative  of  the  principle  upon 
which  you  were  elected  ?  Will  you  send  a  representative  commissioned  to 
tell  the  Northern  people  that  Georgia  is  still  wedded  to  Constitutional 
government,  and  that  is  what  she  demands,  and  that  is  all  ?  Or  will  you 
send  a  representative  who  will  go  to  Washington  to  talk  about  the  theory 
of  Calhoun,  or  the  theory  of  Jefferson,  thereby  making  the  whole  Northern 
people  believe  that  you  are  still  insisting  upon  the  rights  of  secession  ;  rtll 
insisting 


negr 


no  man 

abler.     I  look  alone  to  the  public  question, 

have  upon   this  move.     You  owe  it  to  yourselves,  you  owe  it  to  the  great 

.  f.  '  _  -.!„       .   *l,^v  XT/-»t.+  li     tr/~kii    r»\i'n   it.    to   t!rmst  itll- 


movement,  you  owe  it  to  your  friends  at  the  North,  you  owe  it  to  Constitu 
tional  State  government,  local  self-government,  you  owe  it  to  everyt 
valuable,  to  select  a  senator  pledged  to  the  principles  upon  which  you  we 


394  SENATOR  R.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

sent  here.  It  is  not  a  personal  question  ;  it  is  not  the  time  for  personal 
sympathies,  for  predelictions  or  prejudices.  People  who  talk  about  getting 
oV  conferring  offices  now  for  the  salaries  and  honors,  are  like  nurses  who 
abandon  their  watching  and  go  to  dress  themselves  in  trinkets  and 
gewgaws  around  the  couch  of  dying  liberty.  Will  you  do  it  ?  I  lift  this 
question  high  out  of  the  region  of  personality,  and  put  it  upon  the  dis 
tinct  issue  of  public  safety,  which  says  you  must  abandon  the  passionate 
rush  to  despotism  through  sectional  hate,  and  return  to  the  good  old  land 
mark  of  a  Union  of  equal  States  and  Constitutional  limitation.  I  know  how 
this  election  is  looked  upon  elsewhere.  I  know  how  anxious  the  Radical 
party  is  for  the  only  State  in  the  South  at  liberty  to  speak  her  free,  unfettered 
voice  to  give  some  evidence  of  insincerity  in  this  late  move.  I  know  how 
anxious  you  are  to  utter  the  most  distinct  and  sounding  note  possible  of 
your  determination  to  continue  the  battle  upon  the  platform  of  limited 
government.  On  this  hinge  hangs  the  happiness  of  your  children.  On  this 
basis  stands  every  prosperity  in  your  country.  Everything  is  involved. 

I  will  hasten  on.  There  are  many  things  on  this  subject  I  would  like  to 
say.  I  would  like  to  give  you  my  reasons  why  I  think  we  shall  succeed  in 
the  next  campaign.  We  are  obliged  to  succeed.  I  concur  with  Judge 
Benning,  in  the  opinion  that  he  delivered  in  his  able  address  the  other 
evening,  that  some  of  our  people  were  so  unfortunate  as  to  get  their  war 
passions  aroused  again.  Upon  this  same  naked,  isolated  proposition,  that 
this  government  is  a  government  of  limited  powers,  I  believe  that  the 
North  will  agree  with  us.  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  West  will  agree  with 
us  upon  that  point.  The  great  difficulty  is  to  get  them  to  look  upon  the 
picture  in  all  lights.  The  great  difficulty  is  to  get  them  away  from  their 
prejudices  and  passions — the  war  passion  which  prevents  them  from  seeing 
the  truth  !  Now  is  the  time  to  begin  the  work.  You  can't  accomplish 
anything  after  a  campaign  begins.  You  might  send  among  them  the  finest 
orators  of  the  earth  during  a  campaign,  and  they  would  not  listen  to  you. 
But  send  them  now,  and  to  Washington,  and  let  the  nation  be  the  audience 
in  the  conflict  of  intellect,  and  you  will  see  who  will  win  the  fight.  You 
have  not  been  heard  since  the  war.  Why,  the  most  remarkable  feature  of 
this  whole  process  of  reconstruction  was  that  when  it  was  first  entered 
upon,  the  very  first  thing  done  was  to  chain  the  intellect  of  the  South.  The 
very  men  that  have  inflicted  these  outrages  upon  you,  set  about  their  work 
by  first  getting  rid  of  all  Southern  intellect.  What  is  your  first  duty? 
You  complain  of  the  disabilities  upon  your  people.  You  apologize  for  your 
weakness  in  representation,  because,  you  said,  your  able  men  were  chained. 
Well,  most  of  them  are  unchained.  Have  you  a  use  for  them  or  not?  Oh, 
my  countrymen,  I  invoke  you,  as  you  love  liberty,  as  you  love  your 
children  and  would  leave  them  a  legacy  worth  receiving,  renew  the  strug 
gle,  the  intellectual  struggle,  in  the  grand  arena,  in  the  nation's  coun 
cils,  where,  before  the  war,  the  South  never  knew  defeat,  and  where, 
the  war,  they  have  never  known  victory.  It  is  here,  I  have 
the  slightest  doubt,  you  will  in  four  years  wake  up  a  public  sen- 
iment  at^the  North  that  is  now  completely  kept  down  by  the  war 
passion.  That  sentiment  will  arise  in  accord  with  yourselves.  The  800,- 
Jemocrats  that  would  not  go  with  us  in  the  last  election  will  then 
ome  with  us.  We  shall  not  have  the  patronage  of  the  Federal  power 
O  tight  Our  principles  will  be  better  understood,  prejudice  will  be  laid 
aside,  and  I  tell  you  when  the  nation  meets  to  celebrate  the  one  hundredth 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  395 

anniversary  of  American  independence  from  foreign  tyranny,  she  will  cele 
brate  the  grand  rescue  of  that  same  liberty  from  the  "clutches  of  domestic 
subversion.  Do  not,  then,  be  discouraged.  I  take  it  we  shall  have  trouble, 
and  we  shall  have  coldness.  And  we  have  had  losses  and  we  have  had  follies. 
True,  there  are  dangers  around  us.  We  are  in  a  valley  overcast  witli  gloom 
and  sorrow.  But  far  away  through  that  gloom  and  sorrow,  I  can  see  the 
sunlight  of  hope  still  playing  upon  the  Teneriffe  of  our  political  future  ! 
Let  us  bury  our  dead — get  rid  of  the  cumbersome  weight  of  prejudices  that 
so  beset  us,  and  toil  on,  and  toil  up,  and  ere  long  we  will  sing  the  song  of 
triumph  in  the  noontide  splendor  of  the  summit !  It  is  a  subject,  fellow- 
citizens,  I  dislike  to  leave,  I  am  so  anxious  for  the  people  to  understand  it 
everywhere  ;  I  have  such  abiding  faith  in  its  ultimate  triumph.  Oh,  I 
have  such  a  profound  sense  of  the  obstacles  in  the  way  !  I  know  the 
lion  is  in  the  path  ;  I  have  heard  it  roar  !  I  know  that  all  that  is  dear 
to  us  and  our  children  is  wrapped  up  in  the  struggle,  and  I  am  loth  to  give 
it  up  ! 

There  is  another  subject,  outside  of  this  one  grand  political  theory,  that 
I  desire  to  bring  before  you.  I  had  the  good  fortune,  a  few  weeks  ago,  to 
meet  a  very  intelligent  Englishman,  who  was  sent  over  to  this  country  bv 

V  ^J  ^J  V  • 

capitalists  in  Liverpool  for  the  purpose  of  examining  the  mineral  resources 
of  our  country.  He  had  been  several  weeks  in  this  mission.  He  had  seen 
an  address  I  had  delivered  on  this  subject,  and  about  which  also  you  did 
strangely  cavil.  He  came  and  sought  an  interview  with  me,  and  I  don't 
know  when  I  have  been  more  interested.  He  was  intelligent,  learned, 
and  perfect  master  of  his  subject.  He  described  to  me  the  mineral  con 
dition  of  England  and  the  Continent.  How  their  coal  and  iron  were  de 
creasing  ;  how  far  they  had  to  go  into  the  earth  to  get  them  ;  how 
dangerous  it  was  ;  how  expensive  it  was  ;  how  the  demand  increased  and 
the  supply  diminished,  and  how  important  it  was  for  all  England  and  all 
Europe  to  look  out  for  new  fields  for  coal  and  for  iron.  And  for  that  reason 
lie  had  been  sent  here.  Said  he,  "Mr.  Hill,  I  have  studied  this  country  from 
beyond  Chattanooga  this  way,  including  East  Tennessee  and  South  Tennes 
see,  North  Alabama  and  Northwest  Georgia,  and  there  is  more  wealth 
for  the  world  in  that  space  than  on  any  other  portion  of  the  globe.  That 
wealth,"  lie  said,  "  must  be  made  available  some  day.  There  is  no^  reason 
why  you  should  not  be  as  prosperous  as  any  country  on  the  earth.  England 
must  have  that  coal,  that  iron.  The  North  must  have  it,"  said  he. 
is  an  exhaustless  supply,  for  over  a  hundred  years,  for  all  England  and 
Continent.  Its  treasure  is  measured  only  by  billions,  sir.  Why  don  t  your 
people  develop  it?"  "Why  don't  they?'  said  I.  They 
things— capital,  muscle,  and  transportation."  Supply  these  things, 

and  we,  my  fellow-citizens,  have  the  finest  country  on  earth  at 
with  all  these  deposits,  we  have  a  good  climate  and  a  good  soil,  and  i 
tages  that  no  other  people  possess.     Yet,  such  is  our  political  condition 


a  vain  enort  to  try  to  cii<?  up  vesierua\.     ^^  —  ,     i~ 

and  enrich  to-morrow  !    1  hope  some  of  my  friends  who  talk  about 

theory,  won't  quarrel  with  me.     Now,  I  say,  in  view  of  the  importance  ol 

this  grand  development  to  this  country,  we  ought  to  have  aid 

government  that  has  taken  our  substance,  to  develop  our  power.     1 

has  expended  over  a  hundred  millions  of  dollars  on  one  work  in  n, 


396  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

and  hundreds  of  millions  on  all  the  works  of  the  North.  Well,  now,  my 
friends,  are  you  so  afflicted  with  a  theory  that,  in  the  midst  of  all  our  sor 
rows  and  tronblesJif  you  can  get  an  appropriation  or  assistance  in  any  other 
form,  of  a  few  millions  to  help  develop  this  country  and  give  us  cheap 
transportation  to  the  seaboard,  will  you  refuse  it  ?  I  assure  you  I  will  not. 
In  this  Fourteenth  Amendment  they  say  they  will  not  compensate  us  for 
our  slaves.  This  war,  and  the  extraordinary  measures  exercised  after  the 
war,  have  destroyed  us  to  the  extent  of  $5,000,000,000.  Now,  I  do  say,  if 
you  will  cease  waking  these  war  passions,  if  you  will  go  to  work  upon  the 
grand  idea  of  building  up  your  own  country,  and  present  your  views  as  they 
ought  to  be  presented,  to  the  Congress  of  the  nation,  there  is  every  reason 
to  believe  you  will  wake  up  a  spirit  of  justice  for  the  South  by  which  they 
Avill  send  you,  in  some  form,  the  restitution  you  ought  to  have,  which  they 
so  justly  owe.  I  believe  if  we  discharge  our  duty  now,  and  enter  upon  this 
great  work  in  the  right  spirit,  men  listening  to  me  to-night  will  see  the 
waters  of  the  Tennessee  flowing  into  the  Atlantic  through  the  Savannah,  or 
the  Altamaha,  or  both.  You  will  find  your  land  quadrupled  in  value,  your 
population  five-fold  increased,  Savannah  the  great  commercial  seaport  of  the 
South,  and  you  will  find  Atlanta  the  St.  Louis  of  the  South.  You  can  do  it. 
Virginia  is  moving  in  this  matter.  Other  States  are  moving  in  this  matter. — 
Why  not  you  ? 

Two  ideas  have  absorbed  my  soul.  One  is  to  get  the  right  once  more 
established  to  manage  our  own  affairs  in  our  own  way,  and  we  will  make 
no  discrimination  on  account  of  race,  color,  or  previous  condition  of  servi 
tude.  Let  the  negro  vote  !  Let  him  sue  and  be  sued.  Let  him  have  office 
if  the  people  elect  him  to  office.  We  can't  help  that.  In  every  other  re 
spect,  in  every  other  purpose  we  are  free,  sovereign,  and  independent 
States  !  We  have  the  right  to  pass  our  own  law,  elect  our  own  Legislature, 
choose  our  own  governor,  and  build  up  our  own  interest  !  Get  that  estab 
lished,  and  then  you  will  see  this  country  develop.  You  will  see  fur 
naces,  and  foundries,  and  factories,  and  smelting  works  all  over  this  coun 
try  !  Why  not  ?  Land  that  is  now  selling  for  only  $5  an  acre,  will  then 
be  worth  $100  an  acre  !  Why  not  ?  Lands  less  valuable,  in  other  parts  of 
the  earth,  sell  for  as  much.  Why  can't  we  do  it  ?  Because  you,  my  theory- 
ridden  friends,  refuse  to  accept  salvation,  unless  you  get  it  upon  your  own 
terms.  The  prospect  is  bright  for  us.  I  am  in  favor  of  prudence,  I  am  in 
favor  of  wisdom.  Thank  God,  we  have  got  our  own  governor,  and  a  good 
governor.  He  will  be  true  to  you,  in  every  sense,  and  worthy  of  you  in 
every  trial.  You  have  got  a  Legislature,  a  Legislature  I  trust  that  will 
stand  to  your  principles  ;  a  Legislature  that  will  keep  the  great  questions  of 
equal  and  peaceful  reunion  before  them  ;  that  won't  repudiate  the  senti 
ment  of  the  people  that  sent  them  here  ;  a  Legislature  I  trust  that  will  not 
go  back  upon  its  first  onward  march  to  redemption.  Wisdom,  prudence, 
moderation  !  Now  add  to  the  picture— please  leave  me  out  of  view — now 
add  to  the  picture,  by  selecting  whoever  may  be  your  best  men,  your  ablest 
men,  in  sympathy  with  your  principles,  and  send  them  once  more  to  repre 
sent  you  in  the  councils  of  the  nation.  "  Oh  !  we  don't  want  a  man  of 
intellect  there  !  You  don't  ?  What  do  you  want  then  ?  Why  did  you 
ask  that  their  disabilities  be  removed  then?  "We  don't  want  a  constitu 
tional  lawyer  there,  a  man  of  debating  powers  ;  we  are  in  a  minority  and 
can  do  no  good."  Pray,  when  was  it  the  South  was  not  in  the  minority,  in 
the  days  of  Clay,  in  the  days  of  Calhoun,  in  the  days  of  Jefferson  ?  And 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AM)   WlilTIA'US.  397 

are  you  going  to  wait  until  you  get  a  majority  in  that  body  ?  If  there  is 
anything  established,  it  is  that  mind  is  superior  to  matter,  and  God  has 
placed  physical  power  under  the  dominion  of  intellect.  The  North  is  our 
superior  in  physical  power,  and  in  nothing  else.  But  from  the  very  origin  of 
the  government,  as  long  as  we  had  freedom,  as  long  as  we  had  the  right  to 
send  our  representatives  to  Congress,  such  as  we  chose,  from  the  adoption 
of  the  Constitution  up  to  1860,  not  the  material  power,not  the  physical  pow 
ers,  not  the  numbers,  but  the  intellect  of  the  South  shaped  and  directed  legis 
lation  and  controlled  the  government.  You  can  do  it  again,  and  it  is 
the  only  means  of  securing  yourselves  from  these  continued  encroach 
ments. 

Fellow-citizens,  and  especially  gentlemen  of  the  General  Assembly,  I 
hesitate,  and  yet,  perhaps,  it  is  my  duty  to  do  what  I  have  never  done 
before,  on  an  occasion  like  this,  and  that  is  to  make  a  few  personal  allusions. 
Friends,  I  do  not  know  who — I  really  do  not — have  placed  rny  name  before 
you,  and  I  do  not  feel  at  liberty  to  withhold  it.  I  know,  I  feel  keenly,  the 
very  great,  cruel  injustice  that  has  been  done  me  by  many  people,  and  I 
admit  that  an  expression  of  your  confidence  would  be  very  gratifying  to 
me,  especially  in  view  of  those  wrongs.  I  hear  men  talking  about  inconsist 
ency  or  changeableness,  where  there  is  no  foundation  on  earth  for  it,  and  I 
could  take  up  charge  by  charge  and  make  you  ashamed  of  them.  Sometimes 
I  am  almost  tempted  to  go  into  some  of  them,  but  I  will  forbear.  I  have  en 
deavored  to  lift  you  above  all  personalities  in  this  contest,  and  let  me  tell 
you  from  the  sincerity  of  my  heart,  that  I  have  no  personal  ambition  to  in 
terpose  in  the  way  of  the  publicgood.  I  have  no  desire,  in  this  critical  con 
dition  of  the  country,  to  hold  the  office  to  the  exclusion  of  any  better  qualified 
to  fill  it.  Theologians  have  never  been  able  to  settle  definitely,  to  their  own 
satisfaction,  the  locality  of  purgatory,  but  if  I  were  in  the  council  of  the 
nation  from  the  South,  and  drew  a  salary,  and  listened,  day  after  da}',  to  the 
insolent  slanders  of  my  people,  without  the  power  to  repel  them,  that  would 
be  purgatory  to  me  !  I  distrust  my  abilities.  God  knows  I  would  measure 
the  weight  of  the  task.  I  know  the  power  that  a  man  ought  to  possess,  to 
discharge  that  task,  as  it  ought  to  be  discharged,  and  T  confess,  I  distrust  my 
abilities,  and,  if  you  believe  there  is  another  in  the  State  better  qualified,  I 
invoke  you,  by  the  high  trust  which  the  people  have  confided  to  you,  that 
you  throw  away  all  personal  considerations  of  every  kind  and  character, 
whether  of  predilection  or  of  prejudice,  and  execute  that  trust  as  you  shall 
deem  best  for  the  interest  of  the  State.  I  may  have  committed  errors— cer 
tainly  not  the  errors  that  you  charge  against  me.  Daily  I  hear  men  making 
charges  that,  if  they  Avould  only  look  at  them  in  all  lights,  they  would 
ashamed  of.  It  was  onlv  because  they  have  not  seen  the  picture  from  my 
standpoint.  But  let  them  pass.  I  confess  to  you  I  have  an  ambition. 
Sometimes  it  stirs  me  to  my  very  soul.  I  am  not  responsible  for  our  humil 
iation  and  that  is  my  comfort.  "l  would  be  responsible  for  our  exultation  ; 
and  that  is  my  ambition.  I  would  wake  the  pride  of  the  Southern  people 
once  more,  and  under  its  benign  influence  I  would  recover  the  lost  property 
and  restore  the  lost  power  of  the  Southern  States.  When  I  remember  what 
this  country  has  been,  and  see  what  it  is  ;  when  I  look  to  the  counci 
nation  as  they  used  to  be,  and  see  there  Clay,  and  Calhoun,  and  Forpyth^iu 
Berrien,  and  Crawford,  and  Grundy,  and  Benton,  and  AlACon,  and 
dolph,  the  whole  host  of  glorious  statesmen  that  ruled  the  country  in  pi 
and  in  power,  and  look  upon  it  now,  and  see  how  proud  Southern  men  us< 


398 


SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 


be  in  those  lobbies,  and  their  humility  now — when  I  hear  the  slanders  from 
flippant  lips,  who  know  no  impulse  but  malice,  against  a  people  that  is  too 
noble  for  their  love,  I  feel  that  if  I  could  be  the  instrument,  under  Providence, 
of  lifting  up  this  people  once  more,  I  would  rather  do  it  than  wear  the  dia 
dem  of  the  Ca3sars.  "In  Deo,  in  hoc  spe  vivo"  Under  God,  in  this  hope 
I  live  ! 


ADDRESS    DELIVERED    BEFORE    THE    SOUTHERN    HISTORI 
CAL   SOCIETY,   AT   ATLANTA,   GA.,   FEBRUARY    18,    1874. 

This  address  was  intended  to  present  the  side  of  the  South  in  form  for  history.  It 
contrasts  in  forcible  language  the  policy  of  secession  with  the  policy  of  coercion.  The 
one  the  mistake  of  the  South,  the  other  "the  crime  of  the  North.  The  eulogy  on  Robert 
E.  Lee  is,  in  the  opinion  of  many,  the  finest  ever  delivered  on  that  incomparable  hero. 
The  defense  of  President  Davis  in  his  administration  of  his  great  and  delicate  trust,  his 
unselfish  and  devoted  patriotism,  is  full,  eloquent,  and  exhaustive.  It  was  this  address 
that  gave  rise  to  the  bitter  controversy  between  Hon.  A.  H.  Stephens  and  Mr.  Hill  over  the 
Hampton  Koads  conference.  The  address  closes  with  practical  suggestions  for  the  im 
provement  and  elevation  of  the  politics  and  statesmanship  of  the  country. 

Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  ;  The  object  of  this  meeting  is  to 
organize,  in  Georgia,  an  auxiliary  branch  of  "  The  Southern  Historical 
Society."  The  object  of  this  society  is  to  collect  and  preserve  authentic 
materials  for  a  full  and  correct  history  of  the  Confederate  States.  I  have 
accepted  the  flattering  invitation  to  address  you  on  this  occasion,  and  now 
proceed  to  perform  the  part  allotted  me,  as  both  a  duty  and  a  pleasure. 

When  the  war  between  secession  and  coercion  ended,  the  Southern 
States  were  under  every  obligation  which  defeat  could  imply  or  surrender 
impose,  to  abandon  secession  as  a  remedy  for  every  grievance,  real  or  sup 
posed.  Whatever  might  have  been  their  convictions  touching  the  abstract 
right  of  secession,  or  the  sufficiency  of  the  causes  which  provoked  its  exer 
cise,  surrender  was  a  confession  of  inability  to  maintain  it  by  the  sword, 
and  honor  and  fair  dealing  demanded  that  the  sword  should  be  sheathed. 
But  defeat,  in  a  physical  contest,  does  not  prove  that  the  defeated  party 
was  in  the  wrong.  It  is  certainly  no  evidence  of  criminal  motive.  It  is  a 
confession  of  weakness,  not  of  crime.  Were  it  otherwise,  the  robber  is  a  law- 
abiding  citizen,  and  his  victim  a  thief.  Socrates  was  a  felon  and  the  mob 
that  sentenced  him  to  death  were  patriots.  In  a  wicked  world  innocence 
and  right  are  not  at  all  incompatible  with  failure,  sorrow,  and  humiliation. 
Else  the  man  who  fell  among  thieves  on  his  way  from  Jerusalem  to  Jericho 

•         •          i  "i     i    «  i  i  j  *  j  1       J1     j  *  I » 


gentlem 

and  nothing  more,  was  the  confession  of  surrender,  and  the  obligation  to 
remain  in  the  LTnion  and  discharge  all  its  duties  under  the  Constitution 
necessarily  resulted. 

So,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Northern  States— the  asserters  of  the  right  of 


no  right— political,  moral,  or  honorable— to  enlarge  the  issue  after  the  contest 
had  ended,  and  the  issue  made  by  the  contest  was  exhausted  and  deter 
mined. 

The  Southern  States  and  people  accepted,  in  a  frank  and  liberal        it,  * 

399 


400  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

the  just  consequences  of  their  defeat.  They  abandoned  secession,  and  the 
doctrine  of  secession,  as  a  practical  remedy  for  all  grievances,  past  or  future, 
and  for  all  time.  They  did  more.  Property  in  slaves  was  not  the  cause  of 
the  war.  It  was  not  the  great  fundamental  right  for  which  the  Southern 
States  went  into  secession.  It  was  only  an  incident  to  that  right.  The 
right  of  the  States  to  regulate  their  own  internal  affairs,  by  the  exercise  of 
the  powers  of  government  which  they  had  never  delegated,  and  the  con 
viction  that  independence  was  necessary  to  preserve  that  right  of  self- 
government,  was  the  great,  moving,  inspiring  cause  of  the  seceding  States. 
There  was  not  a  day  of  the  struggle  when  the  Southern  people  would  not 
have  surrendered  slavery  to  secure  independence.  But  slavery  was  the 
particular  property  which,  it  was  believed,  was  endangered  without  inde- 


pation  was  issued  finally,  and  a  movement  was  made  to  amend  the  Federal 
Constitution  as  if  to  make  this  emancipation  effectual.  But  this  was 
avowedly  done  as  a  threat  to  induce  a  surrender  to  avoid  such  a  result. 
Yet  promptly  after  surrender,  the  Southern  people  waived  the  discussion  of 
all  technicalities  on  this  question,  and  relieved  their  late  enemies  of  all 
necessity  to  enter  upon  such  discussion,  and,  in  conventions  assembled,  each 
State  for  itself,  most  solemnly  abolished  slavery  in  their  borders.  To  pro 
tect  the  negro  in  his  freedom  was  more  than  a  corollary  to  this  emancipa 
tion.  It  was  a  duty  which  the  preservation  of  society  made  necessary  in 
each  State,  and  by  each  State  for  itself. 

But  the  Northern  States  and  people  were  not  satisfied  with  these  prompt 
and  manly  concessions  by  our  people  of  every  legal,  necessary,  reasonable, 
and  even  incidental  result  of  defeat  in  the  war.  The  war  being  over,  our 
arms  surrendered,  our  government  scattered,  and  our  people  helpless,  they 
now  determined  not  only  to  enlarge  the  issues  made  by  the  war  and  during 
the  war,  but  they  also  determined  to  change  those  issues  and  make  demands 
which  had  not  before  been  made,  which  indeed  had  been  utterly  disclaimed 
in  every  possible  form  by  every  State  of  the  North  and  every  department 
of  the  Federal  Government — legislative,  executive,  and  judicial.  Nay,  they 
now  made  demands  which  they  had,  in  every  form,  declared  they  could 
have  no  power  or  right  to  make  without  violating  the  Constitution  they 
had  sworn  to  support,  and  destroying  the  Union  they  had  waged  the  war 
itself  to  preserve.  Over  and  over  during  the  war  they  proclaimed  in  every 
authoritative  form  to  us  and  to  foreign  governments,  that  secession  was  a 
nullity,  that  our  States  were  still  in  the  Union  ;  and  that  we  had  only  to 
lay  down  our  arms,  and  retain  all  our  rights  and  powers  as  equal  States  in 
the  Union.  We  laid  down  our  arms,  and  immediately  they  insisted  our 
States  had  lost  all  their  rights  and  powers  in  the  Union,  and  while  com 
pelled  to  remain  under  the  control  of  the  Union,  we  could  only  do  so  with 
such  rights  and  powers  as  they  might  accord,  and  on  such  terms  and  con 
ditions  as  they  might  impose. 

Over  and  over  again  during  the  war  they,  in  like  authoritative  forms, 
proclaimed  that  our  people  had  taken  up  arms  in  defense  of  secession  under 
misapprehension  of  their  purposes  toward  us,  and  that  we  had  only  to  lay 
down  our  arms  and  continue  to  enjoy,  in  the  Union,  every  right  and  privi 
lege  as  bo  fore  the  mistaken  act  of  secession.  We  laid  down  our  arms  and 
they  declarei}  we  were  all  criminals  and  traitors,  who  had  forfeited  every 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND   WRITINGS.  401 

right  and  privilege,  and  were  entitled  to  neither  property,  liberty,  or  life, 
except  through  their  clemency  ! 

Over  and  over  again  during  the  war  they,  in  like  authoritative  forms, 
proclaimed  that  the  seats  of  our  members  in  Congress  were  vacant,  and  we 
had  only  to  return  and  occupy  them  as  it  was  both  our  right  and  duty  to  do. 
Our  people  laid  down  their  arms  and  sent  on  their  members,  and  they  were 
met  with  the  startling  proposition  that  we  had  neither  the  right  to  partici 
pate  in  the  administration  of  the  Union,  nor  even  to  make  law  or  govern 
ment  for  our  own  States  ! 

Addressing  this  Society  in  Virginia,  during  the  last  summer,  Mr.  Davis 
said  :  "  We  were  more  cheated  than  conquered  into  surrender."  The 
Northern  press  denounced  this  as  a  slander,  and  some  of  our  Southern  press 
deprecated  the  expression  as  indiscreet !  I  aver  to-night,  what  history  will 
affirm,  that  the  English  language  does  not  contain,  and  could  not  form  a 
sentence  of  equal  size  which  expressed  more  truth.  We  were  cheated  not 
only  by  our  enemies  ;  but  the  profuse  proclamations  of  our  enemies,  before 
referred  to,  were  taken  up  and  repeated  by  malcontents  in  our  midst — many 
of  them,  too,  who  had  done  all  in  their  power  to  hurry  our  people  into 
secession.  They  coupled  these  professions  and  promises  of  our  enemies 
with  brazen  assertions  that  the  laws  of  the  Confederate  Government, 
enacted  to  carry  on  the  war,  were  unconstitutional  and  void.  They  scat 
tered  these  documents  of  twin  falsehood  and  treachery  among  our  people  to 
prove  to  them  that  they  had  a  right  to  refuse  supplies  to  the  soldiers.  They 
scattered  them  through  the  army  to  convince  soldiers  it  was  no  crime  to 
desert.  And  they  scattered  them  among  our  enemies  to  prove  to  them  that 
our  people  were  dividing,  that  our  armies  were  weakening,  and  that  they 
had  only  to  take  courage  and  keep  up  the  struggle,  and  surrender  was 
inevitable  !  Oh,  my  friends,  we  were  fearfully,  sadly,  treacherously,  alto 
gether  cheated  into  surrender  !  If  the  demands  made,  after  the  war  was 
over,  had  been  frankly  avowed  while  the  war  was  in  progress,  there  would 
have  been  no  pretexts  for  our  treacherous  malcontents ;  there  would  have 
been  no  division  or  wearying  among  our  people  ;  there  would  have  been  no 
desertions  from  our  armies,  and  there  would  have  been  no  surrender  of 
arms,  nor  loss  of  our  cause  !  Never  !  Never  ! 

But  the  Northern  States  and  people  having  made  these  demands  as 
results  of  the  war,  when  we  could  join  no  issue  on  them  in  battle,  there 
were  only  legal  and  political  forums  left  in  which  to  test  their  justice  and 
truth.  Had  sovereign  States  committed  treason?  Were  eight  millions  of 
people  traitors?  Were  leaders  who  had  only  obeyed  their  States,  and 
served  their  people,  criminals  worthy  of  death  ? 

These  were  the  great  questions,  and  the  most  usual  forums  to  determine 
such  issues  were  the  courts  of  law.     There  was  certainly  no   hindrance  to 
such  a  test.     Our  great  chief  was  a  prisoner—in  a  dungeon— in  chains ! 
He  was  not  only  ready  and  willing  to  be  tried,  but  demanded  a  trial.     By 
himself  he  was  most  anxious  to  vindicate  the  innocence  of  his  people  or  in 
himself  expiate  their  guilt  by  an  ignominious  death  !     Our  enemies  had 
appointment  of  the  judges  ;  the  formation  of  the  court ;  the  selection  of 
jury  ;  the  entire  control  and  direction  of  the  proceedings.     Why  did  they 
hesitate  ?     Why  did  they  finally  decline  to  try?     Was  it  because  of  mercy 
or  a  spirit  of  magnanimity?     Ah  !  we  shall  see  directly.     No,  they  were 
gnashing  their  teeth  with  rage.     They  knew  that  such  a  trial  bad  no  parall 
in  human  history.     They  knew  the  whole  world  and  posterity  for  all 


402  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

would  review  it.  There  was  the  written  law,  and  they  knew  it  had  not  been 
violated!  Eight  millions  of  people,  struggling  as  one  man  for  liberty,  were 
not  traitors  only  because  power  and  treachery  combined  to  defeat  and 
enslave  them.  To  try  and  convict,  was  to  commit  perjuries  which  would 
redden  human  nature  with  an  eternal  blush  of  shame.  To  try  and  acquit, 
was  a  judgment  under  oath,  by  their  own  courts,  that  the  war  of  coercion 
was  itself  but  a  gigantic  crime  against  humanity,  and  a  wicked  violation  of 
their  own  form  and  principles  of  government. 

Here  was  the  terrible  dilemma  which  confronted  our  accusers,  and  it  was 
so  palpable  that  all  the  insolence  of  recent  triumph  could  not  hide  it  ;  and 
they  were  left  no  resource  but  to  pretend  a  mercy,  whose  necessity  they 
despised,  and  turn  the  prisoner  loose,  after  a  long  and  most  cowardly 
delay. 

The  next  forum  in  which  our  people  had  a  right  to  be  heard,  was  the 
Congress — the  national  councils.  By  every  protest  and  profession  of  our 
enemies,  before  and  during  the  war,  the  Union  was  preserved,  and  by  the 
plain  terms  of  the  Constitution  each  State  was  entitled  to  representation  in 
both  branches  of  Congress.  The  refusal  to  test  the  crime  of  secession  before 
the  courts  increased,  if  possible,  the  obligation  to  recognize  this  clear  right 
of  representation.  This  was  a  rare  opportunity  for  vindication.  The  forms 
of  government  had  afforded  it  to  few  defeated  parties  in  history,  and  to 
none  on  such  terms  of  fairness  and  equality.  There  was  never  a  time  when 
the  intellect  of  a  people  was  so  needed  for  their  vindication,  and  no  people 
ever  possessed  grander  intellects  for  the  work.  We  had  trained  statesmen, 
constitutional  lawyers,  skilled  debaters,  who  were  perfectly  familiar  with 
every  fact  and  learned  in  every  principle  involved.  And  the  very  ablest 
and  best  of  these  there  was  no  reason  to  doubt  every  Southern  State  would 
at  once,  and  with  unanimity,  return  to  Congress.  If  this  had  been  done,  not 
only  would  the  South  have  been  vindicated,  but  the  present  horrible  sectional 
acrimony,  with  all  the  black  record  of  reconstruction,  would  have  been 
avoided.  The  reunion  would  have  been  made  cordial,  with  secession 
abandoned  and  slavery  abolished.  The  Southern  States  would  already  have 
been  far  advanced  in  the  work  of  material  recovery,  of  social  order,  and 
political  contentment  ;  and  all  the  States — co-equals  in  a  common  Union — 
would  be  rejoicing  in  a  manifest  new  lease  of  Constitutional  government  and 
republican  liberty. 

But  the  very  reasons  which  made  the  return  of  our  ablest  men  to  Con 
gress  a  glorious  opportunity  for  us,  made  it  a  dreaded  one  for  our  adver 
saries.  Victors  as  they  were  in  a  physical  contest,  they  were  not  willing  to 
meet  the  vanquished  in  intellectual  gladiatorship.  To  protect  themselves 
from  this  collision  of  mind,  they  determined  to  add  yet  further  crimes  to  their 
cowardice.  And  now  we  approach  the  analysis  of  the  most  stupendous  series 
of  crimes  ever  perpetrated  in  human  history,  by  individuals  or  States, 
civilized  or  savage.  Unwilling  to  risk  their  own  judges  and  juries  to  pass 
legally  upon  the  treason  charged,  our  adversaries  determined  to  punish  with 
out  conviction.  Unwilling  to  hazard  the  power  of  equal  debate  upon  the 
minds  and  consciences  of  their  own  people,  they  determined  to  condemn 
without  a  hearing.  And  why  not  ?  Their  victims  were  unarmed  and  help 
less,  ^and  the  luxury  of  vengeance  could  have  easy,  safe,  and  unrestrained 
gratification. 

The  first  act  was  for  Congress,  composed  chiefly  of  men  who  had  been 
borne  into  their  seats  on  the  bloody  tide  of  sectional  hate  and  strife,  to  seize 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  403 

all  legislative  powers  into  their  own  hands,  and  exclude  the  Southern  States 
not  only  from  actual  representation,  but  from  the  right  of  representa 
tives. 

To  justify  this  enormous  usurpation,  they  declared  the  Southern  States 
needed  reconstruction.  As  this  idea  was  wholly  unknown  to  the  Constitu 
tion,  they  boldly  put  themselves  outside  of  the  Constitution  they  had  sworn 
to  observe.  To  make  the  work  of  reconstruction  effective,  they  resolved 
that  it  belonged  exclusively  to  Congress — the  legislative  department — and 
that  the  executive  department  could  not  and  should  not  participate,  except 
to  furnish  the  military  to  aid  in  holding  the  victims  still  while  the  punish 
ment  was  being  inflicted.  To  prevent  any  embarrassing  review  of  their 
measures,  they  further  resolved  that  all  questions  arising  under  reconstruc 
tion  were  political  and  not  judicial,  and  that,  therefore,  the  courts  could  not 
and  should  not  pass  upon  their  constitutionality.  Thus  fortified  in  their 
usurpations,  and  goaded  by  rancorous,  blind,  long-nurtured  hate,  they  com 
menced  the  work  of  dissolving  governments  ;  destroying  States  ;  robbing, 
insulting,  and  oppressing  already  impoverished  and  helpless  peoples,  and 
humiliating  the  white  race  !  They  entered  each  Southern  State,  and  declared 
all  existing  governments  to  be  illegal.  They  outlawed  and  set  aside  all  ex 
isting  constituencies — the  constituencies  which  originated  State  governments, 
and  participated  in  forming  the  Federal  Government.  They  created  new 
constituencies  composed  chiefly  of  ignorant  negroes.  They  offered  to  include 
in  these  new  constituencies  such  of  the  resident  whites  as  would  consent  that 
the  usurpations  were  legal,  and  these  punishments  were  just  ;  and  it  must 
ever  be  a  sad  recital,  for  all  time,  that  some  of  our  people  were  willing  to 
barter  their  section,  State,  race,  and  blood,  for  the  privilege  of  aiding  in  this 
work  of  destruction,  degradation,  and  infamy.  The  future  historian  will 
weep  bitter  tears  when  he  finds  himself  compelled  to  record  this  darkest 
exhibition  of  human  treachery  and  depravity,  and  he  will  close  up  the  chap 
ter  as,  with  nervous  energy,  he  shall  write  the  withering  judgment  of  all 
decent  humanity  for  all  future  ages  :  Cursed,  thrice  cursed  forever,  be  the 
memories  of  such  unnatural  monsters  among  men  ! 

These  motley  constituencies  of  ignorance  and  vice,  having  no  conception 
but  in  hate  ;  no  birth  but  in  strife  ;  no  nursing  but  in  usurpation,  and  no 
strength  but  in  crime  and  treachery,  were  placed,  in  each  State,  under  the 
appropriate  lead  of  adventurous  vagabonds,  bankrupt  in  fortunes  and  hungry 
for  the  spoil  of  their  victims  ;  paupers  from  birth  in  every  sentiment  of 
honor,  and  enjoying  with  keen  relish  the  humiliation  of  their  superiors  ! 
And  these  formed  the  government  under  which  we  have  been  dying, 
rant  negroes  have  been  made  masters;  proud,  educated  masters  made  slaves 
Robbers  have  been  made  rulers  ;  thieves  have  been  made  detectives,  all 
protected  by  Federal  power;  while  humble  submission  to  the  remorseless 
demands  of  this  insatiate  wickedness  has  been  made  the  only  test  of  loyalty 
and  devotion  to  that  Union  which  our  fathers  helped  to  form  in  order  to 
secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  to  them  and  their  posterity 

Many  of  the  effects  of  this  policy  of  reconstruction,  the  future 
will  have  no  difficulty  in  discovering. 

The  millions  of  taxes  we  have  had  to  pay  to  feed  these  vampires  upc 
our  substances,  and  sickening  eye-sores  to  our  pride  and  honor  ; 
of  debt  piled  up  for  our  posterity  to  pay  in  bonds  issued  by 
gamblers  upon  the  property,  life,  and  hope  of  the  people  of  these 
the   miscegenating  orgies  of  loyal  legislators  and  reckless  plunder 


404  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

carpet-bag  governors  ;  the  readiness  with  which  criminals  were  turned  loose, 
and  the  equal  readiness  with  which  good  citizens  were  arrested  without 
warrant,  tried  without  law,  convicted  without  evidence,  and  hurried  off  to 
foreign  prisons  without  mercy,  only  because  they  were  suspected  of  having 
too  much  manhood  to  bear  their  wrongs  with  unmurmuring  submission  ;  how 
our  lands  were  depreciated,  our  society  demoralized,  and  all  our  most  intelli 
gent  and  virtuous  citizens  were  denied  all  right  to  provide  remedies.  These, 
and  many  more  of  like  character,  the  future  historian  will  easily  see,  and 
must  see,  though  every  glance  create  nausea.  But  there  are  other  facts 
and  incidents,  not  so  patent  to  the  world  and  not  on  record,  which  may  be 
found  in  every  neighborhood,  and  which  we  ought  to  gather  up  as  far  as  we 
can.  Rich  men  have  been  made  poor  ;  proud  men  have  been  made  humble  ; 
noble  women  have  been  insulted  ;  innocent  men  have  been  imprisoned  ; 
many,  very  many,  have  been  too  weak  to  bear  their  sorrows  and  the  sorrows 
of  their  country,  and  kind  death  has  brought  them  a  refuge  from  grief. 
And  yet  the  authors  of  all  these  wrongs  boast  of  the  great  magnanimity 
and  generosity  they  have  exhibited  to  a  fallen  foe  !  They  did  not  hang  and 
exile  our  leaders,  nor  confiscate  our  property  !  What  conqueror  was  ever 
before  so  manly  and  liberal  ?  But  they  made  slaves  of  masters,  and  masters 
of  slaves;  law-makers  of  vagabonds;  rulers  of  strangers,  and  tax  gatherers  of 
robbers.  They  declined  to  take  life,  only  that  they  might  make  life  a 
lingering  death.  They  did  not  drive  us  from  home,  only  that  they  might 
make  home  the  abode  of  sorrow  and  poverty.  They  failed  to  confiscate  our 
property  by  the  usual  act  of  government,  that  it  might  remain  to  be  taken 
by  negroes,  thieves,  and  strangers,  as  their  own  lawful  spoil  !  Death,  exile, 
confiscation  would  end  the  punishment  too  soon.  Such  vengeance  craved 
longer  revel  and  slower  torture  !  And  if  we,  who  have  been  the  witnesses 
to  these  horrors,  and  the  victims  of  these  wrongs,  will  only  gather  up  and 
preserve  the  unwritten  outrages,  and  unrecorded  griefs  of  the  last  seven 
years,  all  posterity  will,  with  one  voice,  declare  that  the  punishments  inflicted 
by  our  adversaries  upon  the  Southern  States  and  people  under  the  name  of 
reconstruction,  for  vindictiveness  of  hate,  for  meanness  of  oppression,  for 
cool,  prolonged  relish  of  torture,  and  for  insatiate  extravagance  of  plunder, 
are  without  parallel  in  precedent,  civilized  or  heathen  ! 

It  must  be  admitted  that  our  enemies  were  wisely  wicked.  They  well 
knew  it  would  never  do  to  admit  Southern  intellect  into  the  national  coun 
cils,  until  their  work  was  fully  completed  and  had  been  made  part  of  the 
fundamental  law.  Even  when  reconstruction  had  reached  the  point  that 
the  doors  of  Congress  must  be  opened,  they  were  only  allowed  to  be  opened 
to  such  as  were  participants  in,  and  products  of  the  infamy.  The  caressing 
fathers  took  only  to  their  arms  the  dirty  children  their  vengeance  had 
begotten.  In  1872,  alarmed  by  what  seemed  to  be  a  returning  sense  of  jus 
tice  at  the  North,  aided  by  most  remarkable  concessions  for  peace  and 
deliverance  at  the  South,  Congress  removed  the  illegal  disabilities  imposed 
upon  most  of  our  leaders,  though  upon  many  even  yet  these  disabilities  remain. 
In  the  mean  time,  most  of  our  greatest  men,  who  were  most  familiar  with 
the  facts  of  the  past,  'so  essential  to  our  vindication,  had  passed  away,  or 
were  rapidly  passing  away.  A  very  few  of  these  were  released  from  these 
bonds  upon  the  use  of  their  intellects.  But,  most  manifestly,  a  better  oppor 
tunity  had  returned  at  last  to  the  Southern  people,  and  it  was  expected  by 
our  enemies  and  the  world,  that  this  opportunity  would  be  improved,  and  our 
very  ablest  men  everywhere  chosen  to  Congress.  And  now  comes  the  most 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  405 

curious  chapter  in  our  history.  It  will  puzzle  the  future  historian.  Not  a 
single  man  who  was  in  full  sympathy  and  accord  with  the  Confederate 
administration,  and  who  was  intimate  in  the  councils  and,  daily  as  it  pro 
gressed,  familiar  with  the  policy  of  that  administration,  has  been  called  by 
our  own  people  to  a  single  prominent  position,  State  or  national !  While 
many  who  gave  aid  and  encouragement  to  the  enemy,  by  disaffecting  our 
people  to  that  administration  during  the  war  of  coercion,  and  refused  to  give 
counsel,  or  counseled  consent,  during  the  baser  war  of  reconstruction,  have 
received  high  marks  of  confidence  from  our  enemies,  and  high  positions  of 
honor  from  our  people  !  Crowds  of  intellectual  imbeciles,  like  flocks  of  noisy 
blackbirds  in  harvest  time,  rushed  forward  to  secure,  by  personal  scramble 
and  trade,  those  positions  of  heaviest  trust  and  responsibility,  and  thus  mur 
der  all  hope  of  having  any  vindication  of  our  dead,  or  justice  for  our  livino-  in 
the  councils  of  the  nation. 

When  such  a  State  as  Virginia,  in  such  a  crisis  as  this,  for  such  a  place  as 
the  Senate,  repudiates  such  a  statesman  as  Hunter — familiar  with  every  fact  of 
the  Federal  history,  intimately  familiar  with  every  fact  in  Confederate  councils, 
trained  in  debate,  learned  in  Constitutional  law,  courteous  iifmanner,  accu 
rate  in  statement,  powerful  in  logic,  and  respected  even  by  our  enemies — I 
think  it  is  time  to  despair  of  doing  anything,  in  this  generation,  to  lift  the 
South  to  her  former  position  of  influence  and  power  in  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States.  To  feed  our  people  on  frothy  declamation  now,  however  blown 

/%*  *          1  •  1  /•  T  *  •  i«-* 


of  Northern  representatives,  as  compared  with  those  they  sent  to  Congres's 
before  the  war,  but  increased  the  chances  for  Southern  statesmen  to  remove, 
by  proper  debate  in  the  national  councils,  the  false  theories  and  impressions 
which  have  been  crowded  into  the  minds  of  the  Northern  people,  and  thus 
return  the  general  government  to  its  Constitutional  limitations,  restore  to 
the  States  the  free  exercise  of  their  reserved  rights,  and  rescue  from  de 
struction  for  our  enemies  as  well  as  for  ourselves,  those  great  principles  of 
Constitutional  government  which  every  purpose  of  the  Confederates  sought 
to  maintain,  and  which  every  feature  of  coercion  must  logically  tend  to 
destroy. 

Thus,  denied  by  our  enemies  the  opportunity  of  silencing,  by  the  solemn 
judgments  of  their  own  courts,  the  fierce  accusations  of  criminality  in  seces 
sion  ;  and  denied,  by  our  enemies  and  the  follies  of  our  own  people,  the 
glorious  chance  of  vindicating  our  cause  in  high  debate,  and  face  to  face  with 
the  chosen  champions  of  our  accusers,  we  have  but  one  resource  left  us  for 
defense  or  vindication.  That  resource  is  history — impartial,  and  impas 
sioned,  un-office-seeking  history !  It  is  to  secure  a  fair  trial  before  this 
august  tribunal  that  this  society  has  been  organized  to  collect,  prepare,  and 
perpetuate  the  evidence.  Our  enemies  are  exceedingly  active  in  their 
efforts  to  get  a  false  presentation  of  the  testimony  for  the  judgment  of  his 
tory.  They  are  seeking  to  monopolize  the  possession  of  our  own  records. 
They  readily  pay  more  money  for  disjointed  portions  of  Confederate 
archives  than  they  did  for  the  Madison  papers,  giving  an  account  of  the 
proceedings  of  the"  convention  that  framed  the  Constitution.  It  is  shameful 
to  see  how  much  assistance  they  are  receiving  in  their  efforts  to  pervert  and 
falsify  our  history,  from  those  malcontents  who  kept  up  such  restless  assaults 
on  the  Confederate  administration.  The  men  who  quareled  more  with  their 


406  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

own  side  than  with  the  enemy  during  the  struggle,  are  among  the  first,  after 
the  war,  to  rush  to  writing  books  to  give  their  account  of  the  government 
they  did  so  much  to  break  down.  We  owe  it,  therefore,  to  our  dead,  to  out 
living,  and  to  our  children,  to  be  active  in  the  work  of  preserving  the  truth 
and  repelling  the  falsehoods,  so  that  we  may  secure,  for  them  and  for  us, 
just  judgment  from  the  only  tribunal  before  which  we  can  be  fully  and  fairly 
heard. 

If  the  full  truth  can  be  secured  and  preserved,  we  shall  have  nothing  to 
fear  in  the  comparison  with  our  enemy  which  history  will  make.  The 
courage  of  our  troops  is  beyond  perversion.  The  fact  that  we  killed, 
wounded,  and  captured  a  greater  number  of  the  enemy  than  we  had  soldiers 
in  our  armies,  is  a  tribute  to  our  gallantry  and  skill  which  the  records  of  no 
civilized  war  can  surpass.  With  inferior  arms  and  limited  resources,  shut 
up  from  supplies  from  the  outside  world,  and  with  unfortunate  and  fatal 
divisions  between  the  Southern  States  and  among  ourselves,  we  made  a  fight 
for  independence  which  no  people  on  earth  ever  yet  equaled. 

Equally  wonderful  were  the  achievements  of  our  statesmanship.  In  the 
beginning  we  had  neither  government,  nor  army,  nor  navy,  nor  treasury. 
All  these  we  had  to  improvise  in  the  very  hearing  of  an  arming  foe,  who  had 
an  established  government,  an  organized  army,  a  powerful  navy,  and  all  the 
sinews  and  appliances  of  war  in  extravagant  abundance.  And  yet,  when  the 
enactments  and  measures  of  the  Confederate  Government  shall  be  critically 
examined,  they  will  be  found  to  have  sprung  into  existence  with  a  wisdom, 
a  vigor,  an  aptitude  for  the  crisis  and  a  strict  conformity  to  all  the  principles 
of  free  institutions,  which  must  challenge  the  admiration  of  publicists  and 
statesmen  for  all  time. 

No  people,  ancient  or  modern,  can  look  with  more  pride  to  the  verdict 
which  history  will  be  compelled  to  render  upon  the  merits  and  characters  of 
our  two  chief  leaders — the  one  in  the  military  and  the  other  in  the  civil 
service.  Most  other  leaders  are  great  because  of  fortunate  results,  and 
heroes  because  of  success.  Davis  and  Lee,  because  of  qualities  in  them 
selves,  are  great  in  the  face  of  fortune,  and  heroes  in  spite  of  defeat. 

When  the  future  historian  shall  come  to  survey  the  character  of  Lee,  he 
will  find  it  rising  like  a  huge  mountain  above  the  undulating  plain  of 
humanity,  and  he  must  lift  his  eyes  high  toward  Heaven  to  catch  its  summit. 
He  possessed  every  virtue  of  other  great  commanders  without  their  vices.  He 
was  a  foe  without  hate  ;  a  friend  without  treachery  ;  a  soldier  without  cruelty; 
a  victor  without  oppression,  and  a  victim  without  murmuring.  He  was 
a  public  officer  without  vices  ;  a  private  citizen  without  wrong  ;  a  neighbor 
without  reproach  ;  a  Christian  without  hypocrisy,  and  a  man  without  guile. 
Ie  was  Caesar,  without  his  ambition  ;  Frederick,  without  his  tyranny  ; 
Napoleon,  without  his  selfishness,  and  Washington,  without  his  reward, 
rle  was  obedient  to  authority  as  a  servant,  and  royal  in  authority  as  a  true 
king.  He  was  gentle  as  a  woman  in  life  ;  modest  and  pure  as  a  virgin  in 
thought ;  watchful  as  a  Roman  vestal  in  duty ;  submissive  to  law  as 
Socrates,' and  grand  in  battle  as  Achilles  ! 

There  were  many  peculiarities  in  the  habits  and  character  of  Lee,  which 
are  but  little  known  and  which  may  be  studied  with  profit.  He  studiously 
avoided  giving  opinions  upon  subjects  which  it  had  not  been  his  calling  or 
training  to  investigate  ;  and  sometimes  I  thought  he  carried  this  great  virtue 
too  far.  Neither  the  President,  nor  Congress,  nor  friends  could  get  his 
views  upon  any  public  question  not  strictly  military,  and  no  man  had  as 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WltfTIXGS.  407 

much  quiet,  unobtrusive  contempt  for  what  he  called  "military  statesmen 
and  political  generals."  Meeting  him  once  in  the  streets  of  Richmond,  as  I 
was  going  out  and  he  going  in  the  executive  office,  I  said  to  him  :  "  General, 
I  wish  you  would  give  us  your  opinion  as  to  the  propriety  of  changing  the 
seat  of  government,  and  going  further  South." 

"That  is  a  political  question,  Mr.  Hill,  and  you  politicians  must  deter 
mine  it.  I  shall  endeavor  to  take  care  of  the  army  and  you  must  make  the 
laws  and  control  the  government." 

"  Ah,  General,"  I  said,  "  but  you  will  have  to  change  that  rule,  and  form 
and  express  political  opinions ;  for,  if  we  establish  our  independence,  the 
people  will  make  you  Mr.  Davis's  successor." 

"Never,  sir,"  he  replied,  with  a  firm  dignity  that  belonged  only  to  Lee. 
"  That  I  will  never  permit.  Whatever  talents  I  may  possess  (and  they  are 
but  limited)  are  military  talents.  My  education  and  training  are  militaiy. 
I  think  the  military  and  civil  talents  are  distinct,  if  not  different,  and  full 
duty  in  either  sphere  is  about  as  much  as  one  man  can  qualify  himself  to 
perform.  I  shall  not  do  the  people  the  injustice  to  accept  high  civil  office, 
with  whose  questions  it  has  not  been  my  business  to  become  familiar." 

"  Well,  but  General,"  I  insisted,  "  history  does  not  sustain  your  view. 
Caesar,  and  Frederick  of  Prussia,  and  Bonaparte,  were  all  great  statesmen 
as  well  as  great  generals." 

"  And  all  great  tyrants,"  he  promptly  rejoined.  "  I  speak  of  the  proper 
rule  in  republics,  where,  I  think,  we  should  have  neither  military  statesmen 
nor  political  generals." 

"  But  Washington  was  both,  and  yet  not  a  tyrant,"  I  repeated. 

And  with  a  beautiful  smile,  he  said  :  "  Washington  was  an  exception  to 
all  rule,  and  there  was  none  like  him." 

I  could  find  no  words  to  answer,  but  instantly  I  said  in  thought:  "Surely 
Washington  is  no  longer  the  only  exception,  for  one  like  him,  if  not  even 
greater,  is  here." 

Lee  sometimes  indulged  in  satire,  to  which  his  greatness  gave  point  and 
power.  He  was  especially  severe  on  newspaper  criticisms  of  military  move 
ments — subjects  about  which  the  writers  knew  nothing. 

"  We  made  a  great  mistake,  Mr.  Hill,  in  the  beginning  of  our  struggle, 
and  I  fear,  in  spite  of  all  we  can  do,  it  will  prove  to  be  a  fatal  mistake,"  he 
said  to  me,  after  General  Bragg  ceased  to  command  the  Army  of  Tennessee, 
an'  event  Lee  deplored. 

"  What  mistake  is  that,  General? ' 

"Why,  sir,  in  the  beginning,  we  appointed  all  our  worst  generals  to 
command  the  armies,  and  all  our  best  generals  to  edit  the  newspapers.  As 
you  know,  I  have  planned  some  campaigns  and  quite  a  number  of  battles. 
I  have  given  the  work  all  the  care  and  thought  I  could,  and  sometimes  when 
my  plans  were  completed,  as  far  as  I  could  see,  they  seemed  to  be  perfect. 
But  when  I  have  fought  them  through,  I  have  discovered  defects,  and  occa 
sionally  wondered  I  did  not  see  some  of  the  defects  in  advance.  When  it 
was  all  over,  I  found,  by  reading  a  newspaper,  that  these  best  editor-gener 
als  saw  all  the  defects  plainly  from  the  start.  Unfortunately  they  did  not 
communicate  their  knowledge  to  me  until  it  was  too  late  !  Then,  after^a 
pause,  he  added,  with  a  beautiful,  grave  expression  I  can  never  forget  : 
have  no  ambition  but  to  serve  the  Confederacy,  and  do  all  I  can  to  win  our 
independence.  I  am  willing  to  serve  in  any  capacity  to  which  the  authon 
ties  may  assign  me.  I  have  done  the  best  I  could  in  the  field,  and  have  not 


408  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

succeeded  as  I  could  wish.  I  am  willing  to  yield  my  place  to  these  best  gen 
erals,  and  I  will  do  my  best  for  the  cause  editing  a  newspaper  !  "  * 

Jefferson  Davis  was  as  great  in  the  cabinet  as  was  Lee  in  the  field.  He 
was  more  resentful  in  temper,  and  more  aggressive  in  his  nature  than  Lee. 
His  position,  too,  more  exposed  him  to  assaults  from  our  own  people.  He 
had  to  make  all  appointments,  and  though  often  upon  the  recommendation 
of  others,  all  the  blame  of  mistake  was  charged  to  him,  and  mistakes  were 
often  charged  by  disappointed  seekers  and  their  friends  which  were  not 
made.  He  also  made  recommendations  for  enactments,  and  though  these 
measures,  especially  the  military  portion,  invariably  had  the  concurrence  of, 
and  often  originated  with  Lee,  the  opposition  of  malcontents  was  directed 
at  Davis.  It  is  astonishing  how  men  in  high  position,  and  supposed  to  be 
great,  would  make  war  on  the  whole  administration  for  the  most  trivial  per 
sonal  disappointment.  Failures  to  get  places  for  favorites  of  very  ordinary 
character  have  inspired  long  harangues  against  the  most  important  measures, 
and  they  were  continued  and  repeated  even  after  those  measures  became 
laws.  "Can  you  believe,"  he  said  to  me  once,  "that  men — statesmen — in  a 
struggle  like  this,  would  hazard  an  injury  to  the  cause  because  of  their  per 
sonal  grievances,  even  if  they  were  well  founded  ! '  "  Certainly,"  I  replied, 
"  I  not  only  believe  it,  but  I  know  it.  There  are  men  who  regard  them 
selves  with  more  devotion  than  they  do  the  cause.  If  such  men  offer  you 
counsel  you  do  not  take,  or  ask  appointments  you  do  not  make,  however 
you  may  be  sustained  in  such  action  by  Lee  and  all  the  cabinet,  and  even 
the  Congress,  they  accept  your  refusal  as  questioning  their  wisdom,  and  as 
personal  war  on  them."  "I  cannot  conceive  of  such  a  feeling,"  he  said. 
'  I  have  but  one  enemy  to  fight,  and  that  is  our  common  enemy.  I  may 
make  mistakes,  and  doubtless  I  do,  but  I  do  the  best  I  can  with  all  the 
lights  at  the  time  before  me.  God  knows  I  would  sacrifice  most  willingly 
my  life,  much  more,  my  opinions,  to  defeat  that  enemy." 

We  all  remember  the  fierce  war  which  was  made,  in  Georgia,  against 
certain  war  measures  of  the  Congress,  and  against  Mr.  Davis  for  recom 
mending  them.  Conscription  and  impressment,  especially,  were  denounced 
as  unconstitutional  and  void,  and  not  binding  on  soldiers  or  people.  And 
then,  the  limited  suspension  of  habeas  corpus  was  made  the  occasion  for  a 
concerted  movement  on  the  Legislature,  assembled  in  extra  session,  to  array 
the  State  in  hostility  to  the  Confederate  administration.  It  failed.  This 
was  in  the  dark  days  of  1864.  On  returning  to  Richmond  after  thitf,  I 


pie  of  Georgia  will  cordially  sustain  you  in  all  your  efforts  to  achieve  our 
.  independence."     "  And  I  thank  you,  sir,   for  that  information,  and  I  have 
never  doubted  the  fidelity  of  Georgia."     "  The  people  of  Georgia  sustain 
you,"  I  added,  "not  only  because  they  have  confidence  in  you, "but  chiefly 
because  it  is  the  only  way  to  sustain  the  cause."     And  with  an  expression 
sincerity  glowing  all  over  his  countenance,  and  with  a  reverential  pathos 
1  can  never  forget,  he  said,  "  And  God  knows  my  heart,  I  ask  all,  ALL  for 
the  cause  ;  nothing,  NOTHING  for  myself."     Truer  words  never  fell  from 
lips,  nor  warmed  from  the  heart  of  a  more  devoted  patriot.     These 

^Since  making  this  address,  I  find  that  I  repeated  this  same  anecdote  in  the  speech  at 
La  Grunge,  m  March,  1865. 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  409 

words  express  in  language,  the  soul,  the  mind,  the  purpose,  aye,  the  ambi 
tion  of  Jefferson  Davis.  It  was  his  misfortune,  and  the  misfortune  of  the 
Confederacy,  that  this  was  not  true  of  all  who  were  in  authority.  It  was 
his  fault,  perhaps,  that  he  did  not  use  his  authority  to  deprive  such  of  their 
power  to  do  evil. 

I  am  speaking  in  Atlanta,  and  it  is  all  the  more  proper,  therefore,  that  I 
should  speak  for  the  first  time  in  public  of  the  removal  of  General  John 
ston  from  the  command  of  the  army  of  the  Tennessee. 

I  have  heard  it  said  that  I  advised  that  removal.  This  is  not  true.  I 
gave  no  advice  on  the  subject,  because  I  was  not  a  military  man.  You  have 
all  heard  it  said  that  Mr.  Davis  was  moved  by  personal  hostility  to  General 
Johnston,  in  making  this  removal.  This  is  not  only  not  true,  but  is  exceed 
ingly  false.  I  do  not  know  much  on  the  subject  of  this  removal.  I  was  the 
bearer  of  messages  from  General  Johnston  to  the  President,  and  was  in 
Richmond,  and  sometimes  present,  during  the  discussions  on  the  subject. 
I  never  saw  as  much  agony  in  Mr.  Davis's  face,  as  actually  distorted  it, 
when  the  possible  necessity  for  this  removal  was  at  first  suggested  to  him. 
I  never  heard  a  eulogy  pronounced  upon  General  Johnston  by  his  best 
friends,  as  a  fighter  if  he  would  fight,  equal  to  that  which  I  heard  from  Mr. 
Davis  during  these  discussions.  I  know  he  consulted  with  General  Lee 
fully,  earnestly,  and  anxiously  before  this  removal.  I  know  that  those  who 
pressed  the  removal,  first  and  most  earnestly,  in  the  cabinet,  were  those 
who  had  been  most  earnest  for  General  Johnston's  original  appointment  to 
that  command.  All  these  things  I  do  personally  know.  I  was  not  present 
when  the  order  for  removal  was  determined  upon,  but  I  received  it  imme 
diately  after  from  a  member  of  the  cabinet,  and  do  not  doubt  its  truth,  that 
Mr.  Davis  was  the  very  last  man  who  gave  his  assent  to  that  removal,  and 
he  only  gave  the  order  when  fully  satisfied  it  was  absolutely  necessary  to 
prevent  the  surrender  of  Atlanta  without  a  fight. 

The  full  history  of  the  Hampton  Roads  commission  and  conference  has 
never  been  written.  I  will  not  give  that  history  now.  Much  has  been  said 
and  published  on  the  subject  which  is  not  true.  I  know  why  each  member 
of  that  commission,  on  our  part,  was  selected.  I  received  from  Mr.  Davis's 
own  lips  a  full  account  of  the  conversation  between  himself  and  the  commis 
sioners  before  their  departure  from  Richmond. 

You  have  heard  it  said  that  the  President  embarrassed  the  commissioners 
by  giving  them  positive  instructions  to  make  the  recognition  of  independ 
ence  an  ultimatum — a  condition  precedent  to  any  negotiations.  This  is  not 
true.  Mr.  Davis  gave  the  commissioners  no  written  instructions  and  no  ulti 
matum.  He  gave  them,  in  conversation,  his  views,  but  leaving  much  to  their 
discretion.  They  could  best  judge  how  to  conduct  the  conference  when 
they  met.  His  own  opinion  was,  that  it  would  be  most  proper  and  wise,  so 
to  conduct  it,  if  they  could,  as  to  receive  rather  than  make  propositions. 
While  he  did  not  feel  authorized  to  yield  our  independence  in  advance,  and 
should  not  do  so,  and  while  he  did  not  desire  them  to  deceive  Mr.  Lincoln,  or 
be  responsible  for  any  false  impressions  Mr.  Lincoln  might  have,  yet,  he  was 
willing  for  them  to  secure  an  armistice,  although  they  might  be  satisfied  that 
Mr.  Lincoln,  in  agreeing  to  it,  did  so  under  the  belief  that  re-union  must,  as 
a  result,  follow.  "l  may  add  that  Mr.  Davis  had  no  hope  of  success,  or  of 
securing  an  armistice,  after  he  learned  that  Mr.  Seward  was  to  accompany  Mr. 
Lincoln.  «  Mr.  Lincoln,"  he  said,  "  is  au  honest,  well-meaning  man,  but 
Seward  is  wily  and  treacherous." 


410  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

I  could  detain  you  all  night  correcting  false  impressions  which  have  been 
industriously  made  against  this  great  and  good  man.  I  know  Jefferson 
Davis  as  I  know  few  men.  I  have  been  near  him  in  his  public  duties ;  I 
have  seen  him  by  his  private  fireside  ;  I  have  witnessed  his  humble  Christian 
devotions  ;  and  I  challenge  the  judgment  of  history  when  I  say,  no  people 
were  ever  led  through  the  fiery  struggle  for  liberty  by  a  nobler,  truer  pa 
triot  ;  while  the  carnage  of  war  and  the  trials  of  public  life  never  revealed 
a  purer  and  more  beautiful  Christian  character. 

Those  who,  during  the  struggle,  prostituted  public  office  for  private  gain; 
or  used  position  to  promote  favorites  ;  or  forgot  public  duty  to  avenge  pri 
vate  griefs  ;  or  were  derelict  or  faithless  in  any  form  to  our  cause,  are  they 
who  condemn  and  abuse  Mr.  Davis.  And  well  they  may,  for  of  all  such  he 
was  the  contrast,  the  rebuke  and  the  enemy.  Those  who  were  willing  to 
sacrifice  self  for  the  cause  ;  who  were  willing  to  bear  trials  for  its  success  ; 
who  were  willing  to  reap  sorrow  and  poverty  that  victory  might  be  won, 
will  ever  cherish  the  name  of  Jefferson  Davis,  for  to  all  such  he  was  a  glo 
rious  peer  and  a  most  worthy  leader. 

I  would  be  ashamed  of  my  own  unworthiness  if  I  did  not  venerate  Lee. 
I  would  scorn  my  own  nature  if  I  did  not  love  Davis.  I  would  question  my 
own  integrity  and  patriotism  if  I  did  not  honor  and  admire  both.  There  are 
some  who  affect  to  praise  Lee,  and  condemn  Davis.  But,  of  all  such,  Lee 
himself  would  be  ashamed.  No  two  leaders  ever  leaned,  each  on  the  other, 
in  such  beautiful  trust  and  absolute  confidence.  Hand  in  hand,  and  heart  to 
heart,  they  moved  in  front  of  the  dire  struggle  of  their  people  for  independ 
ence — a  noble  pair  of  brothers.  And  if  fidelity  to  right,  endurance  of  trials, 
and  sacrifice  of  self  for  others,  can  win  title  to  a  place  with  the  good  in  the 
great  hereafter,  then  Davis  and  Lee  will  meet  where  wars  are  not  waged,  and 
slanderers  are  not  heard  ;  and  as  heart  in  heart,  and  wing  to  wing  they  fly 
through  the  courts  of  Heaven,  admiring  angels  will  say,  What  a  noble  pair 
of  brothers  ! 

The  saddest  chapter  in  Confederate  history  which  the  future  historian 
will  be  called  upon  to  write,  will  be  that  one  in  which  he  will  undertake  to 
define  the  real  cause  of  our  failure.  For  the  truth  must  be  told. 

Five  millions  of  people,  in  such  a  country  as  we  possess,  were  not  con 
quered  because  our  resources  were  inferior,  or  our  enemies  were  so  powerful. 
All  physical  disadvantages  are  insufficient  to  account  for  our  failure.  The 
truth  is,  we  failed  because  too  many  of  our  own  people  were  not  determined 
to  win.  Malcontents  at  home  and  in  high  places  took  more  men  from  Lee's 
army  than  did  Grant's  guns.  The  same  agencies  created  dissensions  among 
our  people,  and  we  failed  to* win  independence  because  our  sacrifices  ceased, 
our  purpose  faltered,  and  our  strength  was  divided.  Kind  judge,  let  this 
sad  chapter  be  short ! 

But  above  all  things  we  have  least  to  dread  in  history  on  the  merits  of 
the  issues  which  divided  the  contending  parties.  The  Southern  States  and 
people  must  stand  before  the  bar  of  history  responsible  for  secession.  The 
Northern  States  and  people  must  stand  before  the  same  bar  responsible  for 
coercion  and  reconstruction.  Weighed  upon  principle,  by  authority,  and  by 
effects  and  consequences,  which  of  the  two  positions  is  the  more  inimical  to 
the  Union,  the  Constitutional  government,  and  to  liberty  ? 

When  the  States  formed  the  Union,  several  of  them,  especially  New 
York  and  Virginia,  expressly  reserved  the  right  to  withdraw  as  a  condition 
of  ratification.  This  reservation,  by  a  well-established  rule  of  construction, 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  411 

inured  to  all  the  parties  to  the  Union.  But  no  State  recognized  coercion  to 
preserve  the  Union  as  a  right  or  power  in  the  Federal  Government,  either 
express  or  resulting.  So,  in  the  very  stipulations  which  made  the  Union, 
secession  finds  a  justification,  and  coercion  none. 

From  1787  to  1860,  the  ablest  statesmen  in  America,  both  in  the  North 
and  in  the  South,  conceded  the  right  of  secession  to  the  States.  Some  in 
sisted  it  was  a  Constitutional  right,  inherent  in  the  sovereignty  of  the  States, 
and  conditioned  in  the  terms  of  the  compact.  Others  denied  it  was  a  Con 
stitutional  right,  but  said  it  was  only  a  revolutionary  right,  to  be  exercised 
for  cause,  and  that  infidelity  to  the  terms,  or  the  purposes  of  Union,  would 
be  sufficient  cause  to  justify  the  act.  But  no  accepted  statesman,  North  or 
South,  Whig  or  Democrat,  ever  contended  or  claimed  that  coercion  was  a 
right,  either  constitutional  or  revolutionary,  during  all  that  period.  So, 
upon  the  authority  of  all  our  great  statesmen,  including  the  very  framers  of 
the  Constitution,  secession  will  stand  in  history  acquitted  and  justified,  while 
coercion,  upon  the  same  authority,  must  be  condemned  as  criminal  and  with 
out  excuse. 

Secession,  consummated,  would  have  divided  the  Union  ;  the  seceding 
States  forming  a  new  Union,  and  leaving  the  old  Union  in  undisturbed  en 
joyment  of  the  States  remaining.  Coercion,  consummated,  would  first 
destroy  the  chief  character  of  the  Union,  by  making  it  a  Union  of  force, 
instead  of  a  Union  of  consent.  In  the  next  place,  coercion,  consummated, 
would  destroy  the  Union  and  substitute  consolidation  instead.  The  very 
word,  union,  implies  the  combination  of  separate  wholes  for  a  common  pur 
pose.  The  moment  you  destroy  the  separate  identity  of  the  members,  that 
moment  union  ceases,  and  unity — consolidation — is  accomplished.  To 
destroy,  is  a  greater  crime  than  to  separate  or  divide,  and  therefore,  coercion 
is  a  greater  crime  against  the  Union  than  secession. 

Again :  Secession  did  not  interfere  with  the  rights,  or  attack  the 
sovereignty,  or  lessen  the  dignity  or  importance  of  the  States.  Its  real 
great  purpose  was  to  rescue  all  these  from  the  consequences  of  threatened 

consolidation.     But  coercion,  in  its  very  nature,  asserts  dominion  over  the 

•>  •  1 1 

btates, 
destr 

But   I   have    shown   that   coercion    destroyed   the   Union   as  well   as    the 
States.     Then,  again,  the  Union    of  the  States  was  formed  to  secure  the 
blessings  of  liberty.     Secession  could  not  even  impair  the  liberties  of  the 
people.     It  interfered   in   no  way  whatever  with  the  rights  or  privileges  of 
the  Northern  States  and  people.     It  sought  only  to  make  more  secure  the 
rights,  liberties,   and  privileges  of   the   Southern  States  and  people, 
coercion,  in   destroying  the  Union,  and  making  a  consolidation,  and  m  de 
stroying  the  States,  can  have  no  logical  result  but  in  the  destruction  of  all 
the  liberties  of  all  the  people  North  and  South.     Will  our  people  never  per 
ceive  the  patent  truth,  that  coercion  must  work  consolidation,  and  that  con 
solidation    must   destroy  the   identity  and  powers  of   the  States   and 
liberties  of  the  people  ?     To  coerce  a  State  is  necessarily  to  enslave  the         e, 
and  to  enslave  the  State  is  necessarily  to  enslave  the  people  of  the 
Nothing  but  the  roar  of  cannon,  in  the  hands  of  unreasoning  physical  power, 

^j  * 

can  silence  this  logic  of  Liberty. 

Here,  then,  great  impartial  judge  of  the  future,  we  rest  the  law  of 
case.     Secession  did  not  destroy  the  Union,  nor  the  States,  nor  the  liberties 


412  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

the  Union  of  States  was  formed  to  secure.  It  only  proposed  to  divide  the 
Union,  in  order  to  rescue  the  States  and  the  liberties  of  the  people  from 
destruction  and  overthrow.  But  coercion  is  the  ruthless  criminal  which  has 
consolidated  the  Union,  enslaved  the  States,  and  destroyed  the  liberties  of 
the  people  ! 

Secession  invaded  no  State — interfered  with  no  right — lessened  the 
privileges  of  no  man.  Coercion  laid  waste  the  States,  enslaved  the  people, 
murdered  their  sons,  despoiled  their  daughters,  desolated  their  homes,  and 
burnt  up  their  property  ! 

And  what  is  Reconstruction  ?  It  is  the  practical  application  of  coercion. 
It  is  logic  turning  to  facts.  It  is  coercion  at  its  work.  It  is  the  torch  of 
the  incendiary  ;  the  knife  of  the  assassin  ;  the  fire-arm  of  the  bandit,  send 
ing  death-blows  to  the  life  of  the  State,  to  the  heart  of  society,  and  to  the 
hopes  of  civilization,  that  ignorance  and  vice  may  be  exalted,  and  intelli 
gence  and  virtue  degraded  ! 

Do  I  exasperate  ?     Look  at  South  Carolina  and   answer.     See  the  land 

~  ^j 

of  Marion  and  Sumter ;  of  Rutledge  and  Pinckney  ;  of  Calhoun  and  Butler, 
the  prey  and  sport  of  rioting  thieves  and  gluttonous  plunderers,  whose 
orgies  continue  days,  months,  and  years  in  the  face  of  the  nation  and  under 
Federal  protection  ? 

Look  at  Louisiana  !  Behold  a  sovereign  State  sentenced  to  the  chain- 
gang  by  telegram  from  Washington,  to  work  at  hard  labor  under  negro 
and  carpet-bag  drivers  ! 

This  !  this,  is  the  fruit  of  coercion  !  These  are  the  works  of  recon 
struction  ! 

Have  the  people  of  America  no  shame  ?  Has  the  God  of  Heaven  no 
wrath  ?  If  coercion  and  reconstruction  shall  continue,  their  fruits  will  mul 
tiply  until  all  the  people,  in  agonized  remorse,  shall  cry  out  :  "Surely, 
several  unions  were  better  than  one  empire,  and  divided  liberty  more  to  be 
desired  than  concentrated  despotism  ! ' 

Is  there  a  possible  remedy  for  these  evils  ?  I  should  be  uncandid  if  I 
did  not  confess  to  you,  I  doubt  it.  There  is  no  resurrection  for  dead  repub 
lics,  and  few  have  ever  been  restored  to  vigor  and  health  after  reaching  our 
present  state  of  decline.  I  fear  our  people  have  not  more  intelligence  and 
virtue  than  those  whose  histories  we  are  but  repeating.  But  for  one  I  am 
willing  to  make  the  effort,  and  I  exhort  our  Southern  people  to  cherish  no 
feeling  inimical  to  success,  and  omit  no  duty  that  may  promote  it.  We 
have  more  interest  in  restoring  Constitutional  government  than  any  other 
people,  for,  if  despotism  shall  come  over  all,  North  and  South,  there  is  rea 
son  to  fear  that  serfdom  of  the  South  to  the  North  will  be  our  darkest  por 
tion. 

You  know  I  never  regarded  secession  as  wise  in  act,  for,  however  legal 
or  just  it  may,  or  may  not,  have  been  as  an  abstract  right,  I  never  believed 
it  would  prove  practicable  as  a  remedy.  I  have  never  doubted  that  a  bellig 
erent  collision  between  centralism  and  Constitutional  federalism  would,  sooner 
or  later,  come.  But,  by  the  States,  in  the  Union,  and/or  the  liberties  of  the 
people,  was  always  my  favorite  plan  to  make  the  fight.  But  for  the  sensi- 
:iveness  of  slavery  we  might  have  made  that  fight  only  in  the  Union.  Let, 
therefore,  secession  and  slavery  be  buried  out  of  sight,  and,  though  late,  let 
us  make  one  more  determined  effort,  in  the  forum  of  reason,  and  at  the 
ballot-box,  to  save  the  treasures  we  are  losing.  We  should  not  pull  down 
the  temple  our  fathers  built,  because  thieves  and  money  changers  desecrate 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  413 

it.  Rather  under  the  inspiring  memories  of  1776,  let  us  wake  up  the  sleep 
ing  god  of  patriotism,  and  cast  out  the  despoilers,  and  consecrate  the  tem 
ple  anew  to  the  equality  of  the  States  and  to  the  liberties  of  our  children. 

There  is  but  one  beginning  for  this  work.  We  must  elevate  the  states 
manship  of  the  country.  In  all  republics  an  imbecile  statesmanship  has 
succeeded  a  civil  war,  and  we  have  not  escaped  the  scourge.  It  is  because 
men,  at  such  times,  rise  into  power  on  passion  and  hate,  and  not  by 
merit  and  worth.  If  you  would  purify  statesmanship,  you  must  elevate  it. 
Men  of  intellect,  alive  with  ambition  to  lift  up  a  falling  State,  are  more  apt 
to  be  moral,  patriotic,  and  honest,  than  hypocritical  imbeciles,  who,  dead  to 
the  capacity  of  this  higher  ambition,  are  alive  only  to  trade  and  barter  in 
blood,  religion,  and  prejudice,  in  order  to  reap  puffs,  perquisites,  and  sala 
ries  ! 

In  order  to  elevate  our  statesmanship,  two  things,  in  my  opinion,  are 
indispensable.  In  the  first  place,  our  people  must  abandon  the  insane  habit 
of  placing  men  in  high  civil  positions,  simply  because  of  military  talents  or 
success.  Lee  was  right.  It  is  contrary  to  the  very  genius  and  safety  of 
republican  institutions,  to  place  their  civil  administration  in  the  keeping  of 
men  of  military  aptitude  and  training.  Brave  fighting  is  no  evidence  of 
able  statesmanship.  It  is  usually  evidence  of  the  very  contrary.  Other 
wise  Captain  Jack  was  the  foremost  statesman  of  this  age,  and,  instead  of 
being  hanged,  ought  to  have  been  made  President  or  senator  for  life.  If 
this  habit  shall  not  cease,  we  shall  not  have  a  civil  statesman  for  President 
this  generation.  In  Congress,  too,  we  have  generals,  and  colonels,  and  cap 
tains,  and  lieutenants,  sufficient  to  make  a  small  army,  and  scarcely  states 
men  enough  to  form  a  good  committee.  I  will  not  allude  unkindly  to 
General  Grant.  However  much  wrong  he  may  have  done  otherwise,  we,  in 
Georgia,  owe  him  a  debt  of  which  I  have  personal  knowledge,  and  I  shall 
never  speak  of  him  unkindly.  But  I  am  speaking  of  a  principle,  and  if 
General  Grant  had  adopted  and  acted  upon  the  grand  truth  uttered  by  Lee, 
he  would  have  lived  deeper  in  the  affections  of  his  people,  and  higher  in  the 
esteem  of  mankind,  than  all  the  battles  he  has  won  and  all  the  Presidential 
terms  he  can  receive,  can  ever  secure  for  his  name. 

The  second  thing  indispensable  to  the  elevation  of  our  statesmanship,  is 
the  reduction  of  congressional  salaries.  Upon  principle,  the  legislators  of 
a  country,  who  have  in  their  hands  the  purse  of  the  people,  ought  not  to 
have  the  power  to  help  themselves.  I  believe  Franklin  was  right,  when  he 
desired,  by  Constitutional  provision,  to  prohibit  compensation  to  members 
of  Congress.  I  am  very  sure  the  propositions  of  others  in  the  convention, 
to  fix  the  amount  of  the  compensation  in  the  Constitution,  so  that  the  mem 
bers  could  not  increase  their  own  pay,  was  full  of  wisdom.  Madison  uttered 
a  truth  when  he  said  it  was  an  indecent  thing  for  members  to  fix  their  own 
compensation. 

Then,  again,  high  congressional  salaries  are  wrong  and  hurtful  in  policy. 
They  excite  the  merely  mercenary  with  desires  to  secure  the  seats, 
begets  scrambling  and  trading  *in  every  election.  Men  of  high  ability 
will  not  be  parties  to  such  contests.  Thus,  mercenary  men  get  con 
trol  of  the  Congress,  and,  as  they  are  chiefly  moved  by  a  passion  that  is 
insatiate,  if  the  salary  were  a  hundred  thousand  dollars,  they  would  use  the 
office  to  double  the  sum.  This  will  finally  reduce  our  statesmanship  to  one 
governing  standard  :  use  money  to  get  office,  and  use  office  to  get  money. 
With  few  exceptions,  Congress  is  now  but  a  sad  congregation  of  negroes, 


414  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

knaves,  and  imbeciles,  and  no  people  ever  won,  or  preserved,  or  recovered 
either  liberty  or  right  under  such  civil  leaders.  You  cannot  scatter  a  flock 
of  carrion  birds  by  railing  at  them,  but  if  you  burn  up  the  stinking  carcass 
that  attracts  them  they  will  scatter  themselves.  So,  we  shall  never  get  rid 
of  these  creatures  from  Congress  by  portraying  their  characters.  They 
cannot  see  the  mischief  they  are  doing,  and,  if  they  could,  they  have  not 
manhood  enough  to  be  made  ashamed.  But  abolish  the  high  salaries  that 
tempt  and  feed  them,  and  they  will  leave  the  places  that  furnish  to  them 
no  other  allurements.  If  high  salaries  continue,  the  greatest  age  of  Ameri 
can  statesmanship  is  in  the  past.  We  shall  never  have  another  Clay,  or 
Webster,  or  Calhoun,  in  the  national  councils.  These  great  men  served 
willingly  on  a  salary  of  fifteen  hundred  dollars  and  less.  The  Butlers  and 
Chandlers,  with  their  negro  and  carpet-bag  allies — all  but  the  spawn  of  a 
mad  revolution — need  seven  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  to  support  their 
dignity  !  It  is  sad  to  see  a  republic  dying,  as  other  republics  have  died, 
and  the  people  still  unable  to  see  the  evils  which  work  death  until  life  is 
extinct. 

But  one  comfort  the  Southern  people  and  their  children  must  ever  have. 
Whether  Constitutional  government  shall  continue  or  fail ;  whether  the 
States  shall  remain,  or  be  obliterated.;  whether  liberty  shall  be  recovered, 
or  die  the  death  that  knows  no  waking — we  shall  be  vindicated  !  If  the 
Union  of  the  States,  under  Constitutional  government,  and  securing  the 
blessings  of  liberty,  be  recovered  and  perpetuated,  the  work  can  only  be 
done  by  returning  to  the  great  principles  for  which  we  struggled.  The 
general  government  must  be  restrained  within  the  limitations  of  its  Consti 
tutional  delegated  powers,  and  the  States  restored  to  the  unrestrained  con 
trol  of  their  domestic  affairs  under  their  reserved  rights,  or  Union,  States, 
and  liberty  must  perish.  If  this  glorious  work  shall  have  success,  then,  the 
rejoicings  of  according  States  and  happy  millions  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Pacific,  and  from  the  Lakes  to  the  Gulf,  will  syllable  forever  the  hallelujahs 
of  Southern  triumph  ! 

But  if  blindness,  madness,  hate,  and  ambition  shall  continue  coercion 
and  reconstruction  as  accepted  and  approved  principles  of  Federal  adminis 
tration,  then  the  wail  that  shall  come  up  from  the  universal  wreck  of 
Union,  States,  and  liberty,  will  drown  the  thunder  in  loud  vindication  of 
Southern  wisdom  and  fidelity.  The  graves  of  Davis  and  Lee  will  become 
Meccas  for  journeying,  sorrow-stricken  pilgrims  of  right  for  ages  to  come  ; 
and  the  future  historian,  reviewing  the  records  your  care  shall  have  pre 
served,  will  write  the  epitaph  for  the  Confederate  dead  :  These  were  the 
last  heroes  of  freedom  in  America  ! 


SPEECH    DELIVERED    IN    THE    HALL    OF    THE    HOUSE    OF 
REPRESENTATIVES  AT  ATLANTA,  ON  THE  EVENING 

OF    JANUARY   20,    1875. 

As  a  preface  to  this  speech,  the  writer  copies  a  portion  of  an  editorial  from  the 
Atlanta  Herald  :  "  We  present  in  a  complete  and  authoritative  shape  this  morning,  the; 
speech  delivered  by  the  Hon.  Benj.  H.  Hill,  before  the  Georgia  Legislature,  at  the  request 
of  a  large  number  of  its  members.  On  such  a  speech  as  this,  any  statesman  might  be 
willing  to  go  before  the  country.  It  is  pure  and  splendid  in  its  diction  ;  faultless  in  its 
sentiment ;  absolute  in  its  logic  ;  grand  in  its  statesmanship,  and  resistless  in  its  eloquence. 
Dealing  with  a  subject  that  would  overthrow  the  equipoise  of  almost  any  speaker,  we  have 
in  this  speech,  though  it  rushed  impromptu  from  imprisoned  lips,  nothing  that  the  most 
prudent  man  could  wish  unsaid.  In  a  brave  and  convincing  way  it  counsels  a  calm  but 
not  cowardly  treatment  of  the  Louisiana  question,  and  it  pleads  for  a  patience  that  shall 
be  born  of  fortitude  and  not  of  abasement.  No  speech  made  within  our  remembrance 
ever  had  such  an  enthusiastic  reception  ;  none  ever  created  a  profounder  impression.  Mr. 
Hill  is  the  hero  of  the  day."  So  great  was  the  enthusiasm  aroused  all  over  the  State  by 
this  speech,  that  there  went  forth  from  press  and  people  a  unanimous  appeal  for  his  elec 
tion  to  Congress  from  the  Ninth  District  in  the  ensuing  election.  This  appeal  of  the 
State  was  responded  to  by  the  people  of  the  Ninth  District  in  spite  of  the  determined 
effort  on  the  part  of  politicians  to  defeat  it.  In  this  speech  Mr.  Hill  shows  who  was  a  rebel. 

Ladies  and  Fellow-  Citizens  :  I  feel  the  compliment  of  the  call  to  address 
you.  It  not  only  implies,  but  it  expresses  confidence.  Their  confidence  is 
the  only  favor  I  have  ever  asked  of  the  people  of  Georgia.  To  that  I  am, 
and  ever  have  been,  entitled,  and  most  entitled  when  most  denied.  I  feel 
most  profoundly  the  responsibility  that  devolved  upon  me  in  accepting  this 
call  to  address  you.  I  would  be  insincere  if  I  professed  to  be  surprised  at 
the  events  which  have  recently  seemingly  startled  the  country.  I  have  not 
been  surprised,  but  I  would  have  been  agreeably  surprised  if  those  events 
had  not  transpired.  I  shall  be  still  more  agreeably  surprised  if  those  events 
do  not  repeat  themselves  on  a  larger  scale.  I  feel  embarrassed,  however, 
because  I  arn  confident  that  the  great  duty  of  averting  the  evils  which  these 
events  threaten,  is  with  the  Northern  people.  There  the  issue  must  be  solved. 
I  know,  too,  that  the  intelligence  and  virtue  of  that  people  will  be  sub 
jected  to  the  severest  test.  I  feel,  also,  that  the  discussion  which  must 
enlighten  their  intelligence,  and  which  must  awaken  the  patriotism  of  that 
virtue,  must  take  place  in  the  councils  of  the  nation.  ^here  the  different 
sections,  through  their  champions,  meet  face  to  face.  There  the  oppressor 
and  the  oppressed  look  at  each  other  eye  to  eye,  and  he  who  has  the  truth, 
must  show  his  manhood  to  vindicate  it. 

The  Northern  people  are  not  likely  to  look  with  much  favor  upon  wl 
are  called  ex  parte  utterances,  especially  in  the  Southern  States,     t  am  sure 
that  I  desire  in  every  possible  way  to  contribute  to  the  success  of  bhe  great 
issues  which  I  know  are  now  to  be  precipitated  upon  the  country  in   t 
next  two  years.     It  would  pain  me  exceedingly  for  anything  to  drop  from 
me  that  could  be  used  for  aiding  the  enemy  and  discouraging  our  friends. 
Nevertheless,  my  friends,  there  are  some  things  which  I  think  can 
erly  said  here  and  profitably  be  said  now.     And  while  I  feel  constrame 

415 


416  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

my  efforts  to  address  you,  and  shall  make  something  of  an  effort  to  confine 
myself  within  the  sphere  of  a  limited  talk,  I  shall  nevertheless  endeavor  to 
make  myself  perfectly  understood  in  what  I  shall  say. 

The  greatest  difficulty  in  the  way  of  saving  a  people  from  a  threatened 
danger,  is  to  make  that  people  conscious  that  the  danger  is  approaching. 
There  is  not  a  sadder  feature  of  the  world's  history  than  this,  that  all  people 
who  are  destroyed,  are  destroyed  chiefly  by  their  refusal  to  see  the  dangers 
approaching.  The  word  which  has  been  oftener  spoken  during  the  last 
fourteen  years  than  any  other  word  in  the  English  language  is,  in  my  opin 
ion,  the  word  that  is  least  understood  by  the  American  people.  In  Ameri 
can  politics  who  is  a  rebel  ?  Now  in  Germany,  in  Russia,  in  France,  even 
in  England,  where  we  get  the  most,  it  is  true,  of  the  great  principles  of 
government,  the  word  rebel  has  a  well-defined  signification.  The  definition 
in  either  one  of  those  countries  is  wholly  inappropriate  in  this.  There 
a  rebel  is  one  who  resists  the  government — there,  government  is  represented 
in  the  king  or  in  the  emperor.  Here  government  is  the  mere  machinery,  the 
mere  organization  for  the  administration  of  the  laws.  Government  is  not 
the  king  ;  is  not  the  power,  is  not  the  sovereign  in  America.  The  question 
recurs  then,  in  American  politics,  who  is  a  rebel  ?  A  real  rebel  ?  When 
the  frame rs  of  the  Constitution  were  about  to  conclude  their  work,  the  ques 
tion  naturally  occurred  to  them,  as  it  did  on  several  occasions  during  their 
labors,  in  what  way  should  they  bind  those  who  should  undertake  to  admin 
ister  the  government  to  be  faithful  to  their  obligations  !  There  was  some 
discussion,  but  finally  it  was  determined  that  the  President  and  every  officer 
of  the  government,  State  and  Federal,  should  take  an  oath  to  support  the 
Constitution.  Now  the  inquiry  is  pertinent,  why  not  take  an  oath  to  sup 
port  the  Union  ?  Why  not  take  an  oath  to  support  the  government  ?  Why 
did  they  not  require  them  to  take  an  oath  to  preserve  liberty?  Yet  of  all 
these  propositions  not  one  of  them  was  adopted.  Various  suggestions  were 
made.  One  distinguished  gentleman  who  had  taken  a  large  part  in  framing 
the  Constitution,  suggested  there  should  be  no  oath  at  all,  and  he  gave  this 
significant  reason  for  it :  If  the  government  is  administered  by  good  men, 
no  oatli  will  be  necessary  ;  if  by  bad  men,  no  oath  will  be  regarded.  But  it 
was  agreed  on  all  hands,  after  various  suggestions,  that  there  should  be  an 
oath.  Then  what  sort  of  an  oath  should  it  be  ?  Finally,  one  conclusion 
was  arrived  at,  adopted,  and  that  was  that  every  officer  of  this  government, 
State  and  Federal,  should  be  required  to  take  an  oath  to  support  the  Con 
stitution  ! 

Now,  why,  why,  why  that  oath  in  preference  to  all  others  ?  Because 
when  they  took  an  oath  to  preserve  the  Constitution,  and  kept  that  oath, 
they  supported  everything  else.  The  Constitution  was  ordained  and 
established  as  the  means  by  which  the  Union  was  to  be  made  perfect,  by 
which  domestic  tranquillity  was  to  be  secured,  by  which  justice  was  estab 
lished,  public  welfare  provided  for,  and  by  which  the  blessings  of  liberty 
should  be  secured  to  them  and  their  posterity.  Therefore  they  required 
an  oath  to  support  the  Constitution,  as  the  terms  on  which,  and  the  means 
by  which  the  Union  was  to  be  preserved,  domestic  tranquillity  secured,  and 
the  blessings  of  liberty  and  justice  perpetuated.  In  addition  to  this 
requisition  to  take  an  oath  to  support  the  Constitution,  they  also  provided 
that  this  Constitution,  and  the  laws  passed  in  pursuance  of  it,  should  be  the 
supreme  law  of  the  land  ;  that  is,  the  only  king  whose  authority  all  power  in 
America  was  required  to  obey,  was  the  Constitution  of  the  country.  That 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  417 

was  the  supreme  law.  What  Constitution  ?  The  written  Constitution  as 
adopted,  to  be  supported  as  the  means  by  which  all  the  other  ends  of  gov 
ernment  were  to  be  secured  and  perpetuated. 

Now  answer  me  the  question,  who  in  American  politics  is  a  rebel  ?  I 
answer,  he,  and  he  only,  who  is  faithless  to  the  Constitution  !  Who  in 
American  politics  is  a  patriot  ?  I  answer,  he,  and  he  only,  who  is  faithful 
to  the  Constitution. 

Our  fathers  exhibited  immense  wisdom  in  requiring  this  oath  to  support 
the  Constitution.  There  were  two  parties  in  the  convention  that  framed 
the  Constitution  from  the  beginning — one  represented  the  extreme  idea  of 
a  strong  centralized  government  ;  the  other  represented  the  opposite 
extreme  idea  of  a  loose  uncentralized  government,  with  all  power — obliga 
tory  power — in  the  States.  The  Constitution  is  the  result  of  a  compromise 
between  those  two  extremes.  Now,  it  is  remarkable  that  our  fathers  fore 
saw,  witli  wisdom,  that  while  this  Constitution  was  adopted  as  a  compromise 
measure,  the  probabilities  were  that  the  disciples  of  the  respective  theories 
in  the  future  might  seek  to  impress  their  several  constructions  even  to  the 
final  subversion  of  the  Constitution  itself.  What  was  called  the  States 
Right  party  became  satisfied,  because  while  the  Constitution  did  incorporate 
some  national  features,  yet  the  system  of  government  established  was  a 
federal  republic.  But  when  the  Constitution  was  submitted  to  the  States 
for  ratification,  some  of  them,  to  remove  doubts  on  this  point,  ratified  it  on 
condition  that  a  number  of  amendments  should  be  adopted,  one  of  which 
was  an  express  declaration  that  all  the  powers  not  delegated  to  the  general 
government  were  reserved  to  the  State.  From  that  day  forth  the  govern 
ment  was  fixed  as  a  constitutional  federal  government. 

But  there  were  in  that  early  day  men  in  favor  of  establishing  what  they 
called  a  strong  central  government,  and  the  greatest  advocates  of  strong 
central  government  camu  from  New  England,  because  it  was  the  peculiar 
theory  of  Puritanism  to  have  the  right  to  meddle  in  everybody  else's  busi 
ness.  The  idea  of  living  in  a  government  without  the  right  to  meddle  with 
everybody's  business  was  contrary  to  their  principles  of  religion  and 
notions  of  propriety.  Therefore  the  real  enemies  of  the  Constitution  came 
from  this  school.  .  .  .  They  have  produced  nearly  all  the  fanatics  of  the 
world  anyhow.  They  have  never  attacked  the  Constitution  directly.  They 
have  labored  from  the  beginning  of  the  government  indirectly  to  centralize 
it.  I  mean  by  indirectly,  they  have  always  seized  upon  subjects  of  public 
interest,  and  sought  by  the  use  of  those  questions  to  inflame  the  minds  of 
the  people,  so  as  to  secure  power,  and  by  their  power  centralize  the  govern 
ment.  I  am  not  going  to  give  you  a  detailed  history  of  the  struggle  nor 
take  up  the  questions  that  were  raised  by  this  party,  for  the  purpose  of 
using  them  to  accomplish  the  end  proposed.  I  will  say  simply  here  that  the 
one  they  found  most  suited  to  their  purpose,  was  the  institution  of  domestic 
slavery  in  the  Southern  States.  That  question  they  made  a  question  of  con 
science,  and  attacked  the  institution  of  slavery  vigorously  at  an  early  day, 
and  sought  to  interfere  with  that  institution  through  the  agency 
Federal  Government.  But  the  South  always  replied  to  their  assaults,  ' 
is  the  Constitution— that  gives  the  Federal  Government  no  right  to  interfere 
with  our  institution."  Our  forefathers  defended  domestic  slavery  on  that 
ground  alone  ;  it  was  a  matter  left  to  the  States.  For  more  than  ty  year, 
that  question  was  discussed  at  various  times,  and  at  every  favorable  oppc 
tunity  the  centralists  never  failed  to  use  it  for  their  purposes. 


418  SENATOR  13.  II.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

were  always  defeated  just  so  long  as  the  Southern  States  stood  squarely  by 
the  Constitution,  and  offered  that  as  a  reply  to  all  their  assaults.  They 
were  sustained  by  an  overwhelming  majority  of  the  people  of  both  the 
South  and  the  North.  For  the  Northern  people,  though  opposed  to  slavery 
in  the  abstract,  still  reverenced  the  Constitution  and  insisted  that  that  was  a 
question  to  be  referred  to  the  States  solely  for  themselves.  Several  cases 
arose  in  which  the  contest  became  heated.  The  Missouri  compromise,  in 
1820,  is  familiar  to  you  all.  The  question  was  inflamed  to  a  great  deal  of 
heat  when  we  acquired  new  territory  from  Mexico. 

You  remember  the  contest  in  1851  and  1852,  during  which  time  this 
fanatical  party,  these  enemies  of  the  Constitution,  used  every  effort  possible 
to  get  power  in  the  government,  not  so  much  for  the  purpose  of  destroying 
slavery  as  for  the  purpose  of  centralizing  the  government  and  destroying  the 
Constitution,  as  I  will  prove  directly.  Unfortunately,  without  any  just 
legal  reason,  yet  actually  the  first  advantage  which  the  enemies  of  the  Con 
stitution  acquired  upon  this  subject,  was  upon  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri 
compromise  in  1854  and  1855.  They  got  their  advantage  in  this  wise  ; 
they  charged  that  slavery,  which  had  hitherto  been  on  the  defensive,  had 
now  taken  the  aggressive,  and  they  acquired  much  influence  over  the  Northern 
people  on  that  account.  .  .  .  But  this  party  acquired  its  great  strength 
when  the  Southern  people,  provoked  by  the  infidelity  of  the  Northern  States 
to  the  Constitution  upon  this  subject,  seceded  from  the  Union.  When  we 
seceded,  why,  of  course,  we  left  the  government  in  the  hands  of  these  its 
enemies,  and  we  left  our  friends  in  the  hands  of  these  enemies  also.  In  all 
revolutions,  so  in  this  the  extreme  men  took  the  lead.  They  had  learned  to 
hate  the  South,  because  the  South  had  so  often  held  up  the  Constitution  as 
its  shield  and  protection  against  interference  ;  and  they  hated  the  Constitu 
tion  the  more  because  it  was  the  shield  and  protection  of  the  South.  They 
had  declared  it  a  covenant  with  hell  and  a  league  with  the  devil,  and  ap 
pealed  to  a  higher  law.  But  as  soon  as  the  South  left  the  Union,  they  be 
came  the  most  wonderful  devoted  lovers  of  the  Union  ever  heard  of.  When 
they  could  not  control  the  government  they  denounced  it,  but  the  moment 
the  South  left  the  Union  they  raised  the  cry  at  once  that  the  Union  must  be 
preserved.  Well,  as  I  say,  secession  gave  them  a  great  opportunity  to  ac 
complish  their  purpose  ;  therefore  they  declared  that  they  would  make  war 
to  preserve  the  Union — they  would  enforce  the  law.  I  merely  give  you  this 
recital  to  bring  you  to  the  point  I  am  going  to  discuss. 

They  waged  war  against  these  States,  not  because  these  States  had  violated 
the  Constitution,  for  if  there  is  anything  that  distinguished  the  Southern 
people  more  than  any  other  thing  in  their  entire  political  history  from  1787 
to  1860,  it  was  undying  devotion  to  the  principles  of  government  as  declared 
in  the  Constitution.  Therefore,  I  have  often  said,  I  would  defy  any  man 
living  to-day  to  point  out  to  me  one  single  instance  where  a  Southern  State, 
or  a  Southern  leading  statesman,  was  ever  faithless  to  the  Constitution. 
Not  one.  The  Southern  States  left  the  Union,  or  sought  to  leave  it,  only  be 
cause  of  the  infidelity  of  the  North,  under  the  lead  of  those  fanatics,  and 
they  who  have  been  unfaithful  to  the  terms  of  the  Union,  seized  the  oppor 
tunity  of  secession  to  destroy  those  who  had  been  faithful  and  who  had  only 
resented  their  infidelity. 

Well,  I  am  not  going  through  the  history  of  the  war,  but  you  know,  my 
countrymen,  that  it  was  the  cry  raised  at  the  North  that  "  Union  shall  be 
preserved,  that  we  cannot  consent  to  a  disruption  of  the  Union,"  that 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  419 

rallied  all  parties  North  to  the  war.  Our  friends  at  the  North — the  friends 
of  the  Constitution — were  placed  in  this  predicament  by  our  unwise  seces 
sion  ;  they  were  compelled  to  tight  us,  or  to  fight  the  Union,  and  so  they 
fought  us,  and  they  did  fight.  No  mistake  about  that.  But  they  were 
mistaken,  as  they  are  now  finding  out.  When  they  were  fighting  us,  they 
were  fighting  the  only  party  on  this  continent  who  were  ready  to  shed 
blood  in  defense  of  the  Constitution.  Of  course,  all  simple-minded  men  who 
supposed  that  war  was  waged  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union,  took  it  for 
granted  that  when  the  Union  was  preserved,  the  war  would  end.  Why 
not?  and  therefore  it  was  that  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  it  was 
over  and  over  declared,  solemnly  declared,  under  the  sanction  of  their  oaths, 
approved  by  their  President,  endorsed  by  their  State  Legislatures — that  in 
waging  the  war  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union  they  had  no  intention  of 
impairing  the  Constitutional  rights  of  the  States  or  the  property  of  the 
citizens.  Under  such  declarations,  they  rallied  all  the  Northern  people  in 
support  of  what  they  called  the  Union,  and  of  course  it  was  to  be  expected 
that  when  the  war  ended,  and  the  Union  was  preserved,  everybody  would 
be  satisfied.  But  not  so.  Just  at  the  time  when  we  began  to  weaken  on 
account  of  the  unfortunate  division  in  the  South,  and  these  infidels  to  the 
Constitution  saw  that  we  were  going  to  fail,  the}'-  brought  forward  the  pro 
position  that  slavery  must  be  abolished.  And  why  ?  Why,  because  slavery, 
they  said,  was  the  cause  of  all  the  trouble,  and  if  the  war  ended,  the  Union 
preserved  and  slavery  remaining,  as  slavery  had  provoked  one  war  and  one 
secession,  it  would  provoke  another,  and  therefore  they  should  not  only 
preserve  the  Union  but  destroy  the  cause  that  threatened  the  Union — and 
they  abolished  slavery.  Of  course,  then,  everybody  supposed  that  when 
the  Union  was  preserved  and  slavery  abolished,  these  good  men  would  be 
satisfied,  now  they  would  come  to  the  support  of  the  Constitution.  But 
just  as  soon  as  the  Union  was  preserved  and  slavery  abolished,  and  the 
Southern  people  had  agreed  to  both,  and  were  ready  to  renew  their  allegi 
ance  to  the  Constitution,  with  no  more  secession  and  no  more  slavery,  we 
were  met  with  the  startling  demand  that  the  Southern  States  must  first  be 

O 

reconstructed. 

Well,  that  was  something  unheard  of.  Who  gave  Congress  a  right  to 
reconstruct  a  State  ?  But  it  was  no  use  to  talk  about  congressional  power 
under  the  Constitution  then.  The  conqueror  has  the  power — that  is,  the  will 
of  the  conqueror  became  the  supreme  law  instead  of  the  Constitution. 
Now,  as  I  said  to  my  Northern  friends,  if  the  will  of  the  conqueror  has  be 
come  the  supreme  "law  of  the  land,  certainly  while  they  were  engaged 
in  the  work  of  reconstruction,  they  ought  to  have  taken  an  oath  to  support 
the  conqueror  and  not  to  support  "the  Constitution.  But  the  truth  is,  the 
haters  of  the  Constitution  well  knew  the  Constitution  could  still  live  with 
secession  abandoned  and  slavery  abolished,  and  they  had  determined  it 
should  not  live.  Therefore  they  determined  to  keep  up  the  war  on  the 
South  by  some  form,  and  reconstruction  was  the  form  next  adopted. 

Well,  I  will  not  go  over  the  history  of  Reconstruction.  Thank  God,  the 
whole  world  knows  my  opinion  of  "Reconstruction,  that  is,  they  would 
if  human  language  could  express  it,  but  human  language  is  too  feeble. 

Reconstruction  was  but  an  ordeal  by  which  they  disfranchised  the  intel 
ligence  and  virtue  of  the  country,  and  authorized  the  ignorance  and  vice  of 
the  country  to  build  and  control  new  governments  for  the  people  as  the 
only  means  of  keeping  these  States  in  accord  with  Radicalism. 


420  SENATOR  B.  II.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

Well,  after  so  long  a  time,  we  thought  Reconstruction  was  over.  Now 
surely  we  will  have  peace.  Surely  secession  abandoned  ;  the  Union  preserved; 
slavery  abolished  ;  slaves  all  freemen  ;  freemen  all  citizens ;  citizens  all 
voters  ;  voters  all  rulers.  Surely  no\v,  oh  !  now  you  will  come  back  to  the 
Constitution.  Not  yet !  But  if  those  who  provoked  secession  and  then  in 
augurated  war  upon  the  South  were  satisfied  with  the  Constitution  and  dis 
satisfied  only  with  the  institution  of  slavery,  why,  when  slavery  was 
abolished,  were  they  not  satisfied  ?  If  they  waged  war  only  to  preserve  the 
Union,  why,  when  the  Union  was  preserved,  were  they  not  satisfied  ?  If  the 
only  object  in  reconstructing  the  States  was  to  secure  what  they  called  the 
fruits  of  the  war,  why,  when  the  work  of  reconstruction  was  complete,  were 
they  not  satisfied  ?  No,  my  countrymen,  here  is  the  great  truth,  and  let  the 
people  see  it.  The  real  cause  of  dissatisfaction  from  the  beginning  has  not 
been  on  account  of  slavery  or  with  the  Southern  master ;  the  real,  under 
lying  cause  of  dissatisfaction  with  the  leaders  of  the  North  in  this  fanatical 
crusade  has  been  dissatisfaction  with  the  Constitution  itself.  Therefore  it 
is  they  have  not  been  satisfied,  and  therefore  it  is  they  will  not  be  satisfied 
until  the  Constitution  is  absolutely  subverted  and  destroyed.  They  mean 
to  have  a  strong  government  ;  they  mean  a  centralized  despotism.  They 
have  not  the  manliness  to  confess  it,  but  their  whole  history  is  demonstrative 
truth  of  the  fact,  and  the  people  of  the  Union  will  be  stupid  indeed  if  they 
require  further  proo'f  to  convince  them  of  the  fact. 

How  greatly  were  they  mistaken  who  advised  us  to  accept  Reconstruc 
tion  as  a  means  of  ending  the  demand.  I  never  believed  the  demands 
would  end  as  long  as  Radicalism  was  in  power. 

So  they  took  their  own  course  as  they  saw  fit,  and  they  refused  to  be  sat 
isfied.  They  sent  their  miserable  creatures  here  to  take  charge  of  the  ne 
groes,  and  plundered  the  people  of  the  States  as  long  as  we  had  anything 
to  take,  and  then  they  issued  bonds  all  over  the  country  and  put  under  mort 
gage  everything  that  our  children  and  our  children's  children  will  be  able 
to  make  for  the  next  fifty  years,  and  still  they  are  not  satisfied.  Now,  what 
does  this  mean  ?  There  is  no  war,  and  yet  the  military  is  still  employed. 
Reconstruction  is  over,  and  yet  the  States  have  no  freedom.  And  now 
interference  is  as  active  and  bigoted  and  as  aggressive  this  day  as  it  ever 
Avas,  and  more  so,  for  usurpation  as  it  advances  always  increases  both  in 
impudence  and  rascality. 

You  have  seen  a  great  deal  lately  about  Louisiana — that  poor,  impover 
ished,  insulted,  down-trodden  State — and  you  seem  to  have  a  great  deal  of 
sympathy  for  Louisiana.  Well,  she  merits  the  sympathy  and  admiration 
of  all ;  but  oh,  my  friends,  are  you  so  thoughtless  as  to  suppose  that  these 
rebels  against  the  Constitution  have  any  special  hatred  for  Louisiana? 
Not  at  all.  They  like  that  State  just  as  well  as  they  do  you.  They  like 
one  State  just  as  well  as  they  do  any  other  State. 

I  tell  you  every  stab  which  the  assassin  sends  to  the  heart  of  throttled 
Louisiana,  he  is  practicing  that  he  may  with  greater  skill  stab  the  next 
State.  They  are  establishing  precedents",  because  precedents  submitted  to 
become  law.  Now  let  us  go  a  little  into  this  thing,  because  it  is  a  subject 
going  to  interest  this  whole  country.  Every  blow  struck  at  Louisiana  is 
aimed  at  every  State  in  the  Union,  because  every  blow  at  Louisiana  is  a 
blow  at  the  Constitution  of  the  Union. 

Now,  briefly,  in  1872,  an  election  was  held  in  Louisiana.  It  was  evident 
that  the  Democratic  party,  or  at  least  the  anti-Radical  party,  elected  their 


7/7,9  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WETTINGS.  421 

governor  and  their  Legislature.  It  was  determined  that  that  election 
should  not  stand.  But  Warmouth,  the  governor  at  the  time,  refused  to 
countenance  the  movement  to  reconstruct  Louisiana  again,  and  give  her  a 
governor  and  Legislature  contrary  to  the  will  of  the  people. 

This  radical  party  does  everything  "under  color  of  law,"  and  sometimes 
they  manufacture  botli  law  and  the  color,  too.  Every  usurper  in  history 
defends  his  usurpation  according  to  law.  As  the  governor  of  Louisiana  was 
opposed  to  the  movement,  it  became  necessary,  in  order  to  give  the  law  a 
color,  to  apply  to  another  department  of  government.  That  necessitated 
a  resort  to  Dnrell.  You  have  heard  of  Durell.  Kellogg  filed  his  bill  in 
Durell's  court  and  enjoined  McEnery  from  being  inaugurated  governor. 
But  that  would  amount  to  nothing  under  the  lawsof  Louisiana,  forthe  Legis 
lature  had  the  final  count,  and  if  the  McEnery  Legislature  was  allowed  to 
organize  they  would  count  the  vote  correctly,  and  Kellogg  would  fail. 
Therefore,  it  was  necessary  to  get  rid  not  only  of  McEnery  but  of  the  Legis 
lature  also,  and  Antoine,  who  was  lieutenant  governor  on  the  ticket  with 
Kellogg,  filed  a  bill  also  for  the  purpose  of  getting  an  injunction  against 
what  is  called  the  McEnorv  Legislature.  Now  it  has  been  denied  in  some 

*-  C7 

quarters  that  Durell  even  interfered  with  the  assembling  of  the  Legislature. 
I  have  his  order  here,  I  have  the  bill  filed  by  Antoine,  I  have  the  order  of 
Durell  passed  upon  that  bill,  and  here  he  enjoins  one  hundred  and  three 
members  of  the  House  and  nineteen  in  the  Senate  from  taking  their  seats  in 
the  Legislature  except  as  permitted.  It  was  all  nonsense  to  secure  the  gov 
ernor  and  let  the  Democrats  get  the  Legislature,  and  by  authority  of  law  count 
the  votes  and  declare  McEnery  governor  ;  and  the  effective  order  that  did 
the  work  was  the  order  that  interfered  with  the  organization  of  the  Legisla 
ture.  Now  what  are  these  gentlemen  to  do,  who  say  that  Durell  had  juris 
diction  of  this  matter  under  the  enforcement  act  ;  for  the  enforcement 
act  expressly  provides  that  it  shall  not  apply  to  members  of  the  Legislature. 
I  will  read  Vou  what  Senator  Morton  said  on  this  point,  because  it  is  said 
whatever  a  witness  sa3^s  against  himself  must  be  taken  for  granted.  Here  is 
what  Mr.  Morton  says  : 

In  the  Antoine  case,  Judge  Durell  not  only  assumes  to  determine  who  constituted  the 
legal  returning  board,  but  prescribe  who  should  be  permitted  to  take  part  in  the  organi 
zation  of  the  Legislature,  and  to  enjoin  all  persons  from  taking  part  in  such  organiza 
tions  who  were  not  returned  by  the  Lynch  board  elected  ;  and  this  assumption  was  made 
in  the  face  of  the  express  provisions  of  the  act  of  1870,  that  its  benefits  should  not  extend 
to  candidates  for  election  for  Congress  or  for  the  State  Legislature. 

Now,  that  is  what  Morton  says.  He  goes  on  and  says,  "  His  (Durell's) 
order,  issued  in  the  Kellogg  case  to  the  United  States  marshal,  to  take 
possession,  of  the  State  house,  .  .  .  can  only  be  characterized  as  a  gross 
usurpation."  Now,  I  will  give  Morton  the  credit  for  this.  He  has  always 
said  Durell's  order  was  a  gross  usurpation.  He  has  supported  Kellogg 
upon  other  grounds.  He  has  endeavored  to  keep  Kellogg  in  office,  but  I 
must  say  that  even  Morton  had  not  the  face  to  say  that  Durell  had  juris 
diction.  On  the  contrary,  he  says  he  was  guilty  of  gross  usurpation,  and 
that  his  order  can  only  be  characterized  as  a  gross  usurpation.  What  is 
the  effect?  You  have  heard  it  said  that  the  President  is  not  to  determine 
whether  the  court  has  jurisdiction  or  not— that  he  must  presume  it  to  be  cor 
rect.  I  will  give  Grant  the  credit  to  say  that  even  he  never  said  that  >ti- 
rell  had  jurisdiction.  Now,  what  is  the  effect  ?  I  am  not  going  to  stop  to 
discuss  t'his  point.  What  is  the  effect  of  a  judgment  of  a  court  that  has 


422  Sfi&ATOn  B.  H.  HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

no  jurisdiction  of  either  the  person  or  the  subject  matter?  What  would  be 
the  effect  of  a  judgment  by  Judge  Hopkins,  of  the  Atlanta  Circuit,  against 
a  man  in  Alabama,  touching  property  in  Alabama?  What  effect  would  a 
judgment  by  Judge  Hopkins  have  in  a  matter  that  pertains  solely  to  the 
Federal  court  ?  There  is  a  great  difference  between  an  erroneous  judg 
ment,  where  jurisdiction  exists,  and  a  judgment  without  jurisdiction. 

But  I  will  not  stop  to  explain  to  you  the  difference,  because  I  have  tlie 
difference  expressed  in  one  brief  sentence,  uttered  by  the  greatest  judge 
that  ever  sat  upon  the  bench  in  America. 

Chief  Justice  Marshall,  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  in 
the  glorious  days  of  the  Republic,  when  that  court  commanded  the  respect 
of  all  mankind,  stated  the  difference  very  clearly  in  a  few  words,  and,  as  it 

•/  f  V  9 

is  directly  to  the  point  I  am  discussing,  I  will  read  it  : 

"  The  line  which  separates  error  in  judgment  from  the  usurpation  of 
power,  is  very  definite.  In  the  one  case  it  is  a  record  importing  absolute 
verity.  In  the  other  case  " — that  is,  in  the  case  of  a  want  of  jurisdiction — 
"it  is  mere  waste  paper" — that  is,  it  is  as  worthless  as  a  piece  of  paper  on 
which  nothing  is  written  at  all.  That  is  what  Chief  Justice  Marshall  says. 
But  Kellogg  acquired  power  by  virtue  of  that  order,  enforced  by  Grant's 
bayonets.  Of  course,  all  the  orders  passed  by  Durell  would  have  been  dis 
regarded  if  General  Grant  had  not  enforced  them  by  the  bayonet.  Even 
Warmouth  disregarded  these  orders.  He  said  they  were  nothing  but  waste 
paper.  He  had  the  authority  of  Chief  Justice  Marshall  to  say  they  were 
waste  paper,  and  in  that  emergency  Grant  sent  his  troops. 

Thus  the  Kellogg  government  was  established,  but  it  was  said  that,  not 
withstanding  all  these  things — said  by  the  advocates  of  Kellogg — that  he 
was  really  elected  by  the  people,  that  they  wanted  him  to  be  governor,  and 
they  would  support  him  in  the  office,  and  it  was  unnecessary  to  keep  him  in 
office  by  United  States  forces,  and  that  if  the  United  States  forces  were 
withdrawn  the  people  of  Louisiana  would  be  satisfied  with  the  Kellogg  gov 
ernment.  Well,  in  September,  1874,  they  did  withdraw  the  United  States 
troops,  and  gave  the  patriots  of  Louisiana  a  chance.  There  is  one  question 
not  yet  settled,  and  that  is,  how  long  Kellogg's  government  did  stand  after 
the  United  States  troops  were  withdrawn.  Some  say  it  stood  an  hour — some 
say  two  hours,  and  some  say  just  long  enough  for  Governor  Kellogg  to  run 
from  his  office  to  the  Custom  House.  But  it  is  agreed  on  all  hands  that  it 
did  not  stand  any  longer  than  Kellogg. 

Very  well,  Grant  interfered  again,  and  sent  troops  and  reinstated  Kel 
logg.  Now,  fellow-citizens,  here  was  a  demonstration  that  the  Kellogg 
government  could  not  stand  alone — could  not  stand  an  hour — nobody  would 
support  it.  To  the  eternal  credit  of  the  colored  people  of  Louisiana  be  it 
said,  that  they  had  too  much  honor,  too  much  decent  self-respect  to  support 
the  Kellogg  government. 

Well,  the  people  of  Louisiana  said,  we  will  not  resist  the  United  States. 
Kellogg  took  the  office.  Then  they  organized  for  another  election — an  elec 
tion  not  for  governor,  but  for  another^Legislature.  They  were  just  in  the 
fix  that  we  were  in  1870.  The  term  of  the  Legislature  expired  in  two  years. 
Kellogg  held  his  office  for  four  years,  and  they  had  to  have  a  new  election 
for  a  Legislature.  The  election  came  off  and  now  look  at  this  picture  !  Our 
friends  went  to  the  polls  under  every  disadvantage.  Kellogg  had  his  own 
election  law.  Kellogg  had  his  own  officers  to  manage  that.  They  were 
assisted  by  the  United  States  marshals  and  supervisors — and  yet  under  his 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,   AND  WHITINGS.  423 

own  law,  with  his  own  officers,  supported  by  United  States  troops,  our  people 
went  to  the  poles  and  overthrew  his  dynasty  by  a  majority  of  ten  thousand 
votes  !  I  am  stating  facts  that  I  get  from  the  report  of  the  congressional  com 
mittee  itself,  one  of  the  most  interesting  papers  I  have  ever  read  in  American 
history — two  of  them  Republicans,  but,  strange  as  it  may  seem  to  you, 
exceedingly  honest  men  !  They  report  that  at  that  election,  with  all  these 
disadvantages,  the  conservatives  elected  their  Legislature  (the  House  of 
Representatives)  by  29  majority  out  of  111.  That  is,  the  Democrats  elected 
70  members,  and  the  Republicans  41.  That  is  what  this  committee  say,  and 
they  say  that  the  election  was  fair  and  peaceable,  and  legal  in  all  respects. 

Now,  there  was  trouble  !  Why,  if  this  Legislature  went  into  power,  the 
idea  was  that  Kellogg  would  be  impeached  or  rendered  powerless,  and  they 
determined  that  this  should  never  be,  and  they  took  charge  of  the  returning 
board.  I  am  not  going  into  details  ;  it  is  enough  to  say  that  after  six  or 
eight  weeks'  manipulating  the  returns,  this  board  threw  enough  Democrats 
out  and  put  Radicals  in,  till  Kellogg  says  the  result  was  53  and  53.  But 
they  said  he  put  in  one  Democrat  who  was  not  a  "staying  Democrat."  I  do 
not  know  what  kind  of  a  Democrat  that  was.  I  reckon  it  was  one  that 
would  go  on  either  side  to  get  an  office.  I  have  seen  a  good  many  of  them 
myself.  Another  report  said  that  the  Radicals  had  54  and  the  Democrats 
52.  Anyhow,  they  thought  they  had  it,  so  that  if  they  could  not  control  it 
they  could  at  least  prevent  the  dethronement  of  Kellogg. 

Well,  when  the  Legislature  met,  on  the  4th  of  January,  it  turned  out  one 
Republican  was  not  there.  He  had  been  stealing  something — a  very  strange 
thing  for  a  Radical  to  steal  something.  Anyhow,  the  committee,  the  con 
gressional  committee,  cannot  say  he  was  charged  with  stealing,  but  they 
soften  the  word  and  say  he  "embezzled."  That  was  unfortunate — this  fellow 
that  had  "  embezzled  "  something.  When  the  Legislature  met,  he  was  not 
there.  The  Democrats  had  the  advantage. 

The  committee  say  there  was  doubt  about  it ;  that  he  was  arrested  on  a 
warrant  for  embezzlement  by  the  officer  of  that  Radical  government.  By 
this  absence  and  superior  quickness  our  friends  secured  the  organization  of 
the  Legislature  and  elected  their  officers,  and  then,  having  a  majority,  they 
also  swore  in  five  members  whom  the  returning  board  had  referred  to  the 
Legislature.  And  thus  were  the  Democrats  in  power  at  last,  by  five  or  six 
majority,  after  several  weeks'  manipulation  of  the  Radicals  to  prevent  it. 
What  was  to  be  done?  After  all  this  rascality,  after  their  six  months' 
orgies  of*  infamy  for  the  purpose  of  defeating  the  will  of  the  people,  it  seemed 
at  last,  by  the  unfortunate,  unheard  of  stealing  by  a  Radical,  the  Democrats 
got  the  power.  That  was  not  to  be  endured.  The  result  you  have  heard. 
Soon  after  they  organized,  the  military  was  sent  in,  and  absolutely  removed 
the  Democratic  members  by  force.  Don't  you  see  the  reason  of  this  wrong  ? 
Don't  you  see  why  it  was  one  of  the  greatest  usurpations  in  history' 

It  is  an  essential  feature  in  America,  as  well  as  in  England,  that  each 
house  of  a  legislative  body  shall  be  the  sole  judge  of  the  election,  qualifica 
tion,   and  returns  of  its  members,  else  there  is  no  independence  in 
branch  of  the  government.     If  anybody  else,  judiciary  or  executive,  has 
right  to  revfew  the  actions  of  the  Legislature,  as  to  determine  who  are 
qualified  members  duly  elected,  of  course  the  independence  of  body  is 

gone  ;  and  according  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  each  house  i 
be  the  sole  judge  of  who  are  its  members,  and  also,  I  think,  a  similar  pr< 
ion  exists  in  the  Constitution  of  every  State  in  the  Union,  certainly  in 


424  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

Constitution  of  the  State  of  Louisiana.  Now,  the  question  who  the  mem 
bers  of  that  Legislature  were,  belongs  exclusively  to  that  body.  They  did 
determine ;  and  according  to  the  report  of  this  congressional  committee, 
they  determined  rightly  on  the  merits  of  the  question  ;  but  even  if  they 
did'not,  the  military  had  no  right  to  interfere  ;  for  the  moment  you  allow 
the  government  to  interfere,  that  moment  you  put  the  Legislature  in  the 
power  of  the  executive. 

Two  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago  the  House  of  Commons  wrested  from 
the  House  of  Lords  and  the  king  the  right  to  sit  in  judgment,  solely,  on  the 
"election  returns,  and  qualifications*  of  the  members  of  that  body  ;  and 
from  that  day  to  this  it  has  been  conceded  to  be  the  established,  Constitu 
tional,  universal  right  of  legislative  bodies.  That  right  has  been  destroyed 
in  Louisiana.  Their  house  determined  its  own  organization.  That  house 
determined  its  own  members.  The  determination  did  not  suit  the  powers 
at  Washington,  and  General  Sheridan  was  sent  there,  and  at  Governor  Kel- 
logg*s  request  this  Legislature  was  interfered  with  and  five  members  taken 
out  by  force.  Now,  if  this  can  continue  there,  right  there  is  an  end  of  all 
independence,  and,  consequently,  of  all  power  not  only  in  the  State  Legisla 
ture  but  in  State  government.  For  if  the  Legislature  be  not  independent, 
the  State  is  powerless.  It  can  have  no  will  except  as  it  expresses  it  through 
its  Legislature. 

I  go  on.  Xow  tell  me,  my  friends,  did  they  disperse  the  Louisiana  Legis 
lature  to  save  the  Union  ?  Did  Durell  pass  his  midnight  order  to  save  the 
Union  ?  Did  they  do  it  to  preserve  the  Constitution  of  the  country  ?  Did 
they  do  it  to  complete  the  work  of  Reconstruction  ?  Tell  me —  I  appeal  to 
the  intelligence  of  the  American  public — tell  me  why,  at  this  day,  the  gov 
ernment  at  Washington,  the  dominant  party,  still  finds  it  necessary  to  inter 
fere  and  control  the  Legislatures  of  sovereign  States?  There  is  but  one 
answer  to  be  given.  It  is  to  enable  them  to  keep  the  power  in  this  country 
in  a  central  government  without  regard  to  the  Constitution  of  the  country. 
Xow,  that  is  bad  enough,  but  I  am  dwelling  too  much,  for  there  is  much  I 
desire  to  say.  I  want  to  give  you  the  history  briefly,  and  the  reasons  why 
the  Constitution  was  violated,  so  that  you  will  understand  it.  You  under 
stand  why  it  was  unconstitutional  for  them  thus  to  interfere  in  Louisiana. 
But  my  friends,  bad  as  is  this  view,  there  is  a  darker  one  behind.  Do  you 
believe,  are  you  stupid  enough  to  suppose  that  this  iniquity  has  been  perpe 
trated  because  of  any  special  hatred  to  Louisiana  ?  No.  It  means  you  ;  it 
means  all  the  Southern  States  ;  it  means  all  the  Union  ;  and  it  is  intended 
as  a  blow  to  the  whole  country.  This  man,  Sheridan,  sent  a  telegram  to 
Washington  City,  and  what  is  in  it  ?  He  says  that  the  spirit  of  defiance  to 
the  law  is  uncontrollable,  and  there  is  but  one  way  to  stop  it.  He  did  not 
smy  the  reaction  was  any  defiance  :  he  said  but  the  spirit  of  defiance.  How 
Sheridan  could  read  anybody's  spirit,  I  don't  know,  but  mark  the  language. 
He  is  an  officer,  and  a  high  officer  in  the  United  States  army  ;  he  says  he 
would  suggest  that  Congress  pass  a  law  declaring  a  large  portion  of  tbe 
people  of  Louisiana  and  othef  States  bandits,  that  they  might  be  tried  by 
court-martial.  And  then,  as  if  supposing  Congress  might  not  be  willing  to 
pass  such  a  law,  he  said  that  if  the  President  would  proclaim  them  bandits, 
the  rest  might  be  left  to  him.  I  will  not  indulge  in  epithets,  but  the  idea 
that  an  American  officer  should  suggest  the  thought  that  citizens  could  be 
declared  bandits  by  Presidential  proclamation,  then  tried  by  him,  and  shot 
by  order  of  a  court-martial !  Is  it  possible  for  language  to  "concentrate  the 


HIS  LIFE.    SPEECHES,    ASD  WRITINGS.  4-2-3 

essence  of  tyranny  more  strongly  in  words?  There  is  nothing,  I  fearlessly 
assert,  in  the  history  of  Xero  or  Caligula  more  absolutely  infamous.  There 
is  our  Constitution  which  our  fathers  framed,  and  which  this  officer  swore 
to  support.  And  what  does  that  Constitution  say  ?  That  no  person  shall 
be  held  to  answer  for  a  capital  or  otherwise  infamous  crime,  except  by 
indictment  or  presentment  of  a  grand  jury,  unless  in  land  or  naval  service. 

He  has  requested,  in  the  teeth  of  that,  that  the  President  shall  issue  a 
proclamation  declaring  whole  classes  criminals,  and  leave  the  rest  to  him, 
Sheridan.  Then  there  is  another  clause  that  every  criminal  trial  shall  be  by 
an  impartial  jury,  and  in  the  State  and  district  where  committed.  This 
proposal  of  Sheridan  strikes  down  the  trial  by  jury  and  subjects  the  citi 
zens  to  trial  by  court-martial.  Can  the  spirit  of  banditti  be  worse  ?  I  am 
stating  the  facts  and  telling  you  the  manner  in  which  this  violates  the  Con 
stitution.  This  dispatch  of  General  Sheridan's,  followed  by  his  letter  of 
justification,  would  not  of  itself  amount  to  anything  except  to  prove  that 
Sheridan  knew  nothing  about  law,  and  cared  less  ;  that  he  knew  nothing 
about  human  rights,  and  cared  less  ;  that  he  knew  nothing  about  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  country,  and  cared  less  for  his  oath  to  support  it.  But  the 
alarming  feature  is  that  the  President  of  the  United  States  sends  in 
a  solemn  official  message  to  Congress  wherein,  while  he  does  not  de 
clare  his  wish  or  right  to  issue  the  proclamation,  he  yet  absolutely  goes 
into  an  argument  to  justify  the  dispatch,  and  apologized  for  it  on  account 
of  what  he  calls  the  outrages  in  the  Southern  States.  What  greater  out 
rage  than  this  dispatch,  and  this  approval  of  it,  can  human  wickedness  con 
ceive. 

It  is  the  darkest  chapter  in  the  history  of  the  country  which  records 
that  the  Executive  justifies  a  suggestion  that  citizens  be  declared  bandits  by 
Presidential  proclamation,  and  tried  by  court-martial,  in  the  teeth  of  the 
Constitution  that  Executive  has  sworn  to  support,  protect,  and  defend.  I 
tell  you,  it  marks  the  darkest  era  in  American  history.  You  can  never  com 
prehend  fully  its  danger  or  its  enormity.  And  he  goes  so  far  as  to  say  that 
he  has  no  doubt  that  if  Congress  should  pass  a  law,  as  Sheridan  suggests, 
these  troubles  would  all  cease  ;  that  is,  end  troubles  by  subverting  the  Con 
stitution  !  Secure  peace  by  destroying  liberty  !  Punish  crime  by  official 
perjury,  throusrh  the  assassination  of  Constitutional  government !  Who  is 
the  rebel  ?  Who  shows  a  spirit  of  defiance  to  all  law,  and  a  reckless  disre 
gard  of  all  rights?  Sheridan,  we  are  told,  is  no  lawyer  ;  neither  is  Grant. 
And  here  is  this  great  curse  of  the  country,  that  men  are  rushing  into  high 
positions  whose  duties  they  do  not  understand,  and  whose  responsibilities 
they  do  not  regard.  We  have  an  age  of  military  stateship  and  civil  gov 
ernment  absolutely  destroyed,  and  eveiything,  in  time  of  peace,  in  absolute 
dominion  to  military  power. 

A  still  more  alarming  fact  is,  that  their  monstrous  propositions  are  actually 
defended  and  justified  by  the  leaders  of  the  party,  in  Congress  and  through 
out  the  United  States.     That  lawyers  like  Morton  and  Conkling   and  Ed 
munds  should  forget  their  oath,  and  get  up  before  the  people  and  justify 
these  bold,  fearless,  and  despotic  propositions  passes  comprehension.     It  only 
shows  to  what  extent  the  spirit  of  usurpation  has  gone,  and  ought  to  alarm 
the  American  people  of  the  threatening  danger  to  their  institutions, 
is  the  thing  to  end  ?     Think  you  it  will  end  in  Louisiana  ?     My  countrymen, 
you  cannot  mistake  the  purpose  of  all  this  conduct.     It  has  been  manifea 
'from  the  beginning.     It  will  not  stop  with  Louisiana  unless  the  people  now 


426  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

frown  it  down  by  an  indignation  unparalleled  in  this  country.  Already  a 
special  committee  has  been  appointed  to  see  what  further  repressive  legisla 
tion  is  necessary  for  the  Southern  States,  and  we  are  told  that  the  committee 
is  now  absolutely  discussing  the  proposition  of  undoing  all  that  has  been 
done  ;  that  is  unreconstructing  Reconstruction  and  reconstructing  again. 
Why,  you  know  they  said  when  they  commenced  Reconstruction,  that  we  were 
outside  of  the  law,  and  the  idea  is  to  remand  us  back  to  dependence  on  their 
power.  The  very  idea  is  monstrous  ;  it  points  to  the  end  to  which  this 
country,  under  this  party,  is  going.  It  proves  as  clearly  as  can  be  proved 
that  this  party  never  went  into  this  war  to  preserve  the  Constitution  ;  that 
they  never  went  into  this  war  solely  to  abolish  slavery.  I  tell  you  they  have 
conducted  this  government,  from  the  day  the  Southern  people  left  for  the 
purpose  of  perpetuating  themselves  in  power,  and  they  are  determined  to 
pepetuate  themselves  in  power  if  they  trample  upon  the  Constitution  and 
every  State  in  the  United  States  to  accomplish  the  result.  What  is  the 
prospect  of  success  ?  That  is  the  material  inquiry  for  you  and  me.  I  am 
delighted  to  see  that  a  great  many  of  the  more  intelligent  and  patriotic 
citizens  of  the  Republican  party  North  have  taken  this  matter  in  hand.  In 
Boston  the  spirit  of  liberty  is  reviving.  That  great  lawyer,  Evarts,  has  spoken 
words  that  ought  to  commend  him  to  every  patriot  in  the  United  States.  I 
am  glad  to  see  Republicans  coming  out  against  the  subversion  of  the  Con 
stitution,  for  every  blow  at  Louisiana  is  a  blow  at  every  State  in  this  Union. 
I  have  some  faith  that  the  Northern  people,  who  have  been  so  long  the 
victims  of  a  raging  storm  of  passion,  are  now  awakening  to  their  senses,  and 
will  see  that  the  miserable  party  of  Constitution  haters  they  have  nursed  is 
under  the  lead  of  the  greatest  rebels,  and  the  only  rebels  who  have  really 
caused  all  our  trouble.  And  yet,  these  men,  that  thus  trample  upon  the  Con 
stitution  undei*  the  solemnity  of  their  oaths,  which  they  take  when  they  take 
their  seats  in  Congress,  have  the  effrontery  to  get  up  there  and,  in  the  very 
same  breath  with  which  they  justify  these  enormous  violations  of  the  Con 
stitution,  talk  to  Southern  men  about  being  rebels. 

Secession  was  a  mistake — a  terrible  mistake,  but  secession  was  no  crime. 
It  violated  no  oaths  ;  it  trampled  upon  no  individual  rights  ;  it  dispersed  no 
Legislature  ;  it  throttled  no  State  ;  it  sought  to  shed  no  blood  ;  it  burned  no 
cities  ;  it  invaded  no  homes  !  Radicalism  is  no  mistake.  It  is  deliberate, 
intentional,  wicked,  ever  increasing  crime  ;  it  has  trampled  upon  ten  thou 
sand  oaths  to  support  the  Constitution.  It  deified  the  Union  as  a  fact  that 
it  might  destroy  the  Union  as  a  principle,  under  pretense  of  reconstructing 
the  States.  It  has  sworn  to.  support  the  Constitution  only  to  seize  upon 
power  to  enable  it  to  subvert  the  Constitution  ;  under  pretense  of  restoring 
peace,  it  has  blighted  the  country  with  war,  poverty,  and  sorrow. 

It  hns  burned  cities  ;  it  has  dispersed  Legislatures  ;  it  has  robbed  the 
poor  ;  plundered  the  helpless  ;  punished  the  innocent,  and  it  has  chained 
liberty  to  the  car  of  tyranny.  I  arraign  Radicalism  to-night  before  the  bar 
of  this  outraged  country  as  the  only  real,  intentional  rebel  in  American  his 
tory.  It  is  a  rebel  against  the  Constitution  of  our  fathers.  It  is  a  rebel 
against  the  sovereignty  of  the  States.  It  is  a  rebel  against  the  domestic 
tranquillity  which  the  Constitution  was  intended  to  insure.  It  is  a  rebel 
against  every  principle  of  justice,  and  a  rebel  against  every  blessing  of  lib 
erty.  Will  Northern  people  see  it?  Can  they  wake  up  to  see  it?  I  be 
lieve  they  can.  I  believe  they  will  ;  at  least  I  have  some  hope  of  it.  It 
is  time  for  the  work  to  begin.  The  great  final  struggle  to  settle  the  ques- 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,   AND   WHITINGS.  427 

tion  whether  Constitutional  liberty  on  this  continent  shall  be  continued  or 
not,  is  to  be  fought  in  1876.  Can  it  be  successfully  fought  at  the  ballot? 
I  warn  the  country  now  that  Radicalism  will  never  yield  its  grasp  of  power 
at  the  bidding  of  the  votes  of  the  people,  save  that  vote  amount  to  a  popu 
lar  revolution.*  Don't  you  imagine,  my  friends,  that  this  monster  against 
every  right  is  going  to  yield  its  morbid  appetite  for  power  at  the  bidding 
of  a  bare  majority  of  the  people.  Never  !  never  ! 

That  is  what  it  is  now  preparing  for,  and  I  tell  you  the  same  power  that 
tli  rot  tied  Louisiana  will  throttle  the  electoral  college  of  those  States  and 
keep  the  government  in  their  hands,  notwithstanding  the  ballot,  and  all 
under  the  color  ef  the  law,  too.  I  want  the  mind  of  the  American  people 
directed  to  one  inquiry — it  is  a  great  inquiry,  a  glorious  inquiry !  Oh  !  I 
look  forward  to  the  discussion  with  real  rapture  !  Who,  in  American  his 
tory,  is  a  rebel  ?  Is  it  a  man  who  tramples  upon  the  Constitution,  or  a  man 
who  simply  resents  such  infidelity  by  seeking  to  get  away  from  such  a 
party  ?  To  what  extent  this  rebel  power  may  go  in  defying  the  will  of  the 
people,  no  one  can  say.  Look  what  it  has  done  in  Louisiana.  Look  at  the 
report  of  the  Congressional  committee.  Stores  and  property  selling  for 
taxes.  Residences  in  that  beautiful  city  of  New  Orleans  selling  for 
taxes  ! 

In  the  interior,  property  is  actually  offered  for  taxes,  and  that  amount 
cannot  be  had.  The  people  impoverished,  the  Legislature  dispersed,  the 
State  powerless  ;  in  the  interior  counties  the  committee  tells  us  the  only 
white  Republicans  are  office-holders,  and  in  several  instances  there  is  not  a 
single  Republican  but  one  family,  and  they  all  hold  offices  !  That  is  why 
they  are  Radicals ;  for  the  same  reason  that  carrion  crows  like  carrion,  and 
they  care  not  what  maybe  the  wrongs  to  others,  so  they  get  it.  That  is  the 
condition  of  Louisiana.  Look  at  your  prostrate  sister,  and  see  what  Georgia 
has  escaped.  Georgia  narrowly  escaped,  in  1871,  the  same  fate  that  overtook 
Louisiana  in  1872,  and  again  the  other  day.  It  could  have  been  done  easier 
in  Georgia,  for  in  Louisiana  Governor  Warmouth  was  opposed  to  it  ;  there 
fore,  they  resorted  to  Durell  ;  but  in  Georgia,  in  1871,  the  then  so-called 
governor  was  not  only  willing,  but  exceedingly  anxious  to  enter  upon  the 
work.  Do  you  think  Georgia  was  saved  by  accident?  Such  results  are 
never  attained  by  accident.  Was  she  saved  by  the  ballot  ?  Did  not 
Louisiana  have  the  ballot  also  in  1872  ?  Does  not  the  committee  say  she 
elected  a  majority  in  the  House  of  Representatives  again  in  1874,  and  yet, 
where  is  she  now"?  The  public  man  in  America  who  has  not  understood 
from  the  beginning  that  the  whole  point  and  power  as  well  as  danger  of 
Radicalism  lies  in  the  fact  that  they  expect  to  perpetuate  their  power  by 
force  and  in  spite  of  the  ballot-box,  has  been  a  stupid  public  man,  and  not 
fit  to  be  a  public  counselor.  Now,  Georgia  was  saved  in  1871  by  keeping 
off  the  heavy  hand  of  Federal  interference.  How  it  was  done  is  not  now 
proper  time  to  say.  Some  have  said  sneeringly  that  I  said  I  did  it.  I  never 
said  I  did  it,  but  I  say  one  thino- — my  slanderers  did  not  do  it.  I  will  not  stop 
to  tell  what  part  I  acted,  but  throughout  the  day  of  trouble  my  ears  were 
saluted  by  but  one  sound  from  the  rear,  and  that  was  slander  and  calumny 
from  the  people  I  served.  But  let  that  pass  ;  you  shall  have  that  history  in 
due  time.  At  all  events,  Georgia  was  saved  by  exactly  the  reverse  process 
by  which  Louisiana  was  lost.  Louisiana  was  lost  by  Federal  interference, 
and  Georgia  was  saved  by  Federal  non-interference.  I  will  say  this  much. 

*  A  remarkable  prediction  of  the  fraudulent  judgment  of  the  Electoral  Commission. 


428  SENATOR  B.   H.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

I  was  actuated  by  no  selfish  purpose  and  equally  was  not  intimidated  by  the 
war  upon  rue.  I  had  nothing  in  view  but  the  rescue  of  my  native  State 
from  the  domination  of  Radicalism. 

How  Grant  came  to  be  so  kind,  and  I  admit  he  was  kind,  is  the  question 
you  are  some  day  to  understand. 

Fellow-citizens,  I  look  to  the  contest  of  1876  not  only  as  the  most  impor 
tant  that  ever  occurred  in  American  history,  but  as  the  most  important  in 
the  history  of  the  world  ;  for  if  the  people  of  the  country  cannot  be 
aroused  to  give  an  overwhelming  vote  against  this  Republican  party,  it  will 
perpetuate  itself  in  power  in  the  United  States  by  precisely  the  same  means 
as  the  President  has  taken  in  Louisiana,  and  the  people  will  fc>e  powerless  to 
prevent  it  except  they  go  to  war.  If  we  fail  with  the  ballot-box  in  1876  liy 
reason  of  force,  a  startling  question  will  present  itself  to  the  American  peo 
ple.  I  trust  we  will  not  fail ;  I  hope  the  Northern  people  have  had  a  suffi 
cient  subsidence  of  passion  to  see  this  question  fairly.  I  think  they  will  ;  I 
trust  they  will.  The  indications  are  in  our  favor.  In  truth,  the  majority  of 
the  North  were  always  in  favor  of  the  Constitution. 

They  were  in  favor  of  Constitutional  government,  they  were  in  favor  of 
Constitutional  liberty,  but  they  have  been  carried  away  by  the  raging  storm 
of  passion,  and,  by  the  unfortunate  secession  of  the  South,  taken  posses 
sion  of  by  fanatical  leaders.  Led  on  under  the  miserable  delusion  that  they 
were  preserving  the  Union,  and  keeping  down  rebellion,  they  have  been  aid 
ing  and  rewarding  the  only  rebels  in  America  in  the  work  of  destroying  the 
Constitution. 

There  is  the  point  ;  they  must  now  be  able  to  see.  If  they  will  not  see 
it  ;  if  they  will  still  be  blind  ;  if  poor  Louisiana  cannot  teach  them  that  this 
party  means  the  destruction  of  Constitutional  government  on  this  continent, 
then,  indeed,  the  great  question,  and  the  only  question  behind  for  their 
thought  is  the  one  that  must  be  propounded,  and  from  which  there  is  no 
escape.  That  question  is,  is  the  Constitution  of  our  fathers  worth  blood  ? 
Will  you  have  war  or  despotism  ?  Will  you  have  blood  or  empire?  That 
is  the  question.  If  you  appeal  to  the  ballot-box,  it  will  fail  unless  the  peo 
ple  rally  by  an  overwhelming  majority,  such  as  in  the  majesty  of  its  irresisti 
ble  power  shall  sweep  rebellion  from  the  offices  of  the  government  by  the 
very  breath  of  its  indignation.  Nothing  else  can  save  it.  Nothing  else  will 
save  it.  The  next  Congress  of  the  United  States  is  in  importance  over  every 
preceding  Congress  from  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  to  the  present 
time.  The  debates  of  the  next  Congress  must  give  shape  to  the  presidential 
election.  They  should  be  wise,  burning,  and  patriotic,  and  in  the  wisdom 
of  those  debates  the  Northern  people  must  receive  enlightened  intelligence 
that  will  enable  them  to  rise  and  save  the  liberties  of  the  country. 

To  this  dreadful  issue  I  have  looked  with  earnestness  for  years.  I  tell 
you,  my  friends,  there  is  no  peace  for  this  country  until  Radicalism  is 
crushed ;  not  only  crushed  but  despised ;  not  only  despised  but  made 
infamous  forever  throughout  America.  But  oh,  howr  my  heart  in  this  trying 
hour  forgives  all  the  strife  of  the  past,  and  goes  out  with  patriotic  affection 
to  every  Northern  man  who  wakes  to  the  reality  of  the  situation,  and  says 
that  at  last  he  has  discovered  that  the  only  true  friend  of  the  Union  is  the 
true  friend  of  the  Constitution.  What  an  occasion  for  us  !  What  shall 
we,  of  the  South,  do  ?  We  are  powerless  in  one  sense,  but  there  is  much  we 
can  do.  Let  us  now,  everywhere  in  the  South,  habitually  speak  of  the  Con 
stitution  and  the  Union  under  it  with  that  old  reverence  and  love  that  dis 
tinguished  us  in  the  days  that  are  past  and  gone.  I  say  to-night,  there  was 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND    WRITINGS.  420 

not  a  single  hour  in  American  history  when  the  Southern  heart  was  not  true  to 
that  Constitution.  When  the  signal  of  war  was  given  in  Massachusetts  in 
the  first  revolution,  Georgia  was  one  of  the  first  to  march  to  the  fight  of 
Massachusetts  for  the  liberties  of  all. 

If  we  must  have  war  ;  if  we  cannot  preserve  this  Constitution  and  Con 
stitutional  government  by  the  ballot ;  if  force  is  to  defeat  the  ballot ;  if  the 
war  must  come — God  forbid  that  it  should  come — but  if  it  must  come  ;  if 
folly,  wickedness  ;  if  inordinate  love  of  power  shall  decree  that  America  must 
save  her  Constitution  by  blood,  let  it  come.  I  am  ready. 

But  let  one  thing  be  distinctly  understood,  that  if  another  war  shall 
come,  we  of  the  South  will  rally  under  the  old  flag  of  our  fathers.  It  always 
was  our  fla^.  We  were  never  faithless  to  it,  and  our  enemies  were  never 
faithful  to  it. 

In  1860  some  of  you  may  have  heard  me  in  the  capitol  at  Milledgeville, 
when  I  told  you  then  that  this  spirit  of  enmity  to  the  Constitution  would 
one  day  produce  war  in  this  country.  There  was  no  escape  from  it.  The 
destruction  of  slavery  was  a  pretext.  The  whole  purpose  was  to  change  the 
character  of  the  government  and  Constitution  of  this  country,  and  I  told  you 
this,  with  all  the  earnestness  of  my  nature,  to  fight  first  for  the  Constitution 
in  the  Union,  and  if  we  could  not  save  the  Constitution  in  it,  then  was  time 
enough  to  go  out. 

You  would  not  agree  to  the  proposition.  You  insisted  upon  going  out. 
I  do  not  chide  you.  You  were  unfortunate.  You  were  excited.  You  were 
mistaken  ;  you  did  wrong  to  your  friends  at  home,  to 'yourselves,  and  to  your 
friends  at  the  North.  You  threw  the  power  of  the  government  into  the 
hands  of  the  enemies  of  us  all.  They  used  that  power  to  crush  you  and 
your  friends  in  the  North,  and  they  are  determined  to  crush  until  they 
crush  out  all  the  Constitutional  liberty  in  the  country.  You  know  I  was 
faithful  ;  that  I  stayed  by  you  till  the  last  hour  ;  that  from  the  time  Georgia 
seceded,  till  Lee's  surrender,  I  never  did  an  act  or  said  a  word  or  had  a 
thought  that  was  not  faithful  to  our  side. 

The  same  old  enemy  is  still  on  the  warpath  against  Constitutional  gov 
ernment  and  the  sovereignty  of  the  States.  Under  the  false  pretext  of 
preserving  the  Union,  this  enemy  has  deluded  the  North  and  victimized  the 
South;  and  now,  insolent  with  success,  is  seeking  to  engulf  all  the  liberties 
of  the  North  and  the  South.  Patriots  everywhere  must  wake  up  to  their 
designs,  and  forget  and  forgive  all  the  errors,  mistakes,  and  strifes  of  the 
past.  Let  us  have  no  more  of  slavery,  no  more  of  secession,  no  more  sec 
tional  crimination  ;  let  us  all,  who  love  the  Constitution,  unite  and  save  the 
country  by  ballot  if  possible  ;  and  if  force,  under  pretext  of  any  kind, 
shall  attempt  to  defeat  the  voice  of  the  people  at  the  ballot-box,  let  every 
patriot  be  ready  to  march  under  the  old  Stars  and  Stripes  to  the  grave  or 
to  victory.  Let  us  of  the  South  go  where  we  ought  to  have  gone  at  the 
first,  and'where,  if  we  had  gone,  we  should  have  crushed  out  this  monster 
power. 

In  the  mean  time,  while  patriots  all  over  the  country  are  awaiting  and 
preparing  for  the  ^reat  deciding  election  of  1876,  oppressions  will  continue 
upon  the  South,  and  how  shall  we  deport  ourselves  ?  On  this  point  I  wish 
to  be  distinctly  understood.  During  the  process  of  executing  Reconstruc 
tion,  beginning  in  1867,  I  did  not  advise  the  Southern  people  to  resist  the 
government,  but  I  did  urge  them  not  to  consent  to  Reconstruction,  for  that 
would  have  disgraced  us  as  a  people.  I  insisted  that  Reconstruction  should 


430  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

be  both  the  work  and  the  infamy  of  our  enemies.  The  process  of  Recon 
struction  fixed  upon  us  nominal  rulers,  but  real  plunderers  and  robbers.  In 
1870  the  time  had  come  to  consider  how  we  should  get  rid  of  these  crea 
tures.  I  never  wrestled  with  any  proposition  with  a  more  earnest,  unselfish, 
even  self-sacrificing  purpose.  I  made  two  visits  to  the  North  to  learn  pub 
lic  sentiment  as  it  was  and  as  it  was  likely  to  be.  I  found  a  great  number 
of  Republicans  utterly  opposed  to  the  centralizing  tendency  of  their  party 
under  its  Radical  rulers.  But  these  men  would  not  support  the  Democratic 
party  because  they  feared,  under  the  platform  of  1868,  the  Democracy 
would  revolutionize  backward  to  secession  and  slavery.  I  found  also  that 
the  portion  of  the  platform  of  1868  which  declared  Reconstruction  revolu 
tionary,  null  and  void,  was  only  a  sentiment  with  the  Democrats,  and  not  a 
principle  in  action.  These  facts  put  together  brought  me  to  the  conclusion 
that  in  1872  the  Democracy  would  modify  their  platform,  and  recognize 
Reconstruction  as  accomplished  facts  ;  and  that  patriotic  Republicans  at  the 
North  would  then  begin  to  join  the  Democrats  to  arrest  the  Radical  revo 
lution  to  absolutism  in  some  way. 

This  conclusion  caused  me  to  write  the  letter  of  December,  1870,  advising 
you  to  submit  to  the  Constitution  as  amended,  and  .  go  to  work  to  avert 
further  wrongs.  I  believed  this  position  would  aid  me  in  the  struggle  to  get 
rid  of  Radical  rule  in  Georgia,  by  keeping  off  Federal  interference,  and  I 
was  not  mistaken.  Many  of  you  abused  me  very  much  then.  You  ought 
to  be  ashamed  of  it.  I  warned  you  that  you  would  be  ashamed  of  it,  and  so 
you  are.  You  did  not  then  see  the  question  as  I  saw  it,  only  because  you 
had  not  studied  it  as  I  had.  I  saw  then  it  was  the  only  way  out  of  our 
troubles.  Well,  time  has  done  its  work,  and  you  are  all  up  with  me  now. 
Everybody  says  submit.  Nobody  cries  "nullity"  now.  I  fear  I  must  now 
admonish  you  not  to  go  too  far.  It  must  not  become  abject.  We  must 
submit  to  the  laws,  right  or  wrong.  We  must  cheerfully  give  all  rights  to 
all  races  and  colors.  We  must  not  resist  the  authority  of  the  United  States, 
even  though  they  cheat  the  ballot-box,  and  force  usurpers  and  robbers  in 
office  over  the  votes  and  the  will  of  our  people.  Let  us  do  all  these  things 
and  wait  patiently  for  the  awaking  patriotism  of  the  Northern  people  to  re- 
dress'our  wrongs.  But  beyond  this  I  will  not  advise  submission.  I  will  not 
advise  that  we  give  notice  in  advance  that  we  will  submit  to  be  treated  as 
criminals.  Never  !  No  honorable  Northern  man  will  ask  it,  nor  respect  us 
if  we  grant  it.  If  Congress,  by  act,  shall  declare  us,  or  Grant  by  procla 
mation  adjudge  us,  to  be  bandits,  and  leave  the  rest  to  Sheridan,  and  he 
begins  to  handcuff,  court-martial,  and  shoot  citizens  of  the  South,  I  will  not 
advise  freemen  to  submit  to  it  !  I  want  the  North  to  have  freedom.  I  am 
willing  to  vote  with  them,  and  if  necessary  fight  with  them  for  our  common 
freedom,  but  I  am  not  willing  that  the  North  shall  have  freedom  on  condi 
tion  that  we  first  become  slaves.  In  a  word,  I  am  willing  to  advise  our 
people  to  submit  to  everything  that  patriots  and  freemen  can  submit  to  and 
preserve  honor,  but  I  am  not  willing  to  see  the  Constitution  subverted  that  we 
may  be  treated  as  bandits  and  outlaws,  and  advise  our  people  to  submit  to 
that ;  nor  do  I  believe  the  Northern  people  will  require  or  permit  such  humili 
ation.  If  they  do  require  or  will  permit  it,  then  all  honor  as  well  as  liberty 
is  lost,  and  there  is  nothing  to  hope  for  by  any  submission.  We  catch  up 
the  old  slogan  of  our  enemies  and  read  it,  and  turn  to  its  authors  and  say, 
:  This  country— this  whole  country— must  be  all  free  or  all  slave  !  " 

We  will  in  all  things  deport  ourselves  as  patriots,  and  respect  and  pro- 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  431 

tect  the  rights  of  all  men  ;  we  will  submit  to  the  accomplished  facts  of  the 
past,  whether  we  approve  them  or  not ;  we  will  join  our  Northern  brethren 
to  restore  the  Constitution  as  it  is  over  all  the  country ;  we  will  unite  with 
them  at  the  ballot-box  to  redeem  the  country  from  its  present  thraldom  and 
its  threatening  future  ;  we  will  help  them  unchain  all  the  States  and  pre 
serve  the  liberties  of  all  men.  If  force  shall  be  employed  by  the  enemies  of 
the  Constitution — by  the  rebels  against  Constitutional  government — to  de 
feat  the  will  of  the  people  through  the  ballot-box,  we  are  willing  to  march 
with  them  as  common  brethren,  under  a  common  flag,  to  preserve  our  com 
mon  country,  Union,  and  Constitution.  But  we  of  the  South  will  inaugu 
rate  no  war.  We  shall  resist  every  attempt  to  provoke  or  force  us  first  into 
the  collision.  We  insist  that  the  roll  call  for  volunteers  to  defend  the  Con 
stitution  shall  begin  at  Bunker  Hill.  Then  let  it  go  to  Lexington,  Con 
cord,  Saratoga,  Brandywine,  and  Trenton.  As  it  crosses  the  Potomac,  let  it 
be  repeated  at  Manassas,  and  Chancellorsville,  and  Richmond,  and  Chicka- 
mauga,  and  Shiloh,  and  me  thinks  the  very  dead  will  leap  up  and  answer ! 

My  Southern  friends,  how  I  take  comfort  from  that  beautiful  law  of  a 
wise  and  merciful  Providence,  that  patient  virtue,  sooner  or  later,  shall  have 
its  reward.  We  have  endured,  we  have  struggled,  we  have  made  mistakes, 
but  all  our  mistakes  were  on  the  side  of  liberty  and  for  what  we  believed 
was  the  cause  of  Constitutional  government.  We  have  paid  the  penalty 
of  our  mistakes  most  cruelly.  Thank  God,  there  is  a  logic  in  events  which 
human  intentions  cannot  control. 

There  is  a  Providence  in  the  world  which  the  human  will  cannot  restrain  ; 
one  of  them  is  that  patient  virtue,  enduring  right,  suffering  courage,  shall 
one  day  have  their  reward.  I  believe»that  day  is  dawning  for  us.  I  believe 
the  time  is  coming,  if  we  be  true  to  ourselves,  if  we  bury  the  strifes  of  the 
past,  and  have  but  one  honest,  longing,  earnest  desire  to  restore  the  Consti 
tution  of  our  fathers,  and  preserve  liberty  for  all,  that  we  shall  find 
a  great  cloud  of  witnesses  at  the  North  rising  up  for  our  rescue  and 
ready  to  accord  us  justice  as  patriots.  When  the  victory  shall  begin  ;  when 
the  sins  of  the  Radical  party  shall  once  begin  to  be  exposed,  oh,  what 
infamy  awaits  them!  What  pen  can  describe  it?  We  have  only  to  recite 
a  record  of  their  deeds,  of  their  violated  oaths,  of  their  brutality,  of  their 
hypocrisy,  to  sink  them  deeper  into  infamy  than  was  ever  visited  upon  any 
party  in  history.  As  they  shall  sink,  you  shall  rise.  The  reawakened  and 
reunited  patriotism  of  all  sections  will  enkindle  a  flame  in  this  country  that 
will  burn  up  forever  all  spirit  of  rebellion  to  the  Constitution  ;  and  this 
American  Haman — Radicalism — so  bigoted,  so  brutal,  so  insolent,  will  be 
brought  to  the  scaffold  which  himself  has  erected  for  our  common  Constitu 
tion,  and  Northern  patriots  will  cry  out,  "  Let  them  be  hanged,  let  them  bo 
hanged ! " 

i 


SPEECH  DELIVERED  IN  ATLANTA,  GA.,  MAY  12,  1875. 

Mr.  Hill  had  been  recently  elected  to  Congress  from  the  Ninth  District,  and  the  re 
joicing  of  the  people  throughout  the  State  was  unprecedented.  In  Atlanta  the  citizens 
were  wild  with  joy,  and  gave  evidence  of  their  enthusiasm  in  firing  cannon,  parading 
the  streets,  etc.  In  compliance  with  their  enthusiastic  demand,  Mr.  Hill  delivered  this 
speech.  It  is  an  admirable  address,  full  of  sound  sense  and  wise  utterances.  It  abounds 
with  lofty  sentiment,  such  as  "  There  must  be  no  handcuffed  sovereignties  at  Liberty's 
Centennial,"  and  patriotic  axioms  such  as,  "  If  the  men  of  the  North  will  covenant  that 
the  Union  shall  be  Constitutional,  the  men  of  the  South  will  covenant  that  it  shall  be 
eternal."  The  people  of  the  South  looked  to  Mr.  Hill's  election  to  the  national  council 
with  great  expectations.  They  regarded  him  as  the  long-delayed  champion  of  Southern 
history  and  civilization.  They  looked  to  him  to  defend  the  purposes  of  the  South  and  to 
uphold  the  honor  of  his  people.  They  regarded  him  as  the  first  representative  of  his 
section,  who  not  only  had  the  ability,  but  was  fully  equipped  to  make  her  defense.  He 
seemed  to  feel  the  immense  responsibility  of  his  position,  and  throughout  the  speech 
there  breathes  a  tone  of  calmness,  conservatism,  and  wisdom.  There  appears  no  personal 
elation,  but  an  earnest  consecration  of  purpose  to  meet  the  high  expectation  of  his  people, 
and  to  restore  a  Union  of  love. 

Ladies,  Friends,  and  Fellow-citizens:  It  would  be  utterly  vain  for  me  to 
attempt  to  find  language  to  express  my  appreciation  of  this  greeting,  and  I 
shall  not  make  the  effort.  I  am  very  far,  however,  from  appropriating  it 
as  only  a  compliment  to  myself.  I  accept  this  demonstration  as  evidence 
of  the  interest  which  the  people  are  very  naturally  feeling  in  the  great  issues 
which  are  soon  to  break,  in  all  their  force,  upon  the  country. 

The  recent  election  in  the  Ninth  Congressional  District  of  this  State,  over 
the  results  of  which  you  are  pleased  to  rejoice,  was  remarkable  for  many  rea 
sons.  To  many  of  the  reasons  which  make  this  election  remarkable,  I  will  not 
here  allude.  I  will  now  state  only  a  few  of  the  lessons  taught,  which  I  think  it 
important  for  the  public  to  understand.  In  the  first  place,  let  it  be  dis 
tinctly  understood  that  the  people  of  the  Ninth  District,  by  this  election, 
have  expressed  their  most  emphatic  approval  of  sound,  orthodox  Demo 
cratic  principles.  And  this  indorsement  has  not  come  too  soon.  It  was 
needed.  If  Democracy  in  this  day  means  anything,  it  means  that  the  pow 
ers  of  the  Federal  Government  are  derivative  and  not  inherent — are  dele 
gated  and  not  self-produced.  It  necessarily  follows  that  a  power  not  found 
in  the  lists  of  those  delegated,  and  not  necessary  to  one  so  formed,  does  not 
exist.  The  Constitution,  too,  was  made  for  war  as  well  as  for  peace.  All 
the  powers  intended  to  be  given  for  war  as  well  as  for  peace  are  written  in 
the  covenant.  Nor  can  war  enlarge  the  powers,  nor  release  from  the  obli 
gation  to  support  the  covenant.  Therefore,  neither  in  time  of  war,  nor  as 
a  consequence  of  war,  can  the  general  government,  nor  any  department  or 
officer  of  it,  go  outside  of  the  Constitution  to  find  power  or  authority.  To 
get  outside  of  the  Constitution  is  to  get  outside  of  existence  itself,  as  far 
as  the  general  government  is  concerned. 

The  theory  that  "  the  conqueror  has  a  right  to  prescribe  terms  to  the  con 
quered"  has  no  application  whatever  to  the  Federal  Government  and  the 
States  composing  it.  It  is  a  provision  only  of  the  laws  of  nations,  and  even 
there  has  only  a  limited  application.  If  the  United  States  conquered  Mexico, 
the  conqueror  could  prescribe  certain  terms  to  the  conquered.  But  the 

432 


HIS  LIFE  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  433 

United  States  have  no  right,  authority,  or  power  under  the  Constitution,  to 
conquer  one  of  their  own  States.  That  would  be  to  conquer  part  of  them 
selves.  If  they  can  conquer  one  State,  they  can  conquer  all  the  States ; 
that  is,  conquer  themselves,  and  thus  destroy  their  own  existence  as  well 
as  authority.  If  the  general  government  can  use  force  on  a  State  at  all, 
it  can  only  do  so  to  enforce  its  Constitutional  authority  and  no  more.  The 
late  war  was  not  waged  to  conquer  States.  It  was  waged  to  preserve  the 
Constitutional  authority  of  the  Union,  and  the  result  cannot  legitimately 
exceed  both  the  authority  and  the  purpose.  It  is  to  this  great  heresy — the 
conqueror  can  prescribe  terms  for  the  conquered — we  owe  all  the  troubles 
of  the  past  ten  years.  It  has  cursed  the  country  more  than  did  secession 
and  war.  It  has  been  the  fountain  of  unlimited  powers  in  the  Federal  Gov 
ernment  and  of  immeasurable  wrongs  upon  the  people.  The  assertion  and 
denial  of  this  heresy  constitutes  the  great  fundamental  issue  between  the 
Radical  and  Democratic  parties,  and  the  final  determination  of  that  issue 
must  settle  the  question  whether  we  shall  have  a  central  government  of 
unlimited  or  limited  powers.  During  the  late  canvass  I  was  shocked  to  hear 
men  who  boasted  that  they  were  born  Democrats,  had  always  been  Demo 
crats,  and  want  to  be  Democrats,  actually  indorsing  this  heresy.  I  was  neither 
slow  nor  timid  in  denouncing  the  heresy,  and  the  people  have  responded 
with  a  voice  that  can  neither  be  mistaken  nor  disregarded. 

In  the  second  place,  I  wish  it  to  be  understood  that  this  election  is  not  an 
expression  by  the  people  against  Democratic  organization.  No  man  can  be 
more  in  favor  of  organization  than  myself,  nor  would  I  have  permitted  the 
use  of  my  name  against  a  regular  nominee.  But  it  must  be  admitted  that 
very  many  of  the  best  Democrats  in  the  State  are  losing  all  patience  with 
conventions.  Why  ?  Because  they  believe  these  conventions  have  been, 
are  being  used  by  political  intriguers  and  traders,  to  defeat  the  will  of 
the  people,  and  to  secure  triumph  to  rings  and  combinations.  There  is  too 
much  reason  for  these  complaints.  The  worst  enemies  of  conventions  and  of 
the  Democratic  party  are  the  men  who  use  conventions  to  control  the  p^arty 
for  such  selfish  and  unpatriotic  purposes.  The  best  friends  of  the  conven 
tions  and  of  the  party  are  those  who  will  see  to  it  that  conventions  shall  be 
used  to  express  the  will  of  the  people  and  secure  concert  of  action  in  the 
party.  We  must  remedy  these  evil  uses  of  conventions,  and  not  destroy  the 
system  itself.  We  must  drive  out  the  traders  and  not  destroy  the  temple. 
This  is  exactly  the  meaning  of  the  verdict  rendered  by  the  people  of  the 
Ninth  District.  This  result  shows  that  those  who,  by  'combinations  made 
themselves  a  nominal  majority  in  the  Gainesville  convention,  represented 
less  than  a  third  of  the  voters.  I  will  not  say  this  evil  in  the  Gainesville 
convention  was  the  result  of  intentional  intrigue,  but  I  only  say  the  evil 
existed,  and  it  has  been  rebuked  and  repudiated  by  a  misrepresented  people, 
and  that  it  is  the  evil  and  not  a  proper  convention  system  which  they  have 
rebuked  and  repudiated. 

In  this  connection  I  hope  I  will  be  pardoned  if  I  add  some  suggestions, 
which  I  hope  will  be  heeded.  For  twenty  years  a  revolution  has  been  pro 
gressing.  The  struggle  of  1876  will  finally  settle  the  fate  of  this  country. 
The  issue  is  liberty  or  empire.  The  Democratic  party  is  the  only  party  now 
existing  under  whose  banner  the  friends  of  Constitutional  liberty  can  rally. 
Is  that  party  a^ain  to  be  divided?  Is  that  party  to  march  out  for  the  last 
great  battle  with  the  enemy  with  squads  of  friends  firing  into  its  ranks,  and 
\vith  selfish  leaders  thinking  of  nothing  but  the  spoils  they  may  gather: 


434  SENATOR  R   H.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

so,  the  battle  is  lost  and  liberty  will  die  the  death  that  knows  no  resurrec 
tion.  Now  let  me  beg  that  self  may  be  abnegated,  and  the  good  of  the 
country  only  remembered,  at  least,  until  the  country  is  safe.  Let  political 
traders  and  intriguers  forbear  to  ply  their  avocations,  and  let  each  one  of  us 
suspect  that  possibly  other  men  may  have  some  patriotism  and  wisdom,  at 
least  until  after  the  battle  is  over.  For  two  years,  at  least,  let  us  all  agree 
that  the  best  men  shall  be  chosen  for  the  most  important  places,  and  that 
the  policy  adopted  by  the  party  shall  be  assumed  to  be  the  wisest  policy. 

No  man  can  be  less  partisan  than  myself.  No  man  can  have  more 
decided  convictions  as  to  what  is  the  best  policy  for  the  party  to  adopt ;  but 
no  man  will  support  more  cheerfully  and  earnestly  than  myself  whatever 
may  be  the  final  authentic  decisions  of  the  party,  whether  those  decisions 
accord  with  my  previously  expressed  opinions  or  not.  For  one,  I  am  going 
into  the  great  struggle  of  1876  with  no  concession  for  enemies  and  no  ulti 
matum  for  friends.  I  am  willing  to  say  to  the  liberalized  Democracy  of  the 
Union,  what  Ruth  said  to  Naomi,  "Where  thou  goest  I  will  go,  and  thy 
people  shall  be  my  people."  To  this  end  let  our  conventions  be  honest,  let 
our  leaders  be  unselfish,  let  our  discipline  be  perfect,  let  our  desires  all  be 
patriotic,  and  while  it  is  proper  that  discussions  of  differing  views  of  policy 
may  go  on,  let  them  go  on  without  acrimony,  and  let  all  differences  be 
abandoned  when  the  party  shall  finally  pronounce  its  authoritative  judgment. 

It  would  be  sheer  affectation  to  pretend  I  did  not  feel  gratified,  in  a 
mere  personal  view,  with  the  result  of  this  election.  Twenty  3*ears  ago, 
precisely,  I  departed  from  the  purpose  of  my  life  and  engaged  in  politics. 
I  had  no  motive  in  doing  so,  but  to  aid  in  the  arrest  of  what  I  then  be 
lieved  was  a  beginning  revolution.  During  that  period  the  Southern  people 
have  passed  through  ordeals  of  severity  and  suffering  unsurpassed  in  human 
history.  I  have  witnessed  and  shared  all  these  trials.  On  several  occasions 
I  have  felt  it  my  duty  to  act  fearlessly  and  speak  boldly,  when  I  was  denied 
all  assistance  and  encouragement  from  other  public  men.  I  will  not  say  I 
have  committed  no  mistakes,  but  surely,  under  all  the  circumstances,  patriotic 
minds  would  know  how  to  make  allowances  for  mistakes  and  judge  me  with 
charity.  One  thing  I  can  affirm,  in  all  sincerity,  before  you  to-night,  my 
countrymen,  and  that  is  that  during  all  that  period  of  twenty  years  I  have 
never  felt  a  selfish  desire  in  connection  with  public  affairs.  I  have  never 
asked  for  a  vote,  nor  sought  an  office.  I  have  never  accepted  an  office,  nor 
used  one,  to  gratify  personal  vanity  nor  to  advance  personal  interest. 
Whatever  errors  of  judgment  I  may  have  committed,  there  has  never  been 
a  moment  when  the  heart  was  not  perfectly  free  from  the  slightest  taint  of 
infidelity  ;  and  now,  when  I  have  seen  the  people,  for  the  first  time,  pass  in 
review  my  troubled  life,  which  has  done  so  little  but  desired  to  do  so  much, 
and  even  under  the  most  adverse  circumstances  and  without  the  adven- 
'titious  aid  of  a  nomination,  have  seen  them  pass  such  a  cheerful  judgment  of 
approval,  and  in  such  an  overwhelming  voice  of  earnest  confidence,  to  say 
such  a  vindication  did  not  affect  me,  would  be  to  say  I  was  more  or  less  than 
human.  I  do  feel  gratified  and  I  feel  chiefly  gratified  because  this  vindi 
cation  confirms  me  in  the  faith  that  in  politics  as  well  as  everything  else 
honesty  is  the  best  policy.  Whatever  temporary  injustice  may  be  done,  a 
final  approval  of  unselfish  devotion  to  their  interests  will  surely  be  pro 
nounced  by  the  people.  There  have  been  weary  hours — indeed,  years  of 
trial  and  struggle  in  this  humble  life  of  mine,  and  rivalries  engendered  by 
these  struggles.  But  they  are  gone,  and  to-day  I  can  look  back  upon  the 


7/7.9  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  435 

past  with  but  one  personal  regret,  and  that  is  that  I  have  not  been  able  to 
accomplish  more  than  the  little  I  have  accomplished.  In  entering  upon,  to 
me,  a  new  life,  I  can  propose  no  reward  for  friends  except  to  endeavor  so  to 
discharge  the  duties  of  the  high  position  to  which  they  have  called  me,  as 
to  make  them  glad  of  their  confidence  ;  and  I  propose  no  revenge  for  my 
enemies  except  by  such  faithful  discharge  of  duties  to  make  them  regret 
their  opposition. 

But,  my  friends,  while  I  confess  to  you  the  great  gratification  I  feel,  I 
will  not  disguise  from  you  that  I  feel  also  a  very  heavy  burden  pressing 
upon  me.  There  is  another  view  of  this  picture.  The  interest  manifested 
in  the  district,  the  even  greater  interest,  if  possible,  manifested  in  the  State, 
the  interest  which  comes  from  sister  States,  the  touching  letters  which  I 
have  received  from  almost  every  portion  of  the  country,  admonish  me  that 
more  is  expected  than  I  have  the  ability  to  accomplish.  I  fully  comprehend 
also  that  we  are  entering  upon  a  very  great  crisis.  I  feel,  whatever  may  be 
the  opinion  of  others,  that  the  great  struggle  for  the  preservation  and  con 
tinuance  of  Constitutional  government  on  this  continent  is  at  hand.  It  is 
to  be  determined  in  the  next  two  years,  for  weal  or  for  woe.  Liberty  is  to 
have  new  life,  or  is  to  die  the  death  that  knows  no  waking,  in  the  next  two 
years.  These  are  my  convictions  ;  and  in  view  of  the  terrible  character  of 
these  issues  and  the  consequences  that  must  follow,  when  my  friends  invite 
me  forward  to  take  part  in  that  great  struggle,  and  with  such  expectations 
of  what  I  am  to  do,  with  the  consciousness  of  my  own  inability  to  accom 
plish  half  that  is  expected,  I  feel  humble,  I  feel  anxious,  and  I  feel  heavily  op 
pressed.  But  one  thing  God  knows  is  true,  I  shall  fail  to  defend  no  right, 
and  fear  to  meet  no  enemy,  to  the  best  of  my  ability.  I  have  but  one  pur 
pose  and  that  is  to  serve  the  country,  and  the  whole  country,  and  to  restore 
•to  it,  as  far  as  I  am  able,  healthy,  Constitutional  government.  Every  man 
who  helps  is  my  friend,  and  every  man  who  resists  is  my  enemy. 

Passing,  then,  from  the  mere  party  and  personal  views  that  the  canvass 
has  suggested,  I  beg  to  submit  to  you  calmly  and  dispassionately,  in  a  con 
versational  style,  a  few  thoughts  as  to  the  future.     The  one  great  work  of 
statesmanship  in  this  generation,  in  this   country,    is  to  make    peace   be 
tween   the    Northern  and    Southern  people.     Without   that,   nothing   else 
valuable   can    be    accomplished.      With   that,    everything    that    is    good 
will  follow.     How  is  that  peace  to  be  made  ?     Mark  my  language,  to  make 
peace  between  the  peoples  of  the  respective  sections.     He  is  a  stupid  vision 
ary  who  supposes  he  can  ever  make  peace  between  the  politicians  of 
two  sections.     These  politicians  have  been  the  disturbers  of  the  peace  for 
twenty  years.     They  have  acquired  power  by  reason  of.  their  succes 
keeping  "the  peace  disturbed,  and  their  only  hope  of  continuing  in  power  is 
to  continue  to  be  disturbers  of  that  peace.     The  people  must  be  reached 
the  people  of  the  North  and  of  the  South,  and  they  must  be  reached 
manner  as  to  show  them  that  they  have  a  common  interest  and 
have  a  common  feeling.  . 

Well,  it  is  a  very  puzzling  question  at  first  view,  but,  my  friends,  i 
like  most  every  other  great  problem,  it    is  at  last  solved  by  a  very 
pie  process,  very  simple.     What  must  be  the  basis  of   peace: 
be  but  one  basis  of  permanent  peace  between   the    ^orth  and 
What  is  that  ?     It  is  simple.     Simply,  only  a  return  by  the  North  and 
the  South,  by  the  East  and  bv  the  West,  by  States  and  by  individual* 
the  common  Constitution.     The  great  trouble  in  the  past  has  been  that 


436  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

of  our  Southern  friends  have  attempted  to  save  the  Constitution  by  destroy 
ing  the  Union.  The  great  trouble  with  the  Northern  people  is  that  they 
have  attempted  to  save  the  Union  by  destroying  the  Constitution.  The 
remedy  for  both  grievances  is  simply  for  the  North  and  the  South  to  return 
to  the  Constitution  and  the  Union  as  the  only  guarantee  of  liberty,  and  the 
only  hope  of  peace,  while  they  are  one  and  inseparable.  I  do  not  hesitate, 
therefore,  to  say  to  you,  that  when,  upon  taking  my  seat  in  Congress,  I  shall 
take  the  oath  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  country,  I  shall  take  that 
oath  without  mental  reservation,  and  I  shall  keep  it  without  partiality  or 
prejudice.  I  shall  concede  to  Massachusetts  everything  that  I  claim  for 
Georgia,  and  I  shall  claim  for  Georgia  everything  I  concede  to  Massachusetts. 
The  man  who  spins  cotton  in  New  England,  will  be  as  much  my  fellow-citi 
zen  as  the  man  who  grows  cotton  in  Georgia.  The  man  who  cuts  ice  in 
Massachusetts  will  be  as  much  entitled  to  my  protection  as  the  man  who 
gathers  oranges  in  Florida.  I  shall  realize  the  great  fact  that  Massachusetts 
and  Georgia  are  parties  to  the  same  Union,  under  the  same  Constitution, 
with  exactly  the  same  rights  and  bound  exactly  by  the  same  obligations. 
And  I  shall  feel,  and  I  shall  delight  to  feel,  that  this  whole  country,  from 
sea  to  sea  and  from  the  Lakes  to  the  Gulf,  is  my  country,  and  there  is  not  a 
foot  of  its  soil  I  would  desecrate  nor  a  being  in  it  whose  rights  I  would 
impair. 

But  it  will  be  said,  why,  what  are  you  going  to  do  with  all  the  great 
differences  that  have  existed  between  these  people  ;  that  have  led  to  war  and 
strife  and  invasion ;  accomplished  crime  and  hate  of  every  kind  and  charac 
ter  ?  Well,  there  are  three  main  propositions  upon  which  the  North  and 
South  have  divided,  and  I  come  briefly  to  give  you  a  general  view  of  them, 
without  stopping  to  discuss  their  merits.  First,  they  differed  on  the  question 
of  secession.  Now,  how  are  they  to  be  reconciled  on  this  ?  Let  me  say  that 
no  peace  can  be  permanent  which  contains  in  its  stipulations  any  terms  dis 
honorable  to  either  party  to  it ;  and  he  is  unworthy  to  be  called  a  statesman 
who  would  undertake  to  make  peace  between  the  people  of  the  North  and 
South  by  proposing  or  accepting  anything  dishonorable  to  either  section. 
How,  then,  will  you  dispose  of  the  question  of  secession  without  requiring 
one  or  the  other  to  confess  sins  ?  It  is  very  easily  disposed  of — just  as 
neighbors  dispose  of  questions  it  is  impossible  for  them  to  agree  about.  It  is 
impossible  for  us  to  require  the  North  to  justify  secession.  Equally  it  is 
impossible  for  the  North  to  require  us  to  say  that  we  are  rebels  and  traitors. 
There  is  no  necessity  for  us  to  require  the  North  to  justify  secession,  for  we 
ourselves  have  abandoned  secession,  and  what  the  Southern  people  profess 
they  mean.  Then  an  issue  on  our  part  which  is  abandoned,  need  not  be  in 
the  way  of  reconciliation.  It  will  be  vain,  utterly  vain  arid  dishonorable 
on  their  part  to  require  that  we  should  stipulate  that  we  were  rebels  and 
traitors.  It  could  accomplish  no  good  to  the  North,  or  to  the  Union  ;  and 
while  the  blood  is  warm,  the  heart  is  true,  and  life  is  worthy,  Southern 
people  will  never  admit  that  those  who  died  to  them  as  heroes  shall  be 
remembered  by  them  as  traitors. 

Very  well ;  take  the  next  question  of  difference  and  I  will  show  you  how 
they  will  all  be  settled  together.  The  next  question  of  difference  is  coercion, 
that  is,  coercion  by  the  Federal  Government  over  a  State.  That  was  simply 
adopted  by  the  North,  as  they  claimed,  as  a  consequence  of  secession.  If 
the  cause  and  principle  is  abandoned,  the  consequence  should  follow.  Then 
let  coercion  go.  We  may  never  admit  that  coercion  is  a  Constitutional 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  437 

measure,  but  however  that  may  be  in  point  of  fact,  coercion  was  resorted  to 
as  a  remedy  against  secession,  and  in  point  of  fact  it  accomplished  its  pur 
pose.  It  is  a  past  fact,  not  a  living  issue.  Then,  again,  here  is  Reconstruc 
tion.  What  have  you  to  say  about  that  ?  How  will  you  ever  get  the  North 

V  V  ^/ 

and  South  together  upon  the  subject  of  Reconstruction  ?  Where  is  the  basis 
of  agreement  of  reconciliation  upon  this  subject?  Reconstruction,  I  admit, 
has  engendered  more  bitterness,  accomplished  more  wrongs  than  secession 
and  war.  Ah,  it  was  Reconstruction  that  struck  deeper  into  the  heart  of 
the  Southern  man  than  all  the  other  evils  combined.  What  are  you  going 
to  do?  Are  you  going  to  require  the  North  to  come  up  and  undo  Recon 
struction  ;  to  confess  that  they  were  wrong,  and  recant  it  ?  No,  I  shall  not. 
I  propose  to  leave  that  question  exclusively  to  time.  Whatever  may  be  the 
wrongs  of  Reconstruction  ;  whatever  may  have  been  the  temper  and  passions 
in  which  it  was  accomplished,  that,  too,  has  been  accomplished.  I  rest  with 
implicit  frith  in  the  conviction  that  when  passion  shall  subside  and  patriotism 
shall  be  reanimated,  and  reason  shall  reassert  its  sway,  the  Northern  people 
themselves  will  confess  shame  at  the  work.  I  am  entirely  willing  to  leave 

t/ 

it  to  that  process,  and  there  let  it  rest  till  that  judgment  shall  be  rendered. 

And  here,  my  friends,  I  shall  be  a  little  explicit.  Here  is  a  very  difficult 
question  for  some  of  our  Southern  people  to  grasp.  Are  you  going  to 
justify  Reconstruction,  and  say  to  the  North  you  are  ready  to  defend  it  ? 
Never — never.  I  will  not  require  the  North  to  justify  secession,  and  the 
North  need  not  require  us  to  justify  Reconstruction.  We  will  submit ;  we 
will  recognize  it  ;  we  will  obey  ;  we  will  take  the  law  as  we  find  it,  until 
those  who  made  it  shall  choose  to  initiate  a  change.  We  will  initiate  none, 
but  we  will  obey,  we  will  submit  to,  and  we  will  recognize  the  facts  as  they 
exist.  We  will  never,  under  any  circumstances  or  possible  contingencies, 
stultify  or  degrade  ourselves  by  saying  that  the  thing  was  right.  There  is 
no  reason  why  we  should — none  on  earth.  All  the  North  can  ask  us  to  say 
is,  that,  right  or  wrong,  Reconstruction  has  been  accomplished.  We  will  take 
it  as  we  find  it,  and  submit  to  the  laws  as  they  exist  while  they  are  laws,  and 
so  long  as  they  are  sustained  by  the  courts  of  the  country.  We  are  willing, 
in  plain  language,  to  let  the  dead  past  bury  its  dead  ;  but  we  insist  that  the 
slaughter  shall  cease.  That  is  all. 

Now,  then,  my  friends,  what  an  easy  thing  it  is  to  make  peace,  if  patriot 
ism  would  meet  the  question  face  to  face  ;  if  the  statesmanship  of  the 
country  would  strip  itself  of  everything  like  mere  personal  desire  to  hold 
office,  and  meet  the  question  with  the  fixed  determination  to  settle  it  upon  a 
basis  honorable  to  all  parties. 

Secession,  coercion,  Reconstruction,  are  all  over  ;  the  records  are  made 
up  !     Who   was  right  and  who  was  wrong,  \ve  will  remit  to  posterity,  as 
the  only  impartiarjudiye,  to  determine.     Of  course,  in  my  judgment,  when 
that  great  trial  shall  come,  the  South  will  have  nothing  to  fear.     I         eve 
that  when   the   future  historian,  reviewing  the  terrible  scenes  of 
fifteen  years,  shall  come  to  write  his  impartial  judgment,  he  will 
while  there  is   much  in  the  misfortunes  of  the  South  to  regret,  there 
nothing  in  her  history  of  which  to  be  ashamed. 

Why  is  it  that  we  cannot  make  peace  ?     Why  is  it  that  the  Intel 
of  the  people  North  and  South  is  not  equal  to  the  task  of  saying  we  let 
gones  be  by-gones  ?     Why  can  we  not  let  the  past  go,  and  unite  our  hand 
and  our  hearts  for  the  purpose  of  repairing  the  wrongs  done,  and  make  hm 
the  greatest  hero  who  shall  do  most  to  repair  them  ?     I  repeat,  these  wrc 


438  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

must  stop,  or  peace  is  impossible.  Of  that  there  can  be  no  doubt.  Thieves 
must  cease  to  be  tax-gatherers.  Usurpers  must  cease  to  be  rulers.  Louisiana 
must  be  unchained.  Sunlight  must  be  let  in  on  the  shadowed  face  of  South 
Carolina.  Arkansas  must  be  free  as  Massachusetts.  Georgia  must  be  the 
political  equal  of  New  York.  There  must  be  no  handcuffed  sovereignty  at 
the  celebration  of  Liberty's  Centennial !  The  heart  can  never  be  glad,  save 
in  hypocrisy ;  the  lips  can  never  cheer,  save  in  mockery,  while  the  limbs  are 
fettered ! 

Fellow-citizens,  what  is  in  the  way?  Why  is  it  that  ten  years  after  actual 
war  has  ceased  the  spirit  of  war  still  continues  ?  There  must  be  a  cause — 
there  must  be  a  reason.  Have  we  not  sufficient  intelligence  to  find  that 
reason?  Have  we  not  sufficient  patriotism  to  cure  it  when  we  find  it? 
Fellow-citizens,  the  reason  is  plain.  It  is  no  use  to  struggle  hard  to  find  it. 
It  is  a  reason  founded  in  an  unfortunate  law  of  human  nature,  confirmed  by 
every  chapter  of  human  experience.  You  may  be  astonished  at  its  simplicity 
when  I  announce  it.  Why  is  it,  I  repeat,  that  the  people  of  the  North  and 
the  South,  ten  years  after  the  war  has  ceased  in  fact,  have  kept  up  this  war 
in  spirit?  The  reason  is  simply  this:  The  greed  of  power  has  absorbed  and 
destroyed  the  love  of  country  with  those  who  administer  the  government. 
The  men  who,  for  the  most  part,  have  held  high  positions  in  the  adminis 
tration  of  the  government  acquired  that  power  by  virtue  of  the  war — the  pas 
sions  of  the  war.  Is  it  not  natural,  does  not  all  history  confirm  it,  that  those 
who  acquire  what  they  desire  by  certain  means  are  willing  to  continue  those 
means  that  they  may  continue  the  result?  And  is  it  not  true  that  almost 
everybody  in  power  in  the  United  States  now,  acquired  that  power  by  virtue 
of  the  passions  of  the  war.  Will  anybody  doubt  that  ?  Can  anybody  doubt  it  ? 

Can  you  expect  men  who  owe  all  their  greatness  to  strife,  to  passion,  to 
mad  war,  to  make  peace  ?  Can  they  cease  to  feed  on  that  which  alone  gives 
them  power?  Does  any  intelligent  man  in  America  believe  that  the  dis- 
franchisement  of  white  men,  disabilities  upon  educated  men,  the  robberies, 
oppressions,  usurpations,  and  insults  by  the  rule  of  carpet-bagism  over  a 
prostrate  people  were  ever  authorized  and  permitted  by  those  in  power  at 
Washington,  as  measures  of  peace  ?  Were  they  not  all  born  of  that  passion 
which  gave  their  authors  power  ;  and  were  they  not  adopted  to  keep  up 
passion  and  to  keep  their  authors  in  power?  Who  will  say  that  measures 
which  shame  the  civilization  of  the  age  were  adopted  as  measures  of  peace  ? 

Now,  what  is  the  remedy  ?  It  is  plain.  The  people  of  the  North  must 
be  made  to  see  that  all  these  harsh  measures  which  have  been  adopted 
toward  the  South,  under  pretense  that  they  were  necessary  to  keep  down 
rebels,  were  really  adopted  to  keep  up  office-holders.  And  they  must  be 
made  also  to  see  that  if  these  measures  of  passion  and  hate  shall  continue, 
they  will,  sooner  or  later,  overthrow  our  common  free  institutions,  as  has 
always  been  the  case  in  every  free  country  where  men  have  acquired  power 
by  virtue  of  the  passions  of  civil  wars. 

Now,  what  I  say  is  this,  that  we  must,  somehow  or  other,  by  some  means 
get  away  from  these  politicians  who  are  in  power,  acquired  by  the  passions 
of  the  war,  and  seek  to  retain  that  power  by  continuing  those  passions.  We 
must  get  at  the  minds  of  the  Northern  people,  that  they  may  apply  the 
remedy.  I  believe  they  will  do  it.  I  have  a  faith  that  I  have  never  yet 
abandoned,  that,  notwithstanding  all  the  wrongs  we  have  witnessed  for  the 
past  fifteen  years,  the  masses  of  the  Northern  people  love  liberty  as  well  as 
we  do.  I  believe,  if  we  can  ever  get  to  the  minds  of  the  Northern  people, 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  439 

you  will  find  that  they  will  exhaust  every  effort  to  preserve  the  Constitu 
tional  character  of  this  government.  I  believe  they  have  acquiesced  in, 
rather  than ^approved  Reconstruction.  I  believe  that  they  submitted  to,' 
rather  than  justified,  all  those  harsh  measures  against  the  South,  because  we 
have  been  powerless  to  reach  their  minds.  Their  leaders  have  had  success 
in  making  the  great  masses  of  the  Northern  people  believe  that  these  meas 
ures  were  necessary  to  keep  down  another  rebellion  ;  and  I  believe  it  is  true 
that  while  the  Northern  people  love  liberty,  and  love  the  Constitution  of  the 
country,  and  desire  to  preserve  both,  they  would  destroy  the  Constitution 
and  everything  else  to  keep  down  another  rebellion  !  Now,  then,  the 
Northern  mind  must  be  reached,  and  that  Northern  mind  must  be  convinced 
that  we  of  the  South  sincerely  and  truly  desire  to  live  in  the  Union  accord 
ing  to  the  Constitution,  and  we  can  fearlessly  say,  the  South  never  was 
unwilling  to  live  in  the  Union  according  to  the  Constitution. 

Without  reopening  the  causes  of  our  secession,  I  will  say  that  history 
will  abundantly  justify  the  proposition  that  the  South  left  the  Union  with 
regret,  and  only  because  she  was  made  to  believe  the  North  would  not  adhere 
to  the  Constitution.  I  believe  that  every  intelligent  man  will  be  compelled 
to  sustain  the  proposition  which  I  fearlessly  proclaim,  that  the  South 
never  was  an  enemy  to  the  Constitution  !  She  was  goaded  and  provoked 
into  secession  by  what  she  believed  were  infidelities  to  the  Constitution.  But 
there  is  not  a  line,  there  is  not  a  record  in  existence  to  justify  the  charge 
that  any  Southern  State  was  ever  faithless  to  the  Union  of  our  fathers  under 
the  Constitution.  No\v,  the  trouble  North  has  been  this  :  that  they  have 
lost  sight  of  the  Union  as  a  principle.  The  real  difference  between  the 
North  and  South  I  will  express  to  you  in  a  few  words.  The  North,  having 
full  confidence  in  her  physical  power,  has  sought  to  preserve  the  Union  as  a 
fact,  as  I  expressed  it  on  a  former  occasion.  She  has  deified  the  Union  as  a 
fact.  It  never  has  occurred  to  the  masses  of  the  Northern  people  yet,  that 
while  they  are  deifying  the  Union  as  a  fact,  they  may  utterly  destroy  it  as  a 
principle.  The  Union  as  a  principle  maybe  a  very  different  thing  from  the 
Union  as  a  fact.  The  Union  as  a  fact  may  be  an  empire  ;  it  ma}r  be  a  des 
potism  ;  it  may  be  a  monarchy.  While  the  Union  as  a  principle  is  a  Union 
under  the  Constitution  and  can  only  be  republican  in  form.  You  see  the 
difference.  The  North,  confident  in  her  physical  power,  and  impassioned 
by  the  appeals  of  her  politicians  who  sought  to  acquire  power,  have  lost 
sight  of  the  Union  as  a  principle  and  have  lost  sight  of  the  great  danger 
that,  in  preserving  the  Union  in  form,  they  may  convert  what  is  a  free  re 
public  into  a  consolidated  empire.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Southern  people 
not  being  physically  strong,  have  studied  the  Union  as  a  Union  of  principle, 
and  looking  to  the  principle  of  union  as  their  safety,  they  came  to  regard  the 
Union  as  desirable  only  because  of  the  principles  upon  which  it  is  organized. 
Thus  it  has  happened  that,  while  the  South  has  endeavored  to  preserve  the 
principle  at  the  expense  of  the  fact,  the  North  has  been  expecting  to  preserve 
the  fact  at  the  expense  of  the  principle.  The  remedy  is  for  patriots  every 
where  to  unite  the  fact  and  the  principle  and  keep  them  forever  together. 
In  that  event  we  shall  not  only  have  union  but  also  free  government.  We 
shall  have  a  Constitutional  government  and  a  Constitutional  Jmon.  And 
this  much  I  will  say  :  If  the  North  will  covenant  that  the  Union  shall 
Constitutional,  the  South  will  covenant  that  the  Union  shall  be  eternal. 

Now  does  it  not  occur  to  you  that  such  plain  propositions  as  these,  f 
well  fortified  by  the  unfortunate  history  of  the  country,  leave  a  door  open 


440  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

for  reconciliation,  for  peace,  permanent  peace  ?  It  does  so  occur  to  me  ;  I 
feel  it.  At  the  same  time  such  have  been  the  passions  of  the  respective  sec 
tions  that  there  is  but  one  way  to  get  at  the  intelligence  of  the  North  upon 
this  subject  and  remove  the  prejudices  that  have  been  created  and  the  errors 
that  have  been  fixed  upon  their  minds.  You  cannot  do  it  by  such  speeches 
as  I  am  making  here  to-night,  because  they  would  not  hear  them.  Their 
ears  are  closed  to  all  ex  parte  speeches.  Your  orators  cannot  do  it  by  mak 
ing  speeches  at  the  North,  for  the  same  reason. 

It  is  chiefly  through  debates  in  Congress  that  the  minds  of  the  people 
must  be  reached.  There  all  sides  are  heard,  and  the  people  will  listen,  and 
truths  will  sparkle  from  the  conflict  like  fire  from  the  collision  of  flint  and 
steel.  Errors  will  be  corrected,  prejudices  allayed,  suspicions  quieted  and 
measures  of  healing  will  be  provided.  The  consuming  flames  of  sectional 
passion  will  be  quenched,  and  those  who  keep  these  passions  alive  by  abus 
ing  the  high  trusts  of  power  in  order  to  keep  themselves  in  place,  will  be 
rebuked  by  the  patriotic  people  of  all  sections  of  the  country. 

It  is  because  of  the  fearful  responsibilities  attaching  to  a  seat  in  Con 
gress  that  I  have  not  been  willing  to  seek  the  position.  It  is  because  I  am 
unwilling  to  shrink  from  duty  that  I  have  been  unwilling  to  refuse  to  accept 
the  position  if  tendered  by  the  people.  In  my  opinion  it  is  criminal  to  rush 
upon  such  responsibilities,  and  it  is  unpatriotic  to  avoid  them. 

What  a  work  is  to  be  performed  by  the  statesmen  of  this  generation ! 
In  glory  if  successful,  in  shame  if  unsuccessful,  there  is  no  era  in  the  history 
of  free  governments  which  can  approach  it  in  magnitude.  A  revolution, 
whose  animating  principle  has  been  hate,  must  be  arrested.  States  which 
have  been  belligerent,  must  be  made  accordant ;  sections  which  have  been 
alienated  must  be  reunited  ;  people  who  have  shed  fraternal  blood  must  be 
made  friends,  and  a  Union  which  has  been  maintained  by  force  must  be 
made  again  a  Union  of  consent.  If  this  great  work  can  succeed  ;  if  a  sin 
cere  peace,  honorable  to  all  parties,  can  be  made,  if  the  spirit  of  patriotism 
can  be  revived  and  made  to  animate  all  of  our  living  as  it  animated  all  of 
our  ancestors  to  mutual  glory  and  common  weal,  then  the  history  of  the 
human  race  can  furnish  no  parallel  to  the  wealth,  and  power,  and  grandeur 
which  awaits  the  American  people  of  the  dawning  century.  But  if  this 
work  shall  fail ;  if  this  strife  of  section  and  spirit  of  hate  shall  continue  ;  if 
those  in  power  shall  fan  the  flames  of  passion  to  keep  themselves  in  place  ; 
if  national  statesmen  shall  still  find  pleasure  in  devising  sectional  wrongs, 
and  the  Federal  Government  shall  still  furnish  troops  to  foment  and  sustain 
usurpations  over  States,  then  no  pen  can  describe  the  horrors  that  await  us. 
Free  government  will  perish  ;  disunion  will  come  ;  disintegration  will  mul 
tiply  ;  Punic  and  Peloponesian  wars  will  rage  ;  factions  will  rend  ;  empires 
will  divide  up  all  sections  and  reduce  to  final  slavery  all  the  races  of  our 
country. 

The  Southern  extremists  dreamed  they  could  destroy  the  Union  with 
out  war.  Alas,  what  a  dream  !  And  yet  far  more  visionary  are  those 
Northern  extremists  who  dream  that  the  Constitution  can  be  destroyed 
without  war.  The  Constitution  and  the  Union  !  Would  that  patriots 
North  and  South  would  wake  up  to  the  fact  that  these  two  are  one.  The 
life  of  the  first  is  the  only  hope  of  the  last.  Together  both  will  live  ; 
divided  both  must  die.  In  their  life  are  peace  and  freedom  and  glories,  ever 
increasing  and  without  end.  In  their  death  are  strife  and  war  and  des 
potism,  ever  enslaving  and  without  hope. 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  441 

Fellow-citizens,  I  am  charged  with  being  ambitious.  So  I  have  been 
ambitious  ;  but  for  what  ?  To  save  the  South  from  the  abyss  of  secession  ; 
the  Union  from  the  horrors  of  war  ;  liberty  from  the  perils  of  sectional 
hate,  and  my  own  race  from  the  infamy  of  self-degradation.  I  am 
ambitious  ;  but  for  what  ?  Simply  to  hold  office  ?  How  I  pity  the  poor- 
creature  who  could  think  so.  I  live  high  above  the  man  who  could  find  a 
gratification  of  mere  personal  vanity  in  the  fact  of  holding  an  office.  I  am 
ambitious  once  more  to  see  peace  !  Peace  between  the  sections  ;  peace 
between  the  States  ;  peace  between  the  races,  and  peace — fraternal  peace— 
between  those  who  love  the  Constitution  and  those  who  love  the  Union. 
And  if,  before  I  die,  I  can  be  permitted  to  see  States  accordant,  sections 
reconciled,  the  rights  of  all  our  people  preserved,  with  the  honor  of  none 
tarnished  or  destroyed,  and  the  rich  legacy  of  free  Constitutional  govern 
ment,  bequeathed  to  us  by  our  fathers,  transmitted  unimpaired  to  our 
children,  I  shall  go  to  my  grave  with  a  comfort  which  the  diadems  of  kings 
could  not  confer,  and  which  the  wealth  and  power  of  emperors  could  neither 
buy  nor  take  away. 


SPEECH  DELIVERED  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES, 
JANUARY  ll,  1876,  ON  THE  GENERAL  AMNESTY  BILL,  IN 
REPLY  TO  MR.  ELAINE. 

No  speech  ever  delivered  in  Congress  created  a  profounder  impression  than  this  one. 
In  the  body  of  the  biographical  sketch  a  full  account  is  given  of  the  scene  accompanying 
its  delivery  and  the  manner  of  its  reception  by  the  country.  The  writer  simply  desires  to 
call  attention  in  this  place  to  the  magnificent  diction  of  the  speech  and  its  sustained  and 
convincing  argument.  It  is  logic  on  fire  with  truth  and  patriotism,  literally  consuming 
falsehood  and  sectional  hatred.  If  Mr.  Hill  had  never  again  opened  his  mouth  in  Con 
gress,  this  speech  would  have  made  him  famous  and  forever  embalmed  him  in  the  grate 
ful  hearts  of  his  countrymen.  The  conclusion  of  this  speech  furnishes  as  fine  declamation 
as  can  be  found  in  the  English  language,  and  is  a  favorite  selection  of  college  declaimers. 

The  House  having  under  consideration  the  bill  (H.  R.  No.  214)  to  remove 
the  disabilities  imposed  by  the  third  section  of  the  Fourteenth  Article  of  the 
Amendment  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  the  pending  question 
being  on  the  motion  of  Mr.  Elaine  to  reconsider  the  motion  by  which  the 
bill  was  rejected.  Mr.  Hill  said  : 

Mr.  Speaker:  The  House  will  bear  witness  that  we  have  not  sought  this 
discussion.  Nothing  can  be  farther  from  our  desire  and  purpose  than  to  raise 
such  discussion. 

Mr.  Atkins. — I  rise  to  a  point  of  order.  The  whole  house  desires  to  hear 
the  gentleman  from  Georgia,  but  it  is  impossible  for  them  to  do  so  unless 
gentlemen  retain  their  seats. 

The  Speaker. — The  point  of  order  is  well  taken,  and  gentlemen  will  retain 
their  seats  ;  and  order  must  be  preserved  not  only  within  the  bar  but  outside 
the  bar,  and  the  Chair  directs  the  doorkeeper  to  give  especial  attention  to 
the  maintenance  of  order  outside  the  bar. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  say,  Mr.  Speaker,  that  nothing  could  have  been  farther  from 
the  desires  and  purposes  of  those  who  with  me  represent  immediately  the 
section  of  country  which  on  yesterday  was  put  upon  trial,  than  to  reopen 
this  discussion  of  the  events  of  our  unhappy  past.  We  had  well  hoped  that 
the  country  had  suffered  long  enough  from  feuds,  from  strife,  and  from 
inflamed  passions,  and  we  came  here,  sir,  with  a  patriotic  purpose  to  remem 
ber  nothing  but  the  country  and  the  whole  country,  and,  turning  our  backs 
upon  all  the  horrors  of  the  past,  to  look  with  all  earnestness  to  find  glories 
for  the  future. 

The  gentleman  who  is  the  acknowledged  leader  of  the  Republican  party 
on  this  floor,  who  is  the  aspiring  leader  of  the  Republican  party  of  this 
country,  representing  most  manifestly  the  wishes  of  many  of  his  associates — 
not  all — has  willed  otherwise.  They  seem  determined  that  the  wounds 
which  were  healing  shall  be  reopened;  that  the  passions  which  were  hushing 
shall  be  reinflamed.  Sir,  I  wish  this  House  to  understand  that  we  do  not 
reciprocate  either  the  purpose  or  the  manifest  desire  of  the  gentlemen  on 
the  other  side,  and  while  we  feel  it  our  imperative  duty  to  vindicate  the  truth 
of  history  as  regards  the  section  which  we  represent,  feeling  that  it  is  a  portion 
of  this  common  country,  we  do  not  intend  to  say  anything  calculated  to  aid 

442 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  443 

the  gentlemen  in  their  work  of  crimination  and  recrimination,  and  of  keepino- 
up  the  war  by  politicians  after  brave  men  have  said  the  war  shall  end.  Th7> 
gentleman  from  Maine  on  yesterday  presented  to  the  country  two  questions 
which  he  manifestly  intends  to  be  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  Repub 
lican  party,  or  at  least  of  those  who  follow  him  in  that  party.  The  first  is 
what  he  is  pleased  to  term  the  magnanimity  and  grace  of  the  Republican 
party ;  the  second  is  the  brutality  of  those  whom  he  is  pleased  to  term  "the 
rebels."  Upon  the  first  question  I  do  not  propose  to  weary  the  House  to-day. 
If,  with  the  history  of  the  past  fifteen  years  fresh  in  the  memory  of  this 
people,  the  country  is  prepared  to  talk  about  the  grace  and  magnanimity  of  the 
Republican  party,  argument  would  be  wasted.  With  master  enslaved,  in 
telligence  disfranchised,  society  disorganized,  industry  paralyzed,  States  sub 
verted,  Legislatures  dispersed  by  the  bayonet,  the  people  can  accord  to  that 
party  the  verdict  of  grace  and  magnanimity — may  God  save  the  future  of 
our  country  from  grace  and  magnanimity. 

I  advance  directly  to  that  portion  of  the  gentleman's  argument  which 
relates  to  the  question  before  the  House.  The  gentleman  from  Pennsylvania 
(Mr.  Randall)  has  presented  to  this  House,  and  he  asks  it  to  adopt,  a'bill  on 
the  subject  of  amnesty,  which  is  precisely  the  same  as  the  bill  passed  in  this 
House  by  the  gentleman's  own  party,  as  I  understand  it,  at  the  last  session 
of  Congress.  The  gentleman  from  Maine  has  moved  a  reconsideration  of 
the  vote  by  which  it  was  rejected,  avowing  his  purpose  to  be  to  offer  an 
amendment.  The  main  purpose  of  that  amendment  is  to  except  from  the 
operation  of  the  bill  one  of  the  citizens  of  this  country,  Mr.  Jefferson  Davis. 

He  alleges  two  distinct  reasons  why  he  asks  the  House  to  make  that 
exception.  I  will  state  those  reasons  in  the  gentleman's  own  language.  First, 
he  says  that  "Mr.  Davis  was  the  author — knowingly,  deliberately,  guiltily, 
and  willfully — of  the  gigantic  murder  and  crime  at  Andersonville."  That  is 
a  grave  indictment.  He  then  characterizes,  in  his  second  position,  what  he 
calls  the  horrors  of  Andersonville.  And  he  says  of  them  : 

And  I  here,  before  God,  measuring  my  words,  knowing  their  full  extent  and  import, 
declare  that  neither  the  deeds  of  the  Duke  of  Alva  in  the  Low  Countries,  nor  the  massa 
cre  of  St.  Bartholomew,  nor  the  thumb-screws  and  engines  of  torture  of  the  Spanish 
Inquisition,  begin  to  compare  in  atrocity  with  the  hideous  crimes  of  Andersonville. 

Sir,  he  stands  before  the  country  with  his  very  fame  in  peril  if  he,  having 
made  such  charges,  shall  not  sustain  them.  Now  I  take  up  the  propositions 
of  the  gentleman  in  their  order.  I  hope  no  gentleman  imagines  that  I  am 
here  to  pass  in  eulogy  upon  Mr.  Davis.  The  record  upon  which  his  fame 
must  rest  has  been  made  up,  and  he  and  his  friends  have  transmitted  that 
record  to  the  only  judge  who  will  give  him  an  impartial  judgment — an1 
honest,  un impassioned  posterity.  In  the  mean  time,  no  eulogy  from  me  can 
help  him,  no  censure  from  the  gentleman  can  damage  him,  and  no  act  or 
resolution  of  this  House  can  affect  him.  But  the  charge  is  that  he  is  a  mur 
derer,  and  a  deliberate,  willful,  guilty,  scheming  murderer  of  'thousands  of 
our  fellow-citizens."  Why,  sir,  knowing  the  character  of  the  honorable  gen 
tleman  from  Maine,  his  high  reputation,  when  I  heard  the  charge  fall  from 
his  lips  I  thought  surely  the  gentleman  had  made  a  recent  discovery,  and 
listened  for  the  evidence  to  justify  that  charge.  He  produced  it ;  and  what 
is  it?  To  my  utter  amazement,  as  the  gentleman  from  Pennsylvania  I 
Kelley)  has  well  stated,  it  is  nothing  on  earth  but  a  report  of  a  committee 
of  this  Congress,  made  when  passions  were  at  their  height,  and  it  was  known 
to  the  gentleman  and  to  the  whole  country  eight  years  ago. 


444  SENATOR  B.  H.  1IILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

Now,  I  say  first,  in  relation  to  that  testimony,  that  it  is  exclusively  ex 
parte.  It  was  taken  when  the  gentleman  who  is  now  put  upon  trial  by  it 
before  the  country  was  imprisoned  and  in  chains,  without  a  hearing  and  with 
out  an  opportunity  to  be  heard.  It  was  taken  by  enemies.  It  was  taken  in  the 
midst  of  fury  and  rage.  If  there  is  anything  in  Anglo-Saxon  law  which  ought 
to  be  considered  sacred,  it  is  the  high  privilege  of  an  Englishman  not  to  be  con 
demned  until  he  shall  be  confronted  with  the  witnesses  against  him.  But  that 
is  not  all.  The  testimony  produced  by  the  gentleman  is  not  only  ex  parte,  not 
only  exclusively  the  production  of  enemies,  or  at  least  taken  by  them  and  in  the 
midst  of  passion,  but  the  testimony  is  mutilated;  ingeniously  mutilated, 
palpably  mutilated,  most  adroitly  mutilated.  Why,  sir,  one  of  the  main 
witnesses  is  Dr.  Joseph  Jones,  a  very  excellent  gentleman,  who  was  called  upon 
to  give  his  testimony  in  what  is  called  the  Wirz  trial,  and  which  is  produced 
before  this  House  and  attention  called  to  it  by  the  gentleman.  The  object 
of  the  gentleman  was  to  prove  that  Mr.  Davis  knew  of  these  atrocities  at 
Aridersonville,  and  he  calls  the  attention  of  the  House  to  the  report  of  this 
committee,  and  thanks  God  that  it  has  been  taken  in  time  to  be  put  where  it 
can  neither  be  contradicted  nor  gainsaid,  as  a  perpetual  guide  to  posterity 
to  find  out  the  authors  of  these  crimes. 

One  of  the  most  striking  and  remarkable  pieces  of  evidence  in  this  whole 
report  is  found  in  the  report  made  by  Dr.  Jones,  a  surgeon  of  fine  character, 
and  sent  to  Andersonville  by  the  Confederate  authorities  to  investigate  the 
condition  of  that  prison.  That  gentleman  made  his  report,  and  it  is  brought 
into  this  House.  What  is  it?  The  first  point  is  as  to  the  knowledge  of 
this  report  going  to  any  of  the  authorities  at  Richmond.  Here  is  what  Dr. 
Jones  savs : 

*/ 

I  have  just  completed  the  report,  which  I  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  judge  advocate, 
under  orders  from  the  government,  when  the  Confederacy  went  to  pieces.  That  report 
never  was  delivered  to  the  surgeon-general,  and  I  was  unaware  that  any  one  knew  of  its 
existence  until  I  received  orders  from  the  United  States  Government  to  bring  it  and 
deliver  it  to  this  court  in  testimony. 

Now,  he  was  ordered  by  the  United  States  Government,  the  first  time 
this  report  ever  saw  the  light,  to  bring  it  and  deliver  it  on  the  trial  of  Wirz. 
In  accordance  with  that  order  he  did  bring  it  and  deliver  it  to  the  judge  advo 
cate  general.  And  when  the  report  itself,  or  that  which  purported  to  be  the 
report,  was  presented  to  him  while  he  was  a  witness,  he  discovered  that  it  was 
mutilated,  and  he  asked  permission  to  state  that  fact.  Hear  what  he  says 
on  that  subject : 

I  beg  leave  to  make  a  statement  to  the  court.  That  portion  of  my  report  which  has 
been  read  is  only  a  small  part  of  the  report.  The  real  report  contains  the  excuses  which 
were  given  by  the  officers  present  at  Andersonville,  which  I  thought  it  right  to  embody 
with  my  report.  It  also  contains  documents  forwarded  to  Richmond  by  Dr.  White  and 
Dr.  Stevenson,  and  others  in  charge  of  the  hospitals.  Those  documents  contained  im 
portant  facts  as  to  the  labors  of  the  medical  department  and  their  efforts  to  better  the 
condition  of  things. 

All  that  part  of  the  report  is  suppressed,  and  with  that  suppression  this 
magnificent  receptacle  of  truth  is  filed  away  in  the  document  room  for  the 
information  of  posterity. 

The  committee  ask  him  : 

Question.— Are  your  conclusions  correctly  stated  in  this  extract  ? 
Answer.—  Part  of  my  conclusions  are  stated— not  the  whole.    A  portion  of  my  con 
clusions,  and  also  my  recommendations,  are  not  stated. 


LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  445 

Q, — Well,  touching  the  subject  of  exchange  ? 

A.—  Yes,  sir  ;  the  general  difficulties  environing  the  prisoners  and  their  officers. 

Q. — What  became  of  your  original  report  ? 

A. — This  is  my  original  report. 

That  is,  he  had  there  the  extract  as  far  as  it  went. 
Q. — Did  you  make  this  extract  yourself  ? 

The  committee  seem  to  suspect  that  he  was  the  man  that  simply  made 
the  extract  and  brought  it  before  the  committee.  Now,  here  is  his  answer  : 

I  did  not.  My  original  report  is  in  the  hands  of  the  judge  advocate.  I  delivered  it 
into  his  hands  immediately  upon  my  arrival  in  AVashington. 

And  this  committee  of  Congress,  to  which  the  gentleman  refers,  abso 
lutely  tells  us  that  this  matilated  report  was  the  one  introduced  in  evidence 
against  this  man  Wirz,  and  it  is  the  one  incorporated  in  this  book. 

Now  I  want  to  call  attention  to  another  extract  from  that  original 
report — a  part  not  included  in  this  book.  There  are  a  great  many  such 
omissions  ;  I  have  not  been  able  to  get  all  of  them. 

Dr.  Jones  in  his  report  is  giving  an  account  of  the  causes  of  the  sickness 
and  mortality  at  Andersonvilie ;  and  he  says,  among  other  things  : 

Surrounded  by  these  depressing  agents,  the  postponement  of  the  general  exchange  of 
prisoners  and  the  constantly  receding  hopes  of  deliverance  through  the  action  of  their 
own  government,  depressed  their  already  desponding  spirits  and  destroyed  those  mental 
and  moral  energies  so  necessary  for  a  successful  struggle  against  disease  and  its  agents. 
Homesickness  and  disappointment,  mental  depression  and  distress,  attending  the  daily 
longing  for  an  apparently  hopeless  release,  are  felt  to  be  as  potent  agencies  in  the  de 
struction  of  these  prisoners  as  the  physical  causes  of  actual  disease. 

Ah  !  why  that  homesickness,  that  longing  and  the  distress  consequent 
upon  it,  and  its  effect  in  carrying  those  poor,  brave,  unfortunate  heroes  to 
death  ?  I  will  tell  this  house  before  I  am  done. 

Now,  sir,  there  is  another  fact.  Wirz  was  put  on  trial,  but  really  Mr. 
Davis  was  the  man  intended  to  be  tried  through  him.  Over  one  hundred  and 
sixty  witnesses  were  introduced  before  the  military  commission.  The  trial 
lasted  three  months.  The  whole  country  was  under  military  despotism ; 
citizens  labored  under  duress  ;  and  quite  a  large  number  of  Confederates 
were  seeking  to  make  favor  with  the  powers  of  the  government.  Yet,  sir, 
during  those  three  months,  with  all  the  witnesses  they  could  bring  to  Wash 
ington,  not  one  single  man  ever  mentioned  the  name  of  Mr.  Davis  in  con 
nection  with  a  single  atrocity  at  Andersouville  or  elsewhere.  The  gentle 
man  from  Maine,  with  all  his  research  into  all  the  histories  of  the  Duke  of 
Alva  and  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew  and  the  Spanish  inquisition,  has 
not  been  able  to  frighten  up  such  a  witness  yet. 

Now,  sir,  there  is  a  witness  on  this  subject.  Wirz  was  condemned, 
found  guilty,  sentenced  to  be  executed  ;  and  I  have  now  before  me  the 
written  statement  of  his  counsel,  a  Northern  man  and  a  Union  man.  He 
gave  this  statement  to  the  country,  and  it  has  never  been  contradicted. 

Hear  what  this  gentleman  says  : 

On  the  night  before  the  execution  of  the  prisoner  Wirz,  a  telegram  was  sent  to  the 
Northern  press  from  this  city  stating  that  Wirz  had  made  important  disclosures 
General  L.  C.  Baker,  the  well-known  detective,  implicating  Jefferson  Davis,  and  that  the 
confession  would  probably  be  given  to  the  public.     On  the  same  evening  some  parties 
came  to  the  confessor  of  Wirz,  Rev.  Father  Boyle,  and  also  to  me  as  his  counsel,  one  ot 
them  informing  me  that  a  high  cabinet  officer  wished  to  assure  Wirz  that 
implicate  Jefferson  Davis  with  atrocities  committed  at  Andersonvilie  his  sentence  woulc 


448  SENATORS.   IT.  HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

the  Confederate  soldiers  in  the  field  received.  Federal  prisoners  had  per 
mission  to  buy  whatever  else  they  pleased,  and  the  Confederates  gave  their 
friends  at  home  permission  to  furnish  them  the  means  to  do  so.  And  yet, 
Mr.  Speaker,  it  is  true  that,  in  spite  of  all  these  advantages  enjoyed  by  these 
prisoners,  there  were  horrors,  and  great  horrors,  at  Andersonville.  What 
were  the  causes  of  those  horrors  ?  The  first  was  want  of  medicine.  That 
is  given  as  a  cause  by  Dr.  Jones  in  his  testimony  ;  that  is  given  by  this  very 
Father  Hamilton,  from  whom  the  gentleman  from  Maine  read.  In  the  very 
same  testimony  which  the  gentleman  read,  Father  Hamilton  says  : 

I  conversed  with  Dr.  White  with  regard  to  the  condition  of  the  men,  and  he  told  me 
it  was  not  in  his  power  to  do  anything  for  them ;  that  he  had  no  medicine,  and  could 
not  get  any,  and  that  he  was  doing  everything  in  his  power  to  help  them. 

Now,  how  was  it  that  medicines  and  other  essential  supplies  could  not 
be  obtained  ?  Unfortunately  they  were  not  in  the  Confederacy.  The 
Federal  Government  made  medicine  contraband  of  war  ;  and  I  am  no^ 
aware  that  any  other  nation  on  the  earth  ever  did  such  a  thing  before — not 
even  the  Duke  of  Alva,  sir.  The  Confederate  Government,  unable  to  intro 
duce  medicine  according  to  its  right  under  the  laws  of  nations,  undertook  to 
run  the  blockade,  and  whenever  possible  the  Federal  Navy  captured  its 
ships  and  took  the  medicines.  Then,  when  no  other  resource  was  left,  when 
'it  was  suspected  that  the  women  of  the  North — the  earth's  angels,  God  bless 
them — would  carry  quinine  and  other  medicines  of  that  sort,  so  much  needed 
by  the  Federal  prisoners  in  the  South,  Federal  officers  were  charged  to 
capture  the  women  and  examine  their  petticoats,  to  keep  them  from  carry 
ing  medicines  to  Confederate  soldiers  and  to  Federal  prisoners,  and  they 
were  imprisoned.  Surely,  sir,  the  Confederate  Government  and  the  South 
ern  people  are  not  to  be  blamed  for  a  poverty  in  medicines,  food,  and 
raiment,  enforced  by  the  stringent  war  measures  of  the  Federal  Government 
— a  poverty  which  had  its  intended  effect  of  immeasurable  distress  to  the 
Confederate  armies,  although  it  incidentally  inflicted  unavoidable  distress 
upon  the  Federal  prisoners  in  the  South. 

The  Federal  Government  made  clothing  contraband  of  war.  It  sent 
down  its  armies,  and  they  burned  up  the  factories  of  the  South  wherever 
they  could  find  them,  for  the  express  purpose  of  preventing  the  Confederates 
from  furnishing  clothing  to  their  soldiers,  and  the  Federal  prisoners,  of 
course,  shared  this  deprivation  of  comfortable  clothing.  It  was  the  war 
policy  of  the  Federal  Government  to  make  supplies  scarce.  Dr.  Jones  in 
his  testimony,  and  Father  Hamilton  in  his  testimony,  which  I  will  not 
stop  to  read  to  the  House,  explained  why  clothing  was  so  scarce  to  Federal 
prisoners. 

Now,  then,  sir,  whatever  horrors  existed  at  Andersonville,  not  one  of 
them  could  be  attributed  to  a  single  act  of  legislation  of  the  Confederate 
Government  or  to  a  single  order  of  the  Confederate  Government,  but  every 
horror  of  Andersonville  grew  out  of  the  necessities  of  the  occasion,  which 
necessities  were  cast  upon  the  Confederacy  by  the  war  policy  of  the  other 
side.  The  gentleman  from  Maine  said  that  no  Confederate  prisoner  was 
ever  maltreated  in  the  North.  And  when  my  friend  answered  from  his 
seat,  "  A  thousand  witnesses  to  the  contrary  iii  Georgia  alone,"  the  gentle 
man  from  Maine  joined  issue,  but  as  usual  produced  no  testimony  in  support 
of  his  issue.  I  think  the  gentleman  from  Maine  is  to  be  excused.  For  ten 
years,  unfortunately,  he  and  his  have  been  reviling  the  people  who  were  not 
allowed  to  come  here  to  meet  the  reviling.  Now,  sir,  we  are  face  to  face, 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  449 

and  when  you  make  a  charge  you  must  bring  your  proof.  The  time  has 
passed  when  the  country  can  accept  the  impudence  of  assertion  for  the  force 
of  argument,  or  recklessness  of  statement  for  the  truth  of  history. 

Now,  sir,  I  do  not  wish  to  unfold  the  chapter  on  the  other  side.  I  am 
an  American.  I  honor  my  country,  and  my  whole  country,  and  it  could  be 
no  pleasure  to  me  to  bring  forward  proof  that  any  portion  of  my  country 
men  have  been  guilty  of  willful  murder  or  of  cruel  treatment  to  poor  man 
acled  prisoners.  Nor  will  I  make  any  such  charge.  These  horrors  are 
inseparable,  many  of  them  and  most  of  them,  from  a  state  of  war.  I  hold 
in  my  hand  a  letter,  written  by  one  who  was  a  surgeon  at  the  prison  at 
Elmira,  and  he  says  : 

The  winter  of  1864-1865  was  an  unusually  severe  and  rigid  one,  and  the  prisoners 
arriving  from  the  Southern  States  during  this  season  were  mostly  old  men  and  lads, 
clothed  in  attire  suitable  only  to  the  genial  climate  of  the  South.  I  need  not  state  to  you 
that  this  alone  was  ample  cause  for  an  unusual  mortality  among  them.  The  surround 
ings  were  of  the  following  nature,  namely,  narrow,  confined  limits,  but  a  few  acres  in 
extent — 

And  Andersonville,  sir,  embraced  twenty-seven  acres. 

and  through  which  slowly  flowed  a  turbid  stream  of  water,  carrying  along  with  it  all  the 
excremental  filth  and  debris  of  the  camp  ;  this  stream  of  water,  horrible  to  relate,  was 
the  only  source  of  supply,  for  an  extended  period,  that  the  prisoners  could  possibly 
use  for  the  purposes  of  ablution  and  to  slack  their  thirst  from  day  to  day  ;  the  tents  and 
other  shelter  allotted  to  the  camp  at  Elmira  were  insufficient  and  crowded  to  the  utmost 
extent  ;  hence  small-pox  and  other  skin  diseases  raged  through  the  camp. 

Here  I  may  note  that,  owing  to  a  general  order  from  the  government  to  vaccinate  the 
prisoners,  my  opportunities  were  ample  to  observe  the  effects  of  spurious  and  diseased 
matter,  and  there  is  no  doubt  in  my  mind  but  that  syphilis  was  ingrafted  in  many 
instances  ;  ugly  and  horrible  ulcers  and  eruptions  of  a  characteristic  nature  were,  alas  ! 
too  frequent  and  obvious  to  be  mistaken  ;  small-pox  cases  were  crowded  in  such  a  man 
ner  that  it  was  a  matter  of  impossibility  for  the  surgeon  to  treat  his  patients  individually  ; 
they  actually  laid  so  adjacent  that  the  simple  movement  of  one  would  cause  his  neighbor 
to  cry  out  in  an  agony  of  pain.  The  confluent  and  malignant  type  prevailed  to  such  an 
extent  and  of  such  a  nature  that  the  body  would  frequently  be  found  one  continuous 
scab. 

The  diet  and  other  allowances  by  the  government  for  the  use  of  the  prisoners  were 
ample,  yet  the  poor  unfortunates  were  allowed  to  starve. 

Now,  sir,  the  Confederate  regulations  authorized  ample  provisions  for 
Federal  prisoners,  the  same  that  was  made  for  Confederate  soldiers,  and  you 
charge  that  Mr.  Davis  is  responsible  for  not  having  those  allowances 
honestly  supplied.  The  United  States  made  provisions  for  Confederate 
prisoners,  so  far  as  rations  were  concerned,  for  feeding  those  in  Federal 
hands  ;  and  yet  what  says  the  surgeon  ?  "They  were  allowed  to  starve." 

But  "  why  ?  "  is  a  query  which  I  will  allow  your  readers  to  infer  and  to  draw  con 
clusions  therefrom.  Out  of  the  number  of  prisoners,  as  before  mentioned,  over  three 
thousand  of  them  now  lay  buried  in  the  cemetery  located  near  the  camp  for  that  purpose 
— a  mortality  equal  if  not  greater  than  that  of  any  prison  in  the  South.  At  Anderson 
ville,  as  I  am  well  informed  by  brother  officers  who  endured  confinement  there,  as  well 
as  by  the  records  at  Washington,  the  mortality  was  twelve  thousand  out  of,  say,  forty 
thousand  prisoners.  Hence  it  is  readily  to  be  seen  that  the  range  of  mortality  was  no 
less  at  Elmira  than  at  Andersonville. 

Mr.  Platt. — Will  the  gentleman  allow  me  to  interrupt  him  a  moment  to 
ask  him  where  he  gets  that  statement  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — It  is  the  statement  of  a  Federal  surgeon,  published  in  the  New 
York  World. 

Mr.  Platt. — I  desire  to  say  that  I  live  within  thirty-six  miles  of  Elmira, 
and  that  those  statements  are  unqualifiedly  false. 


450  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

Mr.  Hill — Yes,  and  I  suppose  if  one  rose  from  the  dead,  the  gentleman 
would  not  believe  him. 

Mr.  Platt. — Does  the  gentleman  say  that  those  statements  are  true  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — Certainly  I  do  not  say  that  they  are  true,  but  I  do  say  that  I 
believe  the  statement  of  the  surgeon  in  charge  before  that  of  a  politician 
thirty-six  miles  away.  Now,  will  the  gentleman  believe  testimony  from  the 
dead  ?  The  Bible  says,  "  The  tree  is  known  by  its  fruits."  And,  after  all, 
what  is  the  test  of  suffering  of  these  prisoners  North  and  South  ?  The  test 
is  the  result.  Now,  I  call  the  attention  of  gentlemen  to  this  fact,  that  the 
report  of  Mr.  Stanton,  the  secretary  of  war — you  will  believe  him,  will  you 
not  ? — on  the  19th  of  July,  1866 — send  to  the  Library  and  get  it — exhibits 
the  fact  that  of  the  Federal  prisoners  in  Confederate  hands  during  the  war, 
only  22,576  died,  while  of  the  Confederate  prisoners  in  Federal  hands  26,436 
died.  And  Surgeon- General  Barnes  reports  in  an  official  report — I  suppose 
you  will  believe  him — that  in  round  numbers  the  Confederate  prisoners  in 
Federal  hands  amounted  to  220,000,  while  the  Federal  prisoners  in  Con 
federate  hands  amounted  to  270,000.  Out  of  the  270,000  in  Confederate 
hands  22,000  died,  while  of  the  220,000  Confederates  in  Federal  hands  over 
26,000  died.  The  ratio  is  this  :  More  than  twelve  per  cent,  of  the  Confeder 
ates  in  Federal  hands  died,  and  less  than  nine  per  cent,  of  the  Federals  in 
Confederate  hands  died.  What  is  the  logic  of  these  facts  according  to  the 
gentleman  from  Maine?  I  scorn  to  charge  murder  upon  the  officials  of 
Northern  prisons,  as  the  gentleman  has  done  upon  Confederate  prison 
officials.  I  labor  to  demonstrate  that  such  miseries  are  inevitable  in  prison 
life,  no  matter  how  humane  the  regulations.  I  would  scorn,  too,  to  use  a 
newspaper  article,  unless  it  were  signed  by  one  who  gave  his  own  name  and 
whose  statement,  if  not  true,  can  be  disproved,  and  I  would  believe  such  a 
one  in  preference  to  any  politician  over  there  who  was  thirty-six  miles  away 
from  Elmira.  That  gentleman,  so  prompt  to  contradict  a  surgeon,  might 
perhaps  have  smelled  the  small-pox,  but  he  could  not  see  it,  and  I  venture 
to  say  that  if  he  knew  the  small-pox  was  there  he  would  have  taken  very 
good  care  to  keep  thirty-six  miles  away.  He  is  a  wonderful  witness.  He 
is  not  even  equal  to  the  mutilated  evidence  brought  in  yesterday.  But,  sir, 
it  appears  from  the  official  record  that  the  Confederates  came  from  Elmira, 
from  Fort  Delaware,  and  from  Rock  Island,  and  other  places,  with  their 
fingers  frozen  off,  with  their  toes  frozen  off,  and  with  teeth  dropped  out. 

But  the  great  question  is  behind.  Every  American,  North  and  South, 
must  lament  that  our  country  has  ever  impeached  its  civilization  by  such  an 
exhibition  of  horrors  on  any  side,  and  I  speak  of  these  things  with  no  de 
gree  of  pleasure.  God  knows,  if  I  could  hide  them  from  the  view  of  the 
world  I  would  gladly  do  it.  But  the  great  question  is,  at  last,  who  was 
responsible  for  this  state  of  things  ?  And  that  is  really  the  only  material 
question  with  which  statesmen  now  should  deal.  Sir,  it  is  well  known  that, 
when  the  war  opened,  at  first  the  authorities  of  the  United  States  deter 
mined  that  they  would  not  exchange  prisoners.  The  first  prisoners  captured 
by  the  Federal  forces  were  the  crew  of  the  Savannah,  and  they  were  put  in 
chains  and  sentenced  to  be  executed.  Jefferson  Davis  hearing  of  this,  com 
municated  through  the  lines,  and  the  Confederates  having  meanwhile  also 
captured  prisoners,  he  threatened  retaliation  in  case  those  men  suffered,  and 
the  sentences  against  the  crew  of  the  Savannah  were  not  executed.  Subse 
quently  our  friends  from  this  way — I  believe  my  friend  before  me  from 
New  York  (Mr,  Cox)  was  one— insisted  that  there  should  be  a  cartel  for  the 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  451 

exchange  of  prisoners.  In  1862  that  cartel  was  agreed  upon.  In  substance 
and  briefly  it  was  that  there  should  be  an  exchange  of  man  for  man  and 
officer  for  officer,  and  whichever  held  an  excess  at  the  time  of  exchange 
should  parole  the  excess.  This  worked  very  well  until  1863.  I  am  going 
over  the  facts  very  briefly. 

Mr.  Starkweather. — I  do  not  wish,  and  none  on  this  side  wishes  to  inter 
rupt  the  gentleman.  I  believe  he  has  spoken  over  his  hour.  We  desire 
that  he  shall  speak  as  long  as  he  chooses,  but  we  wish  to  have  a  free  dis 
cussion  and  want  a  little  time  on  this  side. 

The,  Speaker. — The  gentleman  from  Georgia  has  not  exhausted  his  hour 
yet. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  was  reciting  briefly  the  facts.  In  1863  this  cartel  was  in 
terrupted  ;  the  Federal  authorities  refused  to  continue  the  exchange.  Now 
commenced  a  history  which  the  world  ought  to  know,  and  which  I  hope  the 
House  will  grant  me  the  privilege  of  stating,  and  I  shall  do  it  from  official 
records.  This,  I  say  frankly  to  the  gentlemen  on  the  other  side,  was  in 
truth  one  of  the  severest  blows  stricken  at  the  Confederacy,  this  refusal  to  ex 
change  prisoners  in  1 863  and  continued  through  1 864.  The  Confederates  made 
every  effort  to  renew  the  cartel.  Among  other  things,  on  the  2d  of  July, 
1863,  the  Yice-President  of  the  Confederacy,  the  gentleman  to  whom  the 
gentleman  from  Maine  (Mr.  Blaine)  alluded  the  other  day  in  so  com 
plimentary  terms,  Mr.  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  was  absolutely  commissioned 
by  President  Davis  to  cross  the  lines  and  come  to  Washington  to  consult 
with  the  Federal  authorities,  with  a  broad  commission  to  agree  upon  any 
cartel  satisfactory  to  the  other  side  for  the  exchange  of  prisoners.  Mr. 
Davis  said  to  him,  "  Your  mission  is  simply  one  of  humanity,  and  has  no 
political  aspect."  Mr.  Stephens  undertook  that  work.  What  was  the  result  ? 
I  wish  to  be  careful,  and  I  will  state  this  exactly,  correctly.  Here  is  his 
letter  : 

CONFEDERATE  STATES  STEAMER  TORPEDO, 

IN  JAMES  RIVER,  July  4,  1863. 

Sir :  As  military  commissioner,  I  am  the  bearer  of  a  communication  in  writing  from 
Jefferson  Davis,  commander-in-chief  of  the  land  and  naval  forces  of  the  Confederate 
States,  to  Abraham  Lincoln,  commander-in-chief  of  the  land  and  naval  forces  of  the 
United  States.  -Hon.  Robert  Ould,  Confederate  States  agent  of  exchange,  accompanies 
me  as  secretary,  for  the  purpose  of  delivering  the  communication  in  person  and  confer 
ring  upon  the  subject  to  which  it  relates.  I  desire  to  proceed  to  Washington  in  the  steamer 
Torpedo,  commanded  by  Lieutenant  Hunter  Davidson,  of  the  Confederate  States  navy, 
no  person  being  on  board  but  Hon.  Mr.  Ould,  myself,  and  the  boat's  officers  and  crew. 

Yours,  most  respectfully, 

ALEX.  H.  STEPHENS. 

To  8.  H.  Lee,  Admiral. 
This  was  directed  to  S.  H.  Lee,  admiral.     Here  is  the  answer : 

Acting  Rear- Admiral  S.  H.  Lee,  Hampton  Roads  : 

The  request  of  Alexander  H.  Stephens  is  inadmissible 

GIDEON  WELLS, 

Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

You  will  acknowledge  that  Mr.  Stephens's  humane  mission  failed.  The 
Confederate  authorities  gave  to  that  mission  as  much  dignity  and  character 
as  possible.  They  supposed  that  of  all  men  in  the  South  Mr.  Stephens  most 
nearly  had  your  confidence.  They  selected  him  to  be  the  bearer  of  mes 
sages  for  the  sake  of  humanity  in  behalf  of  the  brave  Federal  soldiers  who 
were  unfortunate  prisoners  of  war.  The  Federal  Government  would  not 
even  receive  him  j  the  Federal  authorities  would  not  hear  him. 


450  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

Mr.  Hill. — Yes,  and  I  suppose  if  one  rose  from  the  dead,  the  gentleman 
would  not  believe  him. 

Mr.  Platt. — Does  the  gentleman  say  that  those  statements  are  true  ? 

Mr.  Sill. — Certainly  I  do  not  say  that  they  are  true,  but  I  do  say  that  I 
believe  the  statement  of  the  surgeon  in  charge  before  that  of  a  politician 
thirty-six  miles  away.  Now,  will  the  gentleman  believe  testimony  from  the 
dead  ?  The  Bible  says,  "  The  tree  is  known  by  its  fruits."  And,  after  all, 
what  is  the  test  of  suffering  of  these  prisoners  North  and  South  ?  The  test 
is  the  result.  Now,  I  call  the  attention  of  gentlemen  to  this  fact,  that  the 
report  of  Mr.  Stanton,  the  secretary  of  war — you  will  believe  him,  will  you 
not  ? — on  the  19th  of  July,  1866 — send  to  the  Library  and  get  it — exhibits 
the  fact  that  of  the  Federal  prisoners  in  Confederate  hands  during  the  war, 
only  22,576  died,  while  of  the  Confederate  prisoners  in  Federal  hands  26,436 
died.  And  Surgeon- General  Barnes  reports  in  an  official  report — I  suppose 
you  will  believe  him — that  in  round  numbers  the  Confederate  prisoners  in 
Federal  hands  amounted  to  220,000,  while  the  Federal  prisoners  in  Con 
federate  hands  amounted  to  270,000.  Out  of  the  270,000  in  Confederate 
hands  22,000  died,  while  of  the  220,000  Confederates  in  Federal  hands  over 
26,000  died.  The  ratio  is  this  :  More  than  twelve  per  cent,  of  the  Confeder 
ates  in  Federal  hands  died,  and  less  than  nine  per  cent,  of  the  Federals  in 
Confederate  hands  died.  What  is  the  logic  of  these  facts  according  to  the 
gentleman  from  Maine?  I  scorn  to  charge  murder  upon  the  officials  of 
Northern  prisons,  as  the  gentleman  has  done  upon  Confederate  prison 
officials.  I  labor  to  demonstrate  that  such  miseries  are  inevitable  in  prison 
life,  no  matter  how  humane  the  regulations.  I  would  scorn,  too,  to  use  a 
newspaper  article,  unless  it  were  signed  by  one  who  gave  his  own  name  and 
whose  statement,  if  not  true,  can  be  disproved,  and  I  would  believe  such  a 
one  in  preference  to  any  politician  over  there  who  was  thirty-six  miles  away 
from  Elmira.  That  gentleman,  so  prompt  to  contradict  a  surgeon,  might 
perhaps  have  smelled  the  small-pox,  but  he  could  not  see  it,  and  I  venture 
to  say  that  if  he  knew  the  small-pox  was  there  he  would  have  taken  very 
good  care  to  keep  thirty-six  miles  away.  He  is  a  wonderful  witness.  He 
is  not  even  equal  to  the  mutilated  evidence  brought  in  yesterday.  But,  sir, 
it  appears  from  the  official  record  that  the  Confederates  came  from  Elmira, 
from  Fort  Delaware,  and  from  Rock  Island,  and  other  places,  with  their 
fingers  frozen  off,  with  their  toes  frozen  off,  and  with  teeth  dropped  out. 

But  the  great  question  is  behind.  Every  American,  North  and  South, 
must  lament  that  our  country  has  ever  impeached  its  civilization  by  such  an 
exhibition  of  horrors  on  any  side,  and  I  speak  of  these  things  with  no  de 
gree  of  pleasure.  God  knows,  if  I  could  hide  them  from  the  view  of  the 
world  I  would  gladly  do  it.  But  the  great  question  is,  at  last,  who  was 
responsible  for  this  state  of  things  ?  And  that  is  really  the  only  material 
question  with  which  statesmen  now  should  deal.  Sir,  it  is  well  known  that, 
when  the  war  opened,  at  first  the  authorities  of  the  United  States  deter 
mined  that  they  would  not  exchange  prisoners.  The  first  prisoners  captured 
by  the  Federal  forces  were  the  crew  of  the  Savannah,  and  they  were  put  in 
chains  and  sentenced  to  be  executed.  Jefferson  Davis  hearing  of  this,  com 
municated  through  the  lines,  and  the  Confederates  having  meanwhile  also 
captured  prisoners,  he  threatened  retaliation  in  case  those  men  suffered,  and 
the  sentences  against  the  crew  of  the  Savannah  were  not  executed.  Subse 
quently  our  friends  from  this  way — I  believe  my  friend  before  me  from 
New  York  (Mr,  Cox)  w^as  one — insisted  that  there  should  be  a  cartel  for  the 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  451 

exchange  of  prisoners.  In  1862  that  cartel  was  agreed  upon.  In  substance 
and  briefly  it  was  that  there  should  be  an  exchange  of  man  for  man  and 
officer  for  officer,  and  whichever  held  an  excess  at  the  time  of  exchange 
should  parole  the  excess.  This  worked  very  well  until  1863.  I  am  going 
over  the  facts  very  briefly. 

Mr.  Starkweather. — I  do  not  wish,  and  none  on  this  side  wishes  to  inter 
rupt  the  gentleman.  I  believe  he  has  spoken  over  his  hour.  We  desire 
that  he  shall  speak  as  long  as  he  chooses,  but  we  wish  to  have  a  free  dis 
cussion  and  want  a  little  time  on  this  side. 

The  Speaker. — The  gentleman  from  Georgia  has  not  exhausted  his  hour 
yet. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  was  reciting  briefly  the  facts.  In  1863  this  cartel  was  in 
terrupted  ;  the  Federal  authorities  refused  to  continue  the  exchange.  Now 
commenced  a  history  which  the  world  ought  to  know,  and  which  I  hope  the 
House  will  grant  me  the  privilege  of  stating,  and  I  shall  do  it  from  official 
records.  This,  I  say  frankly  to  the  gentlemen  on  the  other  side,  was  in 
truth  one  of  the  severest  blows  stricken  at  the  Confederacy,  this  refusal  to  ex 
change  prisoners  in  1 863  and  continued  through  1 864.  The  Confederates  made 
every  effort  to  renew  the  cartel.  Among  other  things,  on  the  2d  of  July, 
1863,  the  Vice-President  of  the  Confederacy,  the  gentleman  to  whom  the 
gentleman  from  Maine  (Mr.  Blaine)  alluded  the  other  day  in  so  com 
plimentary  terms,  Mr.  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  was  absolutely  commissioned 
by  President  Davis  to  cross  the  lines  and  come  to  Washington  to  consult 
with  the  Federal  authorities,  with  a  broad  commission  to  agree  upon  any 
cartel  satisfactory  to  the  other  side  for  the  exchange  of  prisoners.  Mr. 
Davis  said  to  him,  "  Your  mission  is  simply  one  of  humanity,  and  has  no 
political  aspect."  Mr.  Stephens  undertook  that  work.  What  was  the  result  ? 
I  wish  to  be  careful,  and  I  will  state  this  exactly,  correctly.  Here  is  his 
letter  : 

CONFEDERATE  STATES  STEAMER  TORPEDO, 

IN  JAMES  RIVER,  July  4,  1863. 

Sir :  As  military  commissioner,  I  am  the  bearer  of  a  communication  in  writing  from 
Jefferson  Davis,  commander-in-chief  of  the  land  and  naval  forces  of  the  Confederate 
States,  to  Abraham  Lincoln,  commander-in-chief  of  the  land  and  naval  forces  of  the 
United  States.  -Hon.  Robert  Ould,  Confederate  States  agent  of  exchange,  accompanies 
me  as  secretary,  for  the  purpose  of  delivering  the  communication  in  person  and  coufer- 
rin  g  upon  the  subject  to  which  it  relates.  I  desire  to  proceed  to  Washington  in  the  steamer 
Torpedo,  commanded  by  Lieutenant  Hunter  Davidson,  of  the  Confederate  States  navy, 
no  person  being  on  board  but  Hon.  Mr.  Ould,  myself,  and  the  boat's  officers  and  crew. 

Yours,  most  respectfully, 

ALEX.  H.  STEPHENS. 

To  S.  H.  Lee,  Admiral. 
This  was  directed  to  S.  H.  Lee,  admiral.     Here  is  the  answer  : 

Acting  Hear- Admiral  S.  H.  Lee,  Hampton  Hoads  : 

The  request  of  Alexander  H.  Stephens  is  inadmissible 

GIDEON  WELLS, 

Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

You  will  acknowledge  that  Mr.  Stephens's  humane  mission  failed.  The 
Confederate  authorities  gave  to  that  mission  as  much  dignity  and  character 
as  possible.  They  supposed  that  of  all  men  in  the  South  Mr.  Stephens  most 
nearly  had  your  confidence.  They  selected  him  to  be  the  bearer  of  mes 
sages  for  the  sake  of  humanity  in  behalf  of  the  brave  Federal  soldiers  who 
were  unfortunate  prisoners  of  war.  The  Federal  Government  would  not 
even  receive  him  j  the  Federal  authorities  would  not  hear  him. 


452  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

What  was  the  next  effort  ?  After  Mr.  Stephens's  mission  failed,  the 
commissioner  for  the  exchange  of  prisoners,  Colonel  Ould,  having  exhausted 
all  his  efforts  to  get  the  cartel  renewed,  on  the  24th  January,  1864,  wrote 
the  following  letter  to  Major-General  E.  A.  Hitchcock,  agent  of  exchange 
on  the  Federal  side  : 

CONFEDERATE  STATES  OP  AMERICA,  WAR  DEPARTMENT, 

RICHMOND,  VIRGINIA,  January  24,  1864. 

Sir :  In  view  of  the  difficulties  attending  the  exchange  and  release  of  prisoners,  I  pro 
pose  that  all  such  on  either  side  shall  be  attended  by  a  proper  number  of  their  own  sur 
geons,  who,  under  rules  to  be  established,  shall  be  permitted  to  take  charge  of  their 
health  and  comfort.  I  also  propose  that  these  surgeons  shall  act  as  commissaries,  with 
power  to  receive  and  distribute  such  contributions  of  money,  food,  clothing,  and  medi 
cines  as  may  be  forwarded  for  the  relief  of  the  prisoners.  I  further  propose  that  these 
surgeons  shall  be  selected  by  their  own  government,  and  that  they  shall  have  full  liberty, 
at  any  and  all  times,  through  the  agents  of  exchange,  to  make  reports  not  only  of  their 
own  acts,  but  of  any  matters  relating  to  the  welfare  of  the  prisoners. 

Respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

ROBERT  OULD, 

Agent  of  Exchange. 
Major- General  E.  A.  Hitchcock,  Agent  of  Exchange. 

The  Speaker. — The  hour  of  the  gentleman  has  expired. 

Mr.  Randall. — I  move  the  gentleman  from  Georgia  be  allowed  to  pro 
ceed. 

Mr.  Blaine. — I  do  not  object ;  but  before  the  gentleman  from  Georgia 
passes  from  the  subject  upon  which  he  is  now  speaking,  I  would  be  glad  to 
know 

The  Speaker. — If  there  be  no  objection,  the  gentleman  from  Georgia  will 
have  leave  to  proceed. 

There  was  no  objection. 

Mr.  Blaine. — I  believe  the  gentleman  from  Georgia  (Mr.  Hill)  was  a 
member  of  the  Confederate  Senate.  I  find  in  a  historical  book  of  some 
authenticity  of  character  that  in  the  Confederate  Congress,  Senator  Hill, 
of  Georgia,  introduced  the  following  resolution,  relating  to  prisoners. 

Mr.  Hill.- -You  are  putting  me  on  trial  now,  are  you?     Go  ahead. 

Mr.  JBlaine. — This  is  the  resolution  : 

That  every  person  pretending  to  be  a  soldier  or  officer  of  the  United  States,  who  shall 
be  captured  on  the  soil  of  the  Confederate  States  after  the  1st  day  of  January,  1863,  shall 
be  presumed  to  have  entered  the  territory  of  the  Confederate  States  with  the  intent  to  in 
cite  insurrection  and  abet  murder  ;  and,  unless  satisfactory  proof  be  adduced  to  the  con 
trary  before  the  military  court  before  which  the  trial  shall  be  had,  shall  suffer  death. 
This  section  shall  continue  in  force  until  the  proclamation  issued  by  Abraham  Lincoln, 
dated  at  Washington  on  the  22d  day  of  September,  1862,  shall  be  rescinded,  and  the  policy 
therein  announced  shall  be  abandoned,  and  no  longer. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  will  say  to  the  gentleman  from  Maine,  very  frankly,  that  I 
have  not  the  slightest  recollection  of  ever  hearing  that  resolution  before. 

Mr.  Blaine. — The  gentleman  does  not  deny,  however,  that  he  was  the 
author  of  it  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — I  do  not  know.  My  own  impression  is  that  I  was  not  the 
author  ;  but  I  do  not  pretend  to  recollect  the  circumstances.  If  the  gentle 
man  can  give  me  the  circumstances  under  which  the  resolution  was  intro 
duced,  they  might  recall  the  matter  to  my  mind. 

Mr.  Blaine. — Allow  me  to  read  further  : 

October  1,  1862. — The  judiciary  committee  of  the  Confederate  Congress  made  a  report 
and  offered  a  set  of  resolutions  upon  the  subject  of  President  Lincoln's  proclamation,  from 
vvhich  the  following  are  extracts  : 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  453 

2.  Every  white  person  who  shall  act  as  a  commissioned  or  non-commissioned  officer 
commanding  negroes  or  mulattoes  against  the  Confederate  States,  or  who  shall  arm,  or 
ganize,  train,  or  prepare  negroes  or  mulattoes  for  military  service,  or  aid  them  in  any 
military  enterprise  against  the  Confederate  States,  shall,  if  captured,  suffer  death. 

3.  Every  commissioned  or  non-commissioned  officer  of  the  enemy  who  shall  incite 
slaves  to  rebellion,  or  pretend  to  give  them  freedom  under  the  aforementioned  act  of 
Congress  and  proclamation,  by  abducting  or  causing  them  to  be  abducted  or  inducing 
them  to  abscond,  shall,  if  captured,  smfer  death. 

Thereupon  Senator  Hill,  of  Georgia,  is  recorded  as  having  offered  the 
resolution  I  have  read. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  was  chairman  of  the  judiciary  committee  of  the  Senate. 

Mr.  Blaine. — And  this  resolution  came  directly  from  that  committee. 

Mr.  Hill. — It  is  very  probable  that,  like  the  Chairman  of  the  Committee 
on  the  Rules  at  the  last  session,  I  may  have  consented  to  that  report. 

Mr.  Elaine. — The  gentleman  then  admits  that  he  did  make  that  report  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — I  really  do  not  remember  it.     I  think  it  very  likely. 

A  Member  (to  Mr.  Elaine). — What  is  the  book? 

Mr.  I3laine.--The  book  from  which  I  have  read  is  entitled  "  Republican 
ism  in  America,"  by  R.  Guy  McClellan.  It  appears  to  be  a  book  of  good 
credit  and  authenticity.  I  merely  want  it  settled  whether  the  gentleman 
from  Georgia  was  or  was  not  the  author  of  that  resolution. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  say  to  the  gentleman  frankly  that  I  really  do  not  re 
member. 

Mr.  .Blaine. — The  gentleman  does  not  say  he  was  not  the  author. 

Mr.  Hill.— I  do  not.  I  will  say  this:  I  think  I  was  not  the  author. 
Possibly  I  reported  the  resolution.  It  refers  in  terms  to  "  pretended,"  not 
real  soldiers. 

Mr.  Blaine. — I  thought  that  inasmuch  as  the  gentleman's  line  of  argu 
ment  was  to  show  the  character  of  the  Confederate  policy,  this  might  aid  him 
a  little  in  calling  up  the  facts  pertinent  thereto. 

Mr.  Hill. — With  all  due  deference  to  the  gentleman,  I  reply  he  did  not 
think  any  such  thing.  He  thought  he  would  divert  me  from  the  purpose  of 
my  argument  and  break  its  force  by 

Mr.  Blaine. — Oh,  no. 

Mr.  Hill. — He  thought  he  would  get  up  a  discussion  about  certain  meas 
ures  presented  in  the  Confederate  Congress  having  no  relation  to  the  subject 
now  under  discussion,  but  which  grew  out  of  the  peculiar  relation  of 
Southern  States  to  a  population  than  in  servitude— a  population  which 
Confederate  Government  feared  might  be  incited  to  insurrection— and  meas 
ures  were  doubtless  proposed  which  the  Confederate  Government  may  have 
thought  it  proper  to  take  to  protect  helpless  women  and  children  in 
South  from  insurrection.     But  I  shall  not  allow  myself  to  be  diverted  by 
gentleman  to  £o  either  into  the  history  of  slavery  or  of  domestic  insurrec 
tion,  or,  as  a  friend  near  me  suggests,  "John  Brown's  raid." 
that  if  I  or  any  gentleman  on  the  committee  was  the  author  of  that  resoluti 
which  I  think  more  than  probable,  our  purpose  was  not  to  do  injustice  to  any 
man,  woman,  or  child  North  or  South,  but  to  adopt  what  we  deemed 
gent  measures  within  the  laws  of  war  to  protect  our  wives  and  children  fi 
servile  insurrection  and  slaughter  while  our  brave  sons  were  in 
That  is  all,  sir.  r 

But,  sir,  I  have  read  a  letter  from  the  Confederate  commissioner  of 
change,  written  in  1864,  proposing  that  each  side  send  surgeons  wi 
prisoners  ;  that  they  nurse  and  treat  the  prisoners  ;  that  the 


454  SENATOR  B.   H,  HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

ties  should  send  as  many  as  they  pleased  ;  that  those  surgeons  be  commis 
sioned  also  as  commissaries  to  furnish  supplies  of  clothing  and  food  and 
everything  else  needed  for  the  comfort  of  prisoners. 

Now,  sir,  how  did  the  Federal  Government  treat  that  offer?  It  broke  the 
cartel  for  the  exchange  of  prisoners  ;  it  refused  to  entertain  a  proposition, 
even  when  Mr.  Stephens  headed  the  commission,  to  renew  it  ;  and  then,  sir, 
when  the  Confederates  proposed  that  their  own  surgeons  should  accompany 
the  prisoners  of  the  respective  armies,  the  Federal  authorities  did  not  answer 
the  letter.  No  reply  was  ever  received. 

Then,  again,  in  August,  1864,  the  Confederates  made  two  more  proposi 
tions.  I  will  state  that  the  cartel  of  exchange  was  broken  by  the  Federal 
authorities  for  certain  alleged  reasons.  Well,  in  August,  1864,  prisoners  ac 
cumulating  on  both  sides  to  such  an  extent,  and  the  Federal  Government 
having  refused  every  proposition  from  the  Confederate  authorities  to  provide 
for  the  comfort  and  treatment  of  these  prisoners,  the  Confederates  next  pro 
posed,  in  a  letter  from  Colonel  Ould,  dated  the  10th  of  August,  1864,  waiv 
ing  every  objection  the  Federal  Government  had  made,  to  agree  to  any  and 
all  terms  to  renew  the  exchange  of  prisoners,  man  for  man,  and  officer  for 
officer,  as  the  Federal  Government  should  prescribe.  Yet,  sir,  the  latter  re 
jected  that  proposition.  It  took  a  second  letter  to  bring  an  answer  to  that 
proposition. 

Then,  again,  in  that  same  month  of  August,  1864,  the  Confederate 
authorities  did  this :  Finding  that  the  Federal  Government  would  not  ex 
change  prisoners  at  all ;  that  it  would  not  let  surgeons  go  into  the  Con 
federacy  ;  finding  that  it  would  not  let  medicines  be  sent  into  the  Confed 
eracy  ;  meanwhile  the  ravages  of  war  continuing  and  depleting  the  scant 
supplies  of  the  South,  which  was  already  unable  to  feed  adequately  its  own 
defenders,  and  much  less  able  to  properly  feed  and  clothe  the  thousands  of 
prisoners  in  Confederate  prisons,  what  did  the  Confederates  propose  ?  They 
proposed  to  send  the  Federal  sick  and  wounded  prisoners  without  equivalent. 
Now,  sir,  I  want  the  House  and  the  country  to  understand  this  :  that  in 
August,  1864,  the  Confederate  Government  officially  proposed  to  Federal 
authorities  that  if  they  would  send  steamships  of  transportation  in  any  form 
to  Savannah,  they  should  have  their  sick  and  wounded  prisoners  without 
equivalent.  That  proposition,  communicated  to  the  Federal  authorities  in 
August,  1864,  was  not  answered  until  December,  1864.  In  December,  1864, 
the  Federal  Government  sent  ships  to  Savannah.  Now,  the  records  will 
show  that  the  chief  suffering  at  Andersonville  was  between  August  and 
December.  The  Confederate  authorities  sought  to  avert  it  by  asking  the 
Federal  Government  to  come  and  take  its  prisoners  without  equivalent, 
without  return,  and  it  refused  to  do  that  until  four  or  five  months  had 
elapsed. 

That  is  not  the  only  appeal  which  was  made  to  the  Federal  Government. 
I  now  call  the  attention  of  the  House  to  another  appeal.  It  was  from  the 
Federal  prisoners  themselves.  They  knew  as  well  as  the  Southern  people  did 
the  mission  of  Mr.  Stephens.  They  knew  the  offer  of  January  24,  for  sur 
geons,  for  medicine  and  clothing,  for  comforts  and  food,  and  for  pro 
visions  of  every  sort.  They  knew  that  the  Confederate  authorities  had 
offered  to  let  these  be  sent  to  them  by  their  own  government.  They  knew 
that  had  been  rejected.  They  knew  of  the  offer  of  August  10,  1864.  They 
knew  of  the  other  offer,  to  return  sick  and  wounded  without  equiva 
lent.  They  knew  all  these  offers  had  been  rejected.  Therefore  they  held  a 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  455 

meeting  and  passed  the  following  resolutions  ;  and  I  call  the  attention  of  the 
gentleman  on  the  other  side  to  these  resolutions.  I  ask,  if  they  will  not  be 
lieve  the  surgeons  of  their  hospitals  ;  if  they  will  not  believe  Mr.  Stan  ton's 
report ;  if  they  will  not  believe  Surgeon-General  Barnes's  report.  I  beg  from 
them  to  know  if  they  will  not  believe  the  earnest,  heart-rending  appeal  of 
those  starving,  suffering  heroes  ?  Here  are  the  resolutions  passed  by  the 
Federal  prisoners,  the  28th  of  September,  1864. 

Resolved,  That  while  allowing  the  Confederate  authorities  all  due  praise  for  the  atten 
tion  paid  to  our  prisoners,  numbers  of  our  men  are  daily  consigned  to  early  graves,  in  the 
prime  of  manhood,  far  from  home  and  kindred,  and  this  is  not  caused  intentionally  by  the 
Confederate  Government,  but  by  the  force  of  circumstances. 

Brave  men  are  always  honest,  and  true  soldiers  never  slander.  They  say 
the  horrors  they  suffered  were  not  intentional ;  that  the  Confederate  Govern 
ment  had  done  all  it  could  to  avert  them.  Sir,  I  believe  this  testimony  of 
gallant  men  as  being  of  the  highest  character,  coming  from  the  sufferers 
themselves. 

They  further  resolved  : 

The  prisoner  is  obliged  to  go  without  shelter,  and  in  a  great  portion  of  cases  without 
medicine. 

Resolved,  That  whereas  in  the  fortune  of  war  it  was  our  lot  to  become  prisoners,  we 
have  suffered  patiently,  and  are  still  willing  to  suffer,  if  by  so  doing  we  can  benefit  the 
country  ;  but  we  would  most  respectfully  beg  to  say  that  we  are  not  willing  to  suffer  to 
further  the  ends  of  any  party  or  clique  to  the  detriment  of  our  own  honor,  our  families, 
and  our  country. .  And  we  would  beg  this  affair  be  explained  to  us,  that  we  may  con 
tinue  to  hold  the  government  in  the  respect  which  tis  necessary  to  make  a  good  citizen 
and  soldier. 

Was  this  touching  appeal  heeded  ?  Let  any  gentleman,  who  belonged 
to  the  "clique  or  party'  that  the  resolutions  condemn,  answer  for  his 
party. 

Now,  sir,  it  was  in  reference  to  that  state  of  things,  exactly,  that  Dr. 
Jones  reported,  as  I  have  already  read  to  the  House,  in  his  report  which  was 
mutilated  before  that  committee  of  Congress  and  in  the  trial  of  Wirz — it 
was  in  consequence  of  that  very  state  of  things  that  Dr.  Jones  said  that  de 
pression  of  mind  and  despondency  and  home-sickness  of  these  poor  prisoners 
carried  more  to  their  graves  than  did  physical  causes  of  disease.  That  was 
not  wonderful  at  all. 

But,  Mr.  Speaker,  why  were  all  these  appeals  resisted  ?    Why  did  the 
Federal  authorities  refuse  to  allow  their  own  surgeons  to  go  with  their  own 
soldiers,  and  carry  them  medicine  and  clothing  and  comfort  and  treatment ' 
Why  ?     Why  did  they  refuse  to  exchange  man   for  man,  and  officer  for 
officer?     Why  did  they  refuse  to  stand  up  to  their  own  solemn  engage 
ments,  made   in    1862,  for  the  exchange  of  prisoners?     Who  is  at  fault 
There  must  be  a  reason  for  this.     That  is  the  next  point  to  which  I  wish  to 
call  the  attention  of  the  House.     Sir,  listen  to  the  reading.     The  New  York 
Tribune,  referring  to  this  matter  in  1864,  said— I  suppose  you  will  believe 
Tribune  in  1864,  if  you  do  not  believe  it  now  : 

In  August  the  rebels  offered  to  renew  the  exchange  man  for  man.     General  Grant 
then  telegraphed  the  following  important  order  :    It  is  hard  on  our  men  held 
prisons  not  to  exchange  them,  but  it  is  humanity  to  those  left  in  the  ranks  to  tight 
battles.     Every  man  released  on  parole  or  otherwise  becomes  an  active  sol 
us  at  once,  either  directly  or  indirectly.     If  we  commence  a  system  of  exchange  wh 
liberates  all  prisoners  taken,  we  will  have  to  fight  on  till  the  whole  Booth  is  extermii 
If  we  hold  those  caught,  they  amount  to  no  more  than  dead  men.     At  this  particulu 


45 C  SENATOR  R  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

to  release  all  rebel  prisoners  North  would  insure  Sherman's  defeat  and  would  compro 
mise  our  safety  here. 

Mr.  Garfield. — What  date  is  that? 

Mr.  Hill. — Eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-four. 

Mr.  Garjield. — What  date  in  that  year  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — I  do  not  note  the  day  or  month.  I  have  read  the  telegram 
which  is  taken  from  the  New  York  Tribune,  after  August,  1864. 

Here  is  General  Grant's  testimony  before  the  Committee  on  the  exchange 
of  prisoners,  February  11,  1865.  You  believe  him,  do  you  not? 

Question. — It  has  been  said  that  we  refused  to  exchange  prisoners  because  we  found 
ours  starved,  diseased,  and  unserviceable  when  we  received  them,  and  did  not  like  to  ex 
change  sound  men  for  such  men. 

That  was  the  question  propounded  to  him.     His  answer  was  : 

Answer. — There  never  has  been  any  such  reason  as  that.  That  has  been  a  reason  for 
making  exchanges.  I  will  confess  that  if  our  men  who  are  prisoners  in  the  South  were 
really  well  taken  care  of,  suffering  nothing  except  a  little  privation  of  liberty,  then,  in  a 
military  point  of  view,  it  would  not  be  good  policy  for  us  to  exchange,  because  every 
man  they  got  back  is  forced  right  into  the  army  at  once,  while  that  is  not  the  case  with 
our  prisoners  when  we  receive  them  ;  in  fact,  the  half  of  our  returned  prisoners  will 
never  go  into  the  army  again,  and  none  of  them  will  until  after  they  have  had  a  furlough 
of  thirty  or  sixty  days.  Still,  the  fact  of  their  suffering  as  they  do  is  a  reason  for 
making  this  exchange  as  rapidly  as  possible. 

Q. — And  never  has  been  a  reason  for  not  making  the  exchange  ? 

A. — It  never  has.  Exchanges  having  been  suspended  by  reason  of  disagreement  on 
the  part  of  agents  of  exchange  on  both  sides  before  I  came  in  command  of  the  armies  of 
the  United  States,  and  it  then  being  near  the  opening  of  the  spring  campaign,  I  did  not 
deem  it  advisable  or  just  to  the  men  who  had  to  fight  our  battles  to  re-enforce  the  enemy 
with  thirty  or  forty  thousand  disciplined  troops  at  that  time.  An  immediate  resumption 
of  exchange  would  have  had  that  effect  without  giving  us  corresponding  benefits.  The 
suffering  said  to  exist  among  our  prisoners  South  was  a  powerful  argument  against  the 
course  pursued,  and  so  I  felt  it. 

There  is  no  disputing  the  fact  that,  with  the  knowledge  that  his  prisoners 
were  suffering  in  the  South,  he  insisted  that  the  exchange  should  not  be  re 
newed,  because  it  would  increase  the  military  power  of  the  enemy.  Now, 
that  may  have  been  a  good  military  reason.  I  do  not  quote  it  for  the  pur 
pose  of  reflecting  upon  General  Grant  in  the  slightest.  I  am  giving  the 
facts  of  history.  I  insist  that  the  Confederacy  shall  not  be  held  responsible 
for  the  results  of  the  war  policy  of  the  Federal  Government,  especially  when 
the  record  proves  that  the  Confederate  authorities  made  every  possible 
effort  to  avert  these  results.  Nor  do  I  allege  inhumanity  on  the  part  of 
General  Grant  or  the  Federal  Government.  I  give  you  the  facts,  and  I  have 
given  you  General  Grant's  interpretation  of  those  facts.  Let  the  world 
judge. 

Now,  sir,  we  have  other  authority  upon  that  subject.  Here  is  a  letter 
by  Junius  Henri  Browne.  I  do  not  know  the  gentleman.  He  signs  his 
name  to  the  letter.  He  writes  like  a  scholar.  He  is  a  Northern  gentleman, 
and  I  am  not  aware  that  his  statement  has  ever  been  contradicted.  Now, 
what  does  he  say  ? 

NEW  YORK,  August  8,  1865. 

Moreover,  General  Butler  in  his  speech  at  Lowell,  Mass,  stated  positively  that 
he  had  been  ordered  by  Mr.  Stanton  to  put  forward  the  negro  question  to  complicate 

and  prevent  the  exchange Every  one  is  aware  that  when  the  exchange  did  take 

place,  not  the  slightest  alteration  had  occurred  in  the  question,  and  that  our  prisoners 
might  as  well  have  been  released  twelve  or  eighteen  mouths  before  as  at  the  resumption 
of  the  cartel,  which  would  have  saved  to  the  Republic  at  least  twelve  or  fifteen  thousand 
heroic  lives. 


HIS  LIFE  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  457 

That  they  were  not  saved  is  due  alone  to  Edwin  M.  Stanton's  peculiar  policy  and  dog 
ged  obstinacy;  and,  as  I  have  remarked  before,  he«is  unquestionably  the  digger  of  tin- 
unnamed  graves  that  crowd  the  vicinity  of  every  Southern  prison  with  historic  and  never 
to  be  forgotten  horrors. 

That  is  the  testimony  of  a  Northern  man  against  Mr.  Stanton.  And  he 
goes  on : 

I  regret  the  revival  of  this  painful  subject,  but  the  gratuitous  effort  of  Mr.  Dana  to  re 
lieve  the  secretary  of  war  from  a  responsibility  he  seems  willing  to  bear,  and  which 
merely  as  a  question  of  policy,  independent  of  all  considerations  of  humanity,  must  be  re 
garded  as  of  great  weight,  has  compelled  me  to  vindicate  myself  from  the  charge  of  mak 
ing  grave  statements  without  due  consideration. 

Once  for  all  let  me  declare  that  I  have  never  found  fault  with  any  one  because  I  was 
detained  in  prison,  for  I  am  well  aware  that  was  a  matter  in  which  no  one  but  myself  and 
possibly  a  few  personal  friends  would  feel  any  interest  ;  that  my  sole  motive  for  impeach 
ing  the  secretary  of  war  was  that  the  people  of  the  loyal  North  might  know  to  whom  they 
were  indebted  for  the  cold-blooded  and  needless  sacrifice  of  their  fathers  and  brothers, 
their  husbands  and  their  sons. 

I  understand  that  Mr.  Browne  is  a  contributor  to  Harper's  MontJdy,  and 
was  then.  The  man,  so  he  tells  you,  who  was  responsible  for  these  atrocities 
at  Andersonville  was  the  late  secretary  of  war,  Mr.  Stanton. 

Now,  Mr.  Speaker,  what  have  I  proven?  I  have  proven  that  the  Fed 
eral  authorities  broke  the  cartel  for  the  exchange  of  prisoners  deliberately  ; 
I  have  proven  that  they  refused  to  reopen  that  cartel  when  it  was  proposed 
by  Mr.  Stephens,  as  a  commissioner,  solely  on  the  ground  of  humanity ;  I 
have  proven  that  they  made  medicine  contraband  of  war,  and  thereby  left 
the  South  to  the  dreadful  necessity  of  treating  their  own  prisoners  with  such 
medicine  as  could  be  improvised  in  the  Confederacy  ;  I  have  proven  that 
they  refused  to  allow  surgeons  of  their  own  appointment,  of  their  own  army, 
to  accompany  their  prisoners  in  the  South,  with  full  license  and  liberty  to 
carry  food,  medicine,  and  raiment,  and  every  comfort  that  the  prisoners 
might  need  ;  I  have  proven  that  when  the  Federal  Government  made  the 
pretext  for  interrupting  the  cartel  for  the  exchange  of  prisoners,  the  Con 
federates  yielded  every  point  and  proposed  to  exchange  prisoners  on  the 
terms  of  the  Federal  Government,  and  that  the  latter  refused  it  ;  I  have 
proven  that  the  Confederates  then  proposed  to  return  the  Federal  sick  and 
wounded  without  equivalent  in  August,  1864,  and  never  got  a  reply  until 
December,  1864  ;  I  have  proven  that  high  Federal  officers  gave  as  a  reason 
why  they  would  not  exchange  prisoners  that  it  would  be  humanity  to  the 
prisoners  but  cruelty  to  the  soldiers  in  the  field,  and  therefore  it  was  a  part  of 
the  Federal  military  policy  to  let  Federal  prisoners  suffer  rather  than  that  the 
Confederacy  should  have  an  increase  of  its  military  force  ;  and  the  Federal 
Government  refused  it,  when  by  such  exchange  it  would  have  received  more 
prisoners  than  it  returned  to  the  Confederates. 

Now,  what  is  the  answer  to  all  this?  Against  whom  does  the  charge  lie, 
if  there  are  to  be  accusations  of  any,  for  the  horrors  of  Andersonville ' 

Mr.  Bright.— What  was  the  percentage  of  death  in  the  prison  ? 

Mr.  Hill.— I  have  already  given  it.     I  have  proved  also  that,  With 
the  horrors  at  Andersonville  the  gentleman  from  Maine  has  so  ostentatiously 
paraded,  and  for  an  obvious  partisan  purpose  of  exciting  upon  this  floor  a 
bitter  sectional  discussion,  from  which  his  party,  and  perhaps  himself,  may 
be  the  beneficiary,  greater  sufferings  occurred  in  the  prisons  where 
federate  soldiers  were  confined,  and  that  the  percentage  of  death  was 
per  cent,  greater  among  Confederate  troops  in  Federal  hands  than  anio 


458  SENATOR  R   II.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

Federal  soldiers  held  by  the  Confederates.  And  I  need  not  state  the  con 
trast  between  the  needy  Confederacy  and  the  abundance  of  Federal  supplies 
and  resources. 

Now,  sir,  when  the  gentleman  rises  again  to  give  breath  to  that  effusion 
of  unmitigated  genius  without  fact  to  sustain  it,  in  which  he  says, 

And  I  here,  before  God,  measuring  my  words,  knowing  their  full  extent  and  import 
declare  that  neither  the  deeds  of  the  Duke  of  Alva  in  the  Low  Countries,  nor  the  mas 
sacre  of  Saint  Bartholomew,  nor  the  thumb-screws  and  engines  of  torture  of  the  Spanish 
Inquisition,  begin  to  compare  in  atrocity  with  the  hideous  crime  of  Audersonville, 

let  him  add  that  the  mortality  at  Andersonville  and  other  Confederate 
prisons  falls  short  by  more  than  three  per  cent,  the  mortality  in  Federal 
prisons. 

Sir,  if  any  man  will  reflect  a  moment  he  will  see  that  there  was  reason 
why  the  Confederate  Government  should  desire  exchange  of  prisoners.  It 
was  scarce  of  food,  pinched  for  clothing,  closed  up  with  a  blockade  of  its 
ports  ;  it  needed  troops  ;  its  ranks  were  thinning. 

Now,  Mr.  Speaker,  it  is  proper  that  I  should  read  one  or  two  sentences 
from  the  man  who  has  been  arraigned  as  the  vilest  murderer  in  history. 
After  the  battles  around  Richmond,  in  which  McClellan  was  defeated,  some 
ten  thousand  prisoners  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Confederacy.  Victory  had 
perched  upon  its  standard,  and  the  rejoicing  naturally  following  victory  was 
heard  in  the  ranks  of  the  Confederate  army.  Mr.  Davis  went  out  to  make  a 
gratulatory  speech.  Now,  gentlemen  of  the  House,  gentlemen  of  the  other 
side,  if  you  are  willing  to  do  justice,  let  me  simply  call  your  attention  to  the 
words  of  this  man  that  then  fell  from  his  lips  in  the  hour  of  victory.  Speak 
ing  to  the  soldiers,  he  said  : 

You  are  fighting  for  all  that  is  dearest  to  man  ;  and,  though  opposed  to  a  foe  who  dis 
regards  many  of  the  usages  of  civilized  war,  your  humanity  to  the  wounded  and  prisoners 
was  a  fit  aiu>  crowning  glory  to  your  valor. 

Above  the  victory,  above  every  other  consideration,  even  that  victory 
which  they  believed  insured  protection  to  their  homes  and  families,  he  tells 
them  that  at  last  their  crowning  glory  was  their  humanity  to  the  wounded 
and  prisoners  who  had  fallen  into  their  hands. 

The  gentleman  from  Maine  yesterday  introduced  the  Richmond  Exam 
iner  as  a  witness  in  his  behalf.  Now  it  is  a  rule  of  law  that  a  man  cannot 
impeach  his  own  witness.  It  is  true  the  Examiner  hated  Mr.  Davis  with  a 
cordial  hatred.  The  gentleman  could  not  have  introduced  the  testimony  of 
perhaps  a  bitterer  foe  to  Mr.  Davis.  Why  did  it  hate  him  ?  Here  are  its 
reasons  :  "  The  chivalry  and  humanity  of  Jefferson  Davis  will  inevitably 
ruin  the  Confederacy."  That  is  your  witness,  and  the  witness  is  worthy  of 
your  cause.  You  introduced  the  witness  to  prove  Mr.  Davis  guilty  of  inhu 
manity,  and  he  tells  you  that  the  humanity  of  Mr.  Davis  will  ruin  the  Con 
federacy.  That  is  not  all.  In  the  same  paper  it  says  :  "  The  enemy  have 
gone  from  one  unmanly  cruelty  to  another."  Recollect,  this  is  your  witness. 
"  The  enemy  have  gone  from  one  unmanly  cruelty  to  another,  encouraged  by 
their  impunity,  till  they  are  now  and  have  for  sometime  been  inflicting  on 
the  people  of  this  country  the  worst  horrors  of  barbarous  and  uncivilized 
war."  Yet  in  spite  of  all  this  the  Examiner  alleged,  "  Mr.  Davis,  in  his  deal 
ing  with  the  enemy,  was  as  gentle  as  a  sucking  dove." 

Mr.  Garfield. — What  volume  is  that  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — The  same  volume,  page  531,  and  is  taken  from  the  Richmond 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  459 

Examiner — the  paper  the  gentleman  quoted  from  yesterday.  And  thnt  is 
the  truth.  Those  of  us  who  were  there  at  the  time  know  it  to  bt»  the  fact. 
One  of  the  persistent  charges  brought  by  that  paper  and  some  others  against 
Mr.  Davis  was  his  humanity.  Over  and  over  again  Mr.  Davis  has  been 
heard  to  say,  and  I  use  his  very  language,  when  applied  to  retaliate  for 
the  horrors  inflicted  upon  our  prisoners,  "  The  inhumanity  of  the  enemy  to 
our  prisoners  can  be  no  justification  for  a  disregard  by  us  of  the  rules  of  civil 
ized  war  and  of  Christianity."  Therefore  he  persisted  in  it,  and  this  paper 
cried  out  against  him  that  it  would  ruin  the  Confederacy. 

I  am  sure  I  owe  this  House  an  apology  for  having  detained  it  so  long  ;  I 
shall  detain  it  but  a  few  moments  longer.  After  all,  what  should  men  do 
who  really  desire  the  restoration  of  peace  and  to  prevent  the  recurrence  of 
the  horrors  of  war  ?  How  ought  they  to  look  at  this  question  ?  Sir,  war  is 
always  horrible  ;  war  always  brings  hardships  ;  it  brings  death,  it  brings 
sorrow,  it  brings  ruin,  it  brings  devastation.  And  he  is  unworthy  to  be 
called  a  statesman,  looking  to  the  pacification  of  this  country,  who  will  parade 
the  horrors  inseparable  from  war  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  up  the  strife 
that  produced  the  war. 

I  do  not  doubt  that  I  am  the  bearer  of  an  unwelcome  message  to  the 
gentleman  from  Maine  and  his  party.  He  says  that  there*  are  Confederates 
in  this  body,  and  that  they  are  going  to  combine  with  a  few  from  the  North 
for  the  purpose  of  controlling  this  government.  If  one  were  to  listen  to  the 
gentlemen  on  the  other  side  he  would  be  in  doubt  whether  they  rejoiced 
more  when  the  South  left  the  Union,  or  regretted  most  when  the  South  came 
back  to  the  Union  that  their  fathers  helped  to  form,  and  to  which  they  will 
forever  hereafter  contribute  as  much  of  patriotic  ardor,  of"  noble  devotion, 
and  of  willing  sacrifice  as  the  constituents  of  the  gentleman  from  Maine. 
Oh,  Mr.  Speaker,  why  cannot  gentlemen  on  the  other  side  rise  to  the  height 
of  this  great  argument  of  patriotism?  Is  the  bosom  of  the  country  always 
to  be  torn  with  this  miserable  sectional  debate  whenever  a  Presidential  elec 
tion  is  pending  ?  To  that  great  debate  of  half  a  century  before  secession 
there  were  left  no  adjourned  questions.  The  victory  of  the  North  was  abso 
lute,  and  God  knows  the  submission  of  the  South  was  complete.  But,  sir, 
we  have  recovered  from  the  humiliation  of  defeat,  and  we  come  here  among 
you  and  we  ask  you  to  give  us  the  greetings  accorded  to  brothers  by  brothers. 
We  propose  to  join  you  in  every  patriotic  endeavor  and  to  unite  with  you  in 
every  patriotic  aspiration  that  looks  to  the  benefit,  the  advancement,  and  the 
honor  of  every  part  of  our  common  country.  Let  us,  gentleman  of  all  par 
ties,  in  this  centennial  year  indeed  have  a  jubilee  of  freedom.  We  divide 
with  you  the  glories  of  the  Revolution  and  of  the  succeeding  years  of  our 
national  life  before  that  unhappy  division— that  four  years'  night  of  gloom 
and  despair— and  so  we  shall  divide  with  you  the  glories' of  all  the  future. 

Sir,  my  message  is  this  :  There  are  no  Confederates  in  this  house  ;  there 
are  now  no  Confederates  anywhere  ;  there  are  no  Confederate  schemes, 
ambitions,  hopes,  desires,  or  purposes  here.  But  the  South  is  here,  and  here 
she  intends  to  remain.  Go  on  and  pass  your  qualifying  acts,  trample  upon 
the  Constitution  you  have  sworn  to  support  ;  abnegate  the  pledges  of  your 
fathers  ;  incite  raids  upon  our  people,  and  multiply  your  infidelities  until 
shall  be  like  the  stars  of  heaven  or  the  sands  of  the  seashore,  without  num 
ber  ;  but  know  this,  for  all  your  iniquities  the  South  will  never  again  seek  a 
remedy  in  the  madness  of  another  secession.  We  are  here  ;  we  are  in  the 
house  of  our  fathers,  our  brothers  are  our  companions,  and  we  are  at  home 
to  stay,  thank  God  ! 


460  SENATOR  B.   If.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

We  come  to  gratify  no  revenges,  to  retaliate  no  wrongs,  to  resent  no  past 
insults,  to  reopen  no  strife.  We  come  with  a  patriotic  purpose  to  do  what 
ever  in  our  political  power  shall  lie  to  restore  an  honest,  economical,  and 
Constitutional  administration  of  the  government.  We  come  charging  upon 
the  Union  no  wrongs  to  us.  The  Union  never  wronged  us.  The  Union  has 
been  an  unmixed  blessing  to  every  section,  to  every  State,  to  every  man  of 
every  color  in  America.  We  charge  all  our  wrongs  upon  that  "  higher  law  ' 
fanaticism,  that  never  kept  a  pledge  nor  obeyed  a  law.  The  South  did  seek 
to  leave  the  association  of  those  who,  she  believed,  would  not  keep  fidelity 
to  their  covenants  ;  the  South  sought  to  go  to  herself  ;  but  so  far  from  having 
lost  our  fidelity  for  the  Constitution  which  our  fathers  made,  when  we  sought 
to  go,  we  hugged  that  Constitution  to  our  bosoms  and  carried  it  with  us. 

Brave  Union  men  of  the  North,  followers  of  Webster  and  Fillmore,  of 
Clay  and  Cass  and  Douglass — you  who  fought  for  the  Union  for  the  sake 
of  the  Union  ;  you  who  ceased  to  fight  when  the  battle  ended  and  the  sword 
was  sheathed — we  have  no  quarrel  with  you,  whether  Republicans  or  Demo 
crats.  We  felt  your  heavy  arm  in  the  carnage  of  battle  ;  but  above  the 
roar  of  the  cannon  we  heard  your  voice  of  kindness,  calling  "Brothers,  come 
back  ! '  And  we  bear  witness  to  you  this  day  that  that  voice  of  kindness 
did  more  to  thin  the  Confederate  ranks  and  weaken  the  Confederate  arm 
than  did  all  the  artillery  exploded  in  the  struggle.  We  are  here  to  co-oper 
ate  with  you  ;  to  do  whatever  we  can,  in  spite  of  all  our  sorrows,  to  rebuild 
the  Union  ;  to  restore  peace  ;  to  be  a  blessing  to  the  country,  and  to  make 
the  American  Union  what  our  fathers  intended  it  to  be — the  glory  of  America 
and  a  blessing  to  humanity. 

But  to  you,  gentlemen,  who  seek  still  to  continue  strife,  and  who,  riot 
satisfied  with  the  sufferings  already  endured,  the  blood  already  shed,  the 
waste  already  committed,  insist  that  we  shall  be  treated  as  criminals  and 
oppressed  as  victims,  only  because  we  defended  our  convictions — to  you  we 
make  no  concessions.  To  you  who  followed  up  the  war  after  the  brave  sol 
diers  that  fought  it  had  made  peace  and  gone  to  their  homes — to  you  we 
have  no  concessions  to  offer.  Martyrs  owe  no  apologies  to  tyrants'  And 
while  we  are*  ready  to  make  every  sacrifice  for  the  Union,  even  secession, 
however  defeated  and  humbled,  will  confess  no  sins  to  fanaticism,  however 
bigoted  and  exacting. 

Yet,  while  we  make  to  you  no  concession,  we  come  even  to  you  in  no  spirit 
of  revenge.  We  would  multiply  blessings  in  common  for  you  andfor  us.  We 
have  but  one  ambition,  and  that  is  to  add  our  political  power  to  the  patriotic 
Union  men  of  the  North  in  order  to  compel  fanaticism  to  obey  the  law  and 
live  in  the  Union  according  to  the  Constitution.  We  do  not  propose  to  com 
pel  you  by  oaths,  for  you  who  breed  strife  only  to  get  office  and  power  will 
not  keep  oaths. 

Sir,  we  did  the  Union  one  great  wrong.  The  Union  never  wronged  the 
South  ;  but  we  of  the  South  did  to  the  Union  one  great  wrong  ;  and  we 
come,  as  far  as  we  can,  to  repair  it.  We  wronged  the  Union  grievously 
when  we  left  it  to  be  seized  and  rent  and  torn  by  the  men  who  had  de 
nounced  it  as  "a  covenant  with  hell  and  a  league  with  the  devil."  We  ask 
you,  gentlemen  of  the  Republican  party,  to  rise  above  all  your  animosities. 
Forget  your  own  sins.  Let  us  unite  to  repair  the  evils  that  distract  and 
oppress  the  country.  Let  us  turn  our  backs  upon  the  past,  and  let  it  be  said 
in  the  future  that  he  shall  be  the  greatest  patriot,  the  truest  patriot,  the 
noblest  patriot,  who  shall  do  most  to  repair  the  wrong  of  the  past  and  pro 
mote  the  glories  of  the  future. 


THE  STARS  AND  STRIPES. 

Speech  of  Mr.  Hill  in  Atlanta,  Ga.,  on  the  reception  of  a  flag,  presented  to  the  city 
by  visitors  from  the  State  of  Ohio.  The  correspondence  preceding  the  speech  fully  explains 
the  occasion  for  its  delivery.  The  address  itself  is  one  of  the  most  finished  productions 
of  the  orator,  and  is  one  of  the  few  that  he  ever  wrote  out  in  full  before  delivery.  It 
contains  the  most  luminous  discussion  of  the  theory  of  our  Constitution,  a  patriotic  vin 
dication  of  the  purposes  of  the  South,  and  a  passionate  appeal  for  the  death  of  sectional 
ism  and  the  complete  restoration  of  the  Union.  It  contains  much  splendid  declamation, 
and  is  commended  to  the  student  and  elocutionist. 

MAYOR'S  OFFICE,  CLEVELAND,  O., 

August  28,  1876. 
Hon.  C.  C.  Hammock,  Mayor  City  of  Atlanta: 

The  Ohio  excursionists,  from  Cleveland  and  Cincinnati,  express  to  you 
this  day  a  national  flag,  a  gift  to  the  city  of  Atlanta,  as  a  slight  memento 
for  the  generous  hospitality  and  good  will  shown  us  on  our  recent  excursion 
to  your  State. 

Without  forgetting  any,  we  desire  to  speak  especially  for  the  untiring 
efforts  of  some  whose  names  we  forbear  to  mention,  to  whom  we  are  in 
so  large  a  degree  indebted  for  our  enjoyable  trip  to  the  sunny  South. 
Such  a  fraternal  expression  of  favor  and  interest  on  the  part  of  Southern 
friends  cannot  fail  to  greatly  advance  national  prosperity  and  union. 

As  long  as  there  are  Southern  breezes  to  expand  the  folds  of  the  emblem 
of  peace  and  unity,  may  the  eyes  of  the  world  look  upon  us  as  a  free  and 
united  people.  H.  A.  MASSEY,  Chairman. 

Cleveland,  0. 

Geo.  If.  Burrows,  Secretary, 

Cincinnati,  O. 


MAYOR  HAMMOCK'S  REPLY. 

\ 

ATLANTA,  GA.,  September  2,  1876. 
Hon.  H.  A.  Massey  and  others  of  the  Ohio  Delegates  of  the  Great  Southern 

Excursion  Party  to  Atlanta  and  the  South  : 

GENTS  :  Our  hearts  are  full  of  good  feelings,  and  on  behalf  of  one  and 
all  of  our  people,  I  acknowledge  the  chaste  feeling  and  modestly  written 
letter  of  Mr.  Massey,  conveying  to  us  the  intelligence  you  had  sent  us,  as  a 
remembrance  of  our  efforts  to  make  your  short  stay  with  us  pleasant,  an  ele 
gant  national  flag.     The  very  timely,  yes,  truly  thoughtful  gift,  makes 
feel  that  you  thought  us  worthy  members  of  that  glorious    .  nion  of 
and  people,  of  which  it  is  the  emblem  ;  that  we  honored  and  respected  it  and 
the  laws  of  our  common  land  ;  and  that  we  not  only  desire  but  are  deter 
mined,  to  see  that  the  rights  of  all  classes  of  our  citizens,  white  and 
protected.     Yes,  I  earnestly  and  again  thank  you  for  this  splendid 
feel  certain  that  it  will  never  be  unfolded  to  the  breeze  without  calling  forth 


461 


462  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

wild  feelings  of  pride  ;  and,  mark  you,  one  and  all  of  our  people  will  stand 
as  firmly  by  the  national  government,  and  guard  this,  the  emblem  of  our 
national  honor,  as  they  once  fought  to  separate  themselves  from  it,  and  the 
conceived  wrongs  which  it  represented.  We  feel  we  are  one  again,  and 
that  your  national  flag  is  ours,  and  that  ours  is  yours. 

In  a  few  days  it  wrill  be  publicly  received,  and  due  acknowledgments 
made  by  one  of  our  most  gifted  orators — the  Hon.  B.  H.  Hill.  Arrange 
ments  are  being  made. 

I  take  the  liberty  of  adding,  no  member  of  this  community  rejoices  more 
heartily  over  this  generous  act  of  yours  than  the  big-hearted,  patriotic 
originator  and  executor  of  that  excursion — Dr.  W.  H.  White.  Our  people 
here,  over  and  over,  have  thanked  him,  so  do  I,  for  his  eiforts  to  bring  us 
together. 

Gentlemen,  one  and  all  of  you,  your  friends,  yes,  all  Northern  people, 
will  be  welcomed  to  our  city.  Mr.  Hill  will  say  as  much  for  the  whole  State. 

Yours,  with  most  profound  respect, 

C.  C.  HAMMOCK, 

Mayor  City  of  Atlanta. 


ATLANTA,  September  5,  1876. 
Hon.  B.  H.  Hill  : 

DEAR  SIR  :  As  you  will  see  by  the  accompanying  letter  from  Hon.  H. 
A.  Massey,  of  Cleveland  O.,  the  citizens  of  that  city  and  that  great  State  who 
visited  this  city  and  the  South  last  February  on  an  invitation  extended  to 
them  by  the  Mayor  and  General  Council,  Board  of  Trade  of  Atlanta,  and 
Governor  of  the  State,  and  which  was  known  as  the  great  Western  excur 
sion,  have  in  a  most  feeling  and  patriotic  way  presented  us  a  splendid  national 
flag. 

In  this  we  recognize  their  appreciation  of  our  love  of  the  Union,  of  the 
firm  intention  of  our  people  to  maintain  its  honor,  to  see  that  the  laws  of  the 
land  are  enforced,  and  to  stand  by  the  emblem  of  our  nationality. 

Sir,  we  feel  that  this  gratif}dng  and  thoughtful  mark  of  their  esteem,  of 
their  good  will,  should  be  publicly  received,  and  we  desire  you,  because  of 
your  known  Union  sentiments  and  heartfelt  desire  for  permanent  reconcilia 
tion,  for  fraternal  love  between  all  sections  of  our  common  country,  to 
receive  it,  not  only  on  behalf  of  the  citizens  of  Atlanta,  but  of  the  whole  peo 
ple  of  the  State  of  Georgia. 

A  general  invitation  has  been  extended  to  all  citizens  of  the  State  to  be 
present. 

The  gathering  will  be  in  front  of  the  Kimball  House,  Thursday  afternoon, 
at  four  and  a  half  o'clock 

C.  C.  HAMMOCK,  Mayor, 
R.  F.  MADDOX, 

E.  P.  CHAMBERLAIN, 

D.  II.  BEATIE. 


ATLANTA,  GA.,  September  5,  1876. 

Gentlemen  :  Your  very  complimentary  letter  of  this  date,   asking  me, 
'  because  of  my  known  Union  sentiments,  and  heartfelt  desire  for  permanent 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  463 

reconciliation,  for  fraternal  love  between  all  sections  of  our  common  country," 
to  receive  the  splendid  national  flag,  presented  by  patriotic  citizens  of  Ohio  to 
the  City  of  Atlanta,  is  before  me.  I  will  cheerfully  comply  with  your  request. 

With  high  regard,  I  am,  yours  very  truly, 

BENJ.  H.  HILL. 

Hon.    C.    C.  Hammock,  Mayor,  R.   F.  Maddox,  E.   P.    Chamberlain, 
D.  H.  Beatie. 


MAYOR  HAMMOCK'S  REMARKS. 

We  have  assembled  for  the  purpose  of  giving  a  formal  reception  to  a 
national  flag  presented  to  the  City  of  Atlanta  by  the  members  of  the  late 
Northwestern  excursion  from  the  cities  of  Cleveland  and  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 
You  have  been  selected,  sir,  as  the  orator  on  this  occasion  for  the  reason  that 
your  name  and  fame  are  known  not  only  to  the  City  of  Atlanta,  but  wherever 
that  flag  floats.  It  is,  therefore,  my  pleasure,  and  I  am  allowed  the  high 
honor  to  present  you  this  flag,  and  through  you  to  the  City  of  Atlanta. 

MR.  HILL'S  SPEECH. 

Mr.  Mayor,  Gentlemen  of  the  City  Council,  and  Fellow-citizens :  Im 
mediately  after  the  close  of  the  late  war,  a  gentleman  of  Northern  birth, 
raising,  and  education,  one  who  had  been  a  brave  and  faithful  soldier  with 
the  Northern  army  throughout  the  war,  came  to  make  his  home  in  the  South.* 
He  did  not  come  to  boast  over  the  humiliation  of  our  defeat.  He  did  not 
come  to  rob  us  in  our  helpless  condition.  He  did  not  come  to  breed  strife 
between  the  races  for  the  purpose  of  office  and  power.  He  came  as  a  citi 
zen,  as  a  gentleman,  as  a  patriot,  to  identify  himself  with  us  and  with  ours. 
To  him  we  opened  our  doors.  He  was  welcomed  to  our  firesides.  What 
were  his  previous  political  opinions  we  did  not  stop  to  inquire.  What  they 
were  we  do  not  even  now  know.  We  should  have  been  glad  to  welcome 
millions  of  the  same  kind  on  the  same  mission.  This  gentleman,  after  a  resi 
dence  of  years,  discovered  that  the  great  trouble  between  the  North  and 
South  arose  chiefly  from  the  fact  that  the  people  did  not  understand  each 
other.  He  discovered  that  the  impression  so  industriously  made  by  design 
ing  politicians  in  the  North  as  to  the  temper,  character,  and  purposes  of  our 
people  were  not  true.  And  he  engaged  in  the  patriotic  work  of  doing  what 
he  could  to  correct  the  wrong  impression  existing  among  his  Northern 
countrymen  concerning  us.  Among  other  things,  during  the  last  spring,  he 
instigated  a  movement  in  which  the  Mayor,  the  Council,  and  Board  of  Trade 
of  the  City  of  Atlanta,  and  the  Governor  of  the  State,  co-operated,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  bringing  a  large  number  of  Northwestern  gentlemen  to  the  Southern 
portion  of  the  country,  that  they  might  see  and  judge  for  themselves. 
These  gentlemen  came.  They  returned,  and  so  agreeable  were  the  impres 
sions  made  upon  them,  that  a  portion  of  them,  representing  the  cities  of 
Cincinnati  and  Cleveland,  in  the  great  State  of  Ohio,  have  sent  this  flag  to 
be  presented  to  the  City  of  Atlanta  as  a  testimonial  of  their  high  apprecia 
tion  of  the  hospitality  and  patriotism  of  our  people.  Thus  you  have  the 
history  which  brings  to  your  view  the  present  occasion.  I  have  been  selected 

*  This  gentleman  is  Dr.  W.  H.  White,  and  no  man  in  our  State  is  more  respected  for 

his  integrity,  patriotism,  and  public  spirit. 


464  SENATOR  R   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

to  receive  this  flag  in  the  name  of  the  people  of  Atlanta  and  of  the  State  of 
Georgia,  and  in  my  heart  I  find  it  pleasing  to  do  so. 

In  olden  times  the  flag  of  a  nation  was  intended  as  an  emblem  of  the 
nation's  power,  and  was  used  only  in  war.  In  more  modern  times,  it  has  been 
made  to  represent  the  principles  and  character  of  the  government  as  well  as 
its  power,  and  is  a  symbol  in  peace  as  well  as  in  war.  This  flag,  with  its 
beautiful  design,  upon  which  you  look  this  afternoon,  was  originally  designed 
and  adopted  by  the  Congress  of  1777,  one  year  after  the  declaration  of  inde 
pendence.  It  was  then  ordered  that  the  flag  of  the  nation  should  consist  of 
thirteen  stripes,  alternate  white  and  red,  and  thirteen  stars  in  a  blue  field. 
In  1794  two  additional  States  had  been  admitted  into  the  Union,  and  an 
act  was  passed  changing  the  flag  to  fifteen  stripes  and  fifteen  stars.  By  the 
year  1818,  five  more  States  had  been  added,  making  twenty  in  all.  Then  an 
act  was  passed,  which  fixed  the  flag  as  you  now  see  it ;  that  is,  that  there 
should  be  thirteen  stripes,  alternate  white  and  red,  and  one  star  for  each 
State  then  in  the  Union,  with  one  star  to  be  added  as  each  State  should  after 
ward  be  admitted  into  the  Union.  The  thirteen  stripes  represent,  first,  the 
original  thirteen  States.  They  constitute  what  is  properly  the  flag.  It  is  a 
symbol  to  the  outside  world.  The  white  stripes  are  symbolical  of  good  will 
and  friendship  for  our  friends.  The  red  stripe  is  a  symbol  of  defiance  to  our 
enemies.  The  union  in  the  corner  is  formed  of  a  blue  ground  and  one  star 
for  each  State,  and,  in  the  original  resolution  adopted  by  Congress  in  1777,  it 
is  called  "a  new  constellation."  Who  first  suggested  stars  as  appropriate 
representatives  of  States  is  not  definitely  known.  Perhaps  the  best  author 
ity  is  that  the  idea  of  combining  the  stars  and  stripes  in  our  national  emblem 
was  borrowed  from  the  coat  of  arms  of  the  Washington  family.  Be  this  as 
it  may,  the  thought  that  the  stars  upon  that  flag  should  represent  the  States 
is  a  beautiful  one.  The  word  "  star"  is  derived  from  the  Greek  and  means 
a  heavenly  body,  and  wherever  that  flag  floats,  whether  on  sea  or  on  land, 
whether  in  peace  or  in  war,  it  speaks  a  voice  which  every  statesman  should 
heed  and  every  patriot  should  love,  that  as  there  can  be  no  constellation  in 
the  heavens  without  the  stars,  so  there  can  be  no  Union  in  America  without 
the  States. 

Fellow-citizens,  we  are  all  sadly  conscious  of  the  fact  that  the  States  and 
people  for  whom  our  fathers  adopted  that  flag  have  had  serious  and  fatal 
differences.  There  cannot  live  in  the  North  or  the  South  a  single  patriot 
who  does  not  desire  cordial  reunion,  and  earnest  fraternal  association  of  all 
portions  of  the  country.  How  shall  that  great  desirable  object  be  com 
pletely  accomplished  ?  It  cannot  be  brought  about  by  unmanly  concessions 
on  the  one  side  nor  by  unmanly  exactions  on  the  other. 

The  spirit  of  truckling  on  the  part  of  the  Southern  people,  and  the  spirit 
of  exactions  on  the  part  of  the  Northern  people  are  alike  inimical  to  cordial 
and  permanent  reunion.  The  people,  North  and  South,  must  realize  the 
great  fact  that  we  are  all  a  manly  people,  and  will  not  consent  to  be  hu 
miliated  as  criminals.  It  is  our  duty,  then,  to  meet  every  issue  that  arises  in 
a  spirit  of  frankness,  in  a  spirit  of  manliness  and  self-respect,  and  with  a 
single  purpose  to  arrive  at  the  truth.  While  I  am  addressing  this  large 
audience  to-day,  we  are  conscious  of  the  fact  that  there  are  a  hundred  rep 
resentative  leaders  of  a  great  party  in  the  North,  who  are  teaching  the  peo 
ple  of  that  section  that  we  of  the  South  are  enemies  of  that  flag — enemies 
of  the  government  of  which  it  is  the  emblem,  and,  therefore,  not  fit  to  be 
trusted  in  the  administration  of  that  government.  How  ought  that  propo- 


i 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  405 

sition  to  be  met  ?  In  a  spirit  of  recrimination  ?  By  no  means.  In  a  spirit 
of  truckling  sycophancy  ?  Never  !  Meet  it  truthfully.  First  of  all,  let  us 
examine  ourselves.  Are  we  the  enemies  of  that  flag  ?  Are  we  the  enemies 
of  the  government  which  it  represents  ?  Are  we  the  enemies  of  the  Ameri 
can  Union  ?  If  we  are,  I  concede  the  conclusion  that  we  are  not  fit  to  be 
representatives  in  that  government.  No  enemy  of  a  government  ought  to 
be  trusted  with  its  administration.  On  the  other  hand,  if  we  are  not  enemies 
but  friends,  then  they,  who  denounce  us  as  enemies,  are  slanderers  of  one-third 
of  the  Union,  and  are  themselves  the  enemies  of  the  Union,  and  not  tit  to  be 
trusted  with  the  administration  of  the  government.  In  a  patriotic  spirit, 
seeking  to  arrive  at  the  true  solution  of  this  question,  let  us  consider  it  fear 
lessly  and  frankly,  concealing  nothing  and  shrinking  from  nothing.  Now, 
fellow-citizens,  here  in  the  metropolis  of  my  native  State,  here  where  every 
building  in  our  sight  is  one  that  has  arisen  upon  the  ashes  of  the  war,  here 
in  the  presence  of  the  Governor  of  my  State,  here  in  the  presence  of  these 
thousands  of  my  fellow-citizens,  I  will  announce  three  propositions  which 
every  Southern  man  ought  to  accept  and  will  accept  as  axioms  in  American 
politics  never  to  be  questioned.  They  will  test  our  fidelity  or  infidelity  to 
that  flag.  The  first  proposition  is  this  :  The  American  Union  constituted, 
when  formed,  and  yet  constitutes,  the  wisest,  noblest,  and  grandest  contri 
bution  ever  made  by  the  human  intellect  to  the  science  of  government. 
The  second  proposition  is  that  the  preservation  of  the  American  Union  is 
the  highest  possible  duty  of  patriotism.  The  third  proposition  is  that  the 
destruction  of  the  American  Union  would  be  the  greatest  crime  possible 
against  human  progress  and  happiness.  If  the  first  proposition  be  true,  the 
two  others  follow  as  corollaries  and  are  necessarily  true. 

Now,  the  first  proposition  is  that  the  American  Union  as  formed,  and  as  it 
now  exists,  constituted  and  constitutes  the  wisest,  noblest,  and  greatest  con 
tribution  ever  made  by  the  human  intellect  to  the  science  of  government. 
What  is  the  American  Union?  What  are  the  means  by  which  that  Union 
must  be  preserved,  and  what  are  the  dangers  that  threaten  its  destruction  : 
First,  what  is  the  American  Union  ?  There  is  no  greater  popular  error,  for 
which  I  insist  the  statesmanship  of  this  country  is  largely  responsible,  than 
the  popular  idea  which  contemplates  the  Union  only  as  a  fact.  Most  peo 
ple  think  that  by  American  Union  you  mean  the  fact  that  the  people  of  this 
country,  inhabiting  a  given  territory,  originally  embracing  thirteen  States 
along  the  Atlantic  coast,  and  now  composing  thirty-eight  States,  extending 
from  ocean  to  ocean  and  from  the  lakes  to  the  gulf,  live  under  one  and  the 
same  government  and  have  the  same  flag.  That  is  as  far  as  their  idea  of 
Union  goes.  Fellow-citizens,  what  do  you  mean  when  you  say  that  our 
fathers  exhibited  great  wisdom  in  forming  the  American  Union  ? 

Our  fathers  did  not  form  the  territory.  God  formed  the  territory  and 
the  monarchies  of  the  old  world  peopled  it !  The  fame  of  our  fathers  for 
wisdom  cannot  be  based  on  these  facts.  The  great  truth  which  I  would  im 
press  upon  the  American  people,  is,  that  the  American  Union  is  a  principle, 
and  is  a  fact  only  as  that  fact  is  the  result  and  the  product  of  a  principle. 
Why,  suppose  this  government,  under  which  this  people  live,  was  a  Russian 
despotism,  a  German  empire,  a  Mexican  anarchy,  it  would  be  over  the  same 
territory  and  might  be  inhabited  by  the  same  people,  and  they  might  have 
even  the  same  flag.  Rut  would  any  man  say  that  was  the  American  1 
Would  any  man  say  that  was  the  Union  founded  by  our  fathers  and  which 
made  them  immortal  for  wisdom?  And  yet  the  fact  of  union  would  exist, 


466  SENATOR  R   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

precisely  as  now,  in  either  case  supposed.  We  must  come  to  the  great  point, 
the  American  Union  is  a  si/stern  of  government,  and  the  wisdom  of  its 
framers  must  be  determined  by  the  adaptability  of  this  system  of  govern 
ment  to  promote  the  happiness  and  the  progress  of  the  people  who  inhabit 
this  given  territory. 

Next,  then,  what  is  the  system  of  government  ? 

There  are  two  great  essential  features  of  this  great  system,  without 
either  of  which  the  whole  system  would  fail,  and  I  shall  briefly  call  your  at 
tention  to  these  two  essential  features.  Every  man  in  America  ought  to 
understand  them  and  be  able  to  give  a  reason  why  the  American  Union  is  a 
great  system  of  government  and  why  this  system,  represented  by  that  flag 
floating  above  us,  ought  to  be  dear  to  every  American  citizen.  The  first 
essential  feature  of  this  American  system  is  this  :  That  there  shall  be  a  gen 
eral  government  for  general  affairs  and  a  local  government  for  local  affairs. 
That  is  the  first  underlying  fundamental  and  indispensable  principle  of  the 
American  system  of  government.  It  was  a  happy  thought.  There  are  cer 
tain  affairs  which  are  general  to  all  the  people  of  this  country  equally.  If 
you  did  not  have  one  general  government  clothed  with  jurisdiction  to  man 
age  those  general  affairs,  each  State  would  have  to  manage  them  for  herself. 
That  would  multiply  the  expense  and  dangers  of  our  foreign  affairs  thirty- 
eight  times ;  that  would  multiply  our  standing  armies  thirty-eight  times ; 
that  would  multiply  all  the  machinery  of  general  government  thirty-eight 
times  ;  that  would  line  the  borders  of  thirty-eight  States  with  custom  house 
and  foreign  regulations  and  military  fortifications  !  To  avoid  such  burdens, 
our  fathers  provided  one  general  government  to  take  charge  of  all  the 
affairs  that  were  general  and  common  to  all  the  States  alike,  leaving  each 
State  to  manage  its  own  local  affairs  in  its  own  way.  Why  ?  Because  each 
State  would  be  the  best  judge  of  what  local  laws  suited  its  own  people,  bet 
ter  than  any  foreign  States  and  better  than  any  government  representing  a 
great  number  of  States.  So  that,  I  repeat,  the  first  great  leading  idea  and 
fundamental  feature  in  this  American  system  of  government  is  a  general 
government  for  general  affairs  and  local  or  State  governments  for  local  or 
State  affairs. 

The  second  great  feature  of  this  system  of  government  is,  that  it  is  ab 
solutely  necessary  to  the  working  of  the  system  that  each  of  these  govern 
ments  should  be  free,  independent,  and  unrestrained  in  the  exercise  of  its 
own  appropriate  functions.  Every  reason  which  makes  the  division  in  the 
functions  of  government  wise,  makes  independence  in  the  exercise  of  these 
functions  necessary.  Neither  government  can  be  efficient  if  trammeled, 
restrained,  or  supervised  by  the  others.  I  cannot  delay  you  now  with 
elaboration.  I  give  you  the  general  idea,  I  give  you  the  two  great  features 
of  this  system.  One  of  the  greatest  and  best  of  the  framers  of  the  Consti 
tution  put  this  idea  in  perhaps  as  good  language  as  has  ever  been  employed. 
It  was  the  great  and  noble  Ellsworth,  of  Connecticut,  one  of  the  wisest 
members  of  the  convention  of  1787,  and  I  desire  to  read  what  he  said  in 
that  convention  : 

Under  a  national  government  he  should  participate  in  the  national  security  ;  but  that 
was  all.  What  he  wanted  was  domestic  happiness.  The  national  government  could  not 
descend  to  the  local  objects  on  which  this  depended.  It  could  only  embrace  objects  of  a 

feneral  nature.     He  turned  his  eyes,  therefore,  for  the  preservation  of  his  rights  to  the 
tate  governments.     From  these  alone  he  could  derive  the  greatest  happiness  he  expected 
ID  this  life.     His  happiness  depends  on  their  existence  as  much  as  a  new-born  infant  on 
its  mother  for  nourishment. 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND   WRITINGS.  467 

So,  for  remedies  for  all  your  civil  rights  ;  for  penal  laws  to  restrain 
crime  and  provide  punishment  for  the  criminal  ;  for  the  regulation  of  your 
titles  and  protection  of  your  property  ;  for  the  preservation  of  individual  life, 
individual  liberty,  and  individual  prosperity,  these  all  devolve  upon  your 
State  government.  When  you  want  relations  with  people  outside  of  your 
State,  with  foreign  governments,  or  with  the  citizens  of  other  States,  then 
you  enter  relations  appropriate  to  the  general  government  and  there  you 
must  go  for  protection  in  them. 

Fellow-citizens,  you  cannot  too  well  contemplate  these  two  grand 
features  of  this  system.  When  you  understand  them  thoroughly,  you  com 
prehend  the  great  general  character  of  our  American  system  of  government, 
and  never  otherwise.  Now,  both  governments  derive  their  authority  from 
the  same  source — the  people.  The  government  of  each  State  deriving  its 
authority  from  the  people  of  that  State,  and  the  general  government  deriv 
ing  its  authority  from  the  people  of  all  the  States,  each  State  acting  through 
its  own  people.  Now  there  is  no  conflict  between  these  two  jurisdictions. 
Each  has  its  own  sphere.  Each  has  its  own  functions.  They  are  co-equals  ; 
they  are  co-ordinate  ;  they  are  also  co-independent,  and  yet  co-workers  in 
the  one  grand  end  of  preserving  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the  same  people. 
There  never  was  a  reason  on  earth  why  there  should  have  been  any  conflict 
between  their  jurisdictions — if  patriotism  had  controlled  all  public  men.  You 
see,  each  of  these  governments  also  is  a  perfect  government.  The  general 
government  is  a  perfect  government,  having  its  own  legislature,  its  own 
judiciary,  and  its  own  executive  power.  So  you  see  also  each  State  govern 
ment  is  a  perfect  government,  having  its  own  legislature,  its  own  judiciary, 
and  its  own  executive  power.  Each  perfect  in  its  own  domain,  in  the 
exercise  of  its  own  functions.  But,  then,  neither  alone  is  a  complete  govern 
ment,  because  a  complete  government  is  that  which  protects  its  citizens  in 
both  their  internal  and  external  relations.  But  as  the  State  government 
protects  the  citizen  in  his  internal  relations  and  the  general  government  in 
his  external  relations,  you  see,  while  both  governments  are  perfect  in  their 
sphere,  it  takes  both  together  to  make  a  complete  government  for  the 
citizen.  Now,  then,  who  is  the  enemy  of  that  government?  The  State 
government  is  a  part  of  the  American  Union,  just  as  much  as  the  general 
government  is  a  part  of  the  American  Union.  It  takes  both  to  complete  the 
great  system  known  as  the  American  Union.  Who  then,  I  repeat,  is  a  dis- 
unionist  ?  The  man  who  strikes  at  the  Federal  government  is  a  disunionist, 
because  he  strikes  at  an  essential  feature  of  the  system  which  makes  the 
American  Union.  But  the  man  who  strikes  at  the  State  government,  is  also 
a  disunionist,  because  he  strikes  at  an  equally  essential  feature  of  the  same 
system.  He  alone  is  a  perfect  Union  man  who  is  faithful  to  the  whole 
system — to  both  the  general  government  and  the  State  government,  each  in 
its  sphere.  Blot  out  the  stars  from  that  flag  and  you  have  no  American 
flag  ;  blot  out  the  States  from  this  Union  and  you  have  no  American  1  Inion  ! 
Cripple  the  States  and  you  cripple  the  Union.  Invade  the  States  and  you 
invade  the  Union.  Make  war  on  the  States  and  you  are  a  traitor  making 
war  on  the  Union. 

Fellow-citizens,  this  system  of  government,  this  American  Union,  ] 
always  said  has  no  parallel  in  history.     I  say  here  to-day  that  it  is  the  best, 
the  wisest,  the  grandest  system  of  government  the  world  ever  saw. 
great  mistake  our  statesmen  have  made  has  consisted  in  trying  to  judge  tl 
government  by  previous  systems.     There  is  nothing  in  history  like  it. 


468  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

Solon  s  of  Greece  had  as  little  comprehension  of  this  American  system  of 
government  as  the  soldier,  with  his  javelin  at  Marathon,  had  of  our  modern 
columbiads  ;  or  the  sailor,  with  his  galley  at  Salamis,  had  of  our  modern 
iron-clads.  The  Catos  and  Ciceros  of  Rome  had  as  little  comprehension  of 
the  grandeur  and  wisdom  and  beauty  of  our  American  system,  as  the 
dweller  upon  the  banks  of  the  sluggish  Tiber  had  of  the  length,  depth,  and 
power  of  the  Mississippi  River.  No,  my  American  friends,  you  are  the  heirs, 
under  Providence,  of  the  greatest  system  of  government  the  world  ever  saw. 
If  you  destroy  it,  there  is  no  hope  beyond.  This  system  is  as  new  to  the 
science  of  government  as  was  the  discovery  of  America  new  to  the  map  of 
the  world.  And  I  have  sometimes  thought  that  Providence,  tired  of  the 
wranglings,  and  strifes,  and  oppressions,  and  wrongs  of  the  governments  in 
Europe  and  Asia  for  thousands  of  years,  bad  reserved  this  grand  continent, 
that  the  wearied  and  oppressed  of  all  nations  might  come  and  form  by  their 
mingling  a  new  people,  on  a  new  continent,  and  inspired  our  fathers  to  pro 
vide  for  them  a  new  system  of  government,  most  wisely  adapted  to  their 
wants  and  happiness,  and  thus  develop  the  highest  type  of  the  human  race. 

The  greatest  enemy  this  Union  has  hitherto  had  has  been  sectionalism. 
No  one  State  has  ever  endangered  the  general  government,  and  the  general 
government  could  not  undertake  to  endanger  any  one  State  without  excit 
ing  the  ire  of  all.  But  sectionalism,  by  which  I  mean  the  desire  of  one 
section  of  the  country  composed  of  several  States,  to  either  use,  abuse,  or 
destroy  the  general  government  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  ideas  or 
interests  peculiar  to  that  section,  has  proved,  in  our  history,  to  be  the  most 
dangerous  enemy  to  the  system  of  government  which  makes  the  American 
Union.  This  sectionalism  has  assumed  its  most  dangerous  form  whenever 
it  has  been  organized  into  geographical  parties  and  distinctions.  Washing 
ton  saw  this  spirit  of  sectionalism  even  in  the  midst  of  the  Revolution.  He 
saw  it  during  his  administration. 

It  came  near  destroying  the  system  on  several  occasions  during  his 
administration.  And  in  his  farewell  address  he  warned  his  countrymen,  in 
the  strongest  terms,  against  the  formation  of  parties  on  geographical  lines, 
ideas,  and  distinctions.  I  am  dealing  to-day  with  history  and  not  mere 
parties.  But,  necessarily,  history  involves  parties,  and  I  shall  state  nothing 
but  what  history  proves  to  be  true  ;  and,  following  up  this  history  with  my 
argument,  I  state  that  the  first  large  sectional  party  ever  organized  in 
America  upon  geographical  lines  and  ideas,  and  directly  contrary  to  Wash 
ington's  warning,*  was  the  Republican  party  of  the  North.  That  party, 
twenty-one  years  ago,  organized  upon  a  geographical  basis,  upon  sectional 
ideas  and  for  sectional  purposes.  Its  organization  was  confined  to  the 
Northern  States.  It  had  no  organization  in  any  Southern  State  ;  it  expected 
none  and  desired  none,  because  its  animating  spirit  of  sectionalism  was 
animosity  to  Southern  institutions.  Therefore,  it  could  be  no  other  than  a 
sectional  party,  organized  on  a  geographical  line,  to  promote  ideas  peculiar 
to  one  section  against  property  peculiar  to  the  other  section.  That  sectional 
party  provoked  into  existence  naturally  a  Southern  sectional  party,  one  an 
tagonizing  the  other.  The  last  sectional  party  took  its  name  as  the  Southern 
Rights  or  Secession  party.  Now,  a  party  is  not  less  sectional  because  it 

:  There  were  a  number  of  sectional  movements  and  minor  organizations  before, 
such  as  the  Nullification,  Abolition,  and  Free  Soil  parties.  But  these  did  not  combine 
States  sufficient  to  be  dangerous.  The  Republican  party  organized  upon  and  absorbed 
the  Abolition  and  Free  Soil  parties. 


HTS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  4G9 

remains  in  the  Union  ;  because  the  very  worst  and  most  unmanly  form  of 
disunion  is  that  which  seeks  to  hold  on  to  the  government  of  the  union  for 
the  purpose  of  accomplishing  sectional  objects,  and  thereby  destroying  the 
system  on  which  the  Union  was  founded.  Whatever  else  may  be  said  of 
secession — and  I  concede  it  was  a  madness — it  was  at  least  manly  and 
direct.  It  scorned  to  use  the  Union  to  promote  sectional  ideas.  It  would 
not  violate  the  Constitution  in  the  name  of  loyalty.  It  would  not  hold  the 
government  to  sell  its  offices.  It  was  unwise  and  suicidal,  but  still  brave 
and  manly. 

Now,  when  these  two  sectional  parties  organized,  one  in  the  North  and 
the  other  in  the  South,  you  will  observe  the  results.  The  antagonisms  of 
these  two  sectional  parties  continued  to  increase  irritation  until  secession 
followed  and  war  was  waged.  Then,  my  fellow-countrymen,  here  is  the 
grand  point  to  which  I  want  to  call  your  attention  now.  It  is  this,  that  the 
late  war  was  between  two  sectional  parties.  The  Union  represented  by  that 
flag  was  no  party  to  that  war  save  as  a  weeping,  bleeding  victim  ! 

True,  after  the  leaders  of  each  sectional  party  got  control  of  their 
respective  sections  to  such  an  extent  that  war  resulted,  the  Union  people  of 
each  section  went  into  the  armies  of  their  respective  sections,  and  neither 
ought  to  be  blamed  for  that.  Thousands  here  who  had  no  sympathy  with 
secession  went  into  the  service  of  the  sectional  party  of  the  South,  against 
a  sectional  party  North,  but  they  did  not  go  into  it  to  strike  at  a  single 
principle  represented  by  that  flag.  Thousands,  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
patriotic  Northern  men,  who  had  no  sympathy  with  the  original  sectional 
organization  that  led  them,  when  the  crisis  came  went  bravely  into  the  fight, 
as  they  honestly  believed,  for  the  Union  ;  and  they  acted  patriotically  and 
nobly,  and  we  cheerfully  concede  to  them  pensions,  and  all  the  benefits  of 
their  apparent  Union  position.  Each  side  did  what  it  thought  right  in 
standing  up  to  its  own  side  in  the  sectional  war.  Thousands  in  both  armies, 
while  slaying  each  other  in  a  sectional  fight,  would  have  given  their  lives 
for  the  true  common  American  Union.  Our  Northern  friends  had  the  great 
advantage  of  being  in  possession  of  the  government,  an  advantage  which 
they  reaped  more  from  our  own  folly  than  their  own  wisdom,  and  they  used 
that  government  to  help  accomplish  their  sectional  purposes,  and  that  was 
the  great  advantage  they  had  of  us. 

But,  my  fellow-citizens,  it  is  with  no  ordinary  pride  that  I,  who  have  op 
posed  all  these  sectional  parties,  can  stand  here  m  the  city  of  Atlanta,  in  the 
very  center  of  all  our  sorrows,  and  raise  my  voice,  fearing  no  successful 
contradiction  when  I  affirm  that  the  Union  never  made  war  upon  the  South. 
It  was  not  the  Union,  my  countrymen,  that  slew  your  children  ;  it  was  not 
the  Union  that  burned  'your  cities  ;  it  was  not  the  Union  that  laid  waste 
your  country,  invaded  your  homes,  and  mocked  at  your  calamity  ;  it  was 
not  the  Union  that  reconstructed  your  States  !  it  was  not  the  Union  that 
disfranchised  intelligent  citizens  and  denied  them  participation  in  their  own 
governments.  No,  no  !  Charge  not  these  wrongs  upon  the  Union  of  your 
fathers.  Every  one  of  these  wrongs  wasi  nflicted  by  a  diabolical  sectionalism 
in  the  very  teeth  of  every  principle  of  the  American  Union.  So  equally,  I 
say,  the  South  never  made  war  upon  the  Union.  There  has  never  been  an 
hour  when  nine  out  of  ten  of  us  would  not  have  given  our  lives  for  this 
Union.  We  did  not  leave  that  Union  because  we  were  dissatisfied  with  it ; 
we  did  not  leave  the  Union  to  make  war  on  it—we  left  the  Union  because  a 
sectional  party  had  seized  it,  and  we  hoped  thereby  to  avoid  a  conflict.  But 


470  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

• 

if  war  must  come,  we  intended  to  fight  a  sectional  party  and  not  the  Union. 
Therefore,  the  late  war,  with  all  its  disastrous  consequences,  is  the  direct  re 
sult  of  sectionalism  in  the  North  and  of  sectionalism  in  the  South,  and  none, 
I  repeat,  of  these  disasters  are  chargeable  on  the  Union. 

When  unimpassioned  reason  shall  review  our  past,  there  is  no  subject  in 
all  our  history  on  which  our  American  statesmanship,  North  and  South,  will 
be  adjudged  to  have  been  so  unwise,  so  imbecile,  and  so  utterly  deficient  as 
upon  that  one  subject,  which  stimulated  these  sectional  parties  into  existence. 

There  was  nothing  in  slavery  which  could  justify  the  North  in  forming 
a  sectional  party  to  cripple  or  destroy  it,  and  there  was  nothing  in  slavery 
which  could  justify  the  South  in  leaving  the  Union  to  maintain  it.  There 
was  no  right  in  freedom  contrary  to  the  Constitution,  and  there  was  no 
safety  for  slavery  out  of  the  Union.  The  whole  African  race,  whether 
slaves  or  free,  were  not  worth  the  American  Union.  One  hour  of  the  Ameri 
can  Union  has  done  more  for  human  progress  than  all  the  governments 
formed  by  the  negro  race  in  six  thousand  years  !  And  the  dear  noble  boys 
of  the  white  race,  North  and  South,  who  fell  in  the  late  war,  slaying  each 
other  for  the  negro,  were  worth  more  to  civilization  and  human  happiness 
than  the  whole  African  race  of  the  world. 

We  will  do  justice  to  the  colored  man.  We  are  under  the  very  highest 
obligations  of  a  brave  manhood  to  do  justice  to  the  negro.  He  is  not  our 
equal.  He  is  in  our  power,  and  cowardice  takes  no  meaner  shape  than  when 
power  oppresses  weakness.  But  in  the  name  of  civilization,  in  the  name  of 
our  fathers,  in  the  name  of  forty  millions  of  living  whites  and  of  hundreds 
of  millions  of  their  coming  children  ;  in  the  name  of  every  principle  repre 
sented  by  tfyat  banner  above  us,  I  do  protest  to-day,  that  there  is  noth 
ing  in  statesmanship,  nothing  in  philanthropy,  and  nothing  in  patriotism, 
which  can  justify  the  peril  or  destruction  of  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the 
white  race  in  crazy  wranglings  over  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the  black 
race.  We  have  shed  more  white  blood  and  wasted  more  white  treasure  in 
four  years  over  the  liberties  of  the  negro  in  these  States,  than  the  entire 
negro  race  have  shed  and  wasted  for  their  own  liberties  in  all  the  ages  of  the 
world  !  And  all  at  the  bidding  of  sectional  demagogues  who  still  cry  for 
more  ! 

We  have  buried,  widowed,  and  orphaned  one  white  person  for  every 
colored  person,  old  and  young,  male  and  female,  in  America  ;  and  yet  there 
are  hundreds  of  demagogues  now  haranguing  the  honest,  deluded  masses  of 
the  North,  seeking  to  keep  themselves  in  power,  by  keeping  alive  the  pas 
sions  of  sectional  hate,  at  the  hazard  of  every  right  and  of  every  liberty  in 
tended  to  be  preserved  and  protected  by  our  American  Union  !  God  of  our 
fathers  !  how  long,  oh,  how  long  shall  this  madness  continue  and  success 
fully  usurp  the  places,  to  disgrace  the  functions  of  elevated  statesmanship  ? 

Above  all  the  din  of  these  sectional  quarrelings  I  would  raise  my  voice, 
and  proclaim  to  all  our  people,  that  there  is  no  right  or  liberty  for  any  race 
of  any  color  in  America,  save  in  the  preservation  of  that  great  American 
Uuion  according  to  the  principles  symboled  by  that  flag.  Destroy  the  gen 
eral  government  and  the  States  will  rush  into  anarchy.  Destroy  the  States, 
and  we  will  all  rush  into  despotism  and  slavery.  Preserve  the  general  gov 
ernment  ;  preserve  the  States  ;  and  preserve  both  by  keeping  each  untram- 
meled  in  its  appropriate  sphere,  and  we  shall  preserve  the  rights  and  liberties 
of  all  sections  and  of  all  races  for  all  time. 

But  extreme  men  in  both  sections  insisted  upon  settling  the  issues  of  sla- 


HI&  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND    WETTINGS.  471 

very  by  force  ;  and  in  this  fell  spirit  both  the  sectional  parties  were  organ 
ized.  And  upon  this  line  of  force,  so  contrary  to  every  principle  of  our 
constitutional  system,  the  issues  have  been  settled,  but  at  what  a  fearful  cost. 
We  have  wasted  in  money  and  the  destruction  of  property  fifteen  billions  of 
dollars.  We  have  slain  one  million  of  our  own  sons,  brothers  and  fellow- 
citizens.  We  have  made  one  million  of  sorrowing  widows,  and  two  mil 
lions  of  weeping  orphans,  and  still  the  rage  of  sectional  hate  and  passion 
goes  on  ! 

On  the  other  hand,  suppose  this  question  of  slavery  had  been  treated  as 
every  other  question  settled  by  our  Constitution  had  been  treated — in  a 
spirit  of  amity  and  of  mutual  deference  and  concession.  Every  slave  had 
his  market  value.  The  South  could  not  have  been  wronged  by  receiving 
that  market  value,  because  that  was  her  due.  The  North  could  not  have 
been  wronged  in  paying  that  market  value,  for  it  was  an  obligation  justly 
due  under  the  recognition  of  property  in  slaves  by  the  Constitution. 

And  by  this  plan  of  wisdom  and  justice  and  peace  every  slave  could  have 
been  set  free  at  a  cost  not  exceeding  one  tenth  of  the  values  destroyed  by  the 
conflict  of  force,  and  without  one  drop  of  blood  and  without  one  hour  of 
war.  And  what  was  in  the  way  of  this  plan  ?  Nothing,  nothing  but  an  un 
reasoning  sectionalism  and  an  insatiate  thirst  for  power  under  the  influence  of 
that  sectionalism. 

Suppose  we  concede  for  the  argument,  that  slavery  was  a  wrong — if  you 
please,  a  crime.  Who  was  guilty  of  that  crime  ?  The  black  man  is  the  only 
portion  of  our  population  that  came  here  involuntarily.  The  Northern 
fathers  captured  him  a  barbarian,  in  Africa,  reduced  him  to  slavery,  brought 
him  to  America,  and  our  Southern  fathers  bought  him.  If  that  was  a  crime, 
were  not  all  our  fathers  parties  to  it  ?  Was  not  here  a  field  for  charity  and 
mutual  concession  ?  So  again,  if  slavery  was  a  crime,  that  crime  was  repeated 
when  it  was  recognized  as  property  in  the  Constitution.  Who  made  that 
recognition  ?  Not  only  the  Northern  fathers,  not  only  the  Southern  fathers, 
but  all  our  fathers  !  Was  not  here  again  a  field  for  mutual  deference  and 
concession  ? 

The  resolve  to  manumit  the  slave  by  force  was  the  greatest  of  all  possible 
crimes  in  our  dealings  with  the  negro.  It  was  that  fell  spirit  that  organized 
the  sectional  parties  and  precipitated  the  war  which  has  cost  us  so  much,  and 
which  threatens  to  cost  us  our  all  in  the  final  destruction  of  our  American 
Union.  Who  shall  be  able  to  describe  the  fearful  judgment  which  an  un- 
impassioned  and  impartial  posterity  shall  pronounce  upon  the  weak,  way 
ward,  wicked  statesmanship,  that  could  not  and  would  not  emancipate  the 
black  race  without  destroying  and  imperiling  everything  of  right,  property, 
or  liberty  belonging  to  the  white  race  ! 

Fellow-citizens,  I  have  stated,  but  I  cannot  too  often  repeat,  that  all  the 
curses  that  we  have  suffered  originated,  not  in  adherence  to  the  principles  of 
our  Union,  but  in  a  departure  from  those  principles.  No  symbol  in  the  flag 
above  us  either  taught  the  war,  or  can  justify  the  war.  ^e  owe  a^  our 
wrongs  to  unpatriotic  sectional  parties  organized  first  in  the  North,  and  then 
in  the  South.  Sectionalism  at  the  South  has  been  utterly  crushed  out  by  the 
war.  Secession  is  dead,  and  can  have  no  resurrection  in  the  South.  It  now 
remains  for  every  patriot,  North  and  South,  to  unite  and  crush  put  the  only 
remaining  sectional  party— that  grim-visaged  parent  of  all  sectional  parties 
-the  sectional  Republican  party  of  the  North,  with  the  ballots  of  freemen. 
Then  we  shall  have  peace  ;  then  we  shall  have  Union— cordial,  equal  Union; 


472  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

then  we  shall  have  our  American  system  of  government  in  all  the  plenitude 
of  its  glory  and  power,  and  ever  ample  for  the  protection  of  the  life,  lib 
erty,  and  property  of  every  man  of  every  section  North  and  South,  and  of 
every  race,  black  and  white. 

The  very  perfection  of  patriotism  is  animosity  to  sectionalism.  I  do  not 
mean  only  sectionalism  at  the  South.  I  mean  sectionalism  anywhere  and 
everywhere.  I  do  not  mean  only  sectionalism  in  the  form  of  secession  ;  I 
mean  sectionalism  in  any  form  and  in  every  form.  Sectionalism  under  any 
pretext,  sectionalism  for  any  purpose  is  disunionism  !  And  sectional  dis- 
unionism  can  take  no  more  odious  form,  it  can  wear  no  more  traitorous 
hue,  than  when  it  seeks  to  seize  or  hold  the  powers  of  our  common  Union  by 
teaching  the  people  of  the  different  sections  to  hate  each  other.  Even  now, 
while  I  speak,  this  spirit  of  sectional  disunionism — Insolent  with  power,  and 
reeking  with  corruption  in  the  capital  of  the  nation — is  forging  chains  for 
the  States  for  no  purpose  but  to  continue  its  foul  domination.*  There  is  no 
safety  for  property,  for  right,  or  liberty,  or  union,  save  in  a  patriotic  return 
by  all  sections  of  our  country  to  the  principles  of  that  great  syscem  of  gov 
ernment  whose  symbols  we  read  in  the  flag  above  us. 

My  countrymen,  have  you  studied  this  wonderful  American  system  of 
free  government  ?  Have  you  compared  it  with  former  systems  and  noted 
how  our  forefathers  sought  to  avoid  their  defects  ?  Let  me  commend  this 
study  to  every  American  citizen  to-day.  To  him  who  loves  liberty,  it  is 
more  enchanting  than  romance,  more  bewitching  than  love,  and  more 
elevating  than  any  other  science.  Our  fathers  adopted  this  plan,  with 
improvements  in  the  details,  which  cannot  be  found  in  any  other  system. 
With  what  a  noble  impulse  of  patriotism  they  came  together  from  different 
States  and  joined  their  counsels  to  perfect  this  system,  thenceforward  to  be 
known  as  the  "American  System  of  Free  Constitutional  Government  ! r 
The  snows  that  fall  on  Mount  Washington  are  not  purer  than  the  motives 
which  begot  it.  The  fresh  dew-laden  zephyrs  from  the  orange  groves  of 
the  South  are  not  sweeter  than  the  hopes  its  advent  inspired.  The  flight 
of  our  own  symbolic  eagle,  though  he  blow  his  breath  on  the  sun,  cannot 
be  higher  than  its  expected  destiny.  Have  the  motives  which  so  inspired 
our  fathers  become  all  corrupt  in  their  children  ?  Are  the  hopes  that 
sustained  them  all  poisoned  to  us  ?  Is  that  high  expected  destiny  all 
eclipsed,  and  before  its  noon  ? 

No,  no,  forever  no  !  patriots  North,  patriots  South,  patriots  everywhere  ! 
let  us  hallow  this  year  of  Jubilee  by  burying  all  our  sectional  animosities. 
Let  us  close  our  ears  to  the  men  and  the  parties  that  teach  us  to  hate  each  other  ! 

Raise  high  that  fla<*  of  our  fathers  !  Let  Southern  breezes  kiss  it  !  Let 
Southern  skies  reflect  it  !  Southern  patriots  will  love  it  !  Southern  sons 
will  defend  it,  and  Southern  heroes  will  die  for  it !  And  as  its  folds  unfurl 
beneath  the  heavens,  let  our  voices  unite  and  swell  the  loud  invocation  : 
Flag  of  our  Union  !  Wave  on  !  wave  ever  !  But  wave  over  freemen,  not 
over  subjects  !  Wave  over  States,  not  over  provinces  !  And  now  let  the 
voices  of  patriots  from  the  North,  and  from  the  East,  and  from  the  West, 
join  our  voices  from  the  South,  and  send  to  heaven  one  universal  according 
chorus  :  Wave  on,  flag  of  our  fathers  !  Wave  forever  !  But  wave  over 
a  union  of  equals,  not  over  a  despotism  of  lords  and  vassals  ;  over  a  land  of 
law,  of  liberty,  and  peace,  and  not  of  anarchy,  oppression,  and  strife  ! 

The  late  order  of  Attorney  General  Taft,  approved  by  the  President,  is  more  fully, 
more  dangerously,  because  more  insidiously  disunion  in  its  character  than  any  ever  issued 
in  the  wildest  days  and  moods  of  secession. 


SPEECH  DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY  OF 
GEORGIA,  IN  ATLANTA,  JANUARY  20,  1877,  PENDING  THE 
ELECTION  FOR  UNITED  STATES  SENATOR. 

Mr.  Hill  was  a  member  of  Congress  and  was  at  his  post  in  Washington  City, 
earnestly  engaged  with  the  leaders  of  his  party  in  endeavoring  to  secure  the  peaceful 
inauguration  of  Mr.  Tilden.  He  recognized  the  fact  that  the  country  was  on  the 
verge  of  a  great  crisis,  and  he  was  unwilling  to  leave  Washington  even  for  a  short 
time,  and  as  he  was  regarded  as  the  ablest  and  wisest  representative  from  the  South, 
his  Democratic  colleagues  were  opposed  to  his  leaving.  His  competitor  for  the  Senate, 
Senator  T.  M.  Norwood,  had  left  his  seat  and  had  been  in  Georgia  for  weeks  making  a 
personal  canvass  for  re-election.  He  and  his  friends  had  put  in  circulation  the  most 
groundless  reports  touching  Mr.  Hill  and  his  attitude  toward  the  great  question  of  the 
hour.  So  persistent  and  outrageous  were  their  charges,  that  Mr.  Hill's  friends  and 
supporters  insisted  that  he  should  come  to  Atlanta  and  meet  them.  In  deference  to 
their  appeals  he  came  home,  delivered  his  speech  the  night  of  his  arrival,  and  returned 
the  next  morning.  The  speech  is  a  comprehensive  exposition  of  the  situation  before 
Congress,  and  a  terrific  and  crushing  arraignment  of  his  slanderers.  It  contains  a 
review  of  his  entire  political  course  since  the  war  and  furnishes  a  most  complete 
vindication  of  its  wisdom,  consistency,  and  patriotism.  The  speech  was  badly  reported, 
and  Mr.  Hill  never  corrected  it. 

Hon.  JOHN  D.  STEWART,  of  Spalding,  conducted  Mr.  Hill  into  the 
Speaker's  seat,  and  by  way  of  introduction  said  : 

"  I  take  pleasure  in  introducing  to  you  upon  this  occasion,  the  Hon.  B. 
II.  Hill,  Georgia's  statesman  and  Georgia's  orator." 

When  Mr.  Hill  rose,  he  was  greeted  with  a  storm  of  applause  from  his 
admirers. 

MR.  HILL'S  ADDRESS. 

I  desire  to  say  to  the  gentlemen  of  the  press — and  newspapers — that  I 
will  take  the  liberty  of  relieving  them  of  the  labor  of  reporting  my  remarks 
to-night.  I  will  take  occasion  to  do  that  myself  at  the  proper  time  and 
furnish  a  copy  to  each  member  of  the  General  Assembly  and  of  the  press. 

I  have  no  intention,  upon  this  occasion,  of  uttering  one  word  that  ought 
to  be  offensive  to  any  gentleman.  If,  however,  I  should  say  anything  in  the 
discharge  of  my  duty  here  by  which  any  gentleman  thinks  himself  involved, 
and  that  may  need  a  reply  from  him,  I  wish  very  much  that  he  would  give 
me  notice  of  the  fact  at  as  early  a  time— to-night  or  to-morrow—as  pos 
sible.  If  I  get  no  such  notice  I  shall,  in  all  probability,  go,  as  soon  as 
can,  back  to  Washington  ;  but  if  I  do  get  such  a  notice,  I  shall  take  great 
pleasure  in  meeting  whoever  may  desire  it. 

Gentlemen  of  the  General  Assembly,  my  business  to-night  is  with  you, 
and,  first  of  all,  I  feel  that  I  owe  you  an  apology  for  being  here, 
critical  condition  of  the  country,  when,  in  my  judgment,  everything  va luabli 
to  freemen  must  be  determined  in  the  next  forty  days,  and  all   the  prelimn 
ary  work  necessary  to  make  this  determination  wisely,  has  been,  and 
progressing,  nothing  but  the  most  extraordinary  circumstances  would  jus; 
me  m  leaving  my  post  of  duty  and  coming  here  upon  this  business.     B 
circumstances  have  occurred  which  induced  ray  friends  here  and  in  Washing 
ton  to  assure  me  that  I  ought  to  come,  and  I  have  selected  a  period  wne 


473 


474  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

could  be  absent  without  detriment  to  any  of  your  interests,  having  nothing 
to  demand  my  presence  there  from  the  time  that  I  left,  and  because,  under 
the  rules  of  the  House,  no  business  can  be  transacted  until  Tuesday.  Under 
ordinary  circumstances  it  would  be  a  pleasure  for  me  to  meet  the  General 
Assembly  whenever  they  desired  me  to  do  so,  and  if  the  most  extraordinary 
conspiracy  had  not  existed  with  the  purpose  to  destroy  me  and  my  influence 
in  this  country,  I  would  have  been  content  to  leave  my  destiny  and  my  record 
with  the  intelligent  members  of  this  General  Assembly. 

The  people  of  America  have,  for  years,  committed  one  great  mistake, 
and  that  mistake  consists  in  the  fact  that  they  have  not  realized  fully  the 
dangers  through  which  they  have  been  passing.  Those  of  you  who  have 
done  me  the  honor,  for  the  last  ten  years,  to  hear  and  read  my  opinions,  need 
not  be  reminded  that  I  have  always  said  during  that  time  that  the  crisis — 
the  critical  period — in  American  history  would  be  when  the  Republican 
party  was  called  upon  to  give  up  power.  I  arrived  at  that  opinion  in  no 
partisan  spirit,  without  feeling  or  bitterness,  for  it  was  a  conviction  founded 
upon  a  careful  study  of  the  purposes  and  character  of  the  Republican  leaders 
in  the  light  of  history.  The  most  dangerous  event  to  a  Republican  is  the 
accession  of  a  party  to  power  in  the  midst  of  civil  war.  When  the  time 
should  come  for  the  American  people — or,  when  the  American  people  would 
demand  this  surrender  of  power  by  the  Republican  party,  that  had  gained 
it  under  those  circumstances,  no  man  could  foresee;  but  whenever  it  should 
come,  it  is  singular  that  every  reflecting  mind  did  not  see  that  the  country 
would  be  involved  in  a  most  perilous  crisis. 

For  the  first  time  after  the  war  I  felt  a  desire  to  participate  in 
public  affairs  when  a  vacancy  occurred  in  the  Ninth  District,  for  the 
reason  that  at  the  election  just  before  a  Democratic  majority  had  been 
elected  to  the  lower  house  of  Congress,  and  I  believed  that  the  time 
had  come  when,  if  that  majority  improved  the  opportunity,  they 
would  bring  about  the  time  when  the  people  would  demand  that  the 
Republican  party  should  surrender  power.  I  said  in  almost  every  speech 
that  I  made  in  that  canvass,  what  I  said  here  in  this  very  stand  two 
years  ago  :  that  whenever  that  time  should  come,  it  was  important 
the  demand  should  be  made  by  an  overwhelmingly  large  majority,  and 
that  it  would  be  especially  unfortunate  if  the  Southern  States,  or  a  few 
of  them,  constituted  the  balance  of  power  with  those  commanding  this  party 
to  yield.  The  Forty-fourth  Congress  did  assemble,  and,  owing  to  the  kind 
ness  of  the  people  of  the  Ninth  District,  it  was  my  pleasure  to  be  there.  I 
was  a  witness  and  participant  in  its  proceedings.  Better  work,  in  my  judg 
ment,  was  never  done  than  by  the  Democrats  in  the  first  session  of  the  Forty  - 
fourth  Congress.  The  people  responded  to  the  work  they  did  ;  they  re 
sponded  by  a  change  of  over  a  million  of  votes.  And  the  result  was  that 
the  Republican  party,  which  had  800,000  majority  in  1872,  were  asked  to 
surrender  their  power  in  1876  by  over  250,000  votes  !  But  it  so  happened, 
just  as  I  had  apprehended  and  feared,  that  the  deciding  power  in  that  con 
test  was  the  Southern  States,  and  thus  the  very  trouble  which  seemed  to  me 
deplorable,  if  that  contingency  happened,  stares  the  country  in  the  face  ;  and 
when  the  second  session  of  the  Forty-fourth  Congress  met  on  the  first  Mon 
day  in  December  last,  the  condition  of  the  country  was  exceedingly  embar 
rassed.  Evidently  the  Republican  party  did  not  intend  to  surrender  power 
if,  by  any  means,  they  could  hold  it,  and  they  felt  that  the  means  were  in 
their  hands.  When  I  speak  of  the  Republican  party  now,  I  speak  of  those 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND    WRITINGS.  475 


whom  we  call  leaders— the  controlling  men,  the  men  who  have  shaped  and 
directed,  and  continue  to  shape  and  direct  its  destiny. 

What  was  the  condition  of  the  country  when  Congress  met  ?  You  are 
all  familiar  with  it.  Voluntary  committees,  or  associations,  of  gentlemen 
from  both  parties  had  hurried  down  to  witness  the  counting  of  the  votes  in 
the  three  most  disputed  States— Southern  States— and  all  of  them  under 
the  control  of  Radical  State  governments.  It  required  that  all  three  of 
those  States  should  be  counted  for  the  Republicans,  to  give  success  to  their 
ticket.  But  there  was  a  reserved  power  over  whatever  might  be  determined 
by  these  returning  boards,  as  they  were  called,  in  these  several  States.  Their 
action  had  to  undergo  review  by  some  power  at  Washington,  under  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  country.  So  it  became  important,  not  only  that  the  Repub 
lican  party  should  secure  what  they  called  the prima  facie  count  in  those  three 
States,  but  that  it  should  have  the  review  of  those  "counts"  in  the  hands  of 
persons  in  Washington  who  would  be  as  super-serviceable  as  the  boards  them 
selves,  else  in  the  last  hour  their  scheme  might  fail.  This  state  of  things 
presented  a  remarkable  question.  You  hear  it  talked  about,  discussed  on  tilt- 
streets  and  in  the  newspapers  everywhere.  It  was  a  new  question,  born 
of  party  exigencies  and  never  before  suggested  by  a  statesman  in  the  whole 
history  of  the  country,  and  that  was  :  That  the  final  counting  of  the  votes 
belonged  exclusively  to  the  President  of  the  Senate,  and  that  the  two  houses 
of  Congress,  required  by  the  Constitution  to  be  present  when  the  count  is 
made,  are  simply  spectators,  with  no  power  to  participate  in  any  manner. 
So  that  the  Republican  policy,  upon  the  first  Monday  in  December,  consisted 
of  three  propositions.  The  first  was,  to  secure  the  returns  in  the  three  dis 
puted  States ;  the  second  was,  to  have  the  President  of  the  Senate,  who  is  a 
Republican,  alone  to  count  the  votes  thus  secured,  without  any  power  of  re 
view  by  any  other  party  ;  and  the  third  plank  in  the  Republican  platform 
was,  that  the  result  thus  secured  and  thus  announced  should  be  sustained  at 
every  hazard  by  the  army,  under  the  orders  of  the  present  President.  lie  is 
little  to  be  respected  as  a  statesman  who  does  not  see  at  once  the  danger  of 
that  policy  of  the  Republicans  in  what  is  known  as  "  the  Presidential  count." 
It  was  evidently  the  party  purpose,  the  party  movement ;  and  the  great  end 
and  object  was  to  continue  the  Republican  party  in  power  ;  and  the  question 
for  the  Democracy  to  meet  was,  how  to  meet  those  three  propositions.  Now,  I 
am  going  to  say  to  you  this  :  that  I  have  no  thought  of  going  into  the  details 
of  the  policy  of  the  Democratic  party,  adopted  and  now  being  carried  out. 
It  would  be  improper  for  me  to  do  so  and  you  must  not  expect  it,  but  it  is 
proper  for  me  to  give  you  a  general  idea  of  the  principles  and  plan  of  opera 
tions  by  which  these  propositions  are  to  be  met. 

The  policy  of  the  Republicans  had  to  be  met  by  a  Democratic  policy. 
'What  was  it  ?  It  may  be  stated  in  the  statement  of  a  few  principles.  The 
first  manifestly  wise  one  adopted  by  it  was  this  :  that  the  party  must  look 
upon  this  great  question,  raised  for  the  first  time  in  all  our  history,  not  as  an 
occasion  for  mere  party  triumph,  but  that  the  Democratic  party  must  now 
become  the  party  of  the  people,  intrusted  with  the  great  work  of  ascertain 
ing  and  declaring  the  will  of  the  people.  That  high  position  was  taken  by 
this  party  because  the  question  for  us  to  determine  was  not  whom  the  people 
ought  to' elect — that  had  been  done  during  the  canvass  and  the  people  had 
voted — but  the  question  we  had  to  determine  was  how  the  people  had 
voted — whom  they  had  elected  !  And  in  determining  that  question  we  were 
bound  by  all  the  obligations,  sacred  in  their  character,  of  judge  and  jury  in 


476  SENATOR  R   H.  IITLL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

determining  all  questions  submitted  to  them  under  their  oaths,  and  I  submit 
it  to  every  intelligent  person  if,  upon  this  proposition,  the  Democratic  party 
didn't  distinguish  itself  as  entitled  to  credit  from  the  American  people  in  con 
tradistinction  to  the  Republican  party?  The  Republicans  were  bent  upon 
solving  the  problem  "  how  to  secure  our  man,  whether  the  people  elected 
him  or  not  !  "  They  had  worked  in  the  three  disputed  States  to  overthrow 
the  will  of  the  people.  They  had  no  purpose  to  serve  but  a  partisan  purpose. 
The  President  even  lent  himself  to  this  ;  a  most  remarkable  spectacle  for  him 
to  present !  He  requested  gentlemen  to  go  to  those  States.  Who  gave  him 
any  authority  to  do  so  ?  And  they  went  because  he  requested  them  to;  and 
every  one  who  went  made  of  himself  a  partisan,  a  witness  and  attorney  to 
defend  the  frauds  and  illegal  actions  of  these  returning  boards.  They  came 
back  and  made  their  report  ;  they  sent  it  to  the  President,  and  he  trans 
mitted  it  to  Congress  and  made  it  part  of  the  official  proceedings.  Now, 
when  the  Democratic  party  stepped  in  at  this  time,  wasn't  it  wisdom,  wasn't 
it  patriotism,  that  it  should  say:  "  Our  purpose  is  to  represent  the  people, 
the  peace,  and  the  laws  of  the  country,  and  ascertain  the  will  of  the  people, 
and  abide  by  it,  not  as  a  party  matter  but  in  a  patriotic  spirit"? 

That  was  the  first  ground  taken.  To  carry  out  this  policy,  conferences  of 
leading  gentlemen  of  the  party  were  held  before  the  meeting  of  Congress, 
and  it  was  determined  to  appoint,  when  Congress  met,  committees  to  go  to 
these  States  and  learn  the  facts.  Now,  you  see  the  difference.  We  had  even 
then  any  quantity  of  testimony.  That  sent  in  by  the  President  concerning 
Louisiana  made  up  a  volume  as  large,  if  not  larger  than  this  that  I  hold  in  my 
hand,  so  that  you  see  we  were  plentifully  supplied  with  testimony  of  a  certain 
kind.  Some  of  this  testimony  had  been  taken  by  interested  partisans  of  the 
Democratic  party,  but  it  was  manifest  that  it  was  all  taken  not  in  any  official 
character  and  under  no  authority,  and  had  no  binding  effect  ;  and  was  like 
taking  testimony  into  court  that  had  been  taken  under  no  authority  of  law, 
not  in  the  usual  forms  of  law  and  without  the  sanction  of  an  oath.  Hence 
it  was  determined  to  adopt  the  plan  of  taking  the  necessary  testimony  offi 
cially  by  committees,  under  oath,  and  where  both  parties  could  be  fairly 
heard  and  represented.  Strange  to  say,  that  proposition  was  resisted  by  the 
Republicans.  We  had  to  suspend  the  rules  on  Monday,  the  first  day,  in 
order  to  pass  the  resolutions,  and  it  takes  a  two-third  vote  to  suspend  the 
rules.  We  just  do  it  and  without  a  vote  to  spare,  the  Republicans  voting 
solidly,  with  three  honorable  exceptions,  against  it;  and  the  Democrats  vot 
ing  solidly  for  it. 

The  next  proposition  of  the  Democratic  party  was  to  settle  upon  what 
rule  the  votes  should  be  counted  when  they  should  come  in.  As  I  have  told 
you,  the  Republicans  had  adopted  the  idea  that  it  should  be  done  by  the 
President  of  the  Senate.  The  Democratic  party  insisted  that  it  should  be 
counted  by  the  two  Houses.  Without  stopping  to  discuss  the  powers  of  the 
two  Houses  in  the  count,  the  great  question  here  was,  in  whom  the  power  to 
count  was  vested  ;  the  Republicans  insisting  that  it  was  the  President  of 
the  Senate,  and  the  Democrats  that  it  was  in  the  two  Houses  of  Congress  in 
joint  session,  and  each  House  acting  separately.  Now,  my  friends,  which  had 
the  advantage  there  ?  The  Republican  party  themselves,  by  what  tliey 
called  the  twenty -second  joint  rule,  adopted  in  1865  when  they  had  a  large 
majority,  had  counted  in  Lincoln  for  his  second,  and  Grant  for  both  of  his 
terms,  and  that  rule  recognized  the  power  to  count  to  be  in  the  two  Houses. 
So,  here  was  a  remarkable  spectacle  presented  to  the  country. 


HIS  LIFff,   SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  477 

For  the  purpose  of  counting  the  votes  of  1876  the  Republican  party 
abandoned  their  own  rule  adopted  in  1865,  when  they  had  a  two-thirds 
majority,  and  under  which  they  had  counted  in  Lincoln  and  Grant ;  and 
they  even  had  the  brass  to  call  it  "unconstitutional  "  !  If  that  is  so,  Lin 
coln  and  Grant  were  both  unconstitutional  Presidents.  But  the  Demo 
cratic  party  took  the  position  that  it  was  no  time  to  devise  new  methods 
of  count,  and  they  expressed  their  willingness,  to  a  man,  to  take  the  Repub 
lican's  own  rule  and  count  the  vote  !  So,  I  think  we  had  the  advantage  of 
them  upon  both  points. 

Now,  then,  in  answer  to  the  question  of  force.  The  position  of  the 
Democratic  party  was  that  it  was  unnecessary  to  talk  about  force,  and  that 
the  American  people,  through  their  representatives,  were  entirely  competent 
to  determine  whom  thev  had  elected  President.  We  insisted  that  it  was  a 

*/ 

plain  matter  of  figures  and  simple  calculation,  and  that  it  was  no  use  to  in 
dulge  in  threats  and  appeals  to  force.     One  of  the  most  beautiful  and  trying 
questions  in  this  whole  matter  was,  what  should  be  the  position   of  the 
Southern  States.     It  was  clearly  the  purpose  of  the  Republican  party,  if 
they  could  possibty,  by  force  or  otherwise,  continue  in  power,  to  take  posses 
sion  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  very  much  in  the  same  way  that  they 
had  taken  possession  of  the  Houses  in  several  of  the  States,  make  it  Repub 
lican,  review  the  laws  and  conduct  of  several  of  the  Southern  States,  with 
the  purpose,  if  they  could,  to  remand  them  back  to  a  territorial  condition. 
That  seems  a  strong  declaration,  but  I  have  not  stated  it  strong  enough. 
Did  you  know  that  at  the  last  session  of  Congress  a  most  elaborate  report 
of  two  large  volumes  in  size,  was  made  concerning  the  Mississippi  election 
matter,  and  at  the  end  of  it  resolutions  were  appended  that  the  State  be  re 
manded  to  a  territorial  condition  until  a  new  generation  should  arise?     The 
proposition  was  that  the  old  generation,  raised  under  the  administration  of 
slavery,  had  never  and  could  never  properly  appreciate  this  government  and 
the  blessings  of  liberty,  and  that  it  was  better  to  remand  the  people  of  that 
and  these  other  Southern  States  until  they  had  become  fitted  in  a  new  gen 
eration,  and  by  another  course  of  education,  to  participate  in  this  great  gov 
ernment   of  America.     That   proposition   is   upon  the  table  yet,  seriously 
entertained  by  the  leaders  of  the  party;  and   soon  after  the  present  session 
opened,  Mr.  Edmunds,  one  of  the  ablest  of  the  leaders  of  the  party,  in- 
troduced   resolutions  to  investigate  the  elections  in  Georgia,  Alabama,  and 
other  sister   States.     You   thought  because  you    had  80,000  majority  you 
were   safe,    and    they    thought    you    could    not    have    80,000     majority 
without    some    fraud  !     And    upon    that    subject    I    had    to  write    to    a 
very  good  friend  in  New  York,  the  other  day,  to  explain  to  him  how 
possible.     You  have  no  idea  how  much  these  things  affect  the  people  oi 
North,  and  with  what  interest  they  look  upon  them.     They  believe 
carry  our  elections  by  force  and  fraud,  and  my  observations  in  Congress  cc 
vince  me  of  the  fact* that  the  Republican  party  has  regretted 
removed  any  disabilities  and  let  us  back  into  a  participation  in  the  gover 
ment.     And,  if  they  ever  get  us  down  again,  they  will  never  consent 
us  up  !     I  orive  you  that  warning,  now. 

Now,  that  was  the  Democratic  policy.     Evidently  General  Grant  was 
gathering  military  forces  at  Washington  for  the  purpose  I  spoke  of,  and 
expected  to  find  in  the  temper  of  the  Southern  people  and  their  representa 
tives  a  pretext  for  the  use  of  that  force.     The  great  hope  ot  the  Repub 
party,  to  enable  them  to  carry  out  their  scheme  of  force,  was  to  remake 


478  SENATOR  B.   H.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

issue  between  the  South  and  the  North  ;  to  convince  the  people  of  the 
North  that  the  people  of  the  South  were  dangerous,  and  that  from  the 
moment  they  returned,  through  the  Democratic  party  which  they  were  said 
to  control,  to  a  part  in  the  administration  of  the  government,  they  would 
take  possession  of  it  in  a  sectional  spirit  and  undo  all  that  the  Republican 
party  had  done.  If  General  Grant  could  find  that  pretext — that's  all  he 
wants — under  the  pretext  that  he  was  putting  down  what  he  would  call  a 
"new  rebellion,"  he  would  use  the  army  to  inaugurate  a  Republican  Presi 
dent,  right  or  wrong,  or  to  continue  himself  in  power,  as  the  case  may  be. 
And  if  it  was  said  that  this  was  "  usurpation,"  the  reply  would  be,  "  it  is 
better  to  have  usurpation  in  order  to  keep  the  government  in  the  hands  of 
the  loyal  people  of  the  North,  than  to  let  it  go  into  the  hands  of  the  disloyal 
South  ! J:  You  understand  that !  He  would  provoke  the  people  of  the 
South  to  do  such  things  as  would  furnish  this  pretext,  if  he  could.  He  has 
worried  the  people  of  South  Carolina,  and  day  by  day  sought  to  provoke 
the  gallant  Hampton  to  do  something  wrong.  He  failed,  and  the  American 
people  can  never  fully  appreciate  the  example  afforded  by  that  historic 
character,  the  hero  of  South  Carolina  !  And  he  is  trying  his  hand  now 
upon  Louisiana.  He  expected  when  Congress  met  that  our  hot-blooded 
Southern  representatives — "the  hundred  ex-Confederates" — would  come  up 
swaggering  and  swearing  on  every  hand  that  "  Tilden  is  elected  and  we  are 
going  to  inaugurate  him  ! '  That  is  what  Grant  wanted  ;  and  what  is  most 
remarkable,  they  looked  with  more  hope  to  the  member  from  the  Ninth  than 
to  any  other  man  to  be  that  great  fool  !  Well,  the  old  gentleman  was  mis 
taken.  We  wers  there  several  days  before  the  meeting  of  Congress.  What 
was  going  to  be  the  policy  of  the  Democratic  party  nobody  exactly  knew. 
Everybody  was  thinking  and  talking  upon  other  subjects,  but  this  one  had 
not  been  discussed.  The  Democratic  party  held  a  caucus  to  nominate  a 
Speaker  of  the  House,  and  did  nothing  else.  That  was  on  Saturday  night. 
On  Sunday  some  fifteen  or  twenty  of  us  had  a  caucus — conferences,  they 
are  called — and  it  being  Sunday,  we  thought  everybody's  sheep  were  in  the 
ditch  and  it  was  our  duty  to  help  them  out,  and  we  talked  over  the  matter 
together.  Nobody  had  said  what  the  Southern  people  would  do  in  this 
crisis,  and  everybody  seemed  to  think  that  somebody  else  should  say  what 
ought  to.be  done.  We  had  another  caucus  and  appointed  a  "committee  of 
prudence,"  composed  of  seven  members,  then  adjourned.  We  met  again 
and  the  committee  reported  a  resolution  that  had  been  agreed  upon  by  the 
seven  persons  who  composed  it,  and  when  the  resolution  was  read,  somebody 
had  to  say  something.  The  time  had  come.  It  was  the  crisis  !  The  Demo 
cratic  party  was  to  make  out  the  policy  which  was  to  put  it  on  an  aggressive 
line,  or  otherwise,  and  it  was  upon  that  occasion  that  I  made  the  speech 
about  which  you  have  all  heard  so  much,  and  know  nothing  !  About  which 
so  many  versions  have  been  published,  and  not  a  single  word  in  any  of  them 
true  !  Now,  I  cannot  give  you  that  speech,  for  that  would  not  be  proper. 
I  was  the  first  man  who  took  the  floor.  That  is  so.  I  saw  that  the  time 
had  come,  and  my  mind  was  made  up.  I  did  not  know  how  many  were 
there  who  had  made  up  their  minds,  but  I  knew  that  I  had  ;  and  if  you  will 
excuse  me  I  will  not  bore  you  with  the  speech,  but  only  give  you  the  opening 
sentences,  to  show  you  the  line  I  was  on — just  to  give  you  the  text.  Now, 
here  they  are : 

Mr.  Chairman :  It  is  with  the  greatest  diffidence  I  rise  even  to  suggest  a  modification 
of  the  resolution  reported  unanimously  from  a  committee  composed  of  such  distinguished 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WAITINGS.  479 

gentlemen  as  those  who  compose  this  committee.  Yet,  we  are  here  together  and  I  have 
my  views  upon  this  matter  and  I  think  I  should  express  them.  Now,  the  text :  The 
supreme  duty  of  the  crisis  is  to  secure  the  peaceful  inauguration  of  Tilden  and  Hend  ricks. 
Whatever  promotes  this  end  is  wise.  Whatever  obstructs  this  end  is  unwise.  Accomplish 
this  and  all  other  good  things  will  come  to  our  country.  Fail  to  accomplish  this,  and  all 
other  evils  will  come  upon  our  common  country  alike. 

I  then  went  into  a  calm,  dispassionate  discussion  of  a  few  things  which 
I  thought  would  promote  that  result,  and  of  a  few  others  which  I  thought 
would  obstruct  that  result.  I  never  said  an  unkind  word  of  anybody — no 
Democrat!  I  never  said  anything  about  "the  conservative  influence  of  a 
fifteen-inch  shell  with  the  fuse  in  a  state  of  combustion,"  because  I  didn't 
know  anything  about  it  myself  !  I  never  used  those  beautiful  expressions 
that  you  have  seen  traveling  around  the  country  about  "  invincibles  in  peace 
and  invisibles  in  war."  I  never  rasped  my  friend  Mr.  Wood — not  a  bit  of 
it  !  On  the  contrary,  it  should  gratify  you  all  as  much  as  it  did  me  ; 
even  Mr.  Wood,  who  reported  the  resolution,  accepted  the  suggestion  and 
it  was  adopted  unanimously  by  them.  And  I  never  made  a  speech  in  my  life 
for  which  I  received  warmer  congratulations  from  men  whose  congratulations 
were  worth  having.  Every  single  Southern  man  who  was  there  agreed  with 
me  and  I  have  heard  it  there  every  day  since  that  that  little  innocent  speech 
was  the  turning  point  in  the  whole  matter.  It  was  a  small  thing  to  do,  but 
it  only  takes  a  little  force  to  set  a  ball  in  motion  and  to  keep  it  going  until 
the  momentum  increases  and  no  power  can  stop  it.  And  that  ball  had  to  be 
started  right  there,  on  one  track  or  the  other.  If  it  was  started  on  the  wrong 
track  it  would  have  gone  on  and  on  until  we  were  ruined,  and  if  on  the  right 
track,  the  country  would  be  safe.  It  only  required  a  little  thing  to  start  it 
and  the  one  tiling  to  do  was  to  start  it  in  the  right  direction.  It  was  unani 
mously  agreed  that  the  deportment  of  the  South  in  this  crisis  should  be 
quiet — perfectly  quiet !  And  that  it  would  be  exceedingly  improper  for  the 
South  to  take  the  position  that  if  war  occurred  it  would  be  exclusively  a 
Northern  war,  because  that  would  not  be  sincere.  It  would  be  improper  to 
say  in  advance  that  you  wanted  it  to  occur  and  wanted  to  go  into  it.  It  was 
imprudent  to  discourage  the  Northern  Democrats  by  telling  them  that  you 
would  not  go  in,  if  it  did  come  ;  and  again  it  was  a  mistake  to  attempt 
to  patronize  them  into  position.  You  are  very  much  mistaken  if  you  think 
the  Northern  Democrats  are  not  as  brave  as  any  !  I  do  not  believe  that 
they  are  going  to  let  their  rights  be  destroyed,  except  it  be  upon  the  idea 
that  if  they  got  into  a  war  up  there,  we  would  set  up  for  ourselves  down  here. 
That  idea,  let  me  say  to  you,  is  industriously  held  out  to  them  up  there. 
And  it  was  unnecessary,  wholly  so,  for  your  Southern  representatives  to  in 
dulge  in  bravado  and  tell  which  side  they  would  take  if  war  came,  because 
it  was  our  duty  to  keep  off  war  if  possible  ;  but  if  war  must  come  the  whole 
world  knew  which  side  the  South  would  take  !  And  there  is  not  a  Demo 
crat  in  Congress  from  the  North  who  would  not  have  done  what  I  did- 
lieve  all  little  politicians  and  newspapers  from  saying  what  the  South  would 
do.  Whenever  you  see  a  man  running  ahead  and  swearing  he  will  do  so 
and  so,  you  can  sVear  almost  that  he  won't  do  it !  That  sort  of  courage  is 

'    •* 

not  valued  in  Congress. 

Well,  now,  my  friends,  just  as  soon  as  this  general  policy  of  the  two 
parties  became  known,  the  effect  began  to  be  seen.    There  was  the  Republi 
can  party  on  the  one  hand  seeking  a  mere  party  triumph  by  fair  or  foul 
means,  saying,  we  will  have  the  count  in  the  three  disputed  States,  there. 


480  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

shall  be  no  means  of  review  after  they  are  put  in  the  hands  of  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  Senate,  and  will  inaugurate  our  President  and  sustain  him  with 
the  forces  of  the  United  States.  That  was  making  it  an  unconstitutional 
party,  the  party  of  usurpation  and  the  party  of  war.  There  was  the  Demo 
cratic  party  saying  :  This  question  must  be  put  on  a  high  and  patriotic  plane, 
and  both  parties  should  insist  that  according  to  the  evidence  they  were  will 
ing  to  decide,  and  that  the  evidence  should  be  taken  according  to  the  ac 
cepted  forms  and  long-established  interpretations  of  the  Constitution  !  By 
this  means  the  Democratic  party  made  itself  the  patriotic  party — the  party 
of  law  and  the  party  of  peace.  It  is  impossible  to  tell  you  the  wonderful 
effect  these  two  policies  had  upon  the  situation.  Nothing  was  more  gratify 
ing.  Sensible,  intelligent  Republicans  began  to  consider.  You  see  our 
great  point  was,  by  taking  this  broad,  catholic  position,  to  induce  enough 
Republican  Senators  to  go  with  us  on  their  own  rule.  Who  could  dread  a 
fair  count  of  the  votes,  according  to  law,  except  the  party  that  was  not  will 
ing  to  have  and  abide  by  a  fair  count  ?  Yet  some  people  wrote  to  me,  "  Don't 
say  a  '  fair  count,'  but  say  Tilden  is  elected  ! '  But  I  was  a  good  Democrat 
enough  and  had  confidence  enough  in  the  result  to  say  that  I  had  confidence 
in  a  "  fair  count,"  and  when  you  don't  say  that,  you  admit  that  you  don't 
have  confidence  in  a  fair  count  !  That  was  the  very  position  into  which  we 
were  crowding  the  Republicans.  They  were  going  around  saying  :  "Hayes 
is  elected.  Hayes  is  elected."  We  said  to  them,  "  Oh,  come  on  now  and  let 
us  have  a  fair  count."  "  Oh,  Hayes  is  elected  !  "  they  said  (much  weaker), 
and  so  it  was  that  we  were  at  an  advantage  with  them  upon  that  point. 

Grant  commenced  weakening  from  the  very  day  of  that  caucus  in  which 
that  question  was  determined.  General  Grant,  Morton,  and  the  other  leaders 
of  the  Republican  party  commenced  weakening,  and  the  only  comfort  that  I 
had  when  the  whole  press  of  the  country  was  saying  that  I  was  a  traitor 
and  selling  out  to  Hayes,  I  could  prove  the  contrary  by  Grant  and  Morton, 
for  both  of  them  were  cursing  me  for  being  a  hypocrite.  There  wasn't 
any  hypocrisy  about  me.  I  thought  the  Democratic  party  was  right  on  the 
merits  of  its  case,  and  I  was  willing  to  stand  upon  the  merits.  That  is  all. 
If  you  are  not  willing  to  do  that,  you  are  not  good  Democrats,  and  go  and 
make  a  trade  with  Hayes  yourselves  ! 

I  have  no  apologies  to  make — none  in  the  world — not  a  particle.  Well, 
after  this  thing  occurred,  it  did  not  occur  to  me — I  will  simply  go  into  a 
little  history  of  my  further  connection  with  those  matters,  for  that  is  my 
business  here.  This  last  caucus  was  the  last  general  caucus;  but  our  private 
caucuses,  or  conferences,  were  held  often.  I  had  the  honor  and  the  pleas 
ure  to  be  a  regular  attendant,  and  felt  both  the  honor  and  the  pleasure  of 
the  position  and  tried  to  make  a  worthy  member.  I  felt  that  the  very  fate 
of  the  country  depended  upon  the  crisis  and  I  was  willing  to  do  all  in  my 
power  and  to  humble  myself,  even  on  to  my  knees,  to  give  it  a  successful 
issue.  After  this  caucus  had  adjourned  several  days  we  began  to  see  in  the 
newspapers  that  Mr.  Hill  had  made  a  terrible  speech  in  the  caucus  and  had 
rasped  Mr.  Wood  fearfully,  and  that  we  had  all  fallen  out  and  broken  up  in 
a  row.  ^  Well,  we  just  laughed  at  it  all  and  let  it  pass,  and  talked  together, 
and  said  the  reporters  had  missed  it  this  time.  They  are  always  trying  to 
guess  what  takes  place  in  caucus,  and  they  are  mighty  bad  guesses  at  that  ! 
They  took  it  into  their  heads  that  because  Wood  was  the  chairman  of  the 
committee  and  reported  the  resolutions,  and  because  I  offered  the  suggestion 
to  modify  them,  that  that  broke  up  the  meeting  in  a  row.  Why,  it  was  no 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   ANb  WRITINGS.  481 

such  thing— it  was  a  regular  class-meeting.  We  just  laughed  at  these  re 
porters,  but  it  went  on  getting  worse.  After  a  while  it  became  important 
that  some  Southern  man  should  make  an  emphatic  expression  upon  some 
points.  I  was  asked  to  make  it,  and  did  do  so,  not  having  an  opportunity  in 
the  House,  but  in  an  interview  which  has  become  generally  known  as  the 
Herald  interview,  published  in  the  New  York  Herald.  That  interview  has 
been  very  much  misunderstood,  and  I  desire  to  say  something  about  it. 
And,  first,  that  I  am  not  responsible  for  either  the  interpretation  or  the  intro 
duction  given  to  it  by  the  reporter,  all  of  which  are  untrue;  and  second,  that 
every  word  in  it  was  the  result  of  conferences  with  the  most  trusted  and 
prominent  of  our  leaders  there  in  Washington.  Talk  of  my  policy.  The 
Democratic  party  has  a  policy  !  Mr.  Hill  has  no  policy.  The  Democratic 
party  has  a  policy,  and  Mr.  Hill  is  a  part  of  it  !  And  it  was  in  furtherance 
of  that  policy  that  the  interview  was  had,  and  the  main  idea  of  it  was  to 
put  a  center  shot  into  that  claim  that  the  President  of  the  Senate  alone  could 
count  the  vote — and  I  did  it  !  And  the  other  part  of  it  was  to  say  that  we 
were  not  going  to  get  up  another  rebellion  ! 

On  the  16th  of  December,  1876,  a  most  important  conference  was  held. 
Mr.  Hewitt  came  to  me  and  said  that  a  few  gentlemen  whom  he  had  in 
vited,  were  going  to  meet  at  his  house  that  night  to  discuss  some  matters, 
and  there  would  be  some  gentlemen  there  from  New  York  among  others, 
and  that  he  and  they  were  anxious  that  I  should  be  there.     I  went,  and  the 
meeting  continued  until  near  midnight,  and  I  think  it  was  one  of  the  most 
pleasant  and  satisfactory  that  I  ever  attended  in  all  my  life.     It  was  an 
earnest,  honest  discussion,  the  whole  evening,  of  certain  measures  which  we 
thought  should  be  adopted — certain  evils  to  be  avoided,  and  certain  good 
things  to  be  desired  and  accomplished.     I  am  not  going  into  the  details  of 
that  conference,  but  when  the  history  of  this  winter's  work  is  written  it  will 
take  an  important  place  in  the  events  of  the  time.     And  when  it  broke  up, 
the  member  from  the  Ninth  District  was  gratified  as  much  as  he  ever  has 
been  in  his  life  by  the  fact,  communicated  by  Mr.  Hewitt,  that  he  had  been 
complimented  with  a  special  vote  of  thanks,  for  his  suggestions,  by  this  whole 
company  of  distinguished  persons.      I  felt  very  grateful  for  that,  I  can 
assure  you.     It  was  exceedingly  gratifying  to  me,  and  I  left  his  house  at 
midnight — it  was  one  of  the  bitterest  nights  I  ever  felt — cold,  late,  the  street 
cars  all  stopped,  and  it  was  a  good  mile  walk  to  my  house.     The  only  man 
of  the  party  going  my  way  was  that  great,  wise,  gallant  man  from  Virginia, 
John  Randolph  Tucker  !     It  was  cold  and  the  wind  was  icy,  and  we  had  to 
walk  that  full  mile.     We  set  out  and  were  talking  about  what  had  just 
passed,  and  we  were  so  gratified  and  cheerful  at  the  prospect  of  the  early 
redemption  of  our  people,  that  we  well-nigh  forgot  about  the  cold.     We 
knew  that    the  South    had  suffered  and  borne  in  patience,  and  we  knew 
that  her  deliverance  was  coming,  and  we  were  pleased  that  in  some  way  we 
were  humble  instruments  in  bringing  it  about.     The  feeling  was  so  good  and 
so  cheerful  that  when  I  first  got  home  and  went  into  my  room  I  did  not  care 
to  think  of  much  else.     And  when  Mrs.  Hill  said, "  There  are  some  telegrams 
for  you,"  I  did  not  care  to  bother  with  them.     I  was  tired  and  had  been  up 
until  the  hours  of  the  Sabbath  were  upon  us,  but  being  telegrams,  I  went  in 
and  looked  at  them.     What  were  they  ?     One  of  them  was  from  a  gallant, 
honorable  young  friend  in  this  city,  whom  I  esteem  very  much,  and  it  said  : 
"  Plant  yourself  square  for  Tilden,  or  you  are  beat  ! '      "  Plant  yourself  ! 
I  thought  I  had  been  planted  !     "Plant  yourself  square  !       Well,  I  thought 


482  SENATOR  R   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

I  had  been  pretty  "  square."  "  Plant  yourself  square  for  Tilden  ! r  The 
Lord  knows  I  had  never  dreamed  that  I  was  for  anybody  else  !  I  opened 
another,  and  it  was  from  two  gentlemen  of  the  city,  both  of  whom  were  my 
warmest  of  friends.  That  was  a  long  and  earnest  one.  It  said  : 

"  You  must  send  a  telegram  distinctly  stating  that  you  are  not  indifferent 
as  between  Tilden  and  Hayes.  You  must  send  it  to-night  so  that  it  may  go 
into  the  Constitution  in  the  morning.  The  people  of  Atlanta  are  greatly 
excited  !'  Now,  what  had  I  done  !  How  do  you  reckon  I  felt?  I  will 
never  forget  that  night.  There  I  had  been  out  all  that  night  laboring  for 
the  cause  of  my  people  and  country,  complimented  for  my  services,  and  had 
come  home  to  find  such  telegrams  awaiting  me  !  And  as  the  past  ran  over 
me  and  I  remembered  what  I  had  done  during  the  canvass,  had  left  my  own 
districts  and  gone  into  others,  and  wherever  there  was  doubt,  and  even  to 
gallant  little  Florida,  to  make  it  sure  for  Tilden,  and  I  had  the  best  assur 
ances  from  one  of  the  most  distinguished  men  in  Florida  that  after  all  it 
was  my  humble  visit  down  there  that  had  made  Drew  governor,  and  that 
Tilden  ought  of  right  to  have  the  electoral  vote  !  And  after  all  to  come 
home  now  and  find  such  telegrams  !  What  did  it  mean  ?  I  soon  found  out. 
I  did  not  answer  the  telegrams.  It  was  too  late,  and  I  did  not  have  the 
heart  to  do  it,  anyway.  Then,  in  a  day  or  two,  the  letters  began  to  come  in. 
My  dear  friends,  I  love  to  hear  from  you,  but  how  you  did  flood  me  with 
letters  !  They  said,  the  charge  is  that  you  are  indifferent  between  Tilden 
and  Hayes  ;  that  you  are  selling  out  Tilden  and  Hendricks  ;  and  I  suppose  a 
hundred  Southern  newspapers  had  editorials  on  Ben  Hill's  abandonment  of 
Tilden  !  Gentlemen,  that  was  very  trying  and  outrageous,  when  I  had  not 
said  one  word  that  had  not  been  concurred  in  unanimously  by  the  Democrats 
in  Congress.  The  truth  is,  if  I  wasn't  in  accord  with  the  Democratic  party, 
then  it  was  not  in  accord  with  itself.  It  was  impossible  for  a  man  to  be  in 
Washington  City  and  be  in  more  absolute  accord  with  the  Democratic 
party  than  myself  !  Now,  where  did  these  things  get  out  ?  Not  a  single 
word  published  as  from  me  was  ever  uttered  by  me — not  one  !  Well, 
fellow-citizens,  I  want  to  say  to  you  very  kindly  that  I  don't  charge  you 
with  believing  these  things,  nor  will  I  complain  of  my  friends  because  of 
their  sensitiveness,  doubtless  growing  out  of  their  attachments  to  me  and 
my  fortunes,  and  because  they  knew  that  the  world  is  apt  to  be  misled,  and 
that  when  a  thing  goes  into  a  newspaper  somebody  has  a  suspicion  that 
there  is  some  truth  in  it.  These  things  got  to  be  so  frequent  that  I  felt  that 
I  should  write  something  about  them  and  I  did  write  one  letter  to  a  friend 
for  publication  ;  and  some  letters  to  others  that  did  get  into  print  of  their 
own  accord.  And  now,  I  do  say  to  you  that  there  is  not  a  man  in  Congress 
from  the  South  who  has  more  of  the  affection  and  confidence  of  the  Demo 
cratic  party  of  the  North  than  I  have.  It  simply  fell  to  me  to  make  a  few 
remarks  upon  a  certain  line  of  policy,  and  it  was  their  policy — not  mine.  And 
that  I  was  charged  with  being  ready  to  sell  out  to  Hayes.  Why,  I  never 
saw  an  agent  of  Hayes  in  my  life  ;  never  had  any  communication  with  him 
or  his  friends,  directly  or  indirectly.  And  why  should  these  things  be  done  ? 

I  am  going  to  give  you  a  partial  revelation  of  the  plot.  It  was  the  un 
mixed  result  of  an  unmitigated  conspiracy  to  defame  me.  Some  few  of  the 
persons  engaged  in  it  were  Democrats,  and  some  were  Republicans.  And 
these  things  do  not  occur  accidentally.  There  is  a  cause  for  every  effect, 
and  the  effect  is  equal  to  the  cause,  and  e  converso.  Now,  for  a  little  about 
them. 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  483 

In  1865— because  a  little  history  is  necessary  now  to  understand  points 
and  I  stand  prepared  to  prove  and  vindicate  what  I  say.    When  I  came  out' 
in  1865,  of  Fort  Lafayette  as  a  paroled  prisoner,  I  stopped,  on  my  way 
home,  in  New  York  at  the  old  New  York  Hotel.     While  there,  several  ?en- 
tlemen  called  to  see  me  and  some  to  make  my  acquaintance.     One  of  these 
was  Wash.  McLean,  editor  of  the  Cincinnati  Enquirer,  and  his  object  he 
said,  was  to  say  that  General  Steadman,  who  was  commanding  the  Depart 
ment  of  Georgia  then,  with  headquarters  at  Augusta,  was  a  good  friend  of 
his  and  a  good  Democrat,  and  he  wanted  me  on  my  return  home  to  specially 
cultivate  him  and  make  friends  with  him.    I  didn't  know  that  there  was  any 
purpose  in  it  at  the  time,  but  when  I  reached  Georgia,  a  very  singular  state 
of  things  existed  here.     There  was  at  Augusta  General  Steadman  at  his 
headquarters,  with  his  little  subordinates  stationed  around  at  every  court 
house  and  in  every  county.     They  were  the  only  judges  that  we  had,  and 
had  taken  charge  of  the  laws  and  rights  of  the  people,  and  were  adminis 
tering  civil  as  well  as  military  judgments.    One  of  them  over  in  my  country 
tried  a  divorce  case,  for  instance,  but  their  main  business  was  to  attend  to 
the  neighbor's  cotton.     They  were  looking  up  Confederate  cotton  to  seize, 
but  they  managed  to  take  anybody  else's  that  they  could.     I  thought  it  was 
a  very  great  outrage,  and  though  I  was  only  paroled  prisoner,  I  thought 
something  should  be  done  to  stop  it.     It  was  no  use  to  try  and  stop  it  in  the 
counties,  but  it  was  necessary  to  go  to  the  fountain  head.     I  determined  to 
do  what  I  could,  and  I  went  to  Augusta.     I  had  heard  of  one  celebrated 
cotton  case  there  which  had  been  settled,  but  which  one  of  the  parties  said 
would  have  been  kept  open  if  I  could  have  gotten  there  sooner.     I  volun 
tarily  left  my  home  in  La  Grange  and  went  to  Augusta.     When  I  went  to 
see  my  old  friend  Metcalf,  and  when  I  went  in  he  was  actually  about  to  turn 
over  a  lot  of  nine  thousand  bales  of  cotton  which  had  been  adjudged  to  some 
claimant  in  Philadelphia.    I  asked  the  facts  and  they  told  me,  and  that  they 
were  afraid  not  to  comply  with  the  order,  lest  they  should  be  put  in  jail.     I 
said  to  them  that  it  was  not  right  and  should  be  resisted.     They  said  that 
Metcalf  had  tried  it  and  gotten^  into  jail.     I  said  I  thought  I  could  stop  it, 
and  that  I  wouldn't  think  of  a  fee  unless  I  gained  the  case.     I  begged  them 
to  let  me  go  on  in  their  name.     It  is  not  often  I  do  that.     I  never  did  ask  a 
case  before  in  my  life,  but  I  did  then,  and  I  am  not  ashamed  to  admit  it. 
They  sent  for  Judge  Gould  and  asked  his  opinion,  and  he  said  there  was  no 
chance  for  them.     They  said  they  would  consult  their  lawyers,  and  all  of 
them  said  they  must  give  up  the  cotton — 9,978  bales  in  one  lot.     Judge 
Gould's  opinion  he  has  borne  testimony  to  frankly  and  I  have  it  here.     He 
told  them  that  if  they  resisted  they  would  get  into  jail,  and  forbade  them  to 
talk  about  it  at  all.     I  finally  got  permission  from  Bell  to  take  his  case;  and 
on  the  express  condition  that  if  anybody  was  to  go  to  jail  I  would  go  myself, 
as  I  was  the  only  one  who  would  have  done  anything  wrong.     And  it  is  not 
often  that  you  find  a  man  willing  to  go  to  jail  to  get  a  case.     That  was 
late  on  Saturday  evening.     I  went  early  on  Monday  morning  to  see  General 
Steadman,  and  he  ordered  me  not  to  talk  to  him  about  it.     He  said  that  ho 
had  ordered  that  cotton  to  be  turned  over,  and  that  if  I  interfered  in  th« 
matter  he  would  send  me  to  jail.     I  told  him  that  I  was  just  out  of  Fort 
Lafayette  and  that  it  wasn't  such  a  bad  place  after  all.     He  might  also 
understand  that  I  intended  to  interfere.    He  said  then  that  he  would  put  any 
judge  in  jail  who  would  grant  an  injunction  in  the  matter.     The  next  day 
— I  went  on  the  mean  time  preparing  for  the  fight — one  of  the  parties  inter- 


484  SENATOR  B.   H.  HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

ested  in  the  claim  for  the  cotton  came  to  me  and  said  that  if  I  would  stand 
aside  and  not  interfere,  I  could  get  $100,000  !  That  was  a  very  bad  position 
to  put  a  poor  man  in,  you  see  !  It  was  very  tempting  !  But  I  felt  that  the 
offer  to  bribe  me  was  a  concession  that  they  feared  me,  and  I  scorned  the 
bribe  and  defied  the  jail,  and  in  ten  days  I  had  the  cotton  safe  and  the  orders 
rescinded  ;  and  not  only  rescinded  in  that  case,  but  they  had  rescinded  all 
other  orders  of  the  kind  in  Georgia  !  In  plain  language,  I  stopped  the 
seizure  of  cotton  by  military  orders  all  over  Georgia  ! 

Now,  you  see,  the  gentleman  upon  whose  instance  that  cotton  was  seized 
was  George  Schley,  of  Augusta,  brother  of  William  Schley,  late  of  Savannah 
and  now  of  New  York.  Again  it  was  tried  to  sell  this  cotton  on  one  of 
these  orders,  and  it  was  resisted  and  carried  to  the  United  States  Court  and 
tried  in  Savannah,  and  here  now  is  all  the  testimony  taken  on  that  trial — and 
all  the  distinguished  counsel  are  here.  It  was  a  bill  in  equity,  which  in  that 
court  is  somewhat  different  from  the  practice  in  our  State  courts.  The 
matters  of  fact  there  are  made  up  and  submitted  to  the  jury  in  the  shape 
of  questions  and  they  find  their  verdict  upon  them.  These  are  called 
"  special  verdicts."  [Mr.  Hill  here  read  from  the  record  the  questions  upon 
which  special  verdicts  were  given,  to  the  effect  that  Schley  had  no  authority, 
verbal  or  written,  from  Metcalf  to  sell  the  cotton.] 

That  case  was  tried  in  the  court  below,  those  verdicts  were  rendered,  and 
the  decrees  entered.  It  went  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
and  there  it  was  fully  reviewed  and  affirmed.  And  here  you  have  it  by  the 
testimony  of  those  records  that  I  did,  by  that  interference  in  those  cases,  by 
defying  the  threats  of  imprisonment  and  scorning  to  be  bribed,  save  my 
client  from  being  robbed  of  nine  thousand  bales  of  cotton,  attempted  to  be 
sold  without  his  authority,  verbal  or  written.  And  now,  from  that  day  to 
this,  that  man,  Wash.  McLean,  and  his  Cincinnati  JZnquirer  have  been  my 
enemies,  and  have  been  assailing  me.  He  was  the  man  who  was  the  special 
friend  of  Steadman,  and  wanted  me  to  cultivate  him  and  be  his  friend,  and 
not  interfere  with  him,  I  suppose;  for  this  bill  in  the  case  discloses  that 
there  was  a  conspiracy,  under  cover  of  the  military  authority  of  the  govern 
ment,  by  these  men,  to  steal  the  cotton  of  the  people  of  Georgia,  and  grow 
rich  off  the  plunder.  I  do  not  know  that  he  had  any  interest  in  the  matter, 
but  I  do  know  that  since  then  he  has  been  my  special  enemy.  In  Washing 
ton  City,  a  short  while  before  Christmas,  a  conference  was  held  by  some 
gentlemen,  not  members  of  Congress,  in  Wash.  McLean's  room,  and  your 
humble  servant  was  the  special  subject  of  discussion;  and  at  it  Schley,  of 
New  York,  gave  a  particularly  delectable  account  of  Mr.  Hill.  And  George 
Alfred  Townsend,  the  man  who  writes  up  people  for  the  newspapers,  was 
there,  and  I  am  ready  to  prove  that  the  conversations  took  place  just  as  re 
ported.  I  charge  no  one  with  the  conspiracy,  but  I  have  the  proof  that  the 
conversations  took  place,  were  reported,  and  that  the  object  was  to  cram  him 
upon  me  and  my  record.  He  was  outraged  at  the  discovery  of  the  use  they 
would  have  made  of  him  and  let  the  whole  thing  out.  Then  I  heard  from 
New  York  just  the  other  day  that  two  gentlemen  from  there  would  be  here 
to  defeat  me  for  the  Senate.  One  of  the  gentlemen  was  Schley.  I  do  not 
know  whether  he  is  here  or  not.  I  do  not  know  why  he  should  do  these 
things  ;  I  never  did  the  gentleman  any  harm,  neither  to  him  nor  his  family, 
except  it  was  to  stop  the  seizure  of  that  cotton  by  his  brother  in  Augusta, 
when  the  facts  show  that  if  it  had  succeeded  he  would  have  taken,  as  his 
share,  $100,000;  and  as  it  was,  he  did  not  take  a  cent  !  I  do  not  say  that  all 


WS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  485 

that  "  Gath  "  says  is  true,  but  I  give  what  he  says  about  it  and  I  have  his 
letter  now  to  prove  it.  But  these  other  facts  I  can  give,  for  I  have  the  facts 
here  as  were  proven  in  court.  Whether  this  gentleman  is  laboring  from  a 
lingering  spirit  inspired  by  these  things,  I  do  not  know.  Whether  McLean 
is,  or  not,  I  do  not  know.  But  I  do  know  that  about  a  year  ago,  when  I 
made  that  Amnesty  speech,  the  Enquirer  joined  in  the  bitterest  denunciations 
of  it,  and  the  meanest  things  that  were  said  about  it  were  said  by  McLean 
and  Steadman — the  very  men  who  were  engaged  in  this  same  cotton  steal. 
I  do  know  that  this  interview  took  place,  that  the  conversations  were  had, 
and  that  my  record  was  discussed.  I  do  not  know  that  my  excellent  friend! 
Senator  Norwood,  participated  in  any  of  the  intentions  of  the  party,  but 
they  say  that  he  was  there — and  what  they  had  him  there  for,  I  do  not  know  ! 

The  Thursday  after,  an  article  appeared  in  the  Cincinnati  Enquirer,  also 
stating  some  of  the  facts  which  "  Gath  "  has  in  his  interview — the  same  facts 
of  my  record  in  which  I  am  made  out  a  very  bad  fellow  ;  and  there  is  an 
article  in  which  the  Georgia  Legislature  is  advised  not  to  send  Ben  Hill  to 
the  Senate — that  I  am  not  a  good  Democrat  and  that  I  was  trading  with 
Hayes.  I  have  taken  some  pains  to  find  out  who  wrote  those  articles.  They 
were  written  by  a  man  named  McBride — and  who  is  he  ?  I  have  the  au 
thority  of  the  Chairman  of  the  State  Democratic  Committee  of  Ohio,  and 
Sergeant-at-Arms  of  the  House  at  Washington,  that  he  is  a  Radical!  This 
fellow  writes  articles  to  the  Georgia  Legislature  saying  that  I  am  a  Radical 
and  won't  do  to  trust,  and  a  Democratic  paper  in  Cincinnati  published  them. 
Mr.  Thompson  authorizes  me  to  say  that  this  man  is  a  Radical.  Now,  has 
it  come  to  this  that  one  of  your  representatives  is  to  be  defamed  by  a 
Democratic  newspaper  through  articles  written  by  a  Radical,  known  to  be 
such  ?  What  are  we  coming  to  ?  Here  is  a  Democratic  newspaper  saying 
that  I  am  trading  with  Hayes  ;  that  I  am  not  a  good  Democrat ;  that  I  am 
selling  out  to  Hayes;  and  all  the  time  these  beautiful  articles  are  copied  into 
all — no,  not  all — but  into  certain  Georgia  newspapers  and  spread  before  the 
people.  I  read  most  of  them  myself  in  a  Georgia  newspaper. 

There  is  another  man  in  Washington.  I  do  not  know  whether  he  is  a 
Radical  or  a  Democrat — I  think  he  is  chiefly  both  and  not  much  of  either ! 
Ele  published  the  other  day  (I  hear  of  these  things  before  they  come  out  ! 
He  is  a  man  writing  over  the  signature  of  "Buell  "),  he  published  an  article 
purporting  to  say — and  it  was  copied  by  my  good  friend,  the  Const  itution- 
that  General  Gordon  said  I  was  not  a  good  Democrat.  I  have  not  seen  Gen 
eral  Gordon,  but  two  of  his  friends  in  Washington  say  that  he  did  not  say 
it.  If  he  says  he  did  not,  I  do  not  believe  General  Gordon  would  tell  what 
is  not  true.  But  who  is  "  Buell  "  ?  He  is  the  man  who  wrote  the  most  out 
rageous  reports  of  my  Amnesty  speech.  Why,  when  the  Radicals  were 
doing  all  they  could  to  pervert  my  speech — and  one  of  them  told  me  that 
they  were  compelled  to  do  it  ;  that  they  had  no  idea  that  the  South  had  such  a 
good  defense  of  that  prison  question,  and  if  the  speech  had  gone  before  the 
people  of  the  North  without  something  to  break  its  force  it  would  have  ruined 
the  Republican  party — the  one  man  who  was  engaged  in  this  work  was  this 
man  Buell.  I  suppose  he  belongs  to  whichever  side  pays  him  the  most.  But 
he,  too,  is  now  coming  into  the  arena  against  me.  He  is  another  one  of 
the  conspirators.  Now,  here  is  another  branch  of  the  conspiracy.  It 
is  in  the  office  of  the  National  Republican,  at  Washington  -  -  it  is 
Grant's  organ,  you  know!  Did  you  ever  see  the  paper?  Did  you 
ever  read  it  ?  'if  you  want  to  feel  like  a  decent  man,  don't  you  ever 


486  SENATOR  £.  3.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

read  it !  It  is  certainly  one  of  the  most  licentious  papers  I  ever  saw — unless 
it  is  the  Cincinnati  Enquirer.  I  tell  you  as  a  fact,  that  in  this  office  they  have 
manufactured  entire  speeches  for  me  out  of  the  whole  cloth.  And  it  has  been 
praising  me  and  welcoming  me  into  the  Radical  party.  And  these  speeches 
that  they  manufacture  are  picked  up  and  published  in  other  newspapers. 
Why,  it  made  such  a  plausible  report  of  a  speech  that  it  attributed  to  me, 
and  called  editorial  attention  to  it  for  two  days  in  succession,  and  spoke  of 
Mr.  Hill's  able  remarks,  and  all  that,  until  some  of  my  friends  actually  de 
bated  whether  I  should  get  up  in  the  House  and  deny  it,  when  in  fact  the 
occasion  never  occurred  at  which  the  speech  was  said  to  have  been  delivered. 
And  all  these  things  are  the  results  of  the  conspiracies  in  Washington  Cit}% 
by  different  parties,  acting  from  different  motives  and  from  different  stand 
points,  but  all  for  the  same  purposes. 

Among  other  things,  about  a  year  ago,  the  Republican  party  managers 
published  a  campaign  document  by  taking  my  Amnesty  speech,  cutting  it  in 
two,  changing  some  of  the  sentences,  and  rearranging  it  and  putting  in 
things  I  did  not  say,  and  then  putting  it  in  between  the  speeches  of  Blaine 
and  Garfield,  and  then  sent  it  out  by  hundreds  of  thousands.  A  gentleman 
wrote  to  me  from  Illinois — a  Mr.  Davidson — calling  my  attention  to  the 
matter,  and  on  it  I  wrote  what  is  known  as  the  Davidson  letter,  in  which  I 
denounced  it  and  said  that  no  honorable  man  would  circulate  it.  That  broke 
down  the  scheme,  and  a  large  number  of  the  documents  were  left  over. 
And  I  was  told  in  Washington,  by  authority  that  I  believe  to  be  true,  that 
under  the  frank  of  Senator  Edmunds  these  documents  are  being  sent  to 
Georgia — to  members  of  the  Legislature.  If  you  have  any  of  them  you 
know  whether  this  is  true  or  not.  If  it  is  not  so,  I  am  glad  that  my  con 
spirators  are  not  guilty  of  at  least  one  act  like  this. 

Then,  again,  last  year  when  we  were  drawing  for  seats  as  you  do  here — 
and  they  have  two  sides  there,  one  called  the  Democratic  side  and  one  the 
Radical  side.  Now,  if  you  divided  it  here,  the  Radicals  over  here  would 
have  plenty  of  room  on  their  side,  but  the  Democrats  would  be  crowded 
over  there.  But  in  the  last  Congress  there  being  seventy-two  Democratic 
majority,  some  of  the  Democrats  have  had  to  sit  on  the  Republican  side. 
I  was  unfortunate,  being  one  of  the  last  names  called,  and  I  had  to  take  a 
seat  on  the  extreme  back  row,  on  the  outside  of  the  Democratic  side  of  the 
House.  My  friend,  Hon.  Wm.  E.  Smith,  got  a  seat  upon  the  Republican  side, 
right  in  front  of  the  Speaker — a  very  desirable  seat.  He  was  a  little  exer 
cised  about  the  poor  position  I  had,  as  I  was  myself,  to  tell  the  truth,  and 
he  said  to  me  that  he  considered  his  seat  a  sort  of  partnership  seat  between 
us  and  I  could  use  it  whenever  I  wanted  to  be  near  and  watch  what  was 
going  on.  Well,  at  the  last  session  he  did  not  come  on  at  first,  and  I  sat  in 
his  seat,  and  don't  you  think  a  mean,  contemptible  Georgia  paper  published 
that  I  had  gone  over  to  the  Radicals  and  was  sitting  upon  their  side  of  the 
House.  Why  not  say  Smith  is  a  Radical  ?  Why  not  say  that  any  one  of 
the  Democrats  who  are  compelled  to  sit  on  that  side  are  Radicals  ?  No, 
they  are  not;  and  no  nobler,  more  gallant,  and  chivalrous  man  ever  lived  than 
Wm.  E.  Smith  ! 

Now,  fellow-citizens,  I  have  been  gathering  up  these  facts  and  laying 
them  before  you.  There  are  correlative  duties  in  this  life.  A  public  repre 
sentative  owes  fidelity,  zeal,  and  watchfulness  over  the  interests  and  honor 
of  his  constituency.  Do  they  owe  nothing  in  return  to  their  public  servant? 
If  your  public  representative  has  been  faithful  and  watchful  and  true  to 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS. 

your  interests,  are  you  under  no  obligation  to  protect  his  character  when  it 
is  assailed  in  this  style  ?  The  character  of  a  public  man  is  public  property 
and  it  is  valued  according  to  his  ability  and  efficiency.  And  the  whole  pur 
pose  of  these  groundless  charges,  whatever  the  motive,  whoever  the  conspira 
tors,  and  whatever  the  inducement — the  whole  purpose  is  to  defame  and  de 
stroy  me,  as  a  public  man,  through  you.  What  have  I  done  to  deserve  this  ? 
One  paper  in  Georgia  calls  me  a  vile  demagogue,  and  that  is  picked  up  and 
circulated  over  the  North.  And  there  is  another  paper,  characteristic  in  its 
elegant  literature,  that  calls  me  a  "  flat-headed  mud-cat,"  and  here  in  the 
very  streets  of  Atlanta,  on  which  I  have  walked  for  years  among  you,  and 
where  I  defied  the  bayonets  of  your  oppressors,  I  have  been  caricatured  at 
the  very  time  I  was  doing  the  service  of  which  1  have  already  spoken,  and 
this  caricature  was  circulated  all  over  the  North. 

And  I  am  accused  of  being  ambitious  and  selfish  !  Why,  I  wouldn't 
have  office  under  either  Tilden  or  Hayes  !  I  challenge  any  man  to  show  the 
part  of  my  record  that  has  the  smell  of  selfishness  upon  it !  Briefly,  when 
was  I  ever  in  politics  for  a  selfish  purpose  ?  I  1855  I  was  opposed 'to  the 
Democratic  party  because  I  believed  its  policy  would  lead  to  secession,  and 
that  secession  would  be  bad  for  the  Southern  people.  Was  that  for  a  selfish 


but,  thank  God,  there  are  four  years  of  my  public  life  that  have  never  been 
assailed  by  the  conspirators  !     Previous  to  the  war  I  canvassed  all  over  the 
State  of  Georgia,  doing  service  for  my  party  and  for  what  I  believed  to  be 
correct  principles,  and  I  never  asked  for  office,  except  to  go  to  the  Legis 
lature  from  my  dear  little  County  of  Troup.     But  when,  at  the  beginning  of 
the  war,  I  went  to  Milledgeville  and  the  people  transferred  me  to  the  Con 
federate  Senate,  I  served  there  during  the  war — you  all  know  in  what  man 
ner.     Was  that  selfish  ?     It  may  have  been  conferred  upon  me,  as  a  Demo 
crat  once  explained  to  me,  to  appease  the  forty  thousand  Whigs  in  Georgia, 
whose  support  was  needed,  and  who  it  was  thought  could  be  controlled  by  me. 
I  accepted  the  compliment,  but  did  I  falter?     Did  I  use  my  office  for  selfish 
purposes?     And  if  it  is  not  true  that  during  all  that  time  my  affections  grew 
dearer  and  deeper  as  the  days  grew  darker?     It  was  at  that  time  that  I  won 
from  your  old  chieftain  the  compliment  I  am  too  modest  here  to  repeat.     Then 
in  1865,  when  a  paroled  prisoner,  I  went  to  Augusta,  bearded  the  tyrant  and 
broke  his  arm.  Was  that  selfish  ?  And  while  I  succeeded  in  rescinding  the  order 
in  that  one  case,  here  is  the  further  record.     I  did  not  stop  with  that  one  order 
— I  made  myself  the  attorney  for  every  freeman  in  Georgia,  and  had  all  the 
orders  of  the  same  kind  rescinded.     And  in  1866,  soon  after  this  had  been 
accomplished,  when  Federal  treasury  agents  were  sent  all  over  Georgia, 
ostensibly  to  look  for  Confederate  cotton  subscribed  by  the  citizens,  and  was 
serving  notices  on  every  man  who  subscribed  cotton  to  the  Confederate 
Government,  and  stating  that  he  must  furnish  that  amount  to  the  Federal 
Government.     Over  here,  in  Meriwether  County,  one  of  these  agents  got  a 
list  of  the  names  of  the  parties  who  had  subscribed  and  served  notice  on  all 
of  them  to  give  up  the  cotton  or  be  arrested  ;  the  people  interested  sent  Mr. 
A.  Adams  over  to  see  if  I  would  take  the  cases.     I  examined  into  the  facts 
and  did  so,  and  I  served  notice  upon  this  treasury  agent  that  I  was  going 
to  defend  them.     I  got  on  the  train  and  went  to  Washington  City  at  my 
own  expense  to  see  Andrew  Johnson,  and  told  him  that  he  had  stopped  the 


488  SENATOR  B.  H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

seizure  of  cotton  down  here  by  military  order,  and  now  his  Federal  treasury 
agents  were  down  here  to  look  after  Confederate  cotton,  and  they  were  taking 
everybody  else's.  He  said,  "  What  shall  I  do  about  it  ?  "  I  said,  "  Withdraw 
the  last  one  of  them."  He  said,  "I  sent  government  agents  down  there,  and 
they  went  to  stealing  ;  then  I  sent  supervisors,  and  they  went  to  stealing  too  ; 
then  we  sent  the  Federal  treasury  agents,  and  you  tell  me  that  they  are 
stealing  too.  Well,  they  all  steal."  I  replied,  "Yes,  every  man  of  them."  I 
told  him  our  people  had  very  little  left  to  start  their  plantations  on,  and  if 
that  little  was  taken  from  them  they  would  be  left  without  means  and  to 
suffer.  I  did  not  make  a  speech  more  than  five  minutes  long  before  the  old 
man  said,  "  Stop,  Mr.  Hill,  I  believe  you  are  right,  and  I'll  stop  it  at  once  "; 
and  he  did.  There  is  the  record.  And  I  did  not  charge  my  friend  in 
Meriwether  a  dollar  for  that  service.  And  again  I  served  the  whole  people 
of  Georgia  and  the  South,  for  the  orders  were  made  general,  and  these 
agents  were  withdrawn  from  the  South.  Well,  did  you  ever  know  a  flat- 
headed  catfish  to  act  that  way  ? 

These  are  the  facts.  Every  one  of  them  can  be  proven.  They  are  re 
corded  facts.  I  have  never  mentioned  them  before  in  a  public  address, 
because  I  did  not  do  those  things  for  effect.  How  many  men  would  have 
this  record  and  not  have  it  in  every  newspaper  in  Georgia  !  And  yet  I  am 
arraigned  in  this  most  critical  period  of  my  life  and  of  my  services  as  unsafe. 
After  the  war  I  never  expected  to  go  into  politics  again.  I  expected  to  go 
to  the  State  University  and  engage  in  literary  pursuits,  practice  law,  and 
educate  my  children.  I  moved  from  La  Grange  to  Athens.  Pretty  soon 
after  this  these  Reconstruction  acts  came  along  ;  but  I  paid  no  attention  to 
them.  I  read  none  of  the  acts  and  none  of  the  speeches  until  I  came  here 
to  court,  when  I  was  called  upon  by  a  number  of  citizens,  asking  me  to  take 
the  lead  and  advise  the  people  to  agree  to  Reconstruction.  I  said  to  them 
that  I  knew  nothing  about  it — and  I  wish  to  the  Lord  that  I  never  had — 
that  it  never  had  occurred,  I  mean.  I  went  home  and  read  the  acts  and 
studied  the  debates  and  I  said  if  the  people  accepted  them  I  thought  it  would 
be  essential  forever  after.  After  all  that  we  had  suffered  in  the  war,  the 
blood  and  treasure,  loss  of  property,  desolation  of  homes,  broken  firesides, 
the  people  were  called  upon  as  a  last  sacrifice  to  consent  to  their  own  dis 
honor.  You  were  asked  to  consent  to  that.  Then  followed  my  "Notes 
on  the  Situation."  I  did  not  write  them  to  make  known  that  I  was 
ready  and  willing  to  resist  the  Government  of  the  United  States.  Here  is 
the  opinion.  I  had  the  power  and  force  that  was  being  applied  to  us 
then.  [Mr.  Hill  here  read  a  couple  of  paragraphs  from  the  "  Notes  on  the 

cvj.        .iV          in 

situation. 

The  point  is,  where  was  the  selfishness  in  all  this  ?  Was  I  seeking  office  ? 
You  were  hardly  able  to  speak  at  all.  Your  enemy  was  here  upon  you,  and 
had  all  power  in  his  hands.  If  I  had  been  seeking  office,  and  wanted  a  selfish 
purpose  accomplished,  I  would  have  joined  your  enemies.  But  when  you 
were  powerless  and  your  enemies  all-powerful,  I  stood  up  and  defended  your 
honor  to  the  last.  I  do  not  ask  you  to  say  that  I  was  wise.  The  only  point 
is,  was  it  wise  or  unwise  when  I  said  it?  That  thing  lasted  from  1866  to 
1870,  and  during  all  of  which  time  I  did  my  best  to  resist  it.  In  the  mean 
time — I  want  to  mention  one  thing  right  here  to  show  you  how  people 
misunderstand  things — I  have  been  charged  with  advising  the  people  not  to 
take  part  in  the  election  of  1870.  I  found  then  that  was  a  most  trying 
question  for  us  to  decide.  There  was  a  registration  law  prescribing  certain 


SIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  489 

qualifications  for  voters  and  prescribing  that  they  should  be  registered. 
And  then  delegates  were  to  be  chosen  to  a  convention,  and  if,  upon  the 
question  of  convention  or  no  convention,  more  than  half  of  the  voters  who 
had  registered  did  not  vote,  convention  should  not  carry.  So,  therefore 
every  man  who  had  registered  and  didn't  vote  was  counted  against  the  con 
vention.  My  idea  was  that  the  best  way  to  defeat  the  convention  was  to 
register  and  not  vote,  so  that  if  we  kept  more  than  one-half  of  the  voters 
who  had  registered  from  voting,  the  thing  was  defeated. 

I  will  give  you  a  little  history.  Having  few  advisers,  I  took  the  train 
and  went  to  Washington  to  advise  with  Andrew  Johnson,  the  then  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States.  We  took  the  Reconstruction  acts  and  went  over 
them  together,  and  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  best  way  to  oppose  Re 
construction  was  to  register  and  then  not  to  vote.  There  was  a  manifest 
disadvantage  in  it,  but  after  that  interview  with  Andrew  Johnson,  I  went 
to  the  hotel  and  wrote  the  letter  in  which  I  gave  that  advice  to  the  people  of 
Georgia  through  the  Chronicle  and  Sentinel  of  Augusta.  The  President 
concurred  in  that  view. 

This  thing  went  on  to  1870,  when  the  election  of  members  to  the  Legis 
lature  was  coming  on.  I  knew  that  it  was  going  to  be  Democratic.  I  knew 
that  we  could  not  keep  it  so,  unless  we  could  keep  the  hand  of  the  Federal 
Government  off.  How  was  that  to  be  done  ?  Some  people  think  that  all 
we  had  to  do  was  to  carry  the  election.  Why,  you  can  find  all  through  my 
writings  that  no  matter  how  we  voted,  the  Radicals  would  keep  in  if  they 
could.  I  said  then,  and  say  now,  that  General  Gordon  was  elected  gover 
nor,  and  Bullock  was  counted  in.  You  can  say  now,  for  you  all  know 
it  now,  that  majorities  won't  restrain  the  Republican  party.  And 
here,  while  I  am  talking,  they  are  devising  schemes  to  defeat  the 
will  of  the  people  with  a  majority  of  250,000  against  them.  He  is  a  sim 
pleton  who  thinks  majorities  will  ever  restrain  the  Republican  party.  That 
was  the  most  bothering  question  of  my  life.  The  Democratic  platform  of 
1868  declared  that  the  Reconstruction  acts  were  revolutionary --null  and 
void.  With  us,  to  hold  the  Legislature  Democratic  was  the  point.  My  idea 
was  that  we  could  do  nothing  without  being  in  harmony  with  the  Democratic 
party  of  the  North,  and  it  had  no  power  in  Washington.  I  went  there  and 
stayed  during  two  visits,  talked  with  them,  and  read  their  newspapers  in 
order  to  find  out,  if  I  could,  what  they  intended  to  do.  This  was  September 
and  December,  1868.  And  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  though  they  were 
not  conscious  of  it,  yet  that  the  logic  of  events  was  such  that  in  1872  the 
Democratic  party  would  accept  Reconstruction  and  go  back  on  the  platform 
of  1868.  The  question  then  was  how  to  get  it  before  the  people  of  Georgia. 
So  I  thought  that  if  I  took  the  position  in  1870  that  Reconstruction  was  an 
accomplished  fact,  that  Grant  could  be  induced  to  hold  hands  off.  Then 
it  was  that  I  wrote  that  letter.  I  expected  to  be  abused  a  little  by  the 
Democrats,  but  never  to  be  abused  as  much  as  I  have  been.  Grant  made  the 
mistake,  and  I  knew  he  would  do  so,  for  he  was  not  statesman  enough  to 
see  that  when  a  man  admitted  that  Reconstruction  was  an  accomplished 
fact,  he  had  not  taken  and  subscribed  to  the  Republican  platform.  We  went 
on  and  there  was  an  election.  And  about  that  time  a  member  of  the  Cabinet 
and  other  influential  men  from  the  North  came  down  here,  and  they  were 
here  at  the  time  that  Bullock  was  trying  to  turn  the  Democrats  out.  I  said 
that  when  that  Legislature  meets  it  will  approve  the  amendments  to  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  United  States  and  will  not  interfere  with  the  rights  of  the 


490  SENATOR  B.  S.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

negroes  or  the  Union  men,  and  therefore  don't  interfere  with  the  Legislature. 
And  after  a  week's  conversation  with  this  member  of  the  cabinet,  I  got  him 
to  consent  to  it. 

That  banquet  about  which  you  have  heard  so  much  and  so  often,  was 
given  to  him  by  Bullock  to  aid  that  Reconstruction  policy,  and  I  went 
there  to  show  my  respect  for  the  guest,  and  only  after  he  had  assured  me 
that  he  was  going  to  support  me,  and  I  remember  well,  and  shall  never  for 
get  the  words  that  I  used  upon  that  occasion,  when  I  said,  "  Thank  God, 
Reconstruction  is  over,  at  last — over — over — over  ! '  You  can  see  that 
there  was  meaning  in  those  words,  and  I  well  remember  how  he  nodded  his 
approval  to  me  from  the  head  of  the  table  ;  and  right  there  I  broke  up 
Bullock's  scheme  of  Reconstruction.  I  went  to  Washington  to  carry  out 
the  plan,  and  I  kept  General  Grant  from  interfering.  People  said  that  I 
"  tricked '  General  Grant.  I  didn't.  I  "  tricked '  no  man.  I  opposed 
Reconstruction,  yet,  when  it  was  accomplished,  I  submitted.  The  only 
point  here  is,  whether,  irl  1870,  I  did  correctly  forecast  the  policy  of  the 
Democratic  party  in  1872  ?  And  sure  enough  they  did,  only  they  went  a 
little  further.  Is  there  a  man  in  this  country  that  don't  submit  to  it  to 
day  ?  There  was  no  trick  in  this  matter.  I  thought  I  ought  to  save  the 
Legislature  of  Georgia,  and  save  Georgia  from  further  Radical  domination. 
I  believed  that  by  taking  that  position  in  1870  I  could  get  into  position  to 
do  it.  It  was  a  naked  wrestle  of  intellect,  and  the  redemption  of  Georgia 
was  the  wager,  and  I  threw  my  antagonist  and  won.  That  is  the  truth, 
and  yet  every  little  fellow  that  came  along  afterward  and  got  on  the  plat 
form  is  crying  out,  "  Ben  Hill  is  not  reliable  ! '  It  is  said  that  I  was  collud 
ing  with  the  Radicals  to  get  office,  and  go  to  the  Senate.  One  little  paper 
down  here  in  Warrenton,  that  ought  to  have  been  sent  to  the  lunatic  asy 
lum, — the  paper,  I  mean,  of  course, — made  that  charge.  How  could  I  be 
seeking  office  from  the  Republicans  when  I  was  trying  to  keep  in  the  Demo 
crats  ?  And  during  all  that  long  eleven  months,  when  I  had  to  carry  this 
burden  amid  the  anathemas  of  my  friends,  and  was  simply  waiting  for  the 
Democratic  party  to  come  to  the  platform  I  had  predicted  for  it,  and  until 
that  had  been  done,  I  was  all  that  time  under  disabilities  and  could  not 
hold  office  under  any  party,  and  did  not  do  a  single  thing  to  have  them 
removed.  These  things  show  you  how  unjustly  I  was  dealt  with  in  those 
days.  I  would  not  have  them  removed  only  in  order  that  I  might  raise 
myself  in  my  labors  above  even  the  suspicion  of  selfishness. 

But,  fellow-citizens,  in  1871  the  Federal  arm  which  had  torn  down  so 
many  State  Governments  stayed  in  Georgia,  and  she  was  the  first  of  her 
sisters  to  achieve  her  redemption.  You  admire  justly  the  patience  of 
Hampton,  and  the  gallantry  of  Nicholls,  McEnry,  and  Penn,  and  say  that 
their  grand  struggle  to  get  rid  of  Radical  government  is  worthy  of  all 
promise  and  all  success  ;  but  for  five  years  you  have  been  free,  and  you 
were  made  free  as  I  have  told  you.  Now,  whether  I  was  wise  or  unwise,  I 
put  the  question  to  you,  Where  was  the  selfishness  in  this  act  ?  Whatever 
was  my  motive,  whatever  was  the  efficiency  of  the  motive,  you  are  obliged 
to  agree  with  me  in  the  result. 

But  I  pass  on.  So  things  rested  from  1872.  Where  is  the  selfishness 
since  ?  I  did  express  a  desire  to  go  to  the  Forty-fourth  Congress  when  I 
found  that  the  Democrats  had  a  majority  in  that  body.  I  thought  I  might 
be  of  some  use,  and  the  people  were  kind  enough  to  send  me,  and  I  did  go. 
I  went  to  Washington,  and  after  I  had  been  there  a  short  time,  I  found  my- 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  491 

self  in  a  very  embarrassing  situation.  I  found  that  those  who  had  been  there 
before  had  taken  the  passive  policy,  and  deemed  it  wise  and  prudent  not  to 
reply  to  anything  that  might  be  said  against  them  or  their  people.  I  had 
been  there  but  a  little  while  when  the  South  was  assailed  for  barbarism,  cruelty, 
and  savagery,  by  one  of  the  most  accomplished  political  combatants  of  the 
Radical  party,  a  man  of  large  influence,  long  in  service,  a  leader  of  his 
party,  a  splendid  tactician,  a  thorough  master  of  the  rules,  and  who  had  held 
the  Speaker's  gavel  for  six  years.  If  I  had  consulted  my  own  ease  when 
this  attack  was  made,  I  would  have  sat  there  and  let  it  pass  unmet.  What 
was  I  to  do  ?  I  felt,  fellow-citizens,  that  it  was  better  for  me  to  be  sacri 
ficed  in  a  manly  eifort  to  repel  false  and  malicious  charges  against  my  people 
than  to  sit  there  and  submit  to  them  in  silence.  Now,  tell  me — I  challenge 
any  man,  I  challenge  every  man,  to  put  his  finger  upon  a  single  word  of  my 
history  where  I  have  shown  a  selfish  purpose  in  any  degree.  I  have  been  in 
politics  for  twenty-two  years,  and  during  only  six  of  them  have  I  held  public 
office,  counting  my  present  position.  During  sixteen  years  I  labored  with 
out  office,  and  the  best  service  I  have  done  to  Georgia  was  when  I  was  doing 
it  single-handed  as  an  individual. 

It  is  a  source  of  great  pride  to  me  when  I  hear  people  in  Washington,  as 
I  do  almost  every  day,  saying  how  much  better  off  Georgia  is  than  her  sister 
States.  I  do  not  doubt  that  I  have  made  errors.  They  say  I  am  egotistic. 
It  is  not  true.  I  state  facts,  not  in  an  egotistic  spirit,  or  in  vain  boasting. 
All  of  them  can  be  proven,  and  why  should  the  man  be  assailed  for  stating 
what  he  has  done  ?  God  knows,  when  I  think  of  what  should  have  been 
done,  I  feel  humbled  ;  but  the  people  should  be  generous,  for  my  history  is 
a  peculiar  one,  for  a  large  amount  of  what  I  had  to  do  was  done  single- 
handed  and  alone,  and  when  I  came  here  to  Atlanta  and  made  the  "  Davis 
Hall  Speech,"  in  order  to  tell  the  people  that  they  had  a  right  to  speak,  and 
Pope  wrote  to  Grant  to  have  me  banished  from  the  State,  I  felt  complimented 
by  it.  And  if  you  will  pardon  me,  I  will  state  that  I  read  the  other  day  a 
record  made  up  by  one  of  the  most  distinguished  historians  of  Massachusetts, 
which  I  did  not  know  had  ever  been  written.  I  do  not  know  him,  and  have 
never  seen  him  ;  nor  does  he  know  me.  In  reviewing  Pope's  letter  he  said  : 
"  We  have  read  the  speech  of  Mr.  Hill  upon  which  General  Pope's  letter 
was  based,"  and  he  says  of  it  this — "  with  such  men  as  Mr.  Hill  the  country 
can  be  saved  ;  without  such  men  as  Mr.  Hill  the  country  is  not  worth  saving." 
It  was  no  compliment  to  me  personally,  but  to  my  nerve  and  courage  in  that 
dark  hour,  when  I  dared  to  defy  the  military  tyrant.  I  find  the  places  where 
dangers  are  to  be  encountered,  desolate,  but  become  crowded  thorough 
fares  when  offices  are  to  be  distributed,  but  I  never  got  one  by  myself,  and 
never  was  allowed  to.  I  am  always  a  criminal  when  I  want  one  ;  but  I  do 
desire  to  go  to  the  Senate.  I  desire  it  that  the  whole  universe  may  be  my 
audience,  and  solely  because  I  believe  I  can  be  of  more  service  there  to  my 
people  than  anywhere  else.  I  do  not  say  that  I  can  be  of  service  ;  I  don't 
say  that  I  can  be  of  service  anywhere.  "That  is  for  you  to  judge  ;  but  if  I 
do  say  so  myself,  if  you  think  I  can  be  of  service  anywhere,  the  Senate  is 
the  place  where  I  can  be  of  the  most  service,  and  that  owing  to  the  peculiar 
rules  of  the  Houses.  I  am  told  now  that  I  am  the  very  man  for  the  House, 
but  even  that  was  not  discovered  until  after  I  got  there.  I  am  the  only  man 
to  whom  the  argument  has  ever  been  applied.  It  is  the  custom  and  has 
always  been  so  to  transfer  men  from  the  House  to  the  Senate.  Already 
during  the  present  Congress  four  of  them  have  been  so  transferred-  -Mr. 


492  SENATOR  B.  If.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

Lamar,  of  Mississippi ;  Mr.  Barnum,  from  Connecticut.  Yesterday  Massa 
chusetts  transferred  Mr.  Hoar  from  the  House  to  the  Senate,  last  Tuesday, 
and  even  during  this  session,  Maine  took  Mr.  Blaine  up  and  put  him  there. 
When  it  comes  to  talking  about  Mr.  Hill,  it  is  said  to  be  the  worst  thing  in 
the  world.  Why  is  it  ?  Now,  because  of  its  very  large  numbers,  and  the 
amount  of  business  it  always  has  on  hand,  the  rules  of  the  House  are  restrain 
ing  upon  debate  ;  a  member  can  only  speak  there  for  one  hour,  unless  by 
consent,  and  never  twice  upon  the  same  subject,  save  by  unanimous  consent, 
and  it  is  a  very  exceedingly  noisy  place,  as  all  large  bodies  are.  That  is 
the  reason  that  I  prefer  the  Senate  ;  and  the  man  who  is  familiar  with  the 
rules  of  the  two  Houses,  and  who  says  that  the  House  is  the  better  place  for 
a  gentleman  who  has  any  pretensions  to  debating  powers  than  the  Senate,  is 
not  telling  the  truth. 

If  I  am  not  the  proper  man  to  represent  you  in  the  Senate,  don't  send  me 
there  ;  but  if  you  defeat  me,  these  conspirators  will  claim  the  credit  for  it. 
What  a  jolly,  rollicking  crowd  will  be  in  the  Washington  Republican  office 
when  they  get  the  news  that  Ben  Hill  is  defeated  for  the  Senate  ;  and  that 
Republican  who  writes  for  the  Cincinnati  Enquirer,  and  all  the  rest  of  them, 
will  claim  that  they  have  won  a  triumph;  and  controlled  the  Georgia  Legisla 
ture.  But  if  you  defeat  me,  why  leave  me  in  the  House  with  my  forehead 
branded  "unworthy."  That  will  be  the  interpretation  of  your  action.  Who 
can  I  ask  to  believe  me  when  you  will  not  trust  me,  for  that  is  what  you 
will  say  by  that  action.  If  you  do  not  believe  that  I  should  be  in  the  Senate, 
don't  send  me  ;  but  I  am  the  only  man  on  whom  this  personal  issue  has  been 
made.  For  in  all  times — in  peace,  in  the  perils  of  war,  in  darkness  and  dis 
tress — I  have  always  defended  your  honor,  and  now  my  honor  is  at  stake  ; 
and  it  is  for  you  to  say  whether  you  will  defend  it  or  not.  I  have  reached 
that  point  when  I  need  a  constituency. 

People  of  Georgia,  I  say  to  you  I  can  fight  any  enemy  that  assails  you. 
I  have  always  fought  for  you,  and  I  am  ready,  be  their  powers  and  strength 
what  they  may,  to  fight  them  to  the  last.  I  can  defy  all  these  conspirators, 
but  when  you  give  them  voice  and  encouragement  I  am  done.  There  is  one 
that  I  cannot  fight,  and  that  is  Georgia  ;  and  when  Georgia  speaks  against 
me,  I  am  utterly  undone.  I  know  the  extent  of  this  conspiracy  ;  I  do  not 
know  its  strength,  but  I  know  its  purposes,  and  I  warn  you  against  it. 

I  have  not  said  one  word  against  the  gentlemen  who  are  my  competitors. 
They  are  gentlemen,  all  gentlemen,  and  this  I  will  say,  that  if  either  of  them 
had  been  assailed  by  such  a  band  of  Radical  conspirators  in  Washington, 
as  I  have  been,  I  would  promptly  decline  in  his  favor.  I  wouldn't  let  any 
Georgian  in  whose  fame  and  in  whose  services  I  had  an  interest  be  defamed 
with  impunity.  I  say  we  stand  within  forty  days  of  the  possible  wreck 
and  ruin  of  Constitutional  government.  If  Hayes  should  be  inaugurated, 
although  I  believe  him  personally  a  vast  improvement  on  Grant,  if  he  is  in 
augurated,  and  is  controlled  by  the  same  men  who  have  controlled  Grant,  he 
will  be  no  improvement,  and  no  pen  can  transcribe  the  terrors  of  what  this 
government  will  be  when  Radicalism  is  allowed  to  rule  again.  We  will 
suffer  all  and  more  than  history  has  yet  recorded,  and  our  beautiful  land  will 
become  the  Poland  of  America. 

God  close  your  eyes  and  mine  before  we  ever  see  that  day.  Talk  of 
pur  people  submitting  to  usurpation  !  When  did  I  say  that  they  would  do 
it?  When  did  I  advise  them  to  do  it?  If  they  have  not  shown  in  the  past 
their  courage  in  what  they  believe  to  be  the  right,  no  people  has  ;  but  if  we 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  493 

can  lift  the  Democratic  party  above  its  mere  party  triumph,  and  Tilden  can 
be  peaceably  inaugurated,  then  we  will  have  a  new  dawn,  and  the  sunlight 
of  peace  and  prosperity  will  shine  upon  us  again.  Then  the  States  will  all 
be  States  again,  and  our  beautiful  South  spring  up  from  the  ashes  of  her 
despair  and  gloom,  and  increase  in  beauty  and  power.  Has  the  South  now 
the  opportunity  of  absolutely  becoming  the  savior  of  the  Union  !  Shall 
the  Southern  people  by  their  moderation,  by  their  conservatism,  by  their 
wisdom,  step  in  at  this  crisis  and  demand  the  peace.  It  is  a  spectacle  on 
which  the  world  will  gaze  with  admiration,  and  on  which  angels  will  love 
to  look  when  the  South,  neck  deep  in  the  ashes  of  her  prosperity  and  hopes, 
shall  lift  her  voice  to  those  who  sought  to  destroy  her,  and  say,  "  Peace, 
peace,  civil  war  is  not  the  remedy  of  the  hour  ! r  If  the  South  can  accom 
plish  this  she  will  march  up  to  her  old  position  in  the  Union  with  more 
power  than  she  ever  possessed. 

Fellow-citizens,  it  is  to  help,  however  humbly,  in  such  a  scheme  that  I 
feel  willing  to  become  your  senator.  I  have  an  ambition  to  serve  my  peo 
ple  so  that  when  I  come  to  die  it  shall  not  be  counted  how  many  offices  I 
have  held,  but  how  many  I  have  deserved. 

Now  I  shall  take  my  leave  of  you.  If  I  fail  to  get  the  proper  telegram, 
I  shall  leave  on  the  first  train.  I  feel  that  I  have  no  right  to  be  staying  here, 
while  your  property  and  interests  are  at  stake.  I  left  with  the  understand 
ing  that  if  needed,  I  would  return  at  once.  I  shall  leave  you,  and  leave  my 
destiny  in  your  hands.  I  have  been  charged  with  being  a  traitor  and  with 
selling  you  out  to  your  enemies  in  your  hour  of  triumph.  Here  is  the  place 
to  test  it,  close  to  where  Davis's  Hall  stood,  within  a  stone's  throw  of  where 
the  bush-arbor  was  erected,  and  next  door  to  the  headquarters  where  I 
defied  the  bayonets  of  your  enemies  ;  and  here  let  the  roll  be  called,  and  let 
the  men  who  kept  watch  at  Andersonville  answer. 


SPEECH  DELIVERED  IK  THE  SENATE  OF  THE  UNITED 
STATES  ON  THE  PACIFIC  RAILROAD  FUNDING  BILL, 
MARCH  27,  1878. 

This  speech  is  an  argument  against  the  constitutionality  of  the  bill  reported  by  the 
Judiciary  Committee  of  the  Senate  to  establish  a  sinking  fund  to  secure  the  repayment 
of  a  loan  made  by  the  United  States  to  the  Union  and  Central  Pacific  Railroad  Compa 
nies.  Mr.  Hill  took  the  position  that  the  bill  was  an  impairment  of  the  contracts  here 
tofore  made  with  said  railroad  companies.  He  met  in  this  debate  the  ablest  lawyers  in 
the  Senate,  and  demonstrated  his  remarkable  power  as  a  constitutional  lawyer.  For 
close  logic  the  speech  is  a  model. 

The  Senate  being  as  in  Committee  of  the  Whole,  and  having  under 
consideration  the  bill  (S.  No.  15)  to  alter  and  amend  the  act  entitled  "An 
act  to  aid  in  the  construction  of  a  railroad  and  telegraph  line  from  the 
Missouri  River  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  to  secure  the  government  the  use 
of  the  same  for  postal,  military,  and  other  purposes,"  Mr.  Hill  said  : 

Mr.  President:  We  have  before  us  two  bills,  each  proposing  to  establish 
a  sinking  fund  the  better  to  secure  the  repayment  of  a  loan  made  by  the 
United  States  to  the  Union  Pacific  and  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad  Compa 
nies.  The  comparative  merits  of  the  two  bills  as  sinking-fund  measures  I 
have  not  yet  considered  and  shall  not  now  discuss.  I  especially  wish  it  dis 
tinctly  understood  that  nothing  I  may  say  in  the  way  of  dissenting  from 
the  bill  reported  by  the  judiciary  committee  is  to  be  taken  as  implying  that 
I  will  support  the  bill  reported  from  the  committee  on  railroads.  I  repeat  I 
have  not  considered,  and  much  less  formed  an  opinion  upon  either  of  these 
bills  as  measures  of  wisdom,  economy,  or  expediency.  I  have  thus  far  con 
fined  my  investigations,  and  shall  now  confine  my  remarks,  to  a  Constitu 
tional  question,  a  question  of  congressional  or  legislative  power  which  is 
raised  by  these  two  bills. 

The  bill  reported  from  the  railroad  committee  proposes  to  establish  a 
sinking  fund,  with  the  assent  of  the  companies,  as  matter  of  agreement 
between  the  creditor  and  the  debtor.  The  bill  reported  from  the  judiciary 
committee  proposes  to  establish  a  sinking  fund  by  legislative  act  only,  by  the 
sovereign  will  of  the  creditor,  not  only  without  the  assent  of  the  debtors, 
but  by  a  command,  a  failure  or  refusal  to  obey  which  by  the  debtors  shall 
work  a  forfeiture  of  estate  and  subject  them  or  their  agents  to  a  criminal 
prosecution.  Such  an  exercise  of  power  is,  in  my  judgment,  not  only  unau 
thorized  and  unconstitutional,  but  is  actually  subversive  of  the  great  pur 
poses  to  secure  which  the  government  itself  was  instituted. 

In  order  to  understand  clearly  the  issue  presented,  I  will  state  the  mate 
rial  facts  bearing  upon  the  case,  and  I  shall  state  the  contracts  as  they  were 
finally  agreed  to  : 

First,  by  the  act  of  1862,  Congress  created  a  corporate  being,  a  body- 
politic,  and  named  it  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  Company. 

Second,  this  corporate  being,  thus  created,  Congress  endowed  with  all 
the  powers,  privileges,  and  franchises  usually  granted  to  corporations,  and 
especially  authorized  and  empowered  it  "  to  lay  out,  locate,  construct,  fur 
nish,  maintain,  and  enjoy  a  continuous  railroad  and  telegraph,  with  the 
appurtenances,"  between  designated  points. 

494 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  495 

Third,  to  this  being,  thus  created  and  endowed,  the  Congress  also 
granted  certain  privileges,  such  as  the  right  of  way  through  the  public 
lands  without  compensation,  and  through  other  lands  with  compensation, 
and  also  certain  property,  and  especially  alternate  sections  of  the  public 
lands  amounting  to  several  million  acres.  All  these  rights,  powers,  privi 
leges,  and  grants  were  granted  without  money  and  without  price  by  the 
sovereign  grace  and  favor  to  the  child  thus  born  of  the  sovereign's  loins. 

Fourth — and  I  ask  the  Senate  to  mark  the  difference — after  thus  creat 
ing  this  corporate  being,  and  after  thus  clothing  it  with  powers  and  with 
authority  to  contract  and  be  contracted  with,  the  Congress  itself  proposed 
to  authorize  at  once  a  contract  with  it  in  behalf  of  the  United  States.  The 
Congress  deemed  that  the  construction  of  a  railroad  to  the  Pacific  Ocean 
would  be  a  great  benefit  to  the  government  in  the  way  of  saving  in  trans 
portation,  would  greatly  increase  the  wealth  and  power  of  the  people,  and 
perhape  maintain  the  integrity  of  the  Union.  To  enable  the  Union  Pacific 
Railroad  Company  to  construct,  equip,  and  maintain  its  portion  of  this  rail 
road  and  telegraph  line  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  Congress  proposed  to  make  it 
a  loan  in  bonds  ;  and  to  secure  the  completion  of  the  entire  line  Congress 
made  a  like  offer  of  loan  to  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad  Company,  a  cor 
poration  created  by  the  State  of  California,  and  also  authorized  the  latter 
company  to  extend  its  line  east  until  it  should  meet  the  Union  Pacific  line 
going  west. 

It  is  important  now  to  understand  with  accuracy  the  terms  and  condi 
tions  of  this  loan,  for  these  terms  and  conditions  formed  the  inducement  to 
accept  the  offer  and  thus  enter  into  the  substance  of  the  contract.  The 
material  terms  and  conditions  are  these  :  The  bonds  were  to  be  issued 
directly  by  the  government  and  delivered  to  the  companies.  The  secretary 
of  the  treasury  was  authorized  to  deliver  the  bonds  as  the  roads  were  com 
pleted  in  sections.  The  bonds  were  to  mature  after  thirty  years  to  bear 
interest  at  the  rate  of  six  per  cent,  per  annum,  payable  semi-annually.  The 
loans  were  to  be  repaid  to  the  government  as  follows  :  Previous  to  the 
maturity  of  the  bonds  the  companies  were  to  pay  to  the  government  five 
per  cent,  of  their  net  earnings  and  one-half  the  sums  due  by  the  govern 
ment  for  transportation  over  the  road  ;  and  it  is  especially  stipulated  that 
the  government  shall  at  all  times  have  the  preference  in  the  use  of  the  road 
and  telegraph  "  for  all  the  purposes  aforesaid  "  ;  that  is,  "  to  transmit  mes 
sages  and  transport  mails,  troops,  munitions  of  war,  supplies,  and  public 
stores,"  and  "  at  fair  and  reasonable  rates  of  compensation,  not  to  exceed  the 
amount  paid  by  private  parties  for  the  same  kind  of  service."  Whatever 
balance  should  remain  unpaid  by  this  five  per  cent,  and  the  half  of  the  gov 
ernment  transportation,  the  companies  were  to  repay  at  the  maturity  of  the 
bonds.  It  is  so  expressly  nominated.  To  secure  its  repayment  it  is  stipu 
lated  that  : 

The  issue  of  said  bonds  and  delivery  to  the  company  shall  ipso  facto  constitute  a  first 
mortgage  on  the  whole  line  of  the  railroad  and  telegraph,  together  with  the  rolling 
stock,  fixtures,  and  property  of  every  kind  and  description,  and  in  consideration  of 
which  said  bonds  may  be  issued. 

And  in  case  of  default  by  the  companies,  the  secretary  of  the  treasury 
is  directed  to  take  possession  of  the  property  so  covered  by  mortgage  "  for 
the  use  and  benefit  of  the  United  States." 

I  am  stating  the  contract  of  loan  as  finally  made.  In  the  first  offer  in 
1862  the  United  States  were  to  have  a  first  lien.  In  1864  the  offer  was 


496  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

changed  by  Congress,  so  that  other  bonds  might  be  issued  by  the  companies 
of  like  amount  with  those  of  the  government,  and  the  lien  of  the  government 
was  to  be  subordinated  to  those  bonds  of  the  companies,  and  in  this  form 
the  offer  was  accepted. 

The  entire  railroad  and  telegraph  from  the  Missouri  River  to  the  Pacific 
Ocean  were  completed  in  all  respects  as  required,  and  all  the  conditions 
precedent  to  the  issue  and  delivery  of  the  bonds  under  the  contract  of  loan 
were  complied  with,  and  the  bonds  were  actually  issued  and  delivered  in 
execution  of  the  authority  ;  and  all  the  rights  of  the  creditor  and  all  the 
liabilities  of  the  debtor  thus  became  complete,  definite,  and  fixed,  and  so,  as 
I  shall  prove,  became  unchangeable,  except  by  consent  of  the  parties,  by 
every  rule  of  law  known,  administered,  and  respected  in  every  just  govern 
ment  under  the  sun.  That  no  power,  executive,  legislative,  or  judicial, 
can,  under  any  pretext  whatever,  by  reservation  or  otherwise,  change,  add 
to,  alter,  or  rescind  this  contract,  except  upon  allegation  and  proof  of  mis 
take  or  fraud  in  its  procurement,  and  that  no  power  or  department  of  gov 
ernment  can  grant  any  remedy  or  relief  touching  this  contract,  its  payment, 
or  further  security,  or  can  listen  to  any  complaint  touching  it  by  either  party, 
except  upon  allegation  and  proof  of  default  in  some  respect  by  the  other 
party,  is  the  proposition  I  propose  now  to  establish. 

"As  the  tree  falleth,so  it  must  lie,"  and  equally  certain  is  it  that  as  com 
petent  parties  legally  and  knowingly  contract,  so  must  they  abide  their 
contract,  and  government  has  no  power  to  interfere  except  to  protect  and 
enforce  on  default  such  contracts  according  to  their  terms.  In  my  opinion 
the  bill  reported  from  the  judiciary  committee  does  propose  to  interfere 
with  this  contract,  does  propose  to  affect  and  even  to  change  the  rights  and 
liabilities  of  the  parties  to  this  contract,  and  without  any  allegation  of  default, 
without  any  pretense  of  default,  either  real  or  intended,  and  it  proposes  that 
this  interference  shall  come  from  the  most  unauthorized  of  all  departments 
of  the  government,  the  legislative  department. 

I  have  examined  this  bill  carefully,  and  in  all  its  long  string  of  whereases 
it  alleges  no  default  of  any  kind  or  character  as  the  reason  for  its  passage. 
It  meets  the  question  boldly  and  fearlessly  and  is  a  broad  assertion  that 
Congress,  by  virtue  of  its  poioer  alone,  has  authority  to  change  the  contract 
in  the  manner  proposed  by  the  bill.  I  have  listened  with  anxious  attention 
to  the  various  senators  who  have  so  ably  advocated  the  passage  of  this  bill. 
I  have  listened  to  them  all  the  more  anxiously  because  I  desire  to  co-operate 
with  them  in  all  efforts  to  secure  the  government  in  the  premises,  and  I  am 
ready  to  vote  for  any  plan  looking  to  that  security  which  Congress  has  the 
Constitutional  power  to  adopt. 

The  advocates  of  the  bill  do  not  agree  among  themselves  in  the  reasons 
which  they  assign  for  the  power  claimed.  After  carefully  considering  them, 
[  am  satisfied  that  all  the  advocates  of  this  bill  are  embraced  in  the  three 
following  classes  : 

1.  One  class  contend  that  the  bill  does  not  change  or  alter  the  contract 
of  loan  nor  the  rights  or  liabilities  of  the  parties  to  it. 

2.  The  second  class  insist  that  the  mortgagers  are  in  possession  of  the 
property  under  a  trust,  first  for  the  benefit  of  creditors  and  afterward  for  the 
benefit  of  the  owners,  and  that  if  the  corpus  of  the  property  covered  by  the 
mortgage  is  insufficient  to  secure  the  debt  and  the  mortgagers  have  become 
or  are  likely  to  become  insolvent,  the  mortgagees  have  a  right  to  have  a 
sufficiency  of  the  income  or  earnings  dedicated  to  pay  the  debt  before 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  497 

dividends  shall  be  retained  and  to  accumulate  the  income  or  earnings  by  a 
sinking  fund  until  the  debt  shall  be  discharged. 

3.  A  third  class  claim  that  in  this  case  Congress  has  the  power  to  alter, 
amend,  add  to,  or  rescind  this  contract  in  order  to  secure  the  debt.  Some 
claim  this  power  as  inherent  in  the  government,  and  others  claim  it  under 
the  provisions  of  the  acts  of  1862  and  1864,  which  expressly  reserve  to 
Congress  the  right  to  "  alter,  add  to,  amend,  or  repeal "  each  of  said  acts. 
On  this  last  ground  the  bill  itself  is  based.  But  as  there  are  senators  who 
do  not  concur  with  that  reason  for  the  power  claimed  but  insist  upon  one  or 
the  other  of  the  two  reasons  I  have  previously  specified,  it  is  proper  that  I 
should  notice  all  these  grounds,  and  I  will  consider  them  in  their  order. 

First,  does  the  bill  reported  from  the  judiciary  committee  in  fact  alter, 
or  propose  to  alter,  or  will  it  have  the  effect  to  alter  this  contract  of  loan  or 
the  rights  and  liabilities  of  the  parties  to  it  ?  It  is  certain  that  the  bill  does 
not  propose  to  alter  or  in  any  manner  affect  either  of  the  acts  of  1862  and 
1864,  except  those  provisions  which  relate  to  this  debt  and  which  authorize 
and  prescribe  the  terms  of  the  loan  by  which  the  debt  was  created.  The 
whole  bill  relates  to  the  establishment  of  a  sinking  fund  to  secure  the  ulti 
mate  payment  of  the  debt,  the  manner  of  accumulating  that  sinking  fund, 
the  custody  and  final  distribution  of  the  fund  so  accumulated,  and  prescribes 
the  penalties  that  shall  be  visited  on  the  company  or  companies  failing  or 
refusing  to  pay  the  amount  required  into  that  sinking  fund.  So  that,  if  the 
bill  alters  or  amends  anything  in  these  acts  or  either  of  them,  it  can  only  be 
those  provisions  to  which  this  bill  alone  refers  ;  that  is,  those  provisions 
which  authorized  this  loan  and  the  terms  and  stipulations  of  it.  You 
nowhere  propose  to  change  a  single  franchise  ;  you  nowhere  propose  to 
withdraw  a  single  power  or  privilege  granted  to  these  companies  ;  you 
nowhere  propose  to  interfere  with  the  regulation  and  administration  of  the 
franchise.  It  is  a  naked  proposition  to  secure  the  debt  and  prescribe  such 
terms  as  in  your  judgment  will  secure  the  debt  without  the  assent  of  the 
companies,  and  without  alleging  any  default  or  maladministration  by  the 
companies  or  either  of  them. 

Now,  let  us  look,  first,  to  the  title  of  the  act.  What  does  that  propose? 
I  am  now  discussing  the  question,  mark  you,  whether  the  bill  does  propose 
to  alter  and  change  the  contract,  for  there  are  senators  around  me  who 
have  said  that  they  did  not  look  upon  it  as  a  bill  to  alter  and  change  the 
contract.  Let  us  look,  first,  to  the  title  of  the  act  itself.  In  terras  it  is  "  a 
bill  to  alter  and  amend  "  the  act  of  1862,  and  also  "  to  alter  and  amend  "  the 
act  of  1864.  "  Alter  and  amend"  what  ?  There  is  not  a  provision  of  this 
judiciary  committee  bill  that  refers  to  anything  but  the  contract  and  the 

11.  1  1  -V  1*11  W.  ^V  •  \    i    f  •   \    1    T   1 


in  the  premises,  and  in  respect  of  all  the  matters  set  forth  in  said  act,  require 
that  the  said  act  of  1862  be  altered  and  amended  as  hereinafter  enacted. 
And  that  "  by  reason  of  the  premises  also,  as  well  as  for  other  causes  of 
public  good  and  justice,  the  powers  provided  and  reserved  in  said  act  of 
1864  for  the  amendment  and  alteration  thereof  ought  also  to  be  exercised  as 
hereinafter  enacted."     "  Hereinafter  enacted  "  how  ?     You  do  not  hereinafter 
enact  a  single  alteration  or  change  in  a  franchise,  a  power,  or  privilege 
the  companies.     You  hereinafter  enact  nothing  on  earth  but  an  alteration  ol 
the  debt  and  the  terms  of  its  payment.     All  the  alterations  and  amendment! 


498  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

thus  proposed  relate  exclusively  to  contract  of  loan  and  none  to  the  franchises 
granted  in  the  acts. 

Then,  again,  the  thirteenth  section  of  the  bill  is  in  these  words  : 

That  each  and  every  of  the  provisions  in  this  act  contained  shall  severally  and  respect 
ively  be  deemed,  taken,  and  held  as  in  alteration  and  amendment  of  said  act  of  1862  and 
of  said  act  of  1864,  respectively,  and  of  both  said  acts. 

Thus  in  the  most  emphatic  manner  the  judiciary  committee  bill  declares 
its  purpose  to  be  "  to  alter  and  amend,"  and  every  alteration  and  amendment 
proposed  is  of  the  contract  of  loan  and  of  the  rights  and  liabilities  of  the 
parties  to  that  contract.  Not  only  are  the  liabilities  of  the  debtors  changed, 
but  their  burdens  are  added  to  by  this  bill.  Thus,  under  the  original  con 
tract  it  is  distinctly  stipulated  that  until  the  bonds  mature  the  debtors  shall 
only  pay  the  creditor  five  per  cent,  of  the  net  earnings  and  one-half  of  the 
government  transportation,  and  in  the  fifth  section  of  the  act  of  1864  the 
word  "  only  "  is  used  ;  "  shall  only  pay."  Under  this  bill  you  require  all 
the  government  transportation  to  be  paid  and  large  sums  in  addition,  so  that 
the  whole  payment  shall  amount  to  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  the  net  earnings. 
It  is  no  answer  to  say  the  additional  sums  paid  are  not  to  be  actually  or 
formally  applied  to  the  debt  until  the  bonds  mature.  The  burden  upon  the 
debtors  is  to  pay.  The  fact  that  the  creditor  does  not  formally  credit  the 
debt  does  not  lessen  the  burden  of  the  payment.  Besides,  the  payment  is 
to  be  made  into  the  treasury  of  the  creditor  by  the  act  and  order  of  the 
creditor  ;  and  how  can  you  pay  the  creditor  except  by  payment  into  his 
treasury  ?  And  the  payment  therefore  is  as  legally  and  actually  complete 
as  if  the  money  paid  were  formally  applied  and  credited  on  the  bonds  or  the 
debt. 

So  the  eighteenth  section  of  the  act  of  1862  can  have  no  meaning  ex 
cept  that  the  stockholders  shall  have  ninety-five  per  cent,  of  the  net  earn 
ings  after  deducting  all  expenditures,  and  that  the  government  shall  not 
interfere  to  regulate  the  rates  of  fare  and  freight  until  such  ninety-five  per 
cent,  of  the  net  earnings  shall  exceed  ten  per  cent,  of  the  cost  of  the  road. 
This  bill  reduces  that  ninety-five  per  cent,  to  seventy-five  per  cent. 

Again,  this  bill  not  only  creates  new  obligations  upon  the  companies, 
but  provides  penalties  for  their  violation.  You  not  only  create  additional 
obligations  on  the  companies  but  you  decree,  by  virtue  of  your  own  legisla 
tive  will,  penalties  for  the  disregard  by  the  companies  of  these  obligations. 
The  bill  creates  new  and  additional  defaults  to  authorize  the  seizure  of  the 
road  by  the  government,  and  acts  which  are  perfectly  legal  under  existing 
laws  are  made  illegal  under  this  bill  and  subject  the  parties  committing 
them  to  criminal  prosecutions. 

Will  any  man  tell  me  that  this  is  not  a  bill  changing  all  the  terms  of  this 
contract?  It  changes  the  stipulations;  it  changes  its  obligations  ;  it  pre- 
'  scribes  additional  penalties ;  and  it  makes  acts  which  are  now  legal  and 
proper,  and  according  to  the  stipulations  of  the  contract,  actual  crimes,  for 
which  the  parties  or  their  agents  can  be  prosecuted  in  a  court  of  justice. 
You  not  only  decree  by  your  sovereign  will  a  change  of  the  contract,  but 
you  decree  that  the  agents  of  the  defendants  who  shall  be  faithful  to  the 
contract  already  made  shall  be  criminals. 

It  is  needless  to  add  further  statements  to  show  that  the  judiciary  com 
mittee  bill  does  really  propose  to  change  and  does  in  effect  change  the 
terms  of  the  contract  of  loan— terms,  too,  which  were  offered  as  induce 
ments  to  the  companies  to  accept  the  loan  and  undertake  the  construction 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  49'J 

of  the  road.  To  offer  terms  as  an  inducement  to  a  party  to  do  a  work  or 
take  a  risk,  and  then  withdraw  or  change  those  terms  after  the  work  has 
been  done  or  the  risk  taken,  would  be  declared  fraud  if  done  by  an  indi 
vidual,  and  surely  it  cannot  be  denominated  less  than  tyranny  and  oppres 
sion  when  done  by  a  government. 

The  second  class  that  support  this  bill  of  the  judiciary  committee  upon 
a  theory  of  a  trust — and  I  invite  the  lawyers  in  this  body  to  hear  this 
argument— are,  I  must  say,  in  my  judgment,  easily  answered.  In  the  first 
place,  if  the  power  claimed  exists  at  all,  it  is  clearly  a  judicial  and  not  a 
legislative  power.  But  the  position  to  justify  this  bill  could  not  be  sus 
tained  under  the  facts  of  this  case,  as  far  as  they  have  been  presented  to 
the  Senate,  even  in  a  court  of  equity.  The  rule  upon  this  subject  is  familiar 
to  lawyers  and  has  been  decided  in  a  great  number  of  cases.  To  authorize 
courts  to  interfere  in  the  manner  proposed  by  this  bill,  three  facts  must 
clearly  appear  :  first,  that  the  corpus  of  the  property  mortgaged  is  insuffi 
cient  to  pay  the  debt ;  second,  that  the  mortgager  is  insolvent ;  and,  third, 
that  the  mortgager  is  in  default.  Now,  mark  me,  I  do  not  say  that  the 
only  default  is  non-payment  at  the  maturity.  Any  act  of  the  debtor  which 
is  wrong  and  which  threatens  to  destroy  the  corpus  covered  by  the  lien  of 
the  mortgage  is  a  default.  Without  the  last  fact,  the  first  two  will  not  be 
considered.  It  matters  not  that  the  mortgager  is  insolvent ;  it  matters  not 
that  the  property  which  the  creditor  selected  to  secure  his  debt  is  insufficient 
to  pay  it  ;  those  were  circumstances  he  ought  to  have  looked  to  before  he 
made  the  contract.  Superadded  to  these  two  conditions  there  must  be  de 
fault  ;  some  wrongful  act  or  failure  to  act  by  the  debtor.  There  can  be  no 
remedy  where  there  is  no  wrong,  and  there  can  be  no  wrong  where  there  is 
no  default,  and  courts  have  no  right  to  anticipate  and  much  less  to  redress 
a  default  which  has  not  occurred.  This  rule  is  strongly  stated  by  Mr. 
Thomas  in  his  work  on  mortgages,  in  the  following  language  : 

The  right  of  entry  by  the  mortgagee  having  been  abolished,  the  mortgager  is,  both 
at  law  and  in  equity,  entitled  to  the  complete  enjoyment  of  the  mortgaged  premises  and 
of  their  rents  and  profits  until  the  debt  is  due,  unless  such  rents  are  expressly  pledged 
for  the  payment  of  the  debt.  If  no  proceedings  are  taken  for  the  appointment  of  a  re 
ceiver,  his  right  to  the  rents  continues  until  it  has  been  divested  by  a  foreclosure  sale, 
and  until  the  purchaser  has  become  entitled  to  possession  under  the  sheriff's  deed.  Where, 
however,  the  security  is  insufficient  and  the  mortgager  or  other  person  who  is  personally 
liable  for  the  payment  of  the  debt  is  insolvent,  the  mortgagee  may  apply  for  a  receiver  of 
the  rents  and  profits  of  the  mortgaged  premises  which  have  not  yet  been  collected,  and 
this  relief  will  be  granted,  unless  the  person  in  possession  shall  give  security  to  account 
for  such  rents  in  case  there  shall  be  a  deficiency. 

•  .  .  •  • 

The  right  to  this  relief  does  not  result  from  the  relations  of  the  parties,  but  from  equi 
table  considerations  alone.  It  is  not  a  matter  of  strict  right,  and  each  application  is  ad 
dressed  to  the  sound  discretion  of  the  court.  —  Thomas  on  Mortgage*,  pp.  301  and  302. 

In  support  of  this  authority  and  this  rule  Mr.  Thomas  refers  to  a  large 
number  of  cases,  every  one  of  which  I  have  examined,  and  every  one  of 
them  was  a  case  of  foreclosure  after  default  in  payment ;  and  I  challenge 
any  gentleman  to  produce  a  book  where  a  case  has  ever  been  decided  in 
which  the  court  took  jurisdiction  to  require  additional  security  or  to  take 
the  rents,  issues,  and  profits  from  the  mortgager  before  default,  however 
insufficient  the  property  might  become  in  the  natural  course  of  events,  or 
however  insolvent  the  mortgager  might  become.  Insolvency  in  law  may 
be  a  misfortune  ;  it  is  not  a  fault  that  furnishes  a  remedy  unless  it  be  ac 
companied  by  actual  waste  and  wrong  to  the  creditor.  The  rule  is  thus 


500  SENATOR  B.  II.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

stated  in  the  case  of  the  Syracuse  City  Bank  vs.  Tallman  and  others,  in  31 
Barbour,  and  it  is  well  stated  in  this  decision  : 

• 

Unless  there  be  a  special  clause  to  that  effect,  in  a  mortgage,  the  mortgagee  has  no 
lien  upon  the  rents  and  profits  ;  and  as  a  general  rule  the  mortgager,  until  the  sale,  is 
entitled  to  remain  in  possession. 

But  courts  of  equity,  under  certain  circumstances,  will,  after  default  in  an  action 
for  foreclosure  and  sale,  anticipate  the  final  judgment  by  the  appointment  of  a  receiver, 
and  in  effect  put  the  mortgagee  in  possession  and  allow  him  to  divert  the  rents  and  prof 
its  of  the  mortgaged  premises  from  the  hands  of  the  mortgager,  and  hold  them  as  addi 
tional  security  for  the  payment  of  the  mortgage. 

To  entitle  him  to  this  relief,  it  must  appear  that  the  mortgaged  premises  are  an  inade 
quate  security  for  the  debt,  and  that  the  mortgager,  or  other  person  liable  for  the  mort 
gage  debt,  is  insolvent. 

This  relief  does  not  grow  directly  out  of  the  relations  of  the  parties  or  the  stipula 
tions  contained  in  the  mortgage,  but  out  of  equitable  considerations  alone.  It  is  not  a 
matter  of  strict  right,  but  is  addressed  to  the  sound  discretion  of  the  court. 

It  seems  that  when  the  mortgager  is  insolvent,  and  fails  to  pay  at  the  day  appointed, 
and  the  mortgaged  premises  are  an  inadequate  security,  as  between  the  mortgager  and 
mortgagee  it  is  within  the  equitable  discretion  of  the  court  to  allow  the  latter  to  intercept 
the  rents  and  profits,  for  his  better  protection  from  loss.  And  that  this  is  the  utmost  ex 
tent  to  which  the  relief  has  been  granted,  or  to  which  it  can  be  granted,  within  any  ad 
mitted  principle  of  equity. — The  Syracuse  City  Bank  vs.  Tallman  and  others,  31  Bar- 
hour's  Supreme  Court  Reports,  201. 

This  judge  says  the  farthest  the  rule  has  ever  gone  is,  that  after  a  de 
fault  and  before  judgment  of  foreclosure,  a  court  of  equity  will  appoint  a 
receiver  and  divert  the  rents  and  profits  to  the  payment  of  the  debt  until 
that  judgment  of  foreclosure  and  sale  under  it,  if  the  premises  are  insuffi 
cient  to  pay  the  debt,  if  the  mortgager  is  insolvent,  and  if  the  mortgager 
is  in  default  ;  and  I  challenge  any  lawyer  on  this  floor  to  present  a  case 
on  record  to  the  contrary  where  any  proceeding  was  taken  in  law  or 
equity  to  divert  rents,  issues,  and  profits  or  earnings,  which  are  not  expressly 
included  in  the  lien,  from  the  mortgager  to  the  mortgagee  until  after  de 
fault  by  the  mortgager.  Whether  I  am  justified  in  quoting  legal  rules  to 
a  body  of  men  who  claim  to  be  bound  by  no  law  is  a  question  I  will  con 
sider  directly. 

The  government  as  a  creditor  can  have  no  more  rights  than  other  credi 
tors.  That  is  the  next  proposition  I  propose  to  establish.  When  the  gov 
ernment  loans  money  and  enters  into  trade  with  individuals  or  corpora 
tions,  it  does  so,  not  as  a  sovereign,  but  as  a(civil  corporation,  and  is  subject 
to  all  the  laws  of  contract  like  other  persons ;  and  I  ask  the  attention  of 
senators  to  this  point  who  tell  me  that  this  government  is  sovereign  ;  that 
it  has  a  right  in  contracts  that  individuals  have  not  ;  that  you  are  not 
bound  by  the  rules  of  law  like  individuals. 

In  Smoot's  case,  15  Wallace,  36,  the  court  held  "that  in  the  construction 
and  enforcement  of  contracts  made  by  private  parties  with  the  government, 
the  court  is  bound  to  apply  the  ordinary  principles  which  govern  such  con 
tracts  between  individuals."  So  in  the  case  of  Elliot  vs.  Van  Voorst  and 
others,  reported  in  3  Wallace,  Jr.,  and  decided  by  Mr.  Justice  Grier.  That 
eminent  justice  said  : 

The  government  of  the  United  States,  though  limited  in  its  powers,  is  supreme  in  its 
sphere  of  action.  But  its  rights  as  a  sovereign,  and  its  prerogatives  as  such,  are  cc- 
extensive  with  the  functions  of  government  committed  to  them,  and  extend  no  further. 
Its  position  as  to  prerogative  is  anomalous,  owing  to  our  peculiar  institutions. 

. 

When  the  government,  in  the  exercise  of  the  rights  and  functions  of  a  civil  corpora 
tion,  purchases  lands  to  secure  a  debt,  the  accident  of  its  sovereignty  in  other  functions 


SIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WHITINGS.  501 

cannot  be  set  up  to  destroy  or  affect  the  rights  of  persons  ch-.iming  a  title  or  lien  on  the 
same  lands.  Thus  when  the  government  of  the  United  States  becomes  a  partner  in  a 
trading  corporation,  such  as  the  United  States  Bank,  it  divested  itself,  so  far  as  con 
cerned  the  transactions  of  that  company,  of  its  sovereign  character,  and  took  that  of  a 
citizen  ;  consequently  its  property  and  interests  were  subjects  to  the  decrees  and  judg 
ments  of  courts  equally  with  that  of  its  copartners. 

It  may  be  broadly  asserted  that  no  case  can  be  found  in  all  the  books 
where  a  court  of  equity  has  entertained  an  application  to  do  what  this  bill 
proposes  to  do,  unless  the  debtor  was  in  default ;  and  when  the  govern- 
ment,  abandoning  its  own  courts,  seeks  to  use  its  sovereign  legislative  power 
to  enforce,  to  alter,  or  even  to  protect  its  rights  as  a  civil  corporation  or 
contract  creditor,  it  is  guilty  of  the  grossest  possible  usurpation,  tyranny, 
and  oppression.  The  government  is  a  contractor  in  the  loan  of  money  as  a 
civil  corporation.  It  cannot  resort  to  its  sovereign  power  as  a  legislative 
body  to  claim  rights  in  the  construction  or  remedies  in  the  enforcement  of 
that  contract  which  are  not  common  to  the  humblest  individual  in  the  land. 
Legislation  may  authorize  contracts  to  be  made,  but  after  they  are  made 
legislative  power  over  them  ends,  I  care  not  whether  made  by  government 
or  citizen.  Courts  alone  can  construe  them  ;  courts  alone  can  reform  them; 
courts  alone  can  enforce  them  ;  and  courts  alone  can  administer  them  ;  and 
even  courts  can  construe  them,  or  reform  them,  or  enforce  them,  or  adminis 
ter  them  only  as  made  and  agreed  to  by  both  the  parties. 

Let  us  next  proceed  to  examine  the  position  taken  by  the  third  class  who 
support  this  bill  reported  from  the  judiciary  committee.  These  are  they 
who  take  the  bold  position  that  Congress  has  the  power  by  legislation  to 
"  add  to,  alter,  amend,  or  repeal"  this  contract  of  loan  between  the  govern 
ment  and  the  railroad  companies.  And,  first,  I  will  notice  those  of  this  class 
who  hold  that  this  power  is  inherent  in  the  government.  "  One  Congress 
cannot  bind  another  Congress,"  we  are  told.  "  What  one  Congress  can  do, 
another  Congress  can  undo,"  is  repeated.  That  I  believe  is  the  position  of 
my  friend  from  North  Carolina  (Mr.  Merrimon).  It  is  true  as  to  general 
laws  ;  but  a  contract  is  not  a  law.  The  law  is  the  authority  to  make  the 
contract,  mark  the  distinction,  and  nothing  more.  Congress  may  repeal  the 
authority  to  make  the  contract ;  it  may  change  or  modify  the  authority 
to  make  the  contract ;  and  if  the  authority  be  repealed  before  the 
contract  is  made,  the  authority  ceases,  and  the  contract  cannot  afterward 
be  made.  But  if  the  contract  be  made  and  rights  under  it  vest  or  obliga 
tions  by  it  are  incurred,  the  subsequent  repeal  of  the  authority  cannot  annul 
or  impair  the  contract  of  its  rights  and  obligations.  I  think  much  of  the 
confusion  in  this  case  has  grown  out  of  confounding  the  law  which  author 
izes  the  contract  with  the  contract  itself.  And  I  will  say  at  this  point 
that  Congress  is  not  the  government,  and  Congress  is  not  the  party  to  the 
contract  in  question.  Congress  did  authorize  the  contract  to  be  made  and 
did  prescribe  the  terms  on  which  it  should  be  made  ;  but  one  Congress  did 
not  make  the  contract,  and  another  Congress  cannot  undo  it.  It  was  not 
the  acts  of  Congress,  but  the  loan  of  the  bonds  and  their  acceptance  by  1 
company  that  constituted  the  consideration  of  the  contract.  It  was  the 
completion  of  the  work  in  the  manner  prescribed  that  entitled  the  companies 
to  the  issue  and  delivery  of  the  bonds.  The  act  for  that  purpose  would  have 
been  a  dead  letter,  would  have  formed  no  contract,  if  the  work  had  not 
been  done  ;  and  it  was  not  Congress,  as  seems  to  be  so  commonly  supposed, 
but  the  "  issue  and  delivery  of  the  bonds  that  ipso  facto"  constituted  the 
mortgage  to  secure  the  repayment  of  the  bonds. 


502  SENATOR  B.  II.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

i 

Congress  can  repeal  the  authority,  and  Congress  can  do  it  without  re 
serving  the  power  ;  but  can  Congress  annul  the  acts  done  and  the  rights 
vested  under  the  authority  before  its  repeal  ?  Can  Congress  repeal  or  annul 
the  issue  and  delivery  of  the  bonds?  Can  Congress  repeal  or  annul  the 
work  done,  which  entitled  the  companies  to  the  issue  and  delivery  of  the 
bonds?  But  the  contract  cannot  subsist  independently  of  its  terms.  The 
terms  of  the  contract  authorize,  constitute  the  contract  itself,  as  the  blocks 
of  marble  in  this  building  make  the  building.  Take  away  those  blocks,  and 
the  building  will  not  exist. 

As  Congress  cannot  repeal,  annul,  impair,  or  change  the  contract,  so  Con 
gress  cannot  repeal,  annul,  impair,  or  change  the  terms  of  the  contract  ;  and 
the  time  of  payment,  the  manner  of  payment,  the  terms  of  payment,  the 
quantities  of  payment,  the  security  for  payment,  and  the  penalty  for  default 
in  payment  are  included  among  the  essential,  material  terms  of  the  contract. 

It  is  suggested  as  a  query  in  the  report  made  by  the  judiciary  committee 
in  support  of  their  bill,  whether  Congress  may  not  impair  the  obligations  of 
a  contract  other  than  by  a  uniform  law  of  bankruptcy.  It  is  suggested  that 
the  inhibition  in  the  Constitution  to  impair  the  obligations  of  contracts  is 
upon  the  States,  and  not  upon  Congress.  Is  an  inhibition  upon  the  States 
a  delegation  to  Congress  ?  Can  Congress  do  anything  because  it  is  not  pro 
hibited  from  doing  it  ?  Congress  may  do  many  things  from  which  the  de 
struction  or  impairment  of  contracts  may  result.  Congress  may  lay  em- 
bargos  and  declare  war,  and  this  may  impair  or  destroy  the  value  of 
contracts  ;  but  does  it  follow  that  Congress  may  therefore  enact  laws  to 
impair  and  annul  contracts  ?  Congress  may  declare  war,  and  war  does  de 
stroy  life  and  liberty  as  well  as  property.  Can  Congress  therefore  pass  laws 
enacting  that  the  homes  of  the  people  shall  be  burned,  or  that  the  citizens 
shall  all  be  imprisoned  or  enslaved,  or  that  their  heads  shall  be  taken  off  ? 
Yet  all  these  things  may  result  from  a  war  which  Congress  has  power  to  de 
clare.  If  Congress  has  power  directly  to  declare  the  result  which  may  come 
from  another  power,  then  Congress  may  declare  that  our  homes  shall  be 
burned,  that  ourselves  shall  be  imprisoned  and  our  heads  taken  off  at  the 
block.  The  mission  of  government,  it  can  never  be  too  often  repeated,  is  to 
preserve  and  protect  life,  liberty,  and  property,  and  not  to  destroy  or  impair 
either,  except  it  be  necessary  to  expose  some  to  loss  or  hazard  that  all  may 
be  protected  and  defended. 

I  affirm  to-day,  without  qualification,  that  no  legislative  power  in  this 
country,  State  or  Federal,  can  pass  any  act  with  intent  to  annul  or  impair 
the  obligations  of  contract  ;  and  even  the  power  to  pass  a  bankrupt  law 
forms  no  exception  to  this  rule,  as  that  power  stands  on  a  different  princi 
ple.  I  affirm  that  this  power  would  not  exist  even  if  the  prohibition  in  the 
Federal  Constitution  upon  the  States  in  this  regard  did  not  exist. 

A  few  days  ago  the  senator  from  Ohio  (Mr.  Thurman)  in  a  colloquy 
with  the  senator  from  Oregon  (Mr.  Mitchell)  made  the  remarkable  state 
ment  in  this  Senate  that  "not  one  lawyer  who  argued  the  Dartmouth  Col 
lege  case  pretended  for  one  single  moment  that,  if  it  were  not  for  the  pro 
vision  in  the  Federal  Constitution  that  no  State  should  make  any  law  im 
pairing  the  obligation  of  a  contract,  the  act  of  the  New  Hampshire  Legisla 
ture  would  not  have  been  perfectly  valid."  That  is  the  exact  language  of 
the  honorable  senator  from  Ohio.  Coming  from  such  a  distinguished  source, 
this  startling  statement  ought  to  wake  up  this  Senate  to  the  dangerous  mis 
take  we  are  asked  to  make  in  the  passage  of  this  judiciary  bill,  when  the 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  503 

great  Ajax  in  favor  of  its  passage  intimates  by  such  a  statement  so  roundly 
made  that  Congress  has  the  power  to  impair  the  obligation  of  contracts,  and 
that  the  States  would  have  held  that  power  but  for  the  provisions  in  the 
Federal  Constitution.  He  says  that  no  lawyer  pretended  to  assert  the  con 
trary  in  the  Dartmouth  College  case.  Now,  sir,  Mr.  Webster  was  one  of 
the  great  lawyers  who  argued  that  Dartmouth  College  case.  Hear  what  he 
said.  Mr.  Webster  said  : 

It  will  be  contended  by  the  plaintiffs  that  these  acts — 
of  the  New  Hampshire  Legislature — 

are  not  valid  and  binding  on  them  without  their  assent :  1.  Because  they  are  against  com 
mon  right  and  the  constitution  of  New  Hampshire.  2.  Because  they  are  repugnant  to  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

Then,  after  stating  that  it  was  only  that  clause  in  the  Constitution  which 
enabled  the  Federal  courts  to  get  jurisdiction  of  the  question,  he  adds  these 
grand  words,  which  I  commend  to  the  distinguished  senator  from  Ohio  and 
to  the  country,  in  this  time,  it  seems  to  me,  of  demoralization  on  this  ques 
tion. 

Mr.  Webster  said  : 

It  is  not  too  much  to  assert  that  the  Legislature  of  New  Hampshire  would  not  have 
been  competent  to  pass  the  acts  in  question,  and  to  make  them  binding  on  the  plaintiffs 
without  their  assent,  even  if  there  had  been  in  the  Constitution  of  New  Hampshire  or  of 
the  United  States  no  special  restriction  on  their  power. 

Why?  <:9i 

Because  these  acts  are  not  the  exercise  of  a  power  properly  legislative.  Their  object 
and  effect  is  to  take  away  from  one  rights,  property,  and  franchises,  and  to  grant  them  to 
another.  This  is  not  the  exercise  of  a  legislative  power.  To  justify  the  taking  away  of 
vested  rights,  there  must  be  a  forfeiture  ;  to  adjudge  upon  and  declare  which,  is  the 
proper  province  of  the  judiciary. 

Even  Chief  Justice  Marshall,  in  pronouncing  the  decision  of  the  court, 
said  almost  as  much,  for  he  uses  this  strong  language  : 

A  repeal  of  this  charter — 
the  Dartmouth  College  charter,  granted  by  the  king  in  1769 — 

A  repeal  of  this  charter  at  any  time  prior  to  the  adoption  of  the  present  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  would  have  been  an  extraordinary  and  unprecedented  act  of  power. 

So  the  distinguished  senator  from  Ohio  was  clearly  mistaken. 

In  the  forty-fourth  number  of  the  Federalist  Mr.  Madison  declared  that 
"laws  impairing  the  obligation  of  contracts  are  contrary  to  what?  Con 
trary  to  the  first  principles  of  the  social  compact  and  to  every  principle  of 
sound  legislation."  The  prohibition  was  not  inserted  in  the  Federal  Consti 
tution  to  take  from  the  States  a  power  they  would  possess  without  the  pro 
hibition.  They  mi<?ht  arbitrarily  exercise  a  power  they  did  not  possess  and 
oppress  a  citizen.  Mr.  Madison  speaks  of  it  as  only  an  "additional  fence  • 
against  the  danger  of  invasion  of  the  "first  principles  of  the  social  compact' 
and  the  proper  fundamental  charters  of  natural  rights.  This  prohibition, 
this  "  additional  fence  "  was  placed  in  the  Federal  Constitution  to  bring  the 
citizen  within  the  protection  of  the  Federal  jurisdiction  against  such  danger 
ous  and  unnatural  legislation  in  the  States.  What  a  commentary  upon  this 
purpose  of  protection  it  will  be  if  the  Federal  Government  shall  itself  turn 
upon  the  citizen  it  takes  into  its  protection  and  itself  make  him  the  helpless 
victim  of  this  dangerous  legislation  against  the  first  principles  of  the  social 

^j  <—f  ^~^ 


504  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

compact  and  the  fundamental  charters  of  natural  rights  !  This  would  be 
saving  the  dear  lambs  from  exposure  by  fencing  them  for  slaughter. 

I  will  proceed  now,  sir,  to  the  last  stronghold  of  the  supporters  of  this 
judiciary  bill,  and  I  do  so  with  a  confident  conviction  that  it  is  the  weakest 
of  all  the  positions  assumed  to  justify  the  bill.  It  is  that  Congress  derives 
the  power  claimed  from  these  provisions  of  the  acts  of  1862  and  1864  which 
expressly  reserve  to  Congress  the  right  at  any  time  "  to  add  to,  alter, 
amend,  or  repeal "  said  acts.  I  invite  the  attention  of  the  Senate  to  several 
considerations,  either  one  of  which  is  and  in  its  nature  must  be  a  complete 
and  conclusive  negative  to  the  proposition  that  Congress  retains  or  can  have 
at  this  time  any  power  whatever  to  interfere  with  these  contracts  as  against 
the  companies  by  virtue  of  these  reservations  in  the  acts  named.  In  the  first 
place,  the  power  reserved  must  be  legislative  power.  Congress  possesses  no 
other  power  in  the  matter.  But  the  making  of  a  contract  is  not  a  legisla 
tive  act.  So  the  enforcing  of  a  contract  is  not  a  legislative  function. 

Mr.  Edmunds. — May  I  ask  the  senator  from  Georgia,  then,  where  we 
got  the  power  to  make  the  contract  which  is  in  this  law  which  we  propose  to 
amend  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — If  the  senator  will  listen,  I  will  answer  that  question.  You 
get  the  power  to  authorize  the  contract  and  you  do  by  law  authorize  the 
contract  to  be  made  ;  but  it  is  expressly  decided  that  not  the  Congress 
but  the  Government  is  the  party  to  the  contract  and  not  a  party  in  its  sov 
ereign  character  but  as  a  civil  corporation. 

Mr.  Edmunds. — But,  if  the  senator  will  pardon  me,  he  has  stated  that  it 
is  no  part  of  the  function  of  the  legislative  power  to  make  a  contract.  Now, 
then,  the  only  power  that  has  been  exerted  in  respect  of  these  railroads  by 
the  acts  of  1862  and  1864  was  a  power  exerted  by  Congress,  and  the  senator 
says  that  that  made  a  contract. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  do  not  so  understand  that  the  acts  are  all.  I  say  here  now 
that  if  nothing  had  been  done  but  to  pass  the  acts  there  would  have  been  no 
contract.  Would  there  ?  Answer  that.  The  senator  says  there  was  noth 
ing  done  but  to  pass  the  acts.  If  there  had  been  nothing  done  but  to  pass 
the  acts  there  would  have  been  corporations  created  ;  those  corporations 
would  have  been  vested  with  corporate  powers  and  privileges,  because  that 
is  done  by  the  direct  act  of  Congress  ;  but  if  the  acts  had  been  passed  and 
if  nothing  else  had  been  done  would  there  have  been  any  contract  ? 

Mr.  Edmunds. — No,  if  the  senator  will  again  pardon  me,  no  more  than  if 
I  write  to  my  friend  and  ask  him  to  lend  me  a  hundred  dollars  and  he  does 
not  reply,  there  is  no  contract  ;  but  if  he  sends  me  the  money  there  is  a 
contract  that  I  am  to  repay  him. 

Mr.  Hill. — Ah  !  precisely  so,  sir.  It"Vas  the  act  of  the  party  under  the 
judgment  and  adjudication  of  the  executive  department,  and  the  issue  and 
the  delivery  of  the  bonds  in  compliance  with  the  authority  of  Congress,  to 
make  the  contract  that  created  the  obligations  and  the  rights.  That  is  the 
point.  Congress  gives  the  authority  to  make  the  contracts.  I  grant  that 
without  the  authority  the  contracts  cannot  be  made,  but  equally  the  author 
ity  without  the  other  acts  makes  no  contract.  Legislation  only  authorized 
the  contracts  to  be  made.  Legislation  did  not  complete  the  roads  nor  deter 
mine  when  the  roads  were  completed  ;  nor  did  legislation  issue  or  deliver 
the  bonds.  The  acts  of  Congress  constituted  the  power  of  attorney  which 
authorized  all  these  things  to  be  done,  which  prescribed  the  manner  of  doing 
them,  and  the  terms  and  conditions  upon  which  they  should  be  done.  I 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  505 

admit  that  power  of  attorney  was  in  its  nature  and  by  its  terms  revocable  at 
will.  Note  that.  Congress  can  revoke  the  authority  as  a  mere  act  of  power, 
but  Congress  cannot  annul  the  acts  done  under  that  authority  before  that 
revocation. 

Suppose  I  give  the  senator  from  Michigan  (Mr.  Christiancy)  a  power  of 
attorney  to  sell  a  piece  of  land  and  in  that  power  prescribe,  as  I  have  a  right 
to  do,  the  terms  upon  which  he  shall  make  the  sale,  and  I  also  say  in  the 
power  what  it  is  not  necessary  to  say,  that  it  is  revocable  at  will.  Is  that 
power  of  attorney  a  contract  ?  Without  the  power  the  senator  would  have 
no  authority  to  make  a  contract,  but  is  that  power  of  attorney  a  contract? 
Will  any  man  say  so  ?  The  senator  proceeds,  under  that  power,  and  on  the 
terms  therein  prescribed,  sells  the  land  to  the  senator  from  Vermont,  places 
the  senator  in  possession,  and  takes  his  promissory  note  due  at  a  distant  time. 
After  this  sale,  and  before  the  purchase-money  is  paid,  suppose  I  undertake 
to  revoke  the  power  to  sell  or  change  the  terms  of  the  sale.  Does  that  revo 
cation  annul  or  impair  the  sale  ?  Can  I  even  complain  that  the  terms  of  the 
contract  as  required  by  my  own  power  of  attorney  do  not  sufficiently  secure 
me,  and  demand  a  change  in  the  terms,  or  additional  security  before  there  is 
any  default  in  payment  by  the  purchaser  ?  Congress  reserved  the  power 
"to  add  to,  alter,  amend,  or  repeal  the  acts"  of  1862  and  1864.  We  re 
served  no  right  or  power  "  to  add  to,  alter,  amend,  or  repeal "  the  contracts 
made  in  pursuance  and  under  the  authority  of  these  acts.  I  am  dwelling 
upon  this  because  I  consider  it  important.  When  so  good  a  lawyer  as  the 
senator  from  Vermont,  the  chairman  of  the  judiciary  committee,  intimates 
that  an  act  of  Congress  is  the  contract  when  it  is  the  authority  for  the  con 
tract,  it  is  time,  I  think,  for  us  to  watch  the  distinction.  The  contract  was 
made,  the  work  was  done,  the  obligations  were  all  incurred,  the  promises  were 
all  made  and  the  bonds  were  all  issued  and  delivered  according  to  the 
authority,  and  by  virtue  of  the  authority,  and  while  the  authority  remained 
unrevoked.  The  proposition  that,  under  a  reserved  power  to  change  or  re 
voke  the  authority,  to  make  the  contracts,  Congress  can  change  or  interfere 
with  the  contracts  made,  or  can  do  anything  that  will  affect  to  the  weight 
of  a  hair  the  rights  or  liabilities  of  the  other  parties  to  the  contracts  without 
their  consent  and  before  their  default,  is  most  monstrous  in  its  character, 
and  can  find  nothing  to  excuse  or  palliate  it  in  good  faith,  just  precedent, 
or  sound  law. 

Sir,  Congress  can  do  nothing,  absolutely  nothing,  touching  tliese  con 
tracts  against  the  other  parties  thereto  without  their  consent  and  before 
their  default. 

The  view  I  am  presenting  is,  if  possible,  rendered  still  more  conclusive 
when  we  apply  to  it  another  well-settled  principle    which  I  have   before 
stated  upon  authorities  cited,  and  which  could  be  strengthened  by  a  great 
number  of  decisions.     It  is  that  the  government  is  not  a  party  to  contracts 
like  these  contracts  of  loan  in  its  character  as  a  sovereign  but  only  as  a  civi 
corporation.     As  a  sovereign  the  government  does  not  lend  money, 
civil  corporation  it  does  not  legislate.     As  a  civil  corporation  it  is  subject 
to  the  law  of  contracts  precisely  as  are  individuals.     When,  therefore,  the 
government  as  a  civil  corporation  enters  into  such  contracts  it  cannot  re 
serve  the  right  to  use  its  legislative  power  as  a  sovereign  to  alter,  change, 
or  annul  that  contract  to  which  it  is  a  party.     As  a  civil  corporation  it  can 
reserve  no  power  which  in  its  character  as  a  civil  corporation  it  does 
possess. 


506  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

Mr.  Thurman. — I  wish  to  understand  my  friend,  but  will  not  put  a 
question  if  it  interrupts  him  at  all.  He  has  spoken  repeatedly  of  the  govern 
ment  lending  this  money  as  a  civil  corporation  and  of  what  rights  the 
government  has  as  a  mere  corporator.  I  can  understand  very  well  how  that 
may  be  applied  were  the  government  a  shareholder  in  a  bank,  as  in  the  old 
United  States  Bank,  or  a  shareholder  in  a  railroad,  or  the  like  ;  but  I  am 
totally  at  a  loss  to  understand  what  my  friend  means  by  speaking  of  the 
government  granting  a  loan  of  its  credit  acting  as  a  private  or  mere  civil 
corporation  apart  and  distinct  from  its  character  as  a  government. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  will  answer  the  senator  by  referring  to  the  decision  made 
that  I  have  just  read,  by  Justice  Grier,  in  which  he  announced  that  when  the 
government  purchased  land  and  took  a  deed  to  it,  it  was  a  party  to  that  con 
tract  only  as  a  civil  corporation  and  it  so  acted,  and  that  its  sovereignty  had 
nothing  to  do  with  it. 

Mr.  Thurman. — That  was  a  government  loan. 

Mr.  Hill. — It  is  the  same  thing  whether  the  government  loans  money  or 
takes  a  deed.  The  judge  added  that  whenever  the  government  becomes  a 
trader  it  trades  only  as  a  civil  corporation.  Its  authority  is  derived  from 
Congress,  it  is  true.  The  civil  corporation  has  no  authority  to  make  a  con 
tract  unless  Congress  grants  it,  but  it  is  a  party  to  the  contract  only  in  its 
character  as  a  civil  corporation.  That  is  what  I  mean,  and  I  tell  the  senator 
I  am  using  the  language  of  the  court ;  and  if  the  senator  takes  issue  with  it 
he  makes  as  great  a  mistake,  as  he  did  in  the  colloquy  with  the  senator  from 
Oregon,  when  he  said  that  no  lawyer  in  the  argument  of  the  Dartmouth 
College  case  pretended  that  but  for  the  provision  in  the  Federal  Constitu 
tion,  the  laws  of  New  Hampshire  would  not  have  been  valid. 

The  power  reserved  in  the  acts  of  1862  and  1864  is  a  legislative  power  to 
alter,  amend,  or  repeal  legislative  acts,  and  not  to  alter  or  rescind  contracts, 
though  made  by  the  authority  of  legislative  acts.  It  was  a  power  reserved 
by  and  for  the  benefit  of  the  sovereign,  and  was  not  and  could  not  be  re 
served  by  or  for  the  benefit  of  the  civil  corporation  as  such.  To  say  that 
the  government  reserves  the  right  to  alter  or  rescind  a  contract  made,  be 
cause  it  reserves  the  right  to  alter  or  repeal  the  legislative  act  which  author 
ized  the  contract  to  be  made,  is  to  utterly  ignore  the  distinction  between  the 
sovereign  and  the  civil  corporation  and  absolves  the  government  from  all 
the  law  and  all  the  obligations  of  contracts. 

Mr.  Thurman. — If  it  does  not  interrupt  the  senator,  will  he  let  me  ask 
him  a  question  ? 

Mr.  Hill— Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Thurman. — Will  the  senator  tell  us  what  there  is  in  these  acts  of 
1862  and  1864  that  Congress  can  amend,  add  to,  alter,  or  repeal? 

Mr.  Hill. — Oh,  I  will  do  that.     I  am  going  to  show  that. 

Mr.  Thurman. — I  should  like  to  have  the  senator  do  so. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  assure  the  senator  I  will  do  that  with  a  great  deal  of  pleas 
ure,  and  I  shall  leave  that  question,  I  trust,  as  clear  as  the  other,  although  I 
am  afraid  that,  like  that,  it  will  not  be  clear  to  the  distinguished  senator 
from  Ohio. 

The  Congress  is  vested  by  the  Constitution  with  express  authority  "  to 
borrow  money  on  the  credit  of  the  United  States."  It  borrows  in  its  char 
acter  as  a  sovereign,  and  for  that  reason  Cannot  be  sued  without  its  consent, 
because  that  express  power  is  given  in  the  Constitution.  The  difference  is 
between  the  authority  which  created  the  government.  There  is  no  sove- 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  507 

reign  power  conferred  to  lend  money,  and  when  the  government  does  lend 
money  it  does  so  as  a  civil  corporation  upon  the  authority  of  sovereign  power, 
and,  in  case  of  default,  must  come  to  the  courts  like  other  individuals  or 
corporations,  and  can  there  be  impleaded  like  the  humblest  citizen  in  the 
land.  This  may  seem  anomalous,  bnt,  nevertheless,  it  is  true.  Judge  Grier, 
in  the  decision  referred  to,  spoke  of  the  anomalous  character  of  our  institu 
tions. 

The  allusion  by  the  senator  from  Michigan  (Mr.  Christiancy)  to  mail 
contractors  and  the  powers  of  the  government  over  their  contracts  has  no 
relevancy  whatever  to  the  question  before  us.  Surely,  that  senator  is  too 
good  a  constitutional  lawyer  not  to  see  the  difference  between  the  relations 
of  the  government  with  its  servants,  employees,  officers,  and  agents,  and 
with  those  who  do  not  sustain  that  relation. 

And  now,  Mr.  President,  what  is  the  true  meaning  of  the  reservation 
to  "add  to,  alter,  amend,  or  repeal,"  found  in  slightly  varying  phraseology 
in  both  the  act  of  1862  and  the  amendatory  act  of  1864?  I  shall  come 
directly  to  answer  the  question  of  the  senator  from  Ohio,  and  I  will  show 
him  to  what  these  words  do  apply,  to  what  they  can  only  apply,  and  I 
affirm  it  with  very  great  confidence.  This  point  in  the  case  I  deem  im 
portant  and  I  have  studied  it  thoroughly  to  the  best  of  my  humble  ability. 
I  say  I  will  prove  to  the  Senate,  I  trust  (I  have  certainly  satisfied  my  own 
mind  beyond  the  shadow  of  a  shade  of  doubt),  that  these  words  do  not  only 
not  apply  to  these  contracts  of  loan,  but  in  their  nature  cannot  be  made  to 
apply  to  the  contracts  of  loan  or  to  the  portions  of  the  charter  relating  to 
the  contracts  as  such.  These  words  have  a  meaning  and  a  history  which 
identifies  that  meaning  beyond  the  possibility  of  mistake.  First,  these 
words  are  never  used  in  ordinary  legislation,  because  such  use  is  wholly  un 
necessary.  The  right  to  "  add  to,  alter,  amend,  or  repeal "  legislative  acts  is 
an  inherent  part  of  ordinary  legislative  power.  The  legislation,  then,  in 
which  it  is  necessary  to  retain  such  a  reservation,  must  stand  upon  some 
peculiar  footing  by  reason  of  some  peculiar  character  different  from  ordinary 
legislation.  When  we  find  this  peculiarity  of  legislation  we  shall  be  able  to 
comprehend  the  true  purpose,  application,  and  meaning  of  this  reservation. 
The  habit  of  making  this  reservation  is  of  modern  origin,  and  has  grown 
into  its  great  importance  and  general  use  by  a  great  and  enlightened  expe 
rience. 

This  peculiarity  of  legislation  applies  only  to  the  creation  of  corporations 
and  to  the  granting  and  regulating  the  exercise  of  the  privileges,  powers, 
and  franchises  of  corporations.  In  every  constitutional  provision,  and- 
invite  the  senator's  attention  to  this— in  every  act  of  legislation,  general 
or  special,  in  which  this  reservation  is  found,  it  relates  to  corporations. 
Every  case  which  has  been  read  or  referred  to  in  this  debate,  and  every  case 
reported  in  which  these  words  of  reservation  have  been  brought  before  the 
courts  for  adjudication,  is  a  case  of  a  corporation,  a  case  involving  questions 
relating  to  the  franchises  of  a  corporation,  the  franchises  proper,  granted  by 
direct  fiat  of  the  legislative  will,  not  by  the  intervention  of  executive 
authority.  By  the  Jaw  of  inductive  reasoning,  then,  we  are  brought  to 
the  conclusion  that  there  is  some  peculiar  reason  in  the  character  of  the 
legislation  creating  corporations  and  fixing  and  regulating  their  franchises, 
which  makes  this  reservation  wise  and  necessary,  and  which  reason  does  not 
apply  to  ordinary  legislation.  Now,  let  us  find  this  reason.  What  is  i 
is  deemed  necessary  to  reserve  the  power  to  alter,  amend,  or  repeal  and  add 


508  SENATOR  £.   H.  HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

words  which  are  never  found  necessary  to  be  used  in  any  other  legislation  ? 
Evidently  it  is  because  of  some  peculiarity  in  the  nature  of  the  legislation 
creating  corporations  and  granting  corporate  powers  and  franchises.  The 
creation  of  artificial  persons  and  the  granting  of  powers,  privileges,  and 
functions  to  such  persons  is  a  prerogative,  a  sovereign  prerogative  power. 
In  England  it  formerly  rested  in  the  Crown  ;  in  this  country  it  rests  in  the 
States,  to  be  exercised  by  the  Legislature,  or  by  such  other  power  or  body 
as  the  people  in  the  Constitution  may  direct. 

I  will  not  stop  now  to  inquire  whether  or  to  what  extent  it  may  be  exer 
cised  by  Congress.  The  exercise  of  this  prerogative  power  is  an  act  of  sove 
reign  grace  and  favor.  It  is  not  bought.  There  is  no  consideration  for  it 
passing  from  the  favored  grantee  to  the  sovereign  grantor  ;  but  there  is  gen 
erally  an  inducement  for  the  exercise  of  this  power  by  the  sovereign.  That 
inducement  is  the  public  good — a  public  good  which  is  to  be  secured  and 
promoted  by  the  manner  in  which  the  grantee,  the  corporation,  shall  exer 
cise  the  franchises  graciously  bestowed  upon  it.  It  was  held  even  in  Eng 
land,  that  the  sovereign  having  once  granted  a  charter  of  incorporation 
could  not  revoke  it.  Having  called  the  child  into  life  it  could  not  destroy 
it  without  a  judgment  of  its  peers,  the  courts.  Parliament,  under  a  claim  of 
omnipotent  power,  did  sometimes  revoke  charters,  but  even  this  power  was 
not  cordially  conceded.  Thus  a  corporation  once  created  (except  corpora 
tions  exclusively  political)  could  not  afterward  be  dissolved,  except  by  a 
judgment  of  a  competent  court,  after  trial,  that  the  franchises  had  been  for 
feited,  either  by  a  nonuser  or  misuser  of  the  charter.  That  was  the  case  in 
England  when  the  colonies  were  part  of  that  country. 

Early  in  our  history,  after  the  formation  of  our  constitutional  system,  it 
was  decided  both  by  State  courts  and  the  Federal  courts  that  a  charter,  not 
political,  once  granted  and  accepted,  could  not  be  changed  or  revoked  by 
thelegislative  power  without  the  consent  of  the  corporation.  I  quote  several 
cases  for  that.  See  University  vs.  Fox,  2  Haywood's  Reports  ;  Terrill  vs. 
Taylor,  9  Cranch  ;  Pawlett  vs.  Clarke,  9  Cranch.  But  the  great  struggle 
was  made  in  the  case  of  the  Trustees  of  Dartmouth  College  vs.  Woodward, 
4  Wheaton,  518.  That  case  was  elaborately  argued,  and  has  since  been 
accepted  as  settling  this  question.  Settling  what  question  ?  That  the  charter 
once  granted  could  not  be  changed  or  altered  by  the  granting  power, 
although  freely  granted,  as  an  act  of  favor  simply,  for  the  public  good,  and 
not  altogether  or  chiefly  for  the  personal  good  of  the  grantee. 

But  the  creation  of  corporations  and  the  grant  to  them  of  franchise  powers 
and  privileges  is  a  voluntary  act  by  the  legislative  power,  and  the  only 
consideration  for  such  exercise  of  this  prerogative  power  is  the  public  good. 
The  grant  being  thus  voluntary,  it  followed  from  a  well-established  principle 
that  the  grantor  when  making  it  could  qualify  the  grant  according  to  his 
will,  and,  among  other  qualifications,  could  reserve  the  right  to  alter,  amend, 
or  withdraw  the  franchise,  and  this  reservation  would  become  a  condition 
of  the  grant.  Just  like  an  individual  person,  if  he  makes  a  conveyance  for 
value  he  must  follow  the  terms  of  the  contract.  If  he  makes  a  voluntary 
conveyance,  if  it  is  a  mere  grant  without  consideration,  even  though  it  may 
be  for  natural  love  and  affection,  the  grantor  can  prescribe  such  terms  as  he 
pleases;  and  in  the  case  of  a  mere  voluntary  grant  at  any  time  before 
execution  and  delivery  it  can  be  revoked.  The  object  of  the  grant  being 
the  public  good,  it  was  wise  and  proper  that  the  grantor  should  retain  this 
control  over  its  exercise,  so  as  to  secure  more  certainly  and  effectively  this 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  509 

object.  In  this  way  the  habit  of  making  the  reservation  we  are  considering 
originated,  and  I  repeat  these  words  of  reservation  are  only  found  in  char 
ters  gran  ted  to  corporations  and  they  apply  to  nothing  but  franchises  granted 
to  corporations.  The  fact  that  there  is  something  else  included  in  the  act 
which  creates  a  charter  besides  the  franchise  does  not  applv  the  words  of 
the  reservation  to  those  other  matters.  The  words  of  reservation  are  put  in 
under  this  law  of  necessity  to  reserve  the  right  to  revoke,  alter,  or  change 
the  charter  if  the  grantee,  who  is  the  recipient  of  sovereign  power,  does  not 
execute  the  grant  to  accomplish  the  object  for  which  it  was  made.  The 
wonderful  increase  in  the  number,  kind,  and  power  of  corporations  in  late 
years  has  made  this  reservation  all  the  more  important  in  character  and  the 
more  frequent  in  its  exercise.  This  reservation  is  now  to  be  found  in  nearly 
all  the  States  of  the  Union,  sometimes  in  the  constitutions,  sometimes  as 
provisions  of  general  laws,  and  often  in  special  charters  ;  but  in  all  cases  the 
reservations  are  made  to  apply  to  corporations  and  special  legislative  grants, 
and  to  them  only.  To  apply  them  to  any  other  kind  of  legislation  is  utterly 
unwarranted  and  cannot  be  justified  by  principle,  precedent,  reason,  or 
authority. 

Now,  let  us  apply  these  principles  to  the  acts  of  1862  and  1864  creating 
these  operations,  and  I  will  tell  the  senator  from  Ohio  what,  in  all  those  acts, 
is  subject  to  the  power  of  Congress  to  alter,  repeal,  modify,  add  to,  or  change. 
The  corporations  are  created  by  direct  fiat  of  the  legislative  will.  All  the 
usual  and  special  corporate  powers,  privileges,  and  franchises  are  granted, 
in  like  manner,  to  the  corporations  so  created,  and  they  are  granted  directly. 
None  of  these  grants  are  to  be  executed  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
or  by  the  executive  department.  I  call  the  senator's  attention  to  that. 
None  of  these  grants  in  the  creation  of  the  corporation,  the  granting  of  the 
corporate  privileges,  powers,  and  franchises,  are  to  be  executed  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  or  by  the  executive  department.  They  are  per 
fect  and  complete  the  moment  that  they  are  passed.  They  are  made  so  by 
the  very  act.  They  are  complete  and  perfect,  and  executed  by  the  legisla 
tive  act,  and  are  not  made  so  by  another  power  under  authority  of  the  legis 
lative  act. 

Mr.  Thurman. — Let  me  understand  the  senator,  if  I  do  not  interrupt  him 
too  much  ?  If  I  understand  my  friend,  he  makes  this  distinction,  that 
because  these  bonds  issued  by  the  government  were  required  to  be  signed  by 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  and  handed  over  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  that  was  a  different  thing  from  a  contract  made  by  Congress  on 
behalf  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States. 

Mr.  Hill.— The  senator  will  hear  me.  My  point  is  that  those  provisions 
of  the  act  of  1862  and  1864  which  authorized  a  loan  of  money  do  not  perfect 
any  right  in  anybody.  They  simply  authorized  the  executive  department 
to'do  certain  things  to  be  done  by  the  department.  But  I  say  the  creation 
of  the  corporation  itself,  the  granting  of  the  franchises  to  that  corporation, 
is  complete  by  a  simple  act  of  legislation  without  the  intervention  of  execu 
tive  agencies. 

Mr.  Thurmaji.—Now  let  me  put  a  question  to  my  friend,  for  he  does 
not  seem  to  have  considered  it,  at  least  I  have  not  heard  it.  I  ask  him  when 
Congress  passed  this  act  and  promised  this  loan  of  bonds,  whether  the  moment 
the  company  accepted  the  charter  that  was  not,  according  to  his  view  of 
the  case,  a  contract  between  the  government  and  the  company,  and 
good  faitli  the  government  was  bound  then  to  issue  the  bonds,  the  company 


510  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

doing  what  would  entitle  it  to  the  bonds  ?  I  ask  him,  further,  whether  any 
executive  officer  of  this  government  had  the  slightest  discretion  in  the  world 
in  the  business  to  refuse  to  issue  the  bonds  or  not  ;  whether  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  was  not  bound  to  issue  them  according  to  the  mandate  of 
Congress  if  the  company  complied  ? 

Now,  may  I  ask  the  senator  one  further  question,  whether  or  not  in  that 
respect  there  is  the  slightest  difference  between  the  franchises  granted  by 
the  charter  and  this  loan  promised  by  the  government?  The  franchises 
granted  by  the  charter  were  not  granted  upon  the  mere  approval  by  the 
President  of  the  act.  They  did  not  take  effect  until  the  company  accepted 
them,  for  you  cannot  force  a  grant  on  anybody.  Therefore,  it  required  two 
to  make  those  franchises  come  into  being,  just  as  much  as  it  required  two 
to  make  this  loan  come  into  existence. 

Mr.  Hill. — And  the  point  is  that  it  requires  more  than  two  to  give  effect 
to  this  legislation  for  the  loan.  My  point  is  that  the  corporation  is  created 
and  the  franchises  conferred  by  the  act  of  Congress,  of  course  by  consent 
of  the  other  party,  and  that  no  executive  agency  intervened  for  any  purpose  ; 
that  it  becomes  complete  in  the  parties  by  the  passage  of  the  act. 

Mr.  Thurman. — Now  let  me  ask 

Mr.  Hill. — But  I  will  answer  the  senator.  Just  wait  and  see  if  I  do  not. 
I  answer  the  senator  that  the  passage  of  those  provisions  of  these  laws 
authorizing  the  loan  do  not  make  the  loan.  It  created  a  right  to  have  a 
loan,  but  I  say  to  the  senator  before  the  right  to  those  loans  could  accrue 
not  only  must  the  company  accept  the  proposition,  but  they  must  go  to  work 
and  earn  the  consideration  which  entitled  them  to  it  ;  and  the  executive 
department  and  not  the  legislative  is  to  determine  by  its  judgment  whether 
they  have  complied  with  the  contract.  The  corporations  might  act  until 
doomsday,  and  they  might  have  had  a  thousand  acts  by  Congress,  but  if  the 
executive  department  had  not  pronounced  and  adjudged  that  they  had  com 
plied  with  their  contract  their  right  would  have  been  only  inchoate  and  not 
perfect  to  the  loan.  So  there  is  a  difference  and  I  want  the  Senate  to  note 
it.  It  is  the  difference  in  the  books  ;  it  is  the  difference  upon  reason.  It  is 
the  very  secret  of  these  reservations  in  these  charters.  In  a  charter  granted 
directly  by  the  sovereign  power  nothing  is  required  to  perfect  the  grant  ex 
cept  the  acceptance  from  the  grantee,  whereas  authority  to  lend  money,  an 
act  of  Congress  to  lend  money,  is  only  a  power  conferred  to  one  of  the  ex 
ecutive  departments.  It  is  true  they  must  obey  authority  as  they  do  in  every 
other  case,  but  it  is  true,  as  the  courts  have  often  decided,  that  they  are  the 
judges  whether  the  acts  are  complied  with,  and  they  must  adjudge  and  deter 
mine  that  the  work  has  been  completed  in  the  manner  required  before  any 
right  to  the  loan  can  vest  in  these  corporations. 

Mr.  TJiurman. — I  ask  the  senator  if  the  corporation  does  the  work,  fully 
and  fairly  entitling  itself  to  the  loan,  and  a  Secretary  of  the  Interior  or  of  the 
Treasury  should  refuse  willfully  and  without  cause  to  issue  the  bonds, 
whether  a  mandamus  would  not  lie  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — Certainly,  if  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  adjudged  that  the 
work  was  complete  ;  but  suppose  the  executive  authority  denied  that  the 
work  was  complete.  How  then  ?  Suppose  they  will  not  issue  the  bonds, 
will  a  mandamus  lie?  Certainly  a  mandamus  will  lie  where  the  right  is  per 
fect  and  complete  and  it  is  conceded,  but  what  is  needed  is  for  the  bonds  to 
be  issued,  signed,  and  delivered. 

But  suppose  the  judges  of  the  contract  will  not  execute  it.     Suppose  the 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  511 

Secretary  of  the  Treasury  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  in  the  respective 
parts  they  have  got  to  perform  in  this  agency  adjudge  that  the  work  is  not 
completed  according  to  the  contract,  would  a  thousand  acts  entitle  them  to 
the  bonds,  would  a  thousand  mandamuses  secure  them  ?  Sir,  it  is  expressly 
decided  by  the  Supreme  Court  in  the  celebrated  case  of  Decatur  vs.  Spauld- 
ing  and  others,  that  the  Department  is  the  judge  of  the  evidence  in  such 
case  ;  that  while  we  have  to  command  the  Department  they  have  a  right  to 
judge  in  certain  matters  ;  that  when  it  is  referred  by  Congress  to  them  to 
judge  when  a  contract  had  been  executed,  when  a  right  has  become  vested 
which  Congress  has  strictly  authorized,  the  courts  cannot  interfere  with  that 
question  ;  but  if  the  Executive  Department  says,  "  You  have  complied  but  I 
am  not  bound  to  obey  the  act  of  Congress,"  then  the  courts  will  come  in  by 
mandamus  and  compel  obedience,  but  the  courts  cannot  interfere  with  the 
judgment  of  the  Secretary  or  of  the  Executive  Department.  I  do  say  to  the 
senator  that  before  these  parties  are  entitled  to  this  loan  they  not  only  had 
to  do  the  work  but  the  Executive  Department  had  to  adjudge  the  work  as 
rightfully  done  under  the  act.  Therefore  in  the  matter  of  this  loan  another 
department  of  the  Government  was  introduced  to  perfect  it  and  it  does  not 
take  place  upon  the  mere  grant  of  incorporation  and  the  granting  of  the 
franchises  to  the  companies.  The  Legislature  grants  those,  and  the  grant  is 
not  dependent  on  the  executive  authority  or  any  judgment  or  adjudication 
by  the  executive  authority  for  the  absolute  and  unconditional  vesting  of  their 
rights. 

Mr.  Thurman. — If  the  President  does  not  approve  the  bill,  I  do  not 
think  they  will  have  it. 

Mr.  Hill. — Oh,  well,  of  course  that  is  a  part  of  the  legislation.  I  say  the 
legislation  is  completed,  and  when  I  say  that,  of  course  I  mean  the  approval 
of  the  President  or  the  passage  of  the  bill  by  two-thirds  over  his  veto.  My 
friend  from  Ohio  is  getting  decidedly  hypercritical. 

How  different  are  the  contracts  of  loan  authorized  by  these  acts.  Here 
the  legislation  becomes  mere  authority  to  the  Executive  Department.  The 
loans  are  for  a  valuable  consideration.  The  inducements  which  make  the 
Congress  willing  to  authorize  the  loans  are  all  set  out.  The  terms  and  con 
ditions  of  the  loans  are  prescribed.  What  shall  be  done  to  entitle  the  cor 
porations  to  the  loans  ;  how  the  loans  shall  be  secured  and  how  repaid  ; 
what  shall  be  the  liabilities  of  the  corporations  accepting  the  loans  ;  and 
when,  in  what  manner,  and  on  what  terms  the  loans  shall  be  repaid  are  all 
declared.  But  all  these  provisions  are  nothing  but  directions  to  the  Execu 
tive  Department,  who  are  authorized  by  these  legislative  provisions—these 
powers  of  attorney — to  complete  the  work  and  deliver  the  bonds,  or  adjudge 
that  they  shall  not  be  delivered  as  the  case  may  be,  and  Congress  actually 
has  nothing  to  do.  The  executive  power  is  to  ascertain  and  determine  when 
the  corporations  have  completed  the  roads  in  sections  ;  the  executive  au 
thority  is  to  determine  and  make  known  when  the  entire  roads  are  completed. 
The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is  to  issue  and  deliver  the  bonds,  and  here  is 
a  point  to  which  I  challenge  the  attention  of  senators.  It  is  in  that  very 
act  of  1862  declared  to  be  the  "issue  and  delivery  of  the  bonds  "  that  con 
stitute  the  mortgage.  You  may  have  a  thousand  acts,  and  without  all  this 
executive  agency  intervening,  and  the  actual  execution,  issue,  and  delivery 
of  the  bonds  there  would  be  no  mortgage. 

Without  these  executive  acts  there  were  no  contracts,  no  loans,  and  no 
obligations  created,  and  none  could  have  existed,  although  by  the  legislative 


512  SENATOR  B.   H,   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

acts  they  were  all  authorized  to  be  made  and  created.  The  legislative  acts 
created  the  corporations  and  invested  them  with  corporate  powers,  privileges, 
and  franchises  without  any  intervening  executive  agency  ;  but  the  legisla 
tive  acts  did  not  make  but  only  authorized  the  contracts  of  loan  to  be  made 
by  the  intervention  of  executive  agency,  and  without  the  actual  execution  of 
that  agency  the  contracts  would  have  had  no  existence. 

Without  the  reservations  "  to  add  to,  alter,  amend,  or  repeal  the  acts," 
the  charters  granted  and  the  franchises  conferred  could  never  have  been 
changed  or  revoked.  The  reservations  were  only  necessary  to  retain  legisla 
tive  control  over  the  corporations  and  their  franchises,  and  for  that  purpose 
ojily  were  they  made.  It  was  not  necessary  to  reserve  the  right  to  alter  or 
repeal  the  authority  to  make  the  loans. 

There  is  another  distinction  to  which  I  call  the  attention  of  the  senator 
from  Ohio  :  under  the  Dartmouth  College  decision  and  under  all  the  deci 
sions  of  all  the  courts,  State  and  Federal,  it  was  necessary  to  reserve  the 
right  to  alter,  repeal,  or  change  the  franchises  granted  to  a  corporation,  but 
it  was  never  held  by  any  court  that  it  was  necessary  to  reserve  the  right  to 
alter  or  change  the  authority  to  make  a  loan.  The  Congress  had  inherent 
power  to  change  or  repeal  the  legislative  authority,  to  make  the  loans,  but 
Congress  has  and  can  have  no  authority  inherent  or  reserved  to  alter  or 
rescind  the  contracts  of  loan  after  the  authority  to  make  them  had  been  ex 
ecuted.  From  the  moment  of  that  execution  the  authority  became  ex 
hausted,  dead,  and  the  contract  became  instinct  with  life,  which  life  it  will 
be  crime  to  destroy  by  force.  From  that  moment  the  loans  became  plain 
contract  debts  which  no  power  can  destroy  or  impair  save  the  power  that 
made  them,  the  consent  of  both  parties.  As  the  Supreme  Court  justly  say 
in  a  recent  case  (3  Otto,  255)  :  "  Two  minds  are  required  to  make  a  contract 
or  to  change  its  terms  and  conditions  after  it  is  executed." 

It  can  make  no  difference  that  the  authority  to  make  the  loans  was 
created  in  the  acts  granting  the  corporate  charters,  and  that  is  where  all 
this  trouble  has  come  from.  These  gentlemen  have  never  got  the  true 
view,  because  the  offer  to  loan  was  included  in  the  acts  granting  the  charter. 
That  fact  cannot  change  either  the  nature  or  the  law  of  the  contracts  as 
made.  They  stand  precisely  as  if  the  authority  had  been  given  by  separate 
and  independent  acts  of  Congress. 

Thus,  sir,  I  have  shown  : 

First.  That  the  bill  reported  from  the  Judiciary  committee,  under  the 
form  of  altering  the  acts  under  authority  of  which  these  contracts  were 
made,  does  in  fact  seek  to  alter  and  change  the  contracts  themselves,  and 
without  the  consent  of  the  parties  to  those  contracts. 

Second.  That  such  legislative  power  cannot  be  found  in  the  theory  of 
trusts.  That  the  power  to  interfere  under  that  theoiy  Exists  only  in  the 
courts,  and  that  even  the  courts  can  exercise  such  a  power  only  after  de 
fault. 

Third.  That  the  reservations  "  to  alter,  amend,  or  repeal,"  contained  in 
the  acts  of  1862  and  1864,  apply,  and  were  intended  to  apply,  and  can  only 
apply  to  the  corporate  existence,  powers,  and  franchises  of  the  railroad  com 
panies  created  and  confirmed  by  those  acts.  That  the  reservations  were  not 
needed  or  intended  to  give  to  Congress  the  power  to  alter  or  repeal  the 
authority  to  make  the  loans  provided  for  in  those  acts  and  that  no  authority 
can  exist  in  Congress,  inherently  or  by  reservation,  to  alter  or  rescind  the 
contracts  actually  made  under  that  authority  after  tluit  authority  had  been 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  513 

executed,  after  the  contract  had  been  made,  and  after  the  rights  and  liabili 
ties  of  the  parties  to  those  contracts  had  become  vested  and  fixed. 

I  beg  to  call  the  attention  of  the  Senate  to  some  considerations  upon 
the  assumption,  for  argument's  sake,  that  the  words  "  to  alter,  amend,  or 
repeal,"  do  apply  to  the  contract,  to  the  authority  to  make  the  contract,  and 
to  the  terms  of  the  contract,  as  well  as  the  creation  of  the  corporation  and 
the  granting  of  the  franchise.  First,  I  want  to  call  the  attention  of  the 
Senate  to  this  point  :  If  this  reservation  to  alter  or  amend  does  apply,  for 
instance,  to  that  stipulation  in  the  contract  which  says  that  one-half  of  the 
transportation  by  the  government  shall  be  paid  before  the  maturity  of  the 
bonds,  suppose  that  power  to  change  that  is  retained  by  the  act  of  1862  or 
the  act  of  1864.  Here  is  the  act  of  1871,  which  expressly  directs  that  that 
half  transportation  shall  be  paid,  and  that  act  reserves  no  right  to  alter  or 
amend.  I  wish  the  senator  from  Ohio  to  hear  this.  I  wish  him  to  reply  to 
it  if  he  can.  I  say  the  act  of  1871,  being  the  ninth  section  of  an  act  making 
appropriations  for  the  support  of  the  army  for  the  year  ending  June  30, 
1872,  and  for  other  purposes,  provides  that 

The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is  hereby  directed  to  pay  over  in  money  to  the  Pacific 
Railroad  Companies  mentioned  in  said  act,  and  performing  services  for  the  United  States, 
one-half  of  the  compensation  at  the  rate  provided  by  law  for  such  services  heretofore  or 
hereafter  rendered. 

And  it  distinctly  says  : 

Provided,  That  this  section  shall  not  be  construed  to  affect  the  legal  rights  of  the 
government  or  the  obligations  of  the  companies,  except  as  herein  specifically  provided. 

Now,  here  is  the  act  of  1871,  which  enacts  and  declares  that  the  half  of 
this  transportation  shall  be  paid  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  the 
companies,  and  no  power  is  reserved  in  the  act  of  1871  to  alter,  amend,  or 
repeal  that  act.  Take  the  case  proposed  by  my  friend  here  from  the  Judici 
ary  Committee,  and  you  see  that  the  bill  provides  in  the  fourth  section  : 

That  there  shall  be  carried  to  the  credit  of  the  said  fund,  on  the  1st  day  of  February 
in  each  year,  the  one-half  of  the  compensation  for  services  hereinbefore  named,  rendered 
for  the  government  by  said  Central  Pacific  Railroad  Company,  not  applied  in  liquidation 
of  interest. 

Mr.  Thurman.— Do  I  understand  the  senator  from  Georgia  to  say  that 
that  act  of  1871  is  irrepealable  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — I  say  it  is  after  the  parties  have  acted  under  it. 

Mr.  Thurman. — That  is  all  I  wanted  to  know,  if  the  senator  so  stated. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  do.     Is  it  not  part  of  the  contract? 

Mr.  Thurman. — Part  of  what  contract  ? 

Mr.  Hill.— Part  of  the  contract  authorized  by  the  acts  of  1862  and  1864. 

Mr.  Thurman.— Now  the  senator  is  coming  precisely  to  where  I  wanted 
him  to  come.     He  has  now  got  beyond  the  loan,  and  I  want  him  to  tel 
this 

Mr.  Hill— I  am  now  arguing  the  case  upon  the  assumption 
words  "  to  alter,  amend,  or  repeal  "  apply. 

Mr.  Thurman.— Then  I  want  to  know  what  in  the  world  it 
charter  which  can  come  within  that  power  of  amendment,  alteration,  or 
repeal. 

Mr.  Hill.— The  senator  does  not  see  the  point.     I  am  arguing  i 
now  upon  the  assumption  that  the  word  "  alter  "  applies  to  everything  there. 
Do  you  not  perceive  ?     But  by  the  act  of  1864  Congress  agreed  that  one 
half  the  transportation  should  be  paid  to  the  companies.     Congress  reserve 


514  SENATOR  B.   II.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

the  right  to  alter,  as  the  senator  says,  in  the  acts  of  1862  and  1864,  and  for 
some  reason  the  government  did  not  pay  it.  Then  you  come  in  with  the 
act  of  1871  and  re-enact  that  they  should  have  that  one-half. 

Mr.  Bayard. — May  I  ask  the  senator  a  question  ?  Does  he  consider 
that  the  power  reserved  to  the  government  to  amend  the  law  of  1864  at  will 
is  exhausted  by  making  an  amendment  in  1871  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — I  certainly  do  as  to  that  particular  thing,  because  the  last  act 
repeals  the  first.  I  think  if  you  in  a  subsequent  act  make  a  direct  enactment, 
and  do  not  reserve  the  power  to  repeal,  you  cannot  afterward  alter  or  change 
that  act. 

Mr.  Thurman. — The  senator  himself,  if  he  will  allow  me  to  interrupt 
him,  has  stated  the  matter  which  shows  what  the  act  of  1871  was.  Under 
the  act  of  1864  the  companies  were  entitled  to  receive  pay  for  half  the 
transportation  account.  The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  refused  to  pay  them 
that  half  under  an  opinion  of  Mr.  Attorney  General  Akerman.  The  matter 
was  referred  to  Congress  ;  that  is  to  say,  the  companies  petitioned  Congress 
on  the  subject.  The  Judiciary  Committees  of  the  Senate  and  the  House 
reported  that  under  the  act  of  1864  the  companies  were  entitled  to  this 
money,  half  the  transportation  account,  and  the  act  of  1871  was  passed  to 
compel  the  secretary  to  execute  the  law  ;  not  to  change  fcthe  law  or  to  make 
any  new  law,  but  simply  to  compel  him  to  execute  it. 

Mr.  Hill.— No  ;  but  you  did  declare  in  the  act  of  1864  that  one-half  of 
the  transportation  shall  be  paid  with  a  reservation. 

Mr.  Thurman. — What  reservation  ? 

Mr.  Sill. — The  reservation  of  the  right  to  alter.  That  is -what  you  say. 
I  am  arguing  on  that  assumption  now,  which  the  senator  from  Ohio  does 
not  seem  to  take.  I  am  arguing  upon  the  assumption  that  you  are  right, 
and  yet  I  show  that  your  bill  is  unconstitutional :  for  I  say  that  afterward 
you  enacted  again  that  these  companies  should  have  the  half  transportation 
without  reservation,  and  that  they  should  not  only  have  it  for  the  past  but 
should  have  it  forever.  That  is  the  act  of  1871. 

Mr.  Edmunds. — Will  the  senator  read  the  act  of  1871  which  shows 
that? 

Mr.  Hill. — I  have  just  read  it. 

Mr.  Edmunds. — I  wish  he  would  read  it  again  for  general  information. 

Mr.  Hill.—li  is  as  follow  : 

The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is  hereby  directed  to  pay  over  in  money  to  the  Pacific 
Railroad  Companies  mentioned  in  said  act,  and  performing  services  for  the  United  States, 
one-half  of  the  compensation  at  the  rate  provided  by  law  for  such  services,  heretofore  or 
hereafter  rendered. 

And  lest  this  act  might  be  construed  to  interfere  with  the  reservation  in 
the  act  of  1864  in  some  other  point  besides  this,  you  go  on  and  provide 

That  this  section  shall  not  be  construed  to  affect  the  legal  rights  of  the  government  or 
the  obligations  of  the  companies  except  as  herein  specifically  provided. 

That  is  as  to  the  half  transportation  account. 

Mr.  Bailey. — May  I  ask  the  senator  a  question  ? 

Mr.  Hill—  Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Bailey. — The  senator  says  the  act  of  1871  exhausted  the  power  to 
amend  or  repeal  the  act  of  1864. 

Mr.  Hill. — As  to  this  particular  provision. 

Mr.  Bailey. --Will  the  senator  point  out  in  what  particular  the  act  of 
1871  alters,  amends,  or  repeals  the  act  of  1864? 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  515 

Mr.  Hill. — It  re-enacts.  Gentlemen  will  not  understand  me.  In  the  act 
of  1864  you  enacted  a  right  with  a  reservation,  and  you  claim  the  right  to 
change  it  by  virtue  of  that  reservation.  In  the  act  of  1871  you  enacted  the 
same  right  without  reservation.  That  is  the  point ;  and  I  defy  any  lawyer 
to  get  over  it.  Is  not  the  right  without  a  reservation  an  amendment  and  im 
provement  upon  a  right  with  a  reservation  ?  Is  not  an  absolute  right  better 
than  a  qualified  right? 

Mr.  Edmunds. — May  I  ask  the  senator  whether  he  thinks  the  act  of 
1871  became  a  contract  by  the  mere  passage  of  it? 

Mr.  Hill. — I  did  not  say  so.  On  the  contrary,  I  have  previously  said  that 
I  take  it  for  granted  that  the  companies  have  been  acting  under  this  act. 

Mr.  Edmunds. — Now  the  senator  who  is  so  very  careful  about  taking 
nothing  for  granted,  had  better  not  take  that,  because  the  companies  have 
not  got  a  cent  under  that  act. 

Mr.  Hill. — They  have  accepted  the  act,  and  therefore  have  got  their 
rights  under  it. 

Mr.  Edmunds.— 1.  should  be  glad  to  see  the  proof  that  they  have 
accepted  it.  They  have  not  got  the  money,  and  that  is  all  the  act  says. 

Mr.  Hill. — There  is  no  proof  that  shows  that  they  have  accepted  any  act. 
If  the  Executive  Department  has  not  done  its  duty,  then,  under  the  position  of 
my  friend  from  Ohio,  the  companies  ought  to  apply  for  a  mandamus.  I  say 
the  right  became  complete  upon  the  passage  of  the  act  and  its  acceptance  by 
the  companies. 

Mr.  Edmunds. — Yes  ;  but  the  difficulty  about  the  senator's  argument  is, 
whatever  there  is  of  it,  and  I  will  express  no  opinion  about  that- 

Mr.  Hill. — It  makes  no  difference  what  the  senator's  opinion  is  about  it. 

Mr  Edmunds. — The  difficulty  about  it  is  that  according  to  his  previous 
proposition  these  acts  do  not  become  contracts  or  authorized  contracts  in  an}' 
effective  sense  until  they  are  accepted  by  the  other  side  ;  it  takes  two  minds. 
A  corporation  can  only  act  not  by  the  general  force  of  nature,  but  by  some 
corporate  performance.  Now,  then,  if  the  senator  will  only  look  at  the 
published  reports  officially  made  to  us,  he  will  see  in  the  reports  and  the 
evidence  that  none  of  the  money  mentioned  in  the  act  of  1871  has  been  paid 
to  any  of  the  companies  ;  it  is  in  the  Treasury  still.  Therefore  the  payment 
of  the  money  does  not  raise  any  implication  that  the  company  has  accepted 
this  new  contract.  Where,  then,  does  the  senator  get  the  authority  to  say 
that  this  new  contract,  as  he  calls  it,  is  binding,  and  therefore  prevents  our 
amending  the  act  of  1864? 

Mr.  JSill.—  I  have  no  evidence  that  any  act  passed  in  relation  to  these 
companies  has  been  accepted. 

Mr  Edmunds. — If  the  senator  will  look  into  the  reports,  he  will  find  it. 

Mr.  Hill— I  have  no  evidence  myself  that  the  acts  of  1862  and  1864  have 
been  accepted.  I  understand  they  have  been,  and  as  those  acts  are  all  pub 
lished  and  there  has  been  no  protest  against  them  I  assume  that  they  have 
been  accepted,  and  as  it  was  for  the  benefit  of  the  companies  and  not  their 
injury,  a  formal  acceptance  was  not  necessary.  I  take  it  for  granted  they 
have  accepted  them.  If  the  act  of  1871  passed,  and  they  accepted  it  by  act 
ing  on  it,  the  right  became  perfect,  whether  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
paid  the  money  or  not. 

Now,  the  senator  from  Vermont  wants  to  get  to  the  point  that  the  Secre 
tary  of  the  Treasury  must  pay  the  money.  If  there  had  been  a  condition  of 
this  grant  which  made  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  the  judge  as  to  whether 


516  SENATOR  B.   K   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

f 

he  should  pay  it,  then  I  grant  your  position  ;  but  as  there  is  no  condition  to 
the  grant,  as  the  act  is  absolute  and  unconditional  and  without  reservation,  all 
that  is  necessary  to  make  it  a  contract  is  for  the  companies  to  accept  it ;  and 
indeed  a  formal  acceptance  is  not  necessary  as  it  is  for  their  benefit.  Of 
course,  I  admit,  that  if  the  companies  have  not  accepted  it  or  rejected  it,  it  is 
no  contract.  An  act  of  Congress  is  never  a  contract  per  se.  Sometimes  it 
is  called  so,  and  in  common  parlance  sometimes  spoken  of  as  such  ;  but  no 
lawyer  when  he  comes  down  to  technically  correct  language  would  call  an 
act  of  Congress  a  contract.  It  is  an  element  of  it  of  course. 

But  I  go  on  to  another  point.  Even  if  the  general  reservation  to  alter  and 
repeal  applied  to  the  contract  and  its  terms,  then  I  say  it  cannot  be  used  to 
take  away  specific  gift  or  provision,  but  only  to  aid  such  specific  grant.  I 
call  the  attention  of  the  lawyers  of  the  Senate  to  this  position.  The  reser 
vation  is  general  ;  the  grant  of  the  authority  to  make  the  loan  is  specific. 
Mr.  Sedgwick  says  : 

But  a  particular  thing  given  by  the  preceding  part  of  a  statute  shall  not  be  taken  away 
or  altered  by  any  subsequent  general  words. — Sedgwick  on  Statutes,  pp.  60,  61. 

I  say  these  words,  "  to  alter,  amend,  or  appeal,"  cannot  be  used  to  destroy 
any  specific  stipulation.  There  is  one  case  in  which  the  repeal  may  be,  and 
that  is  where  the  object  of  the  grant  is  not  carried  out,  where  there  is  a  for 
feiture  of  the  charter  ;  but  while  the  companies  comply  with  the  contract, 
while  they  on  their  part  comply  with  the  specific  stipulations,  Congress  cannot 
under  the  general  power  of  reservation  negative  or  destroy  a  specific  grant. 
The  Senator  from  Indiana  (Mr.  McDonald)  laid  down  the  direct  reverse  of  that 
proposition  the  other  day,  and  he  will  find  on  examination  of  the  authorities 
that  he  is  incorrect. 

Mr.  Edmunds. — I  did  not  wish  to  interrupt  the  senator  to  his  annoyance 
at  all,  but  I  desire  to  ask  him  a  question  with  his  permission. 

Mr.  Hill. — Certainly. 

Mr.  Edmunds. — I  am  interested  in  the  observations  of  the  senator,  and 
wish  to  get  at  preciseh^  what  he  means.  Do  I  understand  him  to  mean  on 
this  last  point  he  has  advanced,  that  if  Congress  grant  a  charter  for  a  par 
ticular  national  bank,  to  be  called  the  National  Bank  of  North  America  in  the 
District  of  Columbia,  for  twenty  years,  and  that  bank  accepts  the  charter  and 
complies  with  every  provision  in  it,  there  being  at  the  end  a  section  which 
says  Congress  may  repeal  this  act  at  any  time,  Congess  cannot  repeal  it  with 
in  the  twenty  years  unless  the  company  have  violated  some  of  the  provisions 
of  the  charter  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — That  is  just  exactly  my  position. 

Mr.  Edmunds.- -Then  I  understand  the  senator. 

Mr.  Hill. — And  I  state  it  precisely  in  the  language,  almost,  of  Chief 
Justice  Shaw,  of  Massachusetts. 

Mr.  Edmunds. — Not  applied  to  any  such  subject  as  that. 

Mr.  Hill. — But  he  says  that  these  reservations  to  alter,  amend,  and  repeal, 
though  unlimited  in  terms,  are  not  unlimited  in  effect,  and  one  of  the  limita 
tions  is  that  they  must  be  used  to  effectuate  the  original  purpose.  That  is 
what  it  is  done  for.  The  history  of  this  reservation  shows  that  that  is  exactly 
why  it  was  made.  The  courts  had  decided  that  where  a  charter  was  once 
granted  it  could  not  be  revoked,  even  though  they  did  not  comply  with  the 
terms  ;  you  had  to  go  to  the  courts  to  get  a  judgment  of  forfeiture.  These 
reservations  are  made  to  meet  that  difficulty ;  and  I  need  not  stop  here  to 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,  AND    WRITINGS. 

discuss  it ;  but  I  do  say  to  the  Senator  from  Vermont,  although  that  is  not 
material  to  this  discussion,  whenever  this  question  comes  to  be  firmly  and 
finally  settled — and  the  courts  are  now  struggling  with  it — wherever  a  cor 
porate  charter  or  privilege  has  been  specifically  granted  and  accepted,  and 
the  company  is  complying  with  it  in  good  faith,  the  power  to  repeal  does 
not  authorize  its  destruction,  and  you  can  use  that  power  to  repeal  only  to 
carry  out  the  original  purposes  of  the  grant.  If  the  companies,  for  instance, 
did  not  build  this  road,  if  they  did  not  keep  it  up,  if  they  did  not  accom 
plish  the  object  the  United  States  had  in  granting  them  the  franchise,  then 
the  United  States  reserved  the  right  to  take  back  the  franchise  and  give  it  to 
persons  who  would  carry  out  the  object.  That  is  the  purpose  of  it 
exactly. 

Mr.  Christiancy. — Or  refuse  to  give  it  to  anybody  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — Certainly  ;  or  refuse  to  give  it  to  anybody. 

Mr.  Christiancy. — I  can  see  how  amendments  might  be  made  to  the  charter 
for  the  purpose  of  carrying  out  the  original  purposes  of  the  charter  ;  but 
when  you  come  to  repealing  it,  it  seems  to  me  that  is  a  very  different  thing. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  have  just  stated  it.  I  can  give  the  case  to  the  senator  again. 
Suppose  the  company  does  not  build  the  road ;  suppose  the  company  does 
not  keep  up  the  road. 

Mr.  Christiancy. --The  original  purpose  of  the  grant. 

Mr.  Hill. — That  is  it.  What  is  the  original  purpose  of  the  grant  ?  The 
original  purpose  of  the  grant  was  to  construct  the  road  and  keep  it  up. 

Mr.    Christiancy. — How  will  repeal  do  that? 

Mr.  Hill. — The  repeal  and  giving  the  right  to  somebody  else  would  do  it. 
This  is  not  original  with  me  ;  it  is  stated  in  the  books.  The  very  purpose 
of  this  reservation  is  to  enable  Congress  to  keep  it  within  its  power  to  com 
plete  the  purpose  of  the  grant ;  and  if  it  had  selected  an  unfortunate  grantee 
in  the  first  place,  one  who  does  not  carry  out  the  power,  then  Congress  may 
revoke  the  grant  and  grant  it  to  anothor,  or  not  grant  it  at  all  if  it  abandons 
the  purpose.  But  I  do  say,  and  I  am  not  going  to  shrink  from  it,  because 
the  courts  have  said  so,  that,  though  this  reservation  be  unlimited  in  terms, 
you  cannot  construe  it  to  destroy  the  rights  of  the  company  as  long  as  they 
are  faithful  to  the  purposes  of  the  grant. 

Mr.  Edmunds. — Has  the  senator  any  case  in  mind  in  which  any  supreme 
court  of  any  state%or  country  has  decided  that  in  such  a  case  as  he  has  been 
supposing  and  as  I  have  supposed,  an  out-and-out  repeal  of  the  charter  would 
be  unconstitutional? 

Mr.  Hill.— No,  sir. 

Mr.  Edmunds. — I  should  think  not. 

Mr.  Hill.— Simply  because  I  never  knew  a  Legislature  that  would  do  it 
where  other  parties  were  complying  with  the  terms.  Therefore,  that  case 
has  never  been  made.  But  I  wi'll  tell  the  senator  what  I  have  seen.  I  have 
not  the  case  here  before  me,  but  one  of  the  best  decisions  ever  made  upon 
the  meaning  of  these  words  to  alter,  amend,  or  repeal,  and  the  extent 
which  the  power  goes,  was  made  by  Chief  Justice  Shaw  under  this  very  kind 
of  language,  the  unlimited  language  used  in  Massachusetts. 

Mr.  Edmunds.— That,  was  the^fish-way  case. 

Mr.  Hill.— And  he  says  that  the  object  is  to  secure  the  original  purpc 
of  the  grant. 

Mr.  Edmunds. — That  was  the  fish-way  case. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  do  not  remember  the  name  of  it. 


518  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

Mr.  Edmunds. — Has  the  senator  seen  the  latest  decision  of  Chief  Jus 
tice  Shaw  in  the  insurance  case  where  the  Legislature  provided  that  an  in 
surance  company  should  accumulate  a  sinking  fund  to  pay  its  debts,  and 
which  he  held  was  lawful  legislation  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — Certainly  ;  I  can  understand  that. 

Mr.  Edmunds. — Very  well. 

Mr.  Hill. — It  stands  upon  a  different  principle  altogether. 

Mr.  Edmunds. — Then  the  senator  ought  to  understand  this. 

Mr.  Hill. — To  be  sure  ;  and  I  do.  Perhaps  the  senator  from  Vermont 
is  not  as  wise  as  he  imagines. 

Mr.  Edmunds. — No,  I  presume  not. 

Mr.  Hill. — If  he  is  all  wise,  some  of  the  courts  are  not  and  some  of  the 
highest  judges  in  this  country.  I  am  not  at  all  intimidated  when  I  stand  be 
fore  these  lawyers  of  the  committee,  when  I  heard  one  of  them  here  the  other 
day  say  that  no  lawyer  in  the  Dartmouth  College  case  ever  made  such  and 
such  a  declaration.  And  I  say  that  when  learned  members  of  the  Judiciary 
Committee  come  in  here,  learned  and  able  as  they  are,  and  tell  me  that  in  this 
country,  under  a  government  of  limitations  upon  its  powers,  there  is  a  right 
to  impair  the  obligation  of  a  contract,  I  am  not  prepared  to  concede  that 
they  are  infinitely  wise,  though  they  be  wiser  than  I. 

Mr.  Edmunds. — The  Senator  will  give  me  leave  to  suggest  to  him  that 
I  was  not  expressing  any  opinion  of  my  own  ;  I  was  only  asking  him,  as  he 
had  referred  to  a  decision  of  Chief  Justice  Shaw  in  respect  of  the  fish-way 
case,  what  view  he  took  of  the  later  decision  of  the  same  court  respecting 
the  insurance  case,  where  the  Legislature  had  required  the  accumulation  of 
a  sinking  fund  to  pay  its  debts. 

Mr.  Hill. — Certainly,  and  I  can  perfectly  understand  that,  but  I  do  not 
wish  to  stop  now  to  argue  it. 

Mr.  Edmunds. — Very  well. 

Mr.  Hill. — But  there  is  a  broad  difference  between  an  insurance  case  and 
a  contract  of  loan  to  a  railroad  corporation  ;  a  very  broad  difference.  The 
very  object  and  terms  and  conditions  of  the  creation  of  an  insurance  com 
pany  are  that  it  shall  be  safe  for  the  people  to  take  risks  in.  That  is  the 
very  object  of  a  grant  to  an  insurance  company,  that  it  shall  be  safe  to  the 
people,  and  the  government  is  but  effectuating  its  object  and  carrying  out 
the  purpose  of  the  grant  to  an  insurance  company  when  it  sees  to  it  that  it 
makes  it  perfectly  secure  for  the.  people  to  insure  in.  The  business  of  an 
insurance  company  is  to  take  risks  ;  the  business  of  a  railroad  corporation  is 
not  to  take  risks  upon  life  or  fire  either. 

Mr.  Edmunds. — But  is  it  not  its  business  to  pay  its  debts  that  the  law 
authorized  it  to  contract  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — Certainly,  according  to  the  terms  of  the  contract ;  certainly, 
when  the  debt  is  due. 

Mr.  Eaton. — Just  what  the  insurance  company  did  not  do. 

Mr  Hill. — Precisely,  for  the  insurance  company  stands  on  a  wholly  dif 
ferent  principle.  The  very  purpose  of  incorporating  it  is  to  enable  it  to  take 
risks,  and  it  is  the  duty  of  the  government  to  see  that  it  is  safe  for  the  peo 
ple  to  insure  in  it.  This  a  different  thing. 

Mr.  Bailey. — May  I  ask  the  senator,  is  it  not  also  the  duty  of  the  rail 
road  company  so  to  manage  its  affairs  that  it  may  be  able  to  perform  the 
functions  for  which  it  was  organized  ? 

Mr.  Hill— Yes,  sir. 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  519 

Mr.  Bailey. — And  remain  in  a  state  of  solvency  and  preserve  its  railroad 
to  the  corporation  ? 

Mr.  Hill.— -Certainly  ;  and  does  anybody  allege  here  that  this  corpora 
tion  is  not  doing  this  ?  Does  anybody  here  allege  that  this  corporation  is 
not  keeping  up  the  road  ? 

Mr.  Bailey. — Does  not  the  Direction  of  the  road  in  its  communication  to 
the  Judiciary  Committee  state  that  unless  there  shall  be  a  sinking  fund  this 
corporation  will  become  insolvent  and  the  road  will  pass  into  other  hands  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — Supposing  it  does  ;  is  that  insolvency  to  result  from  the  ad 
ministration  of  the  road  or  from  the  natural  course  of  events  and  the  natural 
shrinkage  of  property?  The  debtor  is  not  responsible  for  natural  shrinkage 
in  the  value  of  his  property.  He  is  not  responsible  for  misfortunes;  he  is 
only  responsible  for  default.  If  this  company  will  say  that  by  reason  of 
their  management  they  are  destroying  the  corporation,  that  its  insolvency 
is  resulting  from  their  maladministration,  I  can  concede  the  case,  because 
then  there  is  default. 

Mr.  Bailey. — Permit  me  to  ask  another  question.  Does  not  the  com 
pany  avow  that  it  is  distributing  from  year  to  year  its  assets,  its  income  or 
net  earnings,  and  that  that  course  of  procedure  will  bring  about  the  very 
condition  which  it  predicts  in  the  future  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — I  do  not  know  what  the  companies  have  said,  nor  do  I  care  ; 
but  I  do  say  that,  if  the  companies  are  paying  their  debts  as  they  fall  due, 
and  paying  the  interest  as  it  falls  due,  and  keeping  up  the  road  and  operat 
ing  the  road  justly,  they  have  a  right  to  the  dividends,  because  the  eighteenth 
section  of  the  charter  says  so  ;  but,  because  the  mortgager  is  insolvent  and 
because  the  property  mortgaged  is  insufficient  to  pay  the  debt,  that  does 
not  give  the  creditor  a  right  to  the  earnings  before  his  debt  is  due.  I  ad 
mit  and  contend  that  the  earnings  uncollected  when  this  debt  falls  due  the 
court  may  seize  and  apply  to  the  debt  ;  but  I  defy  the  senator  to  find  a  case 
where  there  is  no  default  or  maladministration,  where  a  debtor  is  compelled 
to  apply  the  income  of  the  property  to  the  payment  of  his  debt  before  the 
debt  falls  due. 

But  this  view  can  be  made  still  stronger.  If,  under  the  general  reserva 
tion  to  alter  or  amend,  Congress  retained  the  power  to  change  or^  annul  the 
specific  terms  of  the  contract,  then  Congress  has  reserved  the  power  to  com 
mit  a  fraud  on  the  companies,  and  this  cannot  be  true.  Now,  I  put  it  to 
the  Senate,  I  put  it  to  my  friend  the  able  senator  from  Michigan — a  man 
whose  mind  is  so  able  and  whose  heart  is  so  just — why  did  the  government 
agree  to  these  liberal  terms  with  the  companies  ? 

Mr.  Christiancy. — I  will  answer,  if  the  senator  will  allow  me,  exactly 
why  they  agreed  to  them  :  because  they  reserved  all  the  power  they  ever 
had  and  parted  with  none  of  it. 

Mr.  fflll.—Then  I  understand  the  senator  to  say  that  the  government 
agreed  with  the  companies,  "  If  you  will  take  the  risk,  undergo  the  labor, 
and  build  a  road  which  the  government  desires  built,  which  is  important  to 
the  integrity  of  the  Union,  which  is  important  for  the  uses  of  the  govern 
ment,  and  the  government  therefore  needs  that  road  ;  if  you  gentlemen  will 
go  forward  and  build  this  road,  we  will  advance  you  so  much  money  and 
we  will  not  require  you  to  pay  that  money  back  for  thirty  years,  except 
half  transportation  and  five  per  cent,  of  the  net  earnings";  and  I  understand 
the  senator  to  say  that,  when  the  government  said  that  to  the  companies  as 
an  inducement  for  them  to  take  the  contract  and  build  the  road,  the  moment 


520  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

the  road  is  built  the  government  can  take  back  the  inducement.  Do  I  under 
stand  any  man  to  say  that  ? 

Mr.  Christiancy. — I  understand  that  the  government  understood  and 
that  the  corporators  understood  that  their  rights  under  such  a  reservation 
of  power  would  rest  upon  the  sound  discretion  of  Congress,  and  I  see  no 
absurdity  in  any  man  trusting  to  that  sound  discretion  of  Congress. 

Mr.  Hill. — Mr.  President,  if  the  subject  had  been  bound  to  trust  to  the 
discretion  of  a  legislative  body,  our  fathers  acted  unwisely  when  they  declared 
independence  of  Great  Britain,  who  asserted  the  right  to  levy  a  tax  but 
would  not  do  it.  Sir,  the  Revolution  was  fought  upon  the  assertion  of  a  power, 
and  not  solely  upon  the  manner  of  its  exercise  ;  and  I  put  it  to  the  senator, 
and  I  put  it  to  the  Senate,  when  this  contract  was  made  and  the  govern 
ment  agreed  to  take  only  one-half  the  transportation  to  apply  to  the  inter 
est  before  the  maturity  of  the  bonds,  was  it  not  an  inducement  to  the  com 
panies  to  build  the  road  ?  When  they  actually  built  the  road,  have  you  a 
right  to  take  the  whole  compensation  away  from  them?  That  is  the  point. 
You  say  "  trust  to  the  discretion  of  Congress  ! ' 

Mr.  Beck. — Will  the  senator  allow  me  ?  I  do  not  desire  to  interrupt  the 
senator,  but  I  wish  to  have  information.  In  the  case  of  Miller  vs.  The  State, 
15  Wallace's  Reports,  the  court  say  : 

Power  to  legislate,  founded  upon  such  a  reservation  in  a  charter  to  a  private  corpora 
tion,  is  certainly  not  without  limit,  and  it  may  well  be  admitted  that  it  cannot  be  exer 
cised  to  take  away  or  destroy  rights  acquired  by  virtue  of  such  a  charter,  and  which, 
by  a  legitimate  use  of  the  powers  granted  have  become  vested  in  the  corporation,  but  it 
may  be  safely  affirmed  that  the  reserved  power  may  be  exercised,  and  to  almost  any  ex 
tent,  to  carry  into  effect  the  original  purposes  of  the  grant. 

Mr.  Hill.— Exactly. 

Mr.  Beck. — "  Or  to  secure  the  due  administration  of  its  affairs." 

Mr.  Hill. — Certainly. 

Mr.  Beck. — "  So  as  to  protect  the  rights  of  the  stockholders  and  of 
creditors,  and  for  the  proper  disposition  of  the  assets  ?  ' 

Mr.  Hill— Certainly. 

Mr.  Beck. — Now  the  question  I  desire  to  ask  is,  what  is  there  in  the  bill 
of  the  Judiciary  Committee,  that  goes  beyond  the  authority  asserted  in  this 
opinion,  that  may  be  exercised  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  the  rights  of 
the  creditors  of  the  companies  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — I  will  tell  the  senator.  Those  words  are  used  in  that  book 
according  to  their  legal  signification.  Now,  then,  the  government  has  no 
right  to  interfere  to  protect  creditors  except  where  there  is  a  default  of  the 
debtor  ;  then  there  must  be  "  a  proper  disposition  of  the  assets." 

Mr.  Beck. — Under  the  authority  reserved  to  alter,  amend,  or  change, 
which  was  a  part  of  the  grant  of  course,  if  the  power  is  as  comprehensive 
as  this  opinion  says,  and  if  it  is  admitted  that  the  companies  are  not  only 
looking  to  insolvency  but  so  far  dividing  the  earnings  as  to  become  certainly 
insolvent  when  this  debt  matures,  under  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
which  I  have  just  read,  is  it  not  certain  that  Congress  not  only  has  the 
power  but  ought  to  protect  the  creditors  against  that  probability  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — Whenever  the  creditors  need  protection,  and  whenever  pro 
tection  is  extended  according  to  the  contract.  That  is  what  it  means.  It 
says  "  proper";  that  is  according  to  the  rights  of  both  parties.  You  cannot 
protect  the  creditor  by  destroying  the  rights  of  the  debtor.  It  does  not 
mean  that  the  creditor  shall  have  protection  against  a  bad  contract  by  mak- 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  521 

ing  it  a  good  one.     He  is  entitled  to  protection,  according  to  his  contract, 
against  default  or  breaches  by  the  debtor. 

Mr.  Beck. — The  great  object  in  making  the  loan  by  the  government  was 
to  have  this  road  perpetually  held  by  the  corporation  for  their  use.  Now 
if  that  be  true,  and  if  the  companies  show  themselves  that  in  the  near 
future  they  will  be  certainly  insolvent,  that  the  road  will  be  sold  out  and 
bought  in  by  other  people  who  will  be  under  no  such  obligation,  and  there 
by  the  government  will  not  have  the  perpetual  use  of  it  and  the  government 
will  not  get  its  money,  either  its  principal  or  interest,  unless  there  is  some 
means  taken  to  so  regulate  the  administration  of  the  road  as  to  protect  the 
creditors  of  the  companies,  have  we  not  a  right  to  resort  to  such  means? 

Mr.  Hill. — I  will  say  to  the  senator  that  may  be  all  true,  but  you  cannot 
protect  the  creditors  by  denying  the  stockholders  or  the  owners  of  the  road 
as  the  debtors  the  rights  they  are  entitled  to.  You  must  protect  the  credi 
tor  by  proper  means  ;  you  must  protect  the  creditor  by  such  means  as  the 
existing  law  authorizes,  as  existing  remedies  permit.  You  cannot  resort  to 
extraordinary  remedies  ;  you  cannot  violate  the  charter  ;  you  cannot  protect 
the  creditor  by  destroying  the  rights  of  the  debtor.  You  must  do  it  in  a 
way  that  is  consistent  with  the  original  purposes  of  the  charter.  This  bill 
does  not  allege  the  acts  the  senator  states.  It  does  not  allege  the  companies 
are  doing  anything  to  lessen  the  value  of  the  security  the  government 
agreed  to  take.  Show  me  that  the  companies  are  doing  such  wrongs  and  I 
will  show  ample  remedies.  Even  other  purchasers  would  get  no  new  rights 
other  than  the  charter. 

Mr.  Beck. — The  original  purpose  of  the  charter  was  to  secure  a  perpet 
ual  road  ;  another  was  to  pay  the  debt  of  the  companies  ;  another  purpose 
was  of  course  to  protect  the  stockholders  ;  but  those  stockholders  have  no 
rights  until  the  debts  are  paid  ;  and  if  the  administration  are  dividing  out 
the  assets  of  the  road  to  stockholders,  to  the  absolute,  certain  destruction  of 
the  debts  of  the  companies  and  the  rights  of  the  government,  ought  we  not 
to  interfere  by  legislation  before  they  go  further  ? 

Mr.  Hill.— The  senator  will  see  the  mistake  he  has  made.  He  says  the 
stockholders  have  no  rights  until  the  creditors  are  paid. 

Mr.  Beck. — No  ultimate  rights. 

Mr.  Hill.— They  have  immediate  rights.  They  have  a  right  by  the  very 
terms  of  the  charter  to  ten  per  cent,  dividends. 

Mr.  Beck. — I  mean  that  to  the  ultimate  profits  they  have  no  right,  and 
therefore  they  can  destroy  the  security  by  the  course  I  have  indicated. 

Mr.  Hill.— If  they  are  doing   anything  to  destroy  the  security,  if 
destruction  of  the  security  is  the  result  of  their  act,  all  right ;  then  they  are 
in  default  and  then  you  can  take  the  road  out  of  their  hands  and  put  it 
the  hands  of  a  receiver  for  the  protection  of  the  creditors,  if  you  want 
That  is  all  that  case  is  ;  it  is  all  any  case  is.     If  there  is  default,  then  1 
thing  can  be  done  ;  but  I  tell  the  senator  there  is  no  case  on  earth  whe 
the  proper  protection  of  the  creditor  means  anything  but  always  the  prope 
discharge  of  the  duties  of  the  debtor  ;  and  this  contract,  which  says 
are  entitled  to  the  ten  per  cent.,  was  made  with  the  distinct  knowledge  o 
the  fact  that  the  road  mi<?ht  be  insolvent  before  the  debt  became  due. 
power  to  alter  was  reserved  ;  but  it  must  be  resorted  to  so  as  not  to  impr 
destroy  vested  rights. 

Mr.  Beck.— I  ask  the  senator  what  part  of  the  bill  of  the  Judiciary 

mittee  destroys  any  vested  right  ? 


522  SENATOR  R   H.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

Mr.  Hill. — It  destroys  a  vested  right  in  this  :  it  distinctly  provides  that 
they  shall  pay  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  the  net  earnings  instead  of  five  ;  it 
distinctly  provides  that  they  shall  pay  the  government  the  whole  of  the 
government  transportation  instead  of  half,  and  the  charter  distinctly  said 
they  should  not  pay  but  five  per  cent,  net  earnings,  and  the  charter  distinctly 
stipulated  that  they  should  not  be  required  to  pay  but  half  the  government 
transportation.  Now,  take  the  law  as  you  find  it,  make  any  act  you  please 
to  carry  out  the  original  purpose  of  the  charter,  to  protect  the  creditors 
from  the  wrong  of  the  debtor,  but  do  not  protect  the  creditor  be 
cause  the  creditor  made  a  bad  contract.  There  is  no  such  law  as  that. 
You  are  proposing  to  protect  the  creditor  because  he  made  a  bad  contract  at 
first ;  you  are  not  proposing  to  protect  the  creditor  against  any  maladminis 
tration  of  the  debtor.  Nobody  alleges  that  it  is  the  bad  management  of  the 
road  that  is  bringing  about  this  result ;  it  is  the  mere  opinion  of  the  natural 
course  of  events.  I  take  this  occasion  to  say  that  for  myself  I  think  the 
road  is  worth  the  money  or  will  be  in  thirty  years  or  by  the  time  these 
bonds  are  due  ;  but  that  is  a  mere  matter  of  opinion.  You  would  have  no 
right  to  take  charge  of  a  corporation  and  administer  its  assets  because 
twenty  years  hereafter  it  may  be  in  default.  It  is  an  absurdity. 

Again,  the  rule  is  distinctly  laid  down  that  the  conditions  or  reservations 
in  a  contract  "which  are  repugnant  to  the  grant  or  gift  by  which  they  are 
created  or  to  which  they  are  annexed  are  void"  (2d  Story's  Equity  Juris 
prudence,  section  1304).  If  the  reservation  would  be  void  if  literally  repug 
nant,  much  less  can  you  put  a  construction  on  the  reservation  which  would 
make  it  repugnant.  Now,  you  put  a  construction  on  this  right  reserved 
which  negatives  a  specific  right  granted  in  the  charter.  The  law  is  that  if 
the  reservation  literally  meant  that,  it  would  be  void  ;  and  now  you  seek  to 
put  a  construction  on  it  to  make  it  mean  that.  That  you  cannot  do. 

Still  again,  you  cannot  use  or  construe  this  reservation  to  "  alter,  amend, 
and  repeal "  so  as  to  defeat  or  annul  the  known  meaning  or  understanding 
of  the  parties  at  the  time  the  contract  was  made  ;  and  upon  this  subject  I 
have  authorities  here  from  Judge  Kent  that  are  very  explicit  and  clear. 

Judge  Kent,  after  citing  Bacon's  rule,  says  : 

The  modern  and  more  reasonable  practice  is  to  give  to  the  language  its  just  sense  and 
to  search  for  the  precise  meaning  and  one  requisite  to  give  due  and  fair  effect  to  the  con 
tract,  without  adopting  either  the  rule  of  a  rigid  or  of  even  indulgent  construction.  .  .  . 
The  true  principle  of  sound  ethics  is  to  give  the  contract  the  sense  in  which  the  person 
making  the  promise  believed  the  other  party  to  have  accepted  it,  if  he  in  fact  did  so  under 
stand  and  accept  it. — 2  Kent's  Com.  556,  557. 

That  is  also  the  rule  of  construction  of  treaties,  says  Vattel. 

The  mutual  intention  of  the  parties  to  the  instrument  is  the  great  and  sometimes  the 
difficult  object  of  inquiry  when  the  terms  of  it  are  not  free  from  ambiguity.  To  reach 
and  carry  that  intention  into  effect,  the  law  when  it  becomes  necessary  will  control  even 
the  literal  terms  of  the  contract,  if  they  manifestly  contravene  the  purpose  ;  and  many 
cases  are  given  in  the  books  in  which  the  plain  intent  has  prevailed  over  the  strict  letter 
of  the  contract. — 2  Kent,  555. 

Now  I  put  to  every  senator  here,  when  these  debtors  accepted  this 
charter  with  a  distinct  stipulation  that  the  government,  until  the  maturity  of 
the  bonds,  would  not  exact  from  them  anything  in  payment  but  half  the 
government  transportation  and  five  per  cent,  net  earnings,  was  it  under 
stood  by  either  party  that  the  government  should  change  that  and  exact  all 
or  exact  more  ?  For  if  you  have  power  to  exact  more,  you  have  power  to 
exact  all.  How  did  the  companies  understand  it  ?  How  did  the  govern- 


HIS  LIFE,  8PE8CW18,   AND  WRITINGS.  523 

ment  say  they  understood  it?  How  have  the  Supreme  Court  decided  they 
understood  it?  They  understood  it  according  to  its  very  language.  That 
is  the  way  they  took  it.  Now  for  you  to  exert  a  general  power  of  reserva 
tion  to  destroy  the  sense  of  a  specific  grant,  to  destroy  the  sense  in  which 
both  parties  understood  it,  in  which  especially  the  debtor  understood  it — to 
exert  that  general  power  to  destroy  that  specific  grant  on  that  specific  stipu 
lation,  is  a  fraud  in  law,  say  the  books,  and  you  have  no  power  to  do  it.  I 
admit  the  full  force  of  the  decision  read  by  the  senator  from  Kentucky,  and 
I  wish  the  senator  from  Vermont  had  heard  it.  It  shows  that  the  reserva 
tion  of  the  power  to  alter,  amend,  or  repeal,  is  to  be  used  to  effectuate  the 
original  purpose  of  the  grant. 
Chancellor  Kent  continues : 

So  the  mutual  intention  of  the  parties  to  the  instrument  is  the  great  and  sometimes  the 
difficult  object  of  inquiry  when  the  terms  of  it  are  not  free  from  ambiguity  ;  and  to  reach 
and  carry  that  intention  into  effect,  the  law,  when  it  becomes  necessary,  will  control  the 
literal  terms  of  the  contract,  and  if  manifestly  the  contrary  is  the  purpose,  and  many 
cases  are  given  in  the  books  in  which  the  plain  intent  has  prevailed  over  the  strict  letter 
of  the  contract. 

Why  ?  Because  if  you  induce  a  man  to  undertake  a  risk,  to  perform  a 
labor  under  a  promise  which  was  specifically  given  that  he  shall  reap  certain 
rewards,  and  after  he  has  performed  the  labor  and  taken  the  risk,  for  you, 
under  your  reservation  of  a  general  power  which  means  to  carry  out  the 
original  purpose,  destroy  that  specific  grant,  you  commit  a  fraud.  See 
what  an  absurdity.  Here  the  Supreme  Court  has  decided  that  under  this 
contract  no  interest  is  to  be  paid  except  the  five  per  cent,  of  the  net  earn 
ings  until  the  maturity  of  the  debt.  Now,  you  come  in  here  by  legislative 
power,  contrary  to  the  adjudicated  intention  of  the  parties  (for  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States  in  their  decision  adjudicated  the  original  inten 
tion  and  understanding),  and  attempt  to  unsettle  the  adjudication  by  declar 
ing  that  in  some  form  an  amount  shall  be  paid  more  than  was  stipulated. 
The  Supreme  Court  says  the  original  intention  of  the  parties  was  that  noth 
ing  but  half  transportation  and  five  per  cent,  should  be  paid.  Here  Kent 
says,  you  cannot  by  a  general  reservation  alter  the  original  intention,  you 
must  carry  out  that  original  intention  and  understanding  of  the  parties,  and 
you  by  this  very  bill  seek  to  defeat  and  destroy  that  original  intention. 

In"  his  able " argument  the  senator  from  Michigan  (Mr.  Christiancy) 
said  in  substance  that  it  was  no  argument  against  the  existence  of  this 
power  to  show  it  might  be  injudiciously  used.  So  I  tell  that  senator  it  is  no 
argument  in  favor  of  the  existence  of  the  power  to  show  it  might  be  wisely 
or  even  usefully  used.  If  the  power  does  not  exist,  it  cannot  be  used  either 
wisely  or  unwisely. 

If  Congress  can  change  this  contract  in  any  respect  it  can  change  it  in 
all  respects.  If  this  general  reservation  to  alter  or  amend  gives  Congress 
power  to  compel  the  p'ayment  of  one  dollar  more  than  the  stipulations 
require  before  the  maturity  of  the  bonds,  then  Congress  can  require  every 
dollar  to  be  paid  before  maturity. 

Can  Congress  by  legislation  declare  that  the  interest  shall  be  more  than 
six  per  cent.?  I  ask  the  senator  from  Kentucky  that  question.  The  origi 
nal  act  declares  that  the  interest  shall  be  six  per  cent.  Can  Congress  now 
by  virtue  of  its  reserved  power  alter  that  interest  and  say  it  shall  be  eight  per 
cent,  or  ten  per  cent.?  Can  it  declare  that  the  bonds  shall  be  due  now 
The  original  contract  said  the  bonds  should  be  due  in»thirty  years  and  the 


524  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

debt  sbould  be  paid  at  tbe  maturity  of  tbe  bonds.  Can  you  under  tbis 
power  to  alter  or  amend  declare  that  tbe  bonds  sball  be  due  to-morrow  ? 
If  you  bave  tbe  power  to  declare  that  tbe  whole  transportation  shall  be  paid 
when  the  contract  requires  that  only  one  -half  shall  be  paid,  then  you  have 
power  to  declare  that  the  interest  shall  be  ten  per  cent.,  though  the  contract 
says  six  ;  then  you  have  the  power  to  declare  that  the  bonds  shall  be  due  to 
morrow,  though  the  contract  says  they  shall  be  due  in  thirty  years  from 
their  date. 

But  I  appeal  to  gentlemen  on  another  point,  and  I  wish  they  would 
answer  the  question  :  Can  Congress  repeal  the  act  of  1864  and  reinstate  the 
first  lien  of  the  Government  bonds?  If  so,  that  is  what  you  ought  to  do. 
If  the  position  occupied  by  the  gentlemen  of  the  Judiciary  Committee,  an 
able  committee  I  concede,  is  true,  as  one  of  them  intimates,  that  the  act  of 
1864  was  a  fraud — one  of  them  has  intimated  even  that  it  was  the  result  of 
bribery — if  that  be  true,  why  not  repeal  the  act  of  1864  ? 

Mr.  Christiancy. — The  rights  of  third  persons  would  be  affected. 

Mr.  Hill.- -The  bondholders  are  not  third  persons.  The  bondholders 
took  under  that  act  ;  the  bondholders  took  with  notice  of  that  act.  That 
act  was  part  of  their  rights.  Now,  when  the  bondholder  took  his  bond,  lie 
took  it  with  notice  in  the  law  that  Congress  had  a  right  to  change  the  lien 
that  was  given  in  his  bond.  That  is  what  you  say  you  cannot  get  rid  of. 
Everybody  who  takes  that  bond  takes  it  with  notice  of  that  law  ;  he  takes 
it  with  notice  that  there  is  power  to  alter,  amend,  or  repeal  ;  and  if  you 
bave  power  to  alter,  amend,  or  repeal  anything  in  that  act,  you  have  a 
right  to  repeal  it  all,  and  I  put  it  to  the  senator,  can  you  now  repeal  the  act 
of  1864  anci  reinstate  the  first  lien  of  the  government  debt?  You  can  if 
you  can  do  what  you  propose  here.  If  you  can  change  the  contract  in  one 
respect  you  can  change  it  in  all.  If  you  can  say  that  the  whole  transporta 
tion  shall  be  paid  when  the  contract  said  only  half,  you  can  say  that  the 
first  lien,  which  was  given  by  the  act  of  1862  and  subordinated  to  other 
bonds  by  the  act  of  1864,  can  be  reinstated,  because  every  man  that  bought 
these  bonds  purchased  them  with  notice  of  the  law,  with  the  law  before 
him  ;  and  if  the  construction  the  gentlemen  put  on  the  law  be  correct,  he 
buys  it  with  distinct  notice  that  his  bond  may  be  destroyed  to-morrow.  It 
is  perfectly  legitimate  to  say  that  you  have  not  the  power  when  the  power 
is  absurd.  You  cannot  escape  the  argument  that  if  you  have  power  to 
change  in  one  respect  you  have  power  to  change  in  all.  Y*ou  reserved  the 
power  in  the  act  of  1864  to  repeal  that  act  ;  now  let  any  lawyer  answer  me, 
will  the  repeal  reinstate  the  first  lien  of  the  government  bonds  ? 

Mr.  Christiancy. — No  man  says  that  it  would. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  say  it  is  so  if  the  other  position  is  correct,  and  you  cannot 
show  the  difference.  The  bonds  may  be  in  the  hands  of  the  stockholders  ; 
the  bonds  may  be  in  the  hands  of  the  corporation  ;  I  cannot  tell.  I  do  not 
care  where  they  are  ;  whoever  took  them  took  them  with  notice  of  the  law  ; 
and  on  the  terms  of  the  law  if  you  can  change  the  contract  in  one  respect 
by  reason  of  that  reservation,  you  can  change  it  in  all.  If  you  can  change 
it  in  all,  you  can  change  it  in  any.  You  must  abide  the  contract  or  not. 

Mr  J3eck.--T\\Q  act  of  1864  gives  the  right  to  alter,  amend,  and  repeal. 
In  your  mind  that  is  an  absolute  nullity  on  that  position. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  say  those  words  apply  to  the  exercise  of  the  corporate 
franchise  ;  but  they  are  an  absolute  nullity  as  applied  to  the  contract.  The 
senator  does  not  understand  me.  I  have  already  made  a  long  argument  to 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  525 

show  that  the  words  "  alter,  amend,  or  repeal  '  retain  the  power  to  the  gov 
ernment  to  see  that  the  original  purpose  of  the  charter  is  carried  out. 

Mr.  Beck.-A.ndi  one  purpose  is,  of  course,  to  protect  the  creditors  ;  and 
now  you  say  we  have  no  power  to  protect  them,  although  the  management  of 
the  corporation  may  come  and  admit  that  they  intend  to  make  it  impossible 
to  pay  its  debts.  The  senator's  position  is  that  under  the  power  to  alter, 
amend,  or  repeal  we  have  no  right  to  require  any  security  of  the  corpora 
tion. 

Mr.  Hill.  —  I  am  not  aware  that  this  body  acts  on  assertion.  The  Judi 
ciary  Committee  has  not  informed*  us  that  the  company  said  they  intend  to 
make  the  property  insolvent.  Show  me  that,  and  put  your  bill  on  that 
ground. 

Mr.  JBeck.-  -They  have  proved  by  the  treasurer  of  the  company  himself 
that  that  would  be  the  effect. 


Mr.  jfifcYJ.—  Tjien  I  ask  the  Senate  to  amend  the  bill  and  put  this  legis 
lation  on  that  ground.  But  I  tell  the  senator,  if  that  is  true,  his  remedy  is 
not  here.  That  decision  says  "  by  proper  means  the  creditors  shall  be  pro 
tected."  If  it  be  true  that  these  corporations  are  using  the  property  for  the 
purpose  of  destroying  its  value,  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  the  collection 
of  its  debts,  I  tell  you  you  have  got  an  ample  remedy.  Go  into  the  courts 
and  the  courts  will  restrain  them,  and  the  courts  will  require  them  to  give 
an  additional  security.  What  I  am  arguing  against  is  this  monstrous  claim 
of  legislative  power  to  exercise  judicial  functions.  There  is  no  trouble 
about  protecting  creditors.  I  admit  the  creditors  are  entitled  to  protection. 
The  senator  is  wrong  when  he  says  I  deny  that.  I  admit  it,  but  it  is  pro 
tection  known  to  the  law  ;  it  is  protection  given  according  to  tlie  forms  and 
rules  of  law  under  the  remedies  provided  by  law,  and  not  by  the  exertion  of 
an  extraordinary  legislative  power. 

If  Congress  can  do  what  is  proposed,  it  can  do  all  these  things  ;  if  it 
cannot  do  all  these  things,  it  can  do  none  of  them.  Mr.  President,  take  it 
as  you  please,  this  is  the  most  remarkable  bill  that  has  ever  been  introduced 
into  a  legislative  body,  and  I  say  it  with  profound  respect  for  the  distin 
guished  members  of  the  Judiciary  Committee.  I  believe  the  doctrine  I  am 
laying  down  here  to-day  will  be  sustained  thoroughly  by  the  Supreme  Court 
if  you  pass  this  bill.  I  have  come  to  the  conclusions  I  have  announced  con 
trary  to  my  will.  I  took  it  for  granted  that  I  should  vote  with  the  Judiciary 
Committee;  I  took  it  for  granted  that  they  were  correct  in  their  construction 
of  power  until  the  discussion  sprang  up  and  I  got  possession  of  the  question 
and  investigated  it  for  myself.  I  do  say  with  all  due  deference  to  that 
committee  that  this  bill  asserts  a  most  monstrous  power.  What  dp  you 
propose  to  do  ?  Why,  sir,  speaking  in  the  language  of  a  lawyer,  this  is  a 
bill  filed  in  a  legislative  body  to  construe  the  contract.  How  ?  By  declar 
ing'  the  words  "net  earnings'1  shall  mean  what  the  legislative  will  shall 
declare  them  to  mean  and  not  what  the  law  says  they  do  mean. 

Mr.  Christiancy.  —  Will  the  senator  allow  me  ? 

Mr.  Hill.  —  Yes,  if  I  am  wrong. 

Mr.  Christiancy.—  -The  committee  have  not  by  the  bill  endeavored  to 
define  what  "  net  earnings  "  mean  under  the  original  law  at  all. 

Mr.  Hill.  —  Certai  nly  . 

Mr.    Christiancy.  --They  have  simply  provided  what  they  shall 

hereafter. 

Mr.  Hill.—  That  is  exactly  what  I  understand.     It  is  claimed  by  the  sen- 


526  SENATOR  R  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

ator  from  Ohio  that  here  is  an  existing  contract  where  the  words  "  net  earn 
ings  "  are  used,  and  that  you  can  by  legislation,  after  that  contract  was  made, 
give  a  new  meaning  to  the  words.     That  is  the  proposition. 

Mr.  Christiancy. — We  can  amend  the  law. 

Mr.  Hill. — Amend  and  destroy. 

Mr.  Sargent. — A  case  is  now  pending  in  the  Supreme  Court,  brought  in 
obedience  to  legislation  of  Congress,  for  the  Supreme  Court  to  define  what 
"  net  earnings  ':  mean,  and  this  bill  simply  provides  that  this  decision  or 
definition  of  the  Supreme  Court  shall  apply  to  matters  heretofore,  but  here 
after  the  will  of  Congress  shall  be  substituted  for  the  rule  the  Supreme 
Court  shall  lay  down. 

Mr.  Christiancy. — But  under  the  power  of  amendment  we  require  them 
to  proceed  hereafter  on  the  basis  fixed  by  law. 

Mr.  Hill. — Precisely  ;  that  you  can  provide  by  the  legislative  will  that 
hereafter  net  earnings  shall  mean  gross  earnings.  You  cannot  do  that. 
That  is  the  power  claimed.  There  is  no  escape  from  it.  Will  you  tell  me 
that  the  Legislature  can  legislate  absurdity  into  truth  ?  And  yet,  if  your 
position  is  true  that  you  have  the  right  to  declare  what  "net  earnings" 
shall  be  in  the  future  and  that  you  shall  give  to  these  words  a  meaning 
Avhich  the  law  never  heretofore  gave  them,  and  which  was  not  the  meaning 
when  the  parties  agreed  to  these  words,  you  declare  that  you  have  a  right 
to  say  that  "net  earnings"  shall  hereafter  mean  gross  earnings.  That  is 
your  bill. 

This  is  not  only  a  bill  to  construe  the  words  not  according  to  the  mean 
ing  the  words  have  by  law  and  in  the  lexicons,  but  what  the  legislative  will 
shall  say  they  ought  to  have  ;  but  it  is,  in  the  second  place,  a  bill  filed  to  re 
form  the  contract  by  inserting  in  it  not  what  the  parties  intended,  but  what 
Congress  now  wills  shall  be  the  contract. 

Mr.  Christiancy. — Under  the  power  to  amend. 

Mr.  Hill. — Ah  !  The  decision  read  by  the  senator  from  Kentucky, 
which  I  am  glad  he  read — a  wise  decision — says  that  the  power  to  alter  and 
amend  must  be  exercised  to  carry  out  the  original  purpose,  and  not  to 
destroy  it. 

Mr.  Christiancy. — That  is  only  one  of  them. 

Mr.  Hill. — And  to  do  everything  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  the 
land  in  the  protection  of  the  rights  of  all  companies  and  creditors.  But  you 
are  doing  now  what  is  a  destruction  of  the  contract.  If  you  have  a  right 
to  say  now  that  you  can  reform  the  contract  by  an  act  of  Congress,  why 
can  you  not  repeal  the  act  of  1864  and  reinstate  the  first  lien  of  the  govern 
ment  bonds  ?  You  say  you  cannot  do  that.  Why  ?  Where  is  the  limita 
tion,  and  why  can  you  do  one  and  not  the  other?  Why  can  you  not  say  the 
companies  shall  pay  ten  per  cent,  interest  instead  of  six  !  Why  can  you  not 
say  they  shall  pay  fifty  per  cent.?  You  say  you  have  the  power  to  do  it.  If 
you  can  change  the  meaning  of  words,  if  you  can  change  legal  definitions,  if 
you  can  make  a  new  contract  not  according  to  the  intention  of  the  parties 
when  the  old  contract  was  made,  but  you  can  make  a  contract  according  to 
your  will  now,  what  is  it  you  cannot  do  ?  There  is  no  pretense  that  any 
thing  was  omitted  which  the  parties  intended  to  insert  or  that  anything  was 
inserted  which  was  agreed  to  be  omitted  ;  and  yet  you  bring  into  this  legis 
lative  body  a  bill  to  reform  a  contract  and  make  a  new  one,  and  you  give  no 
earthly  reason  for  it  but  that  you  made  a  bad  bargain  and  now  you  want  to 
make  a  good  one.  The  one  you  made  by  consent  and  agreement  you  say  is 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  527 

i 

a  bad  one,  and  you  will  make  another  by  your  own  act  without  consent  or 
agreement. 

Again,  it  is  a  bill  filed  to  foreclose  a  mortgage  before  the  mortgager  is 
in  default,  and  to  collect  the  debts  of  other  mortgagees  without  their  request 
or  authority  and  without  their  foreclosure  in  the  courts.  Here  is  a  remark 
able  provision  of  this  bill  of  the  Judiciary  Committee.  These  other  mort 
gages  of  the  companies,  of  course,  have  to  be  foreclosed  in  the  ordinary 
way,  if  the  companies  shall  be  in  default  when  they  are  due  ;  but  you  pro 
pose  to  command  these  companies  to  pay  money  into  your  treasury,  and 
which  money  shall  be  paid  to  these  bondholders  when  they  become  due 
without  a  foreclosure  ;  that  is,  you  assert  not  only  your  own  "rights  and  the 
rights  of  others,  but  relieve  the  other  mortgagees  of  the  obligation  to  fore 
close  their  mortgages  according  to  the  law  and  the  contract. 

Then,  again,  it  is  a  common-law  action  of  debt  to  collect  a  debt  before 
it  is  due.  It  is  a  bill,  I  repeat,  to  make  the  acts  of  the  debtors  crimes, 
which  acts  the  contract  stipulated  they  might  do  and  which  were  offered 
them  as  inducements  to  make  the  contract.  Sir,  I  affirm  that  the  Legis 
lature  of  England  in  the  time  of  James  I  never  asserted  a  more  absolute 
power.  Here  certain  things  that  these  corporators  might  do  were  provided 
for  in  the  charter  ;  you  stipulated  that  they  might  do  them  ;  and  now  you 
come  in  by  this  bill  and  propose  to  make  it  a  crime  if  they  do  them  !  Was 
such  a  monstrous  power  ever  heard  of  to  be  exercised  by  legislators?  Surely, 
if  this  be  true,  the  legislative  power  of  this  body  is  indeed  omnipotent. 

In  plain  language,  I  repeat  what  I  have  said  ;  it  is  a  bill  to  make  a  good 
contract  without  agreement  solely  because  the  government  apprehends  it 
made  a  bad  contract  by  agreement,  and  after  the  chief  inducements  to  the 
government  to  make  the  contract  have  been  fully  realized. 

It  is  a  bill  which  can  find  no  precedent  in  the  courts  of  law,  no  authority 
in  the  powers  of  legislation,  and — I  say  it  respectfully — in  my  judgment,  no 
justification  in  the  forum  of  conscience. 

Mr.  President,  fortunately  for  me  I  was  not  here  when  this  contract  was 
made.  I  had  no  agency  in  it  or  connection  with  it.  I  am  not  going  to  visit 
criticism  upon  those  who  did  make  it.  I  can  see  one  marked  difference  be 
tween  the  temper  of  the  gentlemen  here  now  and  those  who  were  here  then 
when  this  contract  was  made.  I  see  the  great  purpose  of  the  government 
then  was  to  get  the  roads  constructed.  The  great  purpose  of  the  govern 
ment  was  to  link  together  the  Union,  to  get  cheap  transportation  and  keep 
up  those  works,  and  it  was  said  over  and  over  that  the  government  to  do 
that  was  willing  to  make  this  loan,  even  if  it  lost  it.  Now  the  road  is  built, 
now  the  road  is  kept  up,  now  the  labor  and  the  risk  have  been  taken,  no\v 
the  government  has  accomplished  its  great  object,  now  the  Union  is  saved 
and  bound  together  by  bonds  of  iron  from  sea  to  sea,  now  all  this  is  done, 
isuddenlv  there  wakes  up  a  new  spirit  to  say  that  the  whole  principle  of  the 
loan  shall  be  changed.  Precedents  are  to  be  disregarded,  courts  are  to  be 
abandoned,  and  rights  aie  to  be  trampled  upon,  powers  unknown  to  the 
British  Parliament  in  its  most  omnipotent  days  are  to  be  exercised,  and  acts, 
just  in  themselves,  are  denounced  as  crimes  to  enable  you  to  collect  your 
debt  before  it  is  due.  Fortunately  for  me,  I  have  no  prejudice  pro  or  con  ; 
I  regard  myself  in  this  matter  as  a  judge  ;  but  if  I  should  exhibit  the  passion 
and  temper  against  these  corporations  that  some  gentlemen  have  exhibited 
on  this  floor,  I  should  think  I  was  not  a  proper  judge.  I  should  be  afraid 
that  I  was  acting  under  some  influence  of  bias  or  prejudice.  Sir,  if 


528  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

government  has  made  a  bad  contract  so  far  as  the  money  venture  is  con 
cerned,  let  it  abide  that  contract. 

I  do  not  share  the  apprehensions  which  some  gentlemen  have  uttered  on 
this  floor  of  danger  from  these  corporations.  The  learned  senator  from 
Alabama  (Mr.  Morgan)  said  if  we  did  not  govern  these  corporations  the 
corporations  would  soon  govern  the  country.  I  have  no  apprehension  of 
that  kind.  The  senator  from  North  Carolina  (Mr.  Merrimon)  also  pursued 
that  line  of  argument.  The  idea  that  a  few  moneyed  corporations  are  to 

fovern  this  country  !  Sir,  is  there  no  power  to  control  these  corporations  ? 
concede  that  under  this  reservation  you  have  the  power  to  control  these 
corporations  in  the  exercise  of  the  franchises  ;  you  have  the  power  to  pre 
serve  the  road  ;  you  have  the  power  to  keep  up  the  road  ;  you  have  the 
power  to  regulate  the  freights  ;  you  have  the  power  under  the  act  and  the 
decisions  of  the  courts  to  protect  the  people  from  unjust  oppression.  All 
these  things  you  can  do  ;  but  it  does  not  follow  that  you  can  make  a  new 
contract,  that  you  can  break  an  old  contract,  and  that  you  can  collect  your 
money  before  it  is  due,  or  that  you  can  take  steps  against  a  debtor  unknown 
to  the  courts  of  any  civilized  country. 

Sir,  you  can  control  these  corporations  ;  you  have  power  to  control 
them  ;  the  interest  of  the  country  will  control  them  ;  the  natural  loss  of 
trade  will  control  them  ;  competition  will  affect  them.  There  are  a  thousand 
agencies  at  work  that  will  control  these  corporations,  and  I  tell  you  this 
great  government,  with  its  forty-five  million  people,  will  not  become  a  sick 
and  fainting  Caesar  to  cry  to  these  corporations  "  Give  me  some  drink, 
Titinius  ! " 

But  while  I  have  no  fear  that  these  moneyed  corporations  are  going  to 
subjugate  this  great  government,  I  have  a  fear,  I  do  dread  the  principle 
asserted  in  this  bill,  which  is  to  give  Congress  a  perpetual  right  of  interfer 
ence  with  these  companies.  If  you  have  a  right  to  pass  this  bill,  you  have 
a  right  to  change  your  notions  next  session,  and  pass  another,  and  the  next 
session  to  pass  another,  and  the  next  session  to  pass  another,  and  so  with  all 
bills  in  relation  to  the  contract.  If  you  find  at  the  next  session  that  you 
think  the  money  you  ought  to  have  paid  into  the  sinking  fund  is  not  enough 
to  secure  the  debt,  then  you  will  pass  a  bill  to  get  more,  and  what  is  the  re 
sult?  You  keep  these  companies  constantly  in  legislative  litigation  ;  you 
keep  them  constantly  uneasy;  you  keep  them  constantly  paralyzed;  you  keep 
them  constantly  interested  in  coming  here  to  control  legislation.  Sir,  I 
tell  you  if  you  would  stop  the  evils  of  which  you  complain,  take  these 
companies  out  of  Congress,  take  these  companies  out  of  politics  ;  do  not 
make  it  the  interest  of  these  companies  to  have  an  active  part  in  every 
presidential  and  congressional  election  ;  do  not  subject  the  companies  to 
keep  agents  here  at  every  session  of  Congress  to  watch  and  prevent  inter 
ference  by  Congress  with  their  rights. 

My  reflections  lead  me  strongly  to  the  conclusion  that  the  best  way  to 
secure  your  debt,  the  best  way  to  relieve  the  country  of  the  scandals  con 
nected  with  these  corporations,  is  to  say  to  them,  "  Go,  keep  your  contract ; 
operate  your  roads  just  as  you  contracted  ;  keep  up  your  work,  fulfill  your 
contract  in  all  respects,  and  pay  your  debts  when  they  become  due,  and  Con 
gress  will  not  interfere  with  you.  Do  not  be  afraid  of  Congress  as  long  as 
you  keep  your  contracts."  Whenever  they  do  not  do  it,  then  you  have  the 
power  to  interfere.  I  concede  it ;  but  you  cannot  administer  relief  in 
anticipation  of  default :  you  must  wait  till  the  default  comes.  That  is  the 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  529 

power  you  have  over  them.  They  will  know  that  if  they  violate  the  char 
ter,  if  they  get  extravagant,  if  they  are  not  just  to  the  people,  then  you  will 
step  in  and  interfere  ;  but  you  do  not  put  this  bill  on  this  ground.  If  the 
Judiciary  Committee  would  put  this  bill  upon  the  ground  of  default  in  the 
companies  in  any  sense,  or  malfeasance  by  the  companies,  or  maladministra 
tion  by  the  companies,  I  would  yield,  except  to  say  that  as  to  this  loan  the 
proper  remedy  would  be  in  the  courts,  but  I  would  admit  there  ought  to  be 
some  interference  either  by  the  courts  or  by  the  Legislature  ;  but  so  far  as 
the  franchises  are  concerned,  if  they  do  not  execute  them,  you  have  a  right 
to  interfere  by  legislation,  and  you  have  that  power  always.  That  is  the 
power  you  have  ;  that  is  the  power  you  intended  to  have. 
,  Sir,  there  is  another  thing  I  dread  in  addition  to  this  perpetual  interfer 
ence  of  Congress  with  these  corporations — the  very  source  of  infinite  scan 
dal  if  you  do  not  get  rid  of  it.  I  am  for  non-intervention  until  the  contract 
is  violated  ;  then  I  am  for  intervention,  and  upon  the  ground  of  the  viola 
tion  of  the  contract.  But  this  I  dread.  It  looks  like  a  will  on  the  part  of 
the  government  to  repudiate  its  contracts.  Sir,  if  there  is  any  influence  in 
this  country  that  is  more  demoralizing  than  another,  it  is  the  idea  that  has 
gone  abroad  that  shows  a  weakening  in  the  sense  of  obligation  of  contracts. 
If  the  government  would  have  the  people  be  faithful  to  their  contracts,  let  the 
government  be  faithful  to  its  own  ;  but  if  the  government  has  made  a  bad 
contract,  so  long  as  the  contractor  complies  with  the  terms  of  that  contract, 
abide  by  it.  It  is  better  to  submit  to  a  wrong  than  to  do  a  wrong  ;  it  is 
better  to  lose  money  than  to  exercise  an  ungranted  power,  a  doubtful  power. 
It  is  better  to  lose  your  interest  than  to  keep  up  a  perpetual  congressional 
interference  with  these  railroad  companies  and  compel  them  to  come  here, 
subjected  to  the  necessity  by  your  action  of  pandering  to  cupidity  to  avert 
the  oppression  of  power.  You  drive  them  into  the  courts  and  you  are  your 
selves  weakening  the  corporations  by  exhausting  the  fund  in  useless  litiga 
tion  which  ought  to  be  accumulated  for  the  debt.  You  have  already  sent 
these  companies  to  the  courts  before  and  the  courts  have  decided  against 
you.  You  are  constantly  proposing  to  send  these  companies  to  the  courts 
with  new  expenses  to  be  incurred,  and  yet  you  complain  that  the  companies 
are  likely  to  be  insolvent.  Sir,  if  this  system  of  perpetual  interference  by 
Congress  is  to  continue,  you  will  work  their  insolvency. 

But,  sir,  I  have  said  I  do  not  dread  these  corporations  as  instruments  of 
power  to  destroy  this  country,  because  there  are  a  thousand  agencies  which 
can  regulate,  restrain,  and  control  them ;  but  there  is  a  corporation  we  may 
all  well  dread.  That  corporation  is  the  Federal  Government.  From  the 
aggressions  of  this  corporation  there  can  be  no  safety,  if  it  be  allowed  to  go 
beyond  the  well-defined  limits  of  its  power.  I  dread  nothing  so  much  as  the 
exercise  of  ungranted  and  doubtful  powers  by  this  government.  It  is  in  my 
opinion  the  danger  of  dangers  to  the  future  of  this  country.  Let  us  be  sure 
we  keep  it  always  within  its  limits.  If  this  great,  ambitious,  ever-growing 
corporation  become  oppressive,  who  shall  check  it  ?  If  it  become  wayward, 
who  shall  control  it  ?  If  it  become  unjust,  who  shall  trust  it?  As  sentinels 
on  the  country's  watch-tower,  senators,  I  beseech  you  watch  and  guard  will 
sleepless  dread  that  corporation  which  can  make  all  property  and  rights,  all 
States  and  people,  and  all  liberty  and  hope  its  playthings  in  an  hour,  and 
victims  forever. 


SPEECH  DELIVERED  IN  THE  SENATE  OF  THE  UNITED 
STATES,  ON  THE  COINAGE  OF  SILVER  DOLLARS,  FEBRU 
ARY  8,  1878. 

The  Vice- President. — The  morning  hour  has  expired,  and  the  Senate  as 
in  Committee  of  the  Whole  resumes  the  consideration  of  the  bill  (H.  R.  No. 
1093)  to  authorize  the  free  coinage  of  the  silver  dollar,  and  to  restore  its 
legal-tender  character,  on  which  the  Senator  from  Georgia  (Mr.  Hill)  is  en 
titled  to  the  floor. 

Mr.  Hill. — Mr.  President,  I  fear  that  sensationalism,  that  sensationalism 
which  breeds  licentiousness,  is  fast  becoming,  if  it  has  not  already  become, 
one  of  the  chiefest  features  of  our  American  politics.  We  have  had  before 
us  for  two  months  a  very  plain,  practical  business  question.  I  cannot  imag 
ine  that  any  senator  or  any  citizen  should  have  any  desire  whatever  in  con 
nection  with  this  question,  except  to  arrive  at  the  plain,  honest  truth.  It  is 
certainly  no  occasion  for  rhetoric.  There  is  nothing  in  the  nature  of  the 
subject  to  enlist  feeling.  It  is  a  question  which  eminently  requires  exact 
ness  in  facts  and  clear  strength  in  logic.  That  is  all.  It  is  a  question  upon 
which  men  ought  to  be  able  to  differ  without  controversy.  Yet,  sir,  either 
because  of  the  debate  in  this  body  or  for  other  reasons,  we  see  a  great 
excitement  growing  up  in  the  country  upon  this  question  ;  public  meetings 
are  being  held  ;  immense  petitions  are  being  sent  in  to  this  body,  and  perhaps 
a  thousand  newspapers  are  to-day  engaged  in  the  patriotic  work  of  impressing 
the  people  of  this  country  with  the  idea  that  one-half  of  the  members  of  Con 
gress  have  been  bought  up  by  the  bullion-holders  and  the  other  half  by  the 
bondholder,  with  now  and  then  an  exception  of  some  gentleman  of  extraor 
dinary  patriotism,  who  indulges  in  rhapsodical  rhetoric  to  satisfy  the  people 
that  lie  is  the  peculiar  friend  of  "  the  dear  people,"  and  an  exception  to  all 
the  rest. 

In  striking  contrast  with  this  is  the  disposition  of  this  same  subject 
which  has  been  made  in  another  nation  during  the  time  this  debate  has  been 
progressing.  The  question  of  the  continued  suspension  of  the  silver  coin 
age  came  up  in  France  but  a  few  days  ago,  and  in  less  time  than,  perhaps, 
it  has  required  me  to  state  the  fact,  the  Senate,  representing  a  people 
proverbially  excitable,  absolutely  disposed  of  the  measure  unani 
mously. 

Now,  Mr.  President,  I  shall  deal  with  this  question  as  I  endeavor  to  deal 
i  with  all  questions  that  come  before  me.  I  shall  speak  my  honest  convic 
tions,  and  I  shall  speak  them  as  plainly  as  I  know  how.  I  shall  certainly 
question  no  other  gentleman's  patriotism  and  arraign  no  other  gentleman's 
love  of  truth  and  fidelity  to  right.  I  take  my  position  with  those  who  sin 
cerely  and  earnestly  desire  the  restoration  of  the  silver  dollar  to  the  coinage. 
I  believe  that  the  silver  dollar  ought  to  be  recoined  and  remonetized.  I  am 
not  influenced  in  that  opinion  in  the  slightest  degree  by  an  argument  that 
fell  from  the  senator  from  Maine  (Mr.  Elaine)  yesterday.  That  senator  cer 
tainly  entertained  us  with  a  most  charming  and  beautiful  speech,  in  much 
of  which  I  agree,  but  he  made  a  constitutional  argument  in  the  beginning, 
to  the  point  that  Congress  had  no  power  to  demonetize  silver,  and  he  called 

530 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  531 

to  his  aid  the  celebrated  dictum  of  a  very  celebrated  constitutional  lawyer 
Mr.  Webster.     The  senator  says  : 

No  power  was  conferred  on  Congress  to  declare  that  either  metal  should  not  be  money 
Congress  has,  therefore,  in  my  judgment,  no  power  to  demonetize  silver  any  more  than 

41  y^      f-1  i-»vk"»  ^vw^  f\t  1  r*  y-v          rt»y-»  I  r\       .          »•»  >-x       »•*  n.   .  .  •   .,..*.  _  A.  -  _    *  A  1 .  *? 


fixed  by  Congress,  constitute  the  legal  standard  of  value  in  this  country,  and  that  neither 
Congress  nor  any  State  has  authority  to  establish  any  other  standard  or  to  displace  t\^ 
standard." 

Now,  sir,  what  was  Mr.  Webster  asserting  in  that?  Only  that  the  Con- 
stitutional  money  of  this  country  is  metallic,  and  he  intended  to  assert,  and 
did  assert,  what  I  trust  every  man  in  this  country  will  weigh,  that  there  is 
no  power  in  Congress  to  establish  any  other  money  than  metallic  money. 
Congress  cannot,  under  the  power  to  coin  money  and  regulate  its  value, 
make  a  money  of  paper  or  of  any  promise  to  pay.  The  senator's  logic  is  as 
faulty  as  his  opinion  of  the  Constitution  and  of  Mr.  Webster's  view  of  it,  of 
which  also  he  savs  : 

*/ 

Congress  has,  therefore,  in  my  judgment,  no  power  to  demonetize  silver  any  more  than 
to  demonetize  gold  ;  no  power  to  demonetize  either  any  more  than  to  demonetize  both. 

Therefore  the  senator  concludes  that  Congress  is.  compelled  to  monetize 
both,  and  has  no  power  to  refuse  to  monetize  either.  I  regret  that  the  sen 
ator  is  not  in  his  seat.  How  would  his  logic  work  ?  Congress  has  no  more 
right  to  refuse  to  demonetize  one  ounce  of  silver  than  another  ounce  of  sil 
ver.  Therefore,  Congress  is  compelled  to  monetize  every  ounce  of  silver  ! 
Congress  has  no  more  power  to  demonetize  one  ounce  of  gold  than  another 
ounce  of  gold.  Therefore,  Congress  is  compelled  by  the  Constitution  to  mon 
etize  every  ounce  of  gold  !  And  the  conclusion  to  be  derived  from  the  sen 
ator's  logic  would  be  that  every  ounce  of  silver  and  every  ounce  of  gold  in 
this  country  would  have  actually  to  be  coined  into  money,  and  that  Con 
gress  would  not  be  performing  its  Constitutional  duty  unless  it  did.  Why, 
sir,  Congress  has  the  power  to  coin  money,  and  this  power  must  be  construed, 
as  every  other  power,  to  be  exercised  wisely  and  according  to  the  wants  and 
needs  of  the  country.  It  cannot  make  money  of  paper.  It  can  alone  make 
money  of  metal — gold,  silver,  or  copper — something  of  that  kind,  and  it 
must  make  just  as  much  money  of  that  kind  as  the  wants  and  conditions  of 
the  country  shall  demand.  Congress  has  power  to  declare  war  ;  but  does 
that  mean  that  Congress  is  under  Constitutional  obligation  always  to  keep 
the  country  in  a  state  of  war?  If  that  be  the  Constitutional  obligation  of 
Congress  for  ten  years  it  has  been  discharging  its  duty  very  faithfully. 

Mr.  Elaine. — -Do  I  understand  the  senator  from  Georgia,  then,  to  main 
tain  that  Congress  has  the  right  to  declare  that  neither  gold  nor  silver  shall 
be  money? 

Mr.  Hill.— I  certainly  think  Congress  has  the  power  not  to  monetize 
either  gold  or  silver. 

Mr.  Elaine. — Has  the  power  not  to  do  it  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — It  is  the  same  thing. 

Mr.  Elaine. — I  think  Congress  has  the  power  not  to  do  a  great  many 
things.  Does  the  gentleman  desire  his  proposition  to  be  put  in  that  form, 
that  Congress  has  the  power  not  to  do  it  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — The  senator  can  put  it  in  any  form  he  desires. 

Mr.  Elaine. — No  ;  I  desire  the  senator  to  put  his  proposition  in  his  own 


532  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

form.  I  understand  the  senator  now  to  rest  his  logic  on  this,  that  Congress 
has  the  power  not  to  do  a  certain  thing.  Is  that  it  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — Yes,  sir  ;  I  did  say  so. 

Mr.  jBlaine. — I  understood  the  senator  to  say  so.  As  he  referred  to  me, 
I  shall  be  glad  to  have  him  state  his  position. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  say  this :  Congress,  in  coining  money,  has  the  power  to 
coin  gold,  or  silver,  or  copper,  or  either  one,  or  all,  or  two  of  them. 

Mr.  Blaine. — There  is  no  issue  on  that. 

Mr.  Hill. — Very  well ;  and  it  has  the  right  to  drop  either  from  the  coin 
age,  and  not  make  it  money. 

Mr.  Blaine. — And  it  has  the  right,  then,  to  drop  all  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — If  it  is  wise  and  proper  to  do  so,  it  has. 

Mr.  Blaine. — Then  I  understand  the  senator  to  say  that  under  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  United  States,  in  his  judgment,  Congress  has  the  right  to 
declare  that  neither  gold  nor  silver  shall  be  money  in  this  country  ? 

Mr  Hill. — Mr.  President,  I  do  not  believe  myself  it  would  be  wise  or 
anything  but  an  abuse  of  power. 

Mr.  Blaine. — Oh,  no.  I  do  not  care  about  wisdom.  That  is  not  the 
point.  We  want  to  know  what  is  the  power.  Expediency  we  will  settle  foi- 
ourselves.  I  want  the  senator  to  define  his  Constitutional  view  of  the  poweb 
of  Congress. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  have  defined  my  Constitutional  view  of  the  power  of  Con 
gress,  and  I  regret  it  does  not  satisfy  the  senator  from  Maine. 

Mr.  Blaine. — I  wanted  to  satisfy  the  senator  from  Georgia. 

Mr.  Hill. — That  is  impossible  for  the  senator  to  do  with  his  ideas  of  Con 
stitutional  law. 

Mr.  Blaine. — I  want  the  senator  from  Georgia  to  satisfy  himself. 

Mr.  Hill. — If  the  senator  will  take  his  seat,  I  will  endeavor  to  do  that. 

Mr.  Blaine. — I  still  want,  before  I  take  my  seat,  if  the  senator  will  perv 
mit  me — 

Mr.  Hill. — I  do  not  permit  the  gentleman 

Mr.  Blame. — Will  not  permit  what? 

Mr.  Hill. — Any  further  questioning  on  this  subject. 

Mr.  Blaine. — All  right. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  have  simply  said,  what  I  repeat,  that  this  power  to  coil* 
money  is  like  every  other  power  in  the  Constitution  vested  in  Congress,  to 
be  wisely  exercised,  according  to  the  wants  and  needs  of  the  country  ;  and 
if  Congress  shall  conclude  in  its  wisdom  that  the  coin  of  one  metal  will 
furnish  a  sufficient  standard  of  value  for  the  country,  Congress  has  the  right 
to  coin  but  one.  If  Congress  believes  that  it  should  coin  both  metals,  and 
that  the  condition  of  the  country  needs  both  metals,  Congress  has  the  right 
to  coin  both  metals. 

Mr.  Blaine. — And  the  right  to  coin  neither  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — Certainly,  if  the  needs  and  conditions  of  the  country  require 
that  it  should  coin  neither  ;  but  I  cannot  answer  an  argument,  constitutional 
in  its  pretensions,  which  is  absurd  in  its  character.  I  assume  that  Congress 
will  be  wise  ;  I  assume  that  it  will  exercise  an  admitted  power  wisely — that 
is  all  ;  and  the  senator's  questioning  has  nothing  to  do  with  this  view.  I 
did  not  mean  to  criticise  the  senator,  except  to  enter  my  protest  against  the 
idea  that  because  Congress  has  the  power  to  do  a  thing",  therefore  it  is  com 
pelled  to  do  it.  Congress  must  exercise  its  power  wisety  according  to  the 
wants  and  needs  of  the  country  ;  and  the  act  of  Congress  which  strikes 


BIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  533 

silver  from  the  coinage  or  demonetizes  silver,  or  any  act  of  Congress  which 
should  demonetize  either  metal,  must  be  admitted  by  every  lawyer  to  be  a 
Constitutional  act.  Congress  is  responsible  to  the  people  for  the  wise  manner 
in  which  it  exercises  its  powers.  That  is  all. 

Now,  another  thing.  The  senator  from  Maine  gave  us  a  most  beautiful 
peroration.  I  must  say  that  I  have  rarely  heard  anything  in  any  assembly, 
on  any  occasion,  more  beautiful  and  interesting,  and  I  assure  the  senator  I  am 
not  doing  this  now  for  the  purpose  of  replying  to  his  argument,  which  lie 
seems  to  misunderstand,  but  for  the  purpose  of  emphasizing  some  points  in 
which  he  himself  would  agree.  The  senator  said  : 

The  two  metals  have  existed  side  by  side,  in  harmonious,  honorable  companionship,  as 
money,  ever  since  intelligent  trade  was  known  among  men. 

What  I  wish  to  say  is  that  there  has  always  been  a  condition  of  that 
companionship  between  the  two  metals.  Never  in  any  history  of  the  world, 
in  any  country,  Pagan  or  Christian,  despotic  or  republican,  either  while 
revolution  was  raging  or  subsiding,  while  islands  were  rising  or  sinking, 
while  empires  were  prospering  or  crumbling,  did  silver  and  gold  ever  keep 
company  with  each  other  except  upon  the  inflexible  rule  of  equality  in 
value.  The  moment  one  metal  becomes  depreciated  the  other  metal  flies 
away,  and  the  moment  a  depreciated  paper  currency  comes  in  sight  both 
metals  hurry  to  their  hiding-places.  The  American  Congress  has  done  what 
the  gentleman  seems  to  think  is  so  absurd,  it  has  actually  made  a  money  of 
paper  and  given  that  money  a  legal  tender  which  has  practically  for  fifteen 
years  demonetized  both  gold  and  silver.  But,  sir,  they  had  a  reason  for 
that,  and  I  make  no  point  on  it. 

I  favor  the  remonetization  of  silver,  Mr.  President,  not  because,  there 
fore,  of  the  Constitutional  point  made  by  the  senator  from  Maine,  but 
because  I  think  its  remonetization  would  be  wise  and  proper  in  the  present 
condition  of  the  country.  I  believe  in  the  first  place  the  people  desire  it, 
and,  as  there  is  no  Constitutional  difficulty  in  the  way,  I  think  the  desires  of 
the  people  ought  to  receive  the  respectful  consideration  of  Congress.  I 
think  in  the  second  place  that  a  wise  and  proper  remonetization  of  silver 
would  add  to  the  now  too  limited  amount  of  metallic  money  in  the  country, 
and  I  think  that  we  greatly  need  a  proper  addition  to  our  metallic  money. 

I  think,  too,  that  as  silver  is  a  product  of  our  own  country,  that  as  we 
make  as  much  silver  as  the  rest  of  the  world  combined,  it  is  proper  that  we 
should  do  whatever  is  well  calculated  to  encourage  its  production  and 
increase  the  demand  for  it. 

Then,  again,  I  state  to  the  Senate,  what  was  so  much  better  said  by 
distinguished   senator   from   Alabama  (Mr.  Morgan),  that  in  the  country 
where  I  live  there  is  a  population,  the  negro  population,  who  have  a  peculiar 
attachment  to  silver  money.     Naturally  unthrifty,  naturally  disposed  not  to 
take  care  of  their  money,  they  ought  to  be  encouraged  to  be  frugal,  and, 
therefore,  I  believe  that  to  give  them  silver  money  will  create  the  passion 
for  hoarding  it,  keeping  it,  and  as  a  necessary  consequence  to  economize, 
think  for  these  and  many  other  reasons  that  silver  ought  to  be  remonetized 
and  the  silver  dollar  ought  to  be  recoined. 

But,  Mr.  President,  I  cannot  support  the  bill  before  the  Senate  in  the 
shape  it  came  to  us  from  the  house.  At  this  time  I  ask  the  Senate  to  give 
me  its  attention  while  I  undertake  to  state  the  reasons  why  I  cannot  sup 
port  that  bill. 


534  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

I  believe  that  if  the  bill  s'.iall  pass  unamended  it  will  enrich  a  few  indi 
viduals  ;  it  will  give  no  relief  to  the  financial  embarrassments  of  the  country  ; 
it  will  confuse  values,  prolong  the  present  painful  uncertainties  of  business, 
increase  the  want  of  confidence  which  is  contracting  the  circulation  of 
money,  will  necessitate  early  additional  legislation,  and  will  finally  take  its 
place  in  history  as  the  pickpocket  bill  of  American  legislation. 

On  the  other  hand  I  believe  a  few  amendments  to  this  bill  will  avert  all 
these  evils,  will  secure  an  addition  to  the  limited  currency  of  the  country, 
and  will  restore  confidence  and  aid  in  the  work  of  resumption.  But  in  no 
event,  whether  amended  or  unamended,  will  it  bring  a  tithe  of  the  blessings 
the  people  are  encouraged  to  expect,  and  it  will  not  make  one  failure  less  in 
the  catalogue  of  bankruptcies.  I  oppose  this  bill  because  I  favor  all  its 
professed  objects  and  oppose  all  its  real  effects,  as  I  believe  those  effects  will 
be  found  on  experience  to  be. 

Mr.  Allison.—  The  House  bill? 

Mr.  Hill.- -The  bill  as  it  came  from  the  house.  That  is  what  I  am  now 
debating.  The  amendments  I  would  make  to  the  bill  will  be  naturally 
suggested  by  the  objections  I  shall  state.  There  are  some  amendments 
already  pending  which  will  cover  most  of  my  objections  if  adopted. 

In  the  first  place  I  object  to  the  free-coinage  feature.  We  do  not  allow 
the  free  coinage  of  the  present  fractional  silver  coin.  Will  some  senator  tell 
me  why  the  silver  dollar  should  be  admitted  to  free  coinage  and  fractional 
silver  not  ?  We  are  told  by  the  director  of  the  Mint  that  during  the  year 
1877  the  bullion  purchased  for  coining  fractional  silver  cost  $34,118,973.74  ; 
that  that  produced  a  coinage  in  fractional  silver  of  $39,685,688,  and  gave  a 
seigniorage  to  the  government  of  $5,566,714.74.  Now  to  say  that  you  will 
place  the  coinage  of  the  silver  dollar  upon  a  different  footing  from  the 
coinage  of  fractional  silver,  make  one  free  and  the  other  not,  is  to  throw 
upon  the  government  all  the  expense  of  coining  the  silver  and  give  the  silver- 
bullion  holder  all  the  profits  of  its  coinage.  It  is  said  that  this  is  the  case 
with  gold  ;  that  there  is  a  free  coinage  of  gold.  That  is  true.  Why  ?  Is 
it  right  to  give  the  silver  dollar  free  coinage  because  gold  has  free  coinage  ? 
It  is  right  if  the  condition  of  the  two  metals  is  precisely  alike  ;  but  if  the 
condition  of  the  two  metals  is  different,  then  it  is  wrong. 

Now,  what  is  the  condition  of  gold?  It  is  at  a  premium  ;  it  is  not  in 
circulation  ;  it  does  not  seek  circulation  ;  it  is  in  demand  for  exportation  as 
bullion.  But  the  government  needs  gold,  and  it  is  very  important  to 
encourage  its  coinage  ;  and  the  government  to  encourage  the  coinage  of 
gold  may  well  allow  it  free  coinage  in  the  present  condition  of  that  metal. 
But  do  any  of  these  reasons  apply  to  silver?  Silver  bullion  is  not  at  a 
premium.  Silver  bullion  is  at  a  very  great  discount.  Silver  bullion  is  ten 
per  cent,  below  par  ;  silver  bullion  will  rush  for  coinage  as  soon  as  you  make 
the  law,  because  of  that  fact.  It  needs  no  encouragement  from  the  govern 
ment  to  be  coined.  There  will  be  a  tendency  in  the  rush  of  silver  to 
displace  the  coinage  of  gold  and  to  absorb  the  power  of  your  Mint.  The 
holder  of  gold  bullion  does  not  derive  the  profit  from  the  free  coinage  of 
gold  that  the  holder  of  silver  bullion  would  derive  from  the  free  coinage  of 
silver.  Now,  when  gentlemen  tell  me  that  silver  ought  to  be  put  upon  the 
same  condition  of  coinage  with  gold,  then  I  say  you  must  first  put  silver 
upon  the  same  condition  of  value  or  position  before  the  country.  Otherwise 
the  argument  fails. 

Then,  again,  the  expense  of  coining  silver  is  four  times  as  great  as  the 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  535 

expense  of  coining  gold.  So  we  are  informed  by  the  director  of  the  Mint ; 
and  he  tells  us  indeed  that  it  costs  no  more  laborer  expense  to  coin  a  twenty- 
dollar  gold  piece  than  to  coin  one  dollar  of  silver. 

So  you  perceive  that  the  metals  do  not  stand  in  the  same  condition  or  in 
the  same  relation  of  value  in  any  respect ;  and  what  might  be  wise  to  encour 
age  the  coinage  of  gold  is  not  needed  or  wise  to  encourage  the  coinage  of 
silver,  and  I  beg  my  friends  to  consider  that  there  can  be  no  excuse  for  this 
government,  under  the  pretense  of  relieving  the  people,  to  adopt  a  system 
of  coinage  that  will  put  millions  of  dollars  into  the  pockets  of  a  few  private 
individuals,  silver  bullion  holders.  It  is  the  skill  and  the  labor  and  the  cost 
of  the  United  States  which  convert  this  bullion  into  coin.  There  is  no 
reason  why  the  holder  of  bullion  should  get  all  the  benefit  of  this  skill  and 
labor  and  expense  employed  by  the  government.  There  is  no  reason  why 
he  should  have  any  more  than  the  market  value  of  his  bullion.  Such  a 
remarkable  provision  has  never  been  made  in  any  country  that  I  know  of 
under  like  circumstances. 

The  next  amendment  which  I  think  ought  to  be  adopted  to  this  bill  is  to 
limit  the  coinage  of  silver — the  amount  to  be  coined.  The  bill,  as  it  comes 
from  the  House,  is  without  limit.  Now,  I  wish  to  call  the  attention  of  the 
Senate  to  the  statistics  of  the  Mint.  The  director  of  the  Mint  says  : 

With  our  present  minting  capacity  we  could,  with  a  full  working  force,  coin  silver 
dollar  pieces  at  the  rate  of  $2,000,000  per  month,  and  at  the  same  time  manufacture  the 
necessary  gold,  trade,  and  fractional  silver  coinage. 

Now,  if  you  open  your  mints  to  the  unlimited  coinage  of  the  silver  dollar, 
giving  the  silver  dollar  free  coinage,  while  you  give  to  fractional  currency 
not  free  coinage,  you  see  at  once  that  you  would  have  no  silver  going  to 
your  mints  except  for  coinage  into  silver  dollars,  and  the  whole  capacity  of 
the  mints  would  be  employed  in  coining  the  silver  dollar.  What  is  the 
result  ?  The  coinage  of  gold  is  stopped.  You  cannot  coin  gold,  with  the 
present  capacity  of  your  mints,  if  you  admit  silver  without  limit  to  the  coin 
age  and  with  the  privilege  of  free  coinage.  Every  senator  can  see  that. 

Then  you  have  to  do  one  of  two  things,  if  you  admit  unlimited  free  coin 
age  of  silver  :  you  have  either  to  appropriate  money  and  multiply  your 
mints  and  increase  your  labor  and  expenses  immensely,  or  you  have  to  stop 
the  coinage  of  gold  and  fractional  silver.  One  of  these  two  results  is  inevi 
table  ;  but  will  you  increase  your  mints,  and  will  you  increase  your  labor  and 
expense  to  relieve  a  suffering  people,  in  order  to  increase  the  amount  of  silver 
coinage  for  the  benefit  of  silver  bullion  holders  ?  The  country  is  in  no  con 
dition  at  present,  in  my  judgment,  for  large  appropriations  to  increase  the 
minting  power. 

Then,  again,  we  are  told  that  if  you  employ  the  whole  capacity  of  the 
mints  as  they  now  stand  to  coin  silver  dollars,  the  extent  of  that  capacity  is 
to  coin  $50,000,000  per  annum,  while  at  the  present  coinage  of  gold  and 
silver  we  can  coin  from  eighty  to  one  hundred  millions.  You  will  lessen  the 
amount  of  metallic  money  by  driving  off  gold  in  order  to  coin  unlimited 
silver.  That  is  not  the  way  to  relieve  the  people. 

Without  these  two  amendments,  which  are  covered  by  the  amendment  of 
the  finance  committee  of  the  Senate,  you  drive  us  to  the  necessity  of  stopping 
the  coinage  of  gold  without  any  reference  now  to  the  question  of  value 
between  the  two  metals  ;  you  drive  us  to  that  necessity  as  a  matter  of 
physical  capacity  of  the  mints  or  you  drive  us  to  the  necessity  of  increasing 
the  mints  by  laro-e  appropriations  in  order  to  enable  bullion  holders  to  have 


536  SENATOR  R  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

free  coinage  of  silver  dollars  and  make  individual  fortunes.  I  trust,  there 
fore,  that  these  two  amendments  will  be  adopted.  They  are  embraced  in 
the  one  reported  by  the  finance  committee  of  the  Senate,  and  if  adopted,  I 
say,  will  greatly  improve  this  bill. 

Now,  Mr.  President,  I  come  to  the  main  question  that  I  think  is  involved 
under  this  bill,  and  I  shall  discuss  it  as  briefly  as  I  can. 

*/ 

I  object,  in  the  third  place,  to  the  unlimited  tender  power  which  it  is  pro 
posed  by  this  bill  to  give  to  the  silver  dollar.  On  the  subject  of  the  power 
of  the  general  government  to  make  anything  a  legal  tender,  if  it  were  an 
original  question,  I  have  my  views.  I  think  the  power  "to  coin  money  and 
regulate  the  value  thereof  "  does  not  include  the  power  to  make  a  legal 
tender,  and  I  do  not  believe  that  Congress  in  fact  has  the  power  to  make  a 
legal  tender  of  anything,  even  gold  and  silver.  Money  is  a  legal  tender ; 
and  Congress  has  power  to  make  money  ;  but  money  becomes  a  legal  tender 
not  because  Congress  says  so  but  because  it  is  the  law  of  the  contract. 
When  a  man  gives  his  obligation  to  pay  dollars,  his  promise  is  to  pay  the 
stamped  coin  of  the  government ;  and  because  dollars  are  the  stamped  coin 
of  the  government,  and  because  the  contract  promised  to  pay  dollars,  there 
fore  he  tenders  what  under  his  contract  he  promised  to  pay,  and  for  that 
reason  it  is  a  legal  tender.  But  the  legal  tender  power,  strictly  speaking,  is 
a  different  power.  What  is  that  ?  It  is  the  law  which  prescribes  the  evi 
dence  which  shall  establish  a  tender,  and  the  evidence  to  establish  a  refusal, 
and  the  effect  on  the  contract  of  the  tender  and  refusal. 

Now  the  evidence  necessary  to  prove  a  tender,  the  evidence  necessary  to 
prove  a  refusal,  and  the  effect  of  the  tender  and  the  refusal  upon  the  contract 
are  questions  for  each  State  to  determine  for  itself,  not  for  this  government. 
If  I  give  a  man  my  note  by  which  I  promise  to  pay  him  five  bushels  of 
wheat,  if  on  the  day  that  note  falls  due  I  tender  him  five  bushels  of  wheat, 
it  is  a  legal  tender.  Why  ?  Not  because  Congress  has  said  wheat  is  a  legal 
tender,  but  because  it  is  the  obligation  of  my  contract.  But  the  terms  upon 
which  the  tender  shall  be  made  and  the  evidence  by  which  the  refusal  shall 
be  proven,  and  the  reasons  for  refusal  and  the  effect  of  refusal  of  the  tender 
are  all  questions  which  must  be  regulated  by  the  statutes  of  the  State,  and 
each  State  for  itself  ;  and  that  is  what  we  mean  by  the  law  of  legal  tender. 

But  I  pass  that,  because  I  see  it  has  been  the  custom  of  the  government 
to  give  this  legal-tender  power  to  gold  and  silver,  and  even  to  minor  coins, 
and  therefore  I  will  assume,  in  deference  to  the  precedents  of  the  past,  that 
the  power  to  make  silver  a  legal  tender  does  exist  ;  and  if  the  power  to 
make  silver  or  gold  a  legal  tender  does  exist  in  Congress,  then,  of  course,  it 
follows  that  Congress  has  power  to  qualify  that  tender  in  any  way  it  sees 
proper. 

Here  comes  the  main  point  of  difference  between  me  and  my  friends  here. 
I  take  it,  from  all  the  discussions  I  have  heard  in  this  body,  that  every  man 
on  this  floor  desires  a  silver  dollar  that  shall  be  equal  to  the  gold  dollar ;  I 
mean  equal  in  commercial  value.  I  do  not  believe  any  senator  will  sta-nd  up 
here  and  say  to  the  country  that  he  desires  to  coin  a  depreciated  dollar, 
worth  less  than  one  hundred  cents.  The  government  has  issued  paper 
money  which  has  circulated  at  less  than  par  value  ;  but  the  government 
never  intended  that  should  be  so.  It  has  issued  all  its  greenback  currency, 
and  what  is  it?  A  promise  to  pay  so  many  dollars.  Here  is  the  bill :  "I 
promise  to  pay  $5."  The  government  never  intended  that  that  should  be 
worth  less  than  $5.  Commerce  makes  it  worth  less  ;  but  when  the  govern- 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  53  T 

ment  comes  to  redeem  it,  it  must  redeem  it  with'  $5.  A  very  different  tiling 
is  this  of  the  government  putting  its  stamp  on  a  coin  and  saying,  "  this  is  a 
dollar,"  when  in  point  of  fact  the  government  knows  it  is  "but  ninety 
cents.  In  that  case  the  government  coins  a  falsehood,  and  does  it  know 
ingly.  Now,  then,  I  say  I  do  not  believe  there  is  a  senator  in  my  hearing 
who  will  get  up  before  this  country  and  say  that  he  desires  to  coin  a  silver 
dollar  which  is  really  worth  but  ninety  cents  and  make  it  pass  for  $1.  In 
other  words,  you  do  not  desire  to  coin  debased  money.  We  all  agree  upon 
this  proposition,  that  41 2 £  grains  of  silver,  which  formerly  made  a  dollar  in 
silver,  now  only  make  ninety  or  ninety-two  cents.  There  is  no  dispute  here 
as  to  that  proposition.  Four  hundred  and  twelve  and  one-half  grains  of 
silver  are  worth  ninety  cents.  Why  do  you  propose  to  coin  it  and  call  it  a 
dollar  ?  I  am  going  to  treat  my  friends  fairly  because  I  know  they  are 
patriotic  and  honest. 

Mr.  Cockrell. — Will  the  senator  allow  me  to  interrupt  him? 

Mr.  Hill. — Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Cockrell. — I  desire  to  state  distinctly  that  I  made  no  such  admission 
as  he  has  stated.  We  do  not  admit  that  41 2  \  grains  of  silver  coined  by  law 
with  legal  tender  power  are  only  worth  ninety  cents  to  the  dollar.  On  the 
contrary,  we  say  that  two  silver  half  dollars  containing  only  385.8  grains  sell 
to-day  in  the  New  York  market  for  95.58  cents  in  gold. 

Mr.  Hill. — If  my  friend  will  just  wait,  he  will  be  astonished  to  see  how 
unnecessary  his  statement  was.  I  am  not  stating  what  the  silver  dollar  will 
be  worth  after  it  is  coined,  for  I  know  his  opinion  on  that ;  but  he  starts 
out  with  the  fact  that  is  not  proved.  I  say  that  the  proposition  is  that  412| 
grains  of  silver,  nine-tenths  fine,  is  to-day,  in  commercial  value,  worth  ninety 
cents.  That  is  w«hat  I  said. 

Mr.  CoclcreU. — As  bullion. 

Mr.  Hill: — I  said  distinctly  41 2 J  grains,  which  represented  a  dollar, 
which  is  not  a  dollar  now  ;  but  we  are  talking  about  making  it  a  dollar.  -  As 
it  now  stands,  we  agree  that  in  commerce  it  is  worth  ninety  cents,  or  ninety- 
two  cents.  Very  well.  Now,  here  is  the  difference.  The  Senators  who 
support  this  billys  it  stands,  without  amendment,  insist  that,  if  silver  shall 
be  remonetized  and  given  this  legal-tender  power,  then  the  412£  grains, 
which  in  bullion  is  worth  but  ninety  cents,  or  ninety-two  cents,  will  become 
worth  a  dollar.  That  is  your  position.  Do  I  not  state  it  fairly  ?  Precisely; 
and  if  you  will  just  wait" with  patience  you  will  find  that  I  state  everything 
with  perfect  fairness.  I  do  not  believe  that  the  remonetization  of  silver  with 
unlimited  legal-tender  power  will  make  it  worth  a  dollar.  If  I  believed  it,  1 
would  vote  with  you.  Coining  a  silver  dollar  equal  to  a  gold  dollar  cannot 
harm  anybody.  That  is  what  my  friend  wants,  and  what  we  all  want.  We 
will  all  vote  for  a  silver  dollar  that  is  equal  to  a  gold  dollar.  What  are  we 
quarreling  about,  when  all  agree  that  nobody  can  be  harmed  by  that  ? 

Why  do  you  say  that  in  your  judgment  the  remonetization  of  silver  by 
the  passage  of  this  "bill  will  make  ninety-two  cents  of  silver  worth  a  dollar \ 
I  state  your  argument  fairly.  You  say  that  the  demonetization  of  silver  is 
the  cause  of  the  depreciation  of  that  money,  and  this  singular  logic  has  gone 
all  over  the  country.  You  can  find  it  in  a  thousand  newspapers  to-day. 
Every  time  that  we  say  that  412J  grains  of  silver  are  not  worth  a  dollar  we 
are  niet  with  the  reply,""  that  is  because  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
demonetized  it ;  the  United  States  has  disowned  its  money,  and  therefore 
it  has  depreciated  in  value."  Even  the  venerable  senator  from  Ohio  (Mr. 


538  SENATOR  R  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

Thurrnan)  uses  that  argument,  and  uses  it  with  a  great  deal  of  earnestness. 
Now,  gentlemen,  if  your  premises  be  true  ;  if  it  be  true  that  the  simple 
demonetization  of  silver  or  its  being  stricken  from  the  coinage  of  the  United 
States  is  the  cause  of  its  present  depreciation,  then  your  conclusion  is  correct, 
and  its  restoration  to  the  coinage  and  remonetization  would  increase  its  value 
and  carry  it  back ;  because  if  you  remove  the  cause  you  remove  the  effect. 
But  in  order  to  remove  an  effect  you  must  remove  all  the  cause  that  pro 
duced  it.  Do  you  not  perceive  that  your  position,  that  the  demonetization 
of  silver  by  the  United  States  is  the  cause  of  its  depreciation,  is  itself  an 
assumption  ?  You  do  not  prove  that ;  you  assume  it.  The  newspapers  of 
the  country  are  filled  with  it  and  the  whole  country,  therefore,  hold  us  up  as 
intentionally  keeping  silver  depreciated  by  refusing  to  repeal  an  act  which 
caused  silver  to  be  depreciated.  You  hold  the  government  up  as  responsi 
ble  for  its  depreciation. 

Is  there  any  necessity  for  us  to  deceive  ourselves  upon  this  subject  ?  I 
think  none  in  the  world.  In  the  first  place  it  seems  to  me  illogical  to  say 
that  the  act  of  1873  was  the  cause  of  the  depreciation  in  silver  as  money, 
because  silver  at  that  time  was  not  money  ;  it  was  not  in  circulation.  The 
act  of  1873  did  not  destroy  silver  as  a  circulating  medium  in  this  country. 
Depreciated  paper  did  that  work. 

Mr.  Saulsbury. — Will  the  senator  from  Georgia  permit  me  to  ask  him  a 
question  just  there  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — Certainly. 

Mr.  Saulsbury. — I  ask  the  senator  whether  the  position  that  he  takes, 
that  to  remonetize  silver  will  not  appreciate  its  value,  is  not  itself  a  mere 
assumption  ;  and  in  connection  with  that  I  ask  him  the  further  question 
whether  before  our  act  of  demonetization  there  had  been  a  depreciation  in 
silver  bullion  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — If  my  friend  will  just  wait  he  will  be  perfectly  astonished  to 
see  how  unnecessary  his  question  is. 

Mr.  Saulsbury. — Answer  me. 

Mr.  Hill.-  -What  was  your  first  question  ? 

Mr.  Saulsbury. — My  first  question  was  whether  it  is  not  mere  assump 
tion — 

Mr.  Hill. — I  remember  now.  Yes,  it  is  ;  but  I  do  not  intend  to  let  it  rest 
there  as  you  do.  I  intend  to  prove  my  assumption  and  you  do  not  prove 
yours.  That  is  the  difference  between  us.  I  admit  as  far  as  I  have  gone  it 
is  a  mere  assumption  to  say  that  remonetization  will  not  restore  its  value  ; 
but  wait  and  hear  my  reasons  for  it. 

Mr.   Wallace. — Will  the  senator  permit  a  question  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — Yes,  sir,  if  it  is  necessary  I  will  ;  but  there  are  so  many 
unnecessary  questions  put  to  me  that  I  am  almost  afraid  to  yield. 

Mr.  Wallace. — The  power  given  is  "  to  coin  money  and  regulate  the  value 
thereof.  The  question  I  want  to  ask  the  senator  is  whether  he  will  take  a 
piece  of  silver  of  41 2£  grains,  not  coined  as  money,  and  regulate  its  value,  or 
whether  he  will  first  coin  the  money  and  then  regulate  the  value  between 
the  money  silver  and  the  money  gold  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — I  will  come  to  my  remedies,  and  I  will  tell  the  senator  when  I 
get  to  that  point.  I  am  now  discussing  the  question  what  produced  the 
depreciation  in  silver,  and  I  will  be  exceedingly  obliged  if  gentlemen  will 
let  me  go  on  and  discuss  the  question  I  am  discussing. 

Then  why  do  you  say  that  the  act  of  1873  produced  a  depreciation  in 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  539 

silver  as  money  when  silver  was  not  in  fact  money?  How  long  after  its 
passage  before  that  act  ought  to  have  had  such  an  effect  ?  But,  senators, 
was  the  United  States  the  only  country  that  demonetized  silver?  I  have 
collated  the  facts  on  this  subject  and  I  invite  the  attention  of  the  Senate  to 
them.  The  United  States  struck  the  silver  dollar  from  the  coinage,  as  we 
all  know,  in  1873.  We  have  heard  a  great  deal  to  the  effect  that  Germany 
also  adopted  the  single  gold  standard  in  1873.  That  is  true.  Then,  further, 
Denmark,  Norway,  and  Sweden  demonetized  silver  in  1872-73,  beginning 
the  work  in  1872  and  completing  it  in  1873.  Holland  commenced  the 
demonetization  of  silver  in  1872  and  completed  its  work  in  1875.  So  here 
are  five  countries  besides  the  United  States  which  between  1872  and  1875 
demonetized  silver.  That  is  not  all.  France,  Belgium,  Switzerland,  Italy, 
and  Greece,  embracing  the  Latin  monetary  union,  restricted  the  coinage  of 
silver,  and  finally  suspended  that  coin  in  1874.  They  did  not  destroy  the 
legal-tender  power  of  silver  already  coined.  They  did  not  establish  nominally 
a  single  gold  standard,  but  they  stopped  the  coinage  of  silver,  just  as  our 
act  of  1873  did.  Here,  then,  are  ten  nations  besides  the  United  States, 
great  commercial  nations,  embracing  the  greatest  commercial  nations  of  the 
earth,  that  demonetized  silver  about  the  same  time  the  United  States 
demonetized  it. 

I  ask  my  friends  what  right  have  you  to  say  that  the  action  of  the  United 
States  alone  out  of  eleven  nations  produced  a  given  result  ?  If  all  these 
states  had  an  agency  in  producing  this  result,  I  ask  you  what  right  you  have 
to  say  the  reversion  of  its  action  by  the  United  States  alone  will  restore  the 
result  and  remedy  the  evil  ?  You  cannot  say  that.  You  cannot  say  that  a 
result  which  is  produced  by  the  action  of  eleven  nations  will  be  remedied  by 
the  change  in  its  action  of  one  of  them.  That  is  unreasonable. 

But  in  my  judgment — and  I  am  giving  my  opinion  and  no  other  man's— 
it  was  not  the  demonetization  of  silver,  either  by  the  United  States  or  the 
other  ten  nations,  that  alone  produced  the  depreciation  in  silver.     On  the 
contrary,  it  is  my  opinion  that  the  wisdom  of  the  statesmen  of  those  countries 
discerned  coming  events  and  they  determined  for  other  causes  to  demonetize 
silver  ;  and  now  to  those  causes  I  invite  the  attention  of  the  Senate.     First, 
let  us  look  at  the  production  of  silver.     I  wish  senators  to  direct  their  atten 
tion  to  this  question  as  it  affects  entirely  the  depreciation  of  the  metal.     In 
1861  we  are  told  that  the  American  product  of  silver  was  $2,000,000  ;  by 
1864  it  increased  to  $11, 000,000  ;  in  1870  it  increased  to  $16,000,000  ;  in  1875 
it  increased  to  $32,000,000  ;  and  in  1877  it  increased  to  about  $40,000,000. 
Mark  you.     Up  to  the  time  of  the  depreciation  of  silver  the  increase  in  the  ^ 
product  of  silver  since  1861  in  the  United  States  had  been  1500  per  cent,  by 
the  statistics.     The  production  of  the  world  up  to   1861  had  reached  $40,- 
000,000  per  year.     In  1875  it  had  reached  $80,000,000,  an  increase  of  100 
per  cent.    That  is  the  increase  of  the  production,  and  this  wonderful  increase 
in  its  production  seems  to  have  culminated  to  its  higli  point  about  the  time 
silver  commenced  to  depreciate.     Let  us  look  at  the  demand  in  the  mean 
time.     I  will  take  only  one  country  for  a  specimen.     During  the  four  yean 
of  the  American  war  American  cotton  was  cut  off  from  Europe  and  i 
world.     India  cotton  therefore  came  into  great  demand  and  rose  to  a  hij 
price  and  increased  largely  in  production.     What  was  the  result: 
the  four  years  of  the  war  the  exportation  of  silver  to  India  alone  amoun 
to  $67,000,000  per  annum. 

Mr.  Butler. — From  where  ? 


540  SENATOR  R  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

Mr.  Hill. — From  France  and  England.  One  year  France  itself  exported 
$65,000,000.  Therefore  the  great  demand  for  silver.  It  took  $67,000,000  a 
year  on  an  average  during  the  four  years  of  the  war.  During  the  four  years 
succeeding  the  war,  when  our  Southern  cotton  was  coming  back  into  demand, 
thereby  lessening  the  value  and  product  of  India  cotton,  and  therefore 
lessening  the  power  of  India  to  take  silver,  the  demand  of  India  alone  fell  to 
$35,000,000  a  year.  This  demand  fell  in  1868,  so  Dr.  Linderman  tells  us,  to 
$8,000,000  ;  in  1870-71,  in  twelve  months  there,  it  fell  to  $5,000,000.  In 
the  four  years'  after  1871,  including  1875,  the  average  exportation  of  silver 
to  India  was  $10,000,000.  So  that  during  this  very  period,  when  silver 
commenced  declining,  its  product  had  risen  since  1861,  1500  per  cent,  in 
the  United  States  and  100  per  cent,  in  the  world,  and  its  demand  in  one 
great  silver  country  alone  had  decreased  85  per  cent.!  So  great  was  this 
decrease  in  the  demand  and  its  effect  upon  silver  that,  notwithstanding,  in 
consequence  of  the  famine  the  demand  for  India  and  China  greatly  increased 
again  in  1876,  it  had  not  the  effect  of  restoring  silver  to  its  former  value. 

Now,  I  put  it  to  your  candor,  when  the  production  of  silver  had  so 
greatly  increased,  when  the  demand  for  silver  had  so  greatly  declined,  both 
from  the  failure  and  inability  to  get  it  in  the  countries  of  the  East,  and 
when  eleven  countries  had  discarded  it  as  money  or  stopped  its  coinage,  why 
is  it,  in  the  face  of  these  great  facts,  that  you  insist  upon  saying  that  the 
depreciation  of  silver  was  caused  by  the  demonetization  act  of  1873?  Do 
you  believe  that  the  great  increase  in  its  production,  the  great  decline  in  its 
demand  had  no  effect  upon  its  value  ?  Do  you  not  believe  that  they  were 
somewhat  causes  in  producing  that  effect  ?  If  they  were,  I  ask  every  candid 
senator  upon  this  floor  to  tell  me  why  it  is  that  you  insist  upon  telling  the 
country  that  the  only  cause  of  the  depreciation  of  the  commercial  value  of 
silver  was  the  act  of  1873.  Is  it  fair  to  make  that  statement?  Eleven 
nations  during  this  very  period  have  discarded  silver  from  their  coinage. 
Fifteen  hundred  per  cent,  increase  in  its  production  by  the  United  States, 
100  percent,  increase  in  its  production  in  the  world,  and  85  per  cent,  decrease 
in  its  demand  !  Yet  gentlemen  tell  me  there  is  but  one  cause  for  the 
depreciation  of  silver.  Looking  at  this  question  fairly,  with  a  perfectly 
impartial  mind,  I  must  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  cause  of  the  deprecia 
tion  in  silver  is  to  be  found  not  in  the  act  of  any  one  nation,  but  in  the  acts 
of  eleven  nations  and  in  the  fact  of  its  greatly  increased  production  and  the 
great  decline  in  the  demand  for  it.  I  believe  I  am  reasonable  in  the  state 
ment,  and  if  I  come  to  that  conclusion,  are  you  justified  or  is  any  one 
justified  in  saying  that  but  one  part  of  the  cause  produced  the  whole  effect? 

Mr.  Bailey. — Will  the  senator  permit  me  to  ask  him  a  question  just  in 
that  connection  ? 

Mr.  //*7/.- -Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Bailey. — I  understand  the  senator  to  say  that  the  position  ta-ken  by 
the  advocates  of  the  silver  bill  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate  lias  been  that  the 
whole  cause  of  the  depreciated  value  of  silver  is  to  be  found  in  its  demone 
tization  by  the  Government  of  the  United  States.  Do  I  understand  him  to 
state  that  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — I  have  understood  that  to  be  the  position  of  half  a  dozen 
senators  on  this  floor,  and  I  have  seen  it  in  a  thousand  newspapers  almost. 

Mr.  Bailey. — I  speak  of  the  discussion  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate. 

Mr.  Hill. — Oh,  I  do  not  say  that  all  of  you  have  said  it. 

Mr.  Bailey. — I  do  not  say  so. 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  .     541 

Mr.  Hill.— Then  you  admit  what  I  say,  that  the  demonetization  of  silver 
by  the  United  States  did  not  alone  produce  its  depreciation.  I  put  you  on 
one  horn  of  the  dilemma  or  the  other.  Do  you  admit  that  the  demonetiza 
tion  by  the  United  States  alone  did  not  produce  the  depreciation  of  silver  ? 
If  you  admit  that,  then  I  ask  what  right  have  you  to  say  that  the  passage 
of  this  bill  remonetizing  silver  will  .cure  the  depreciation  and  restore  it  to  its 
former  value  ?  You  have  no  right  to  say  it.  You  must  find  out  the  cause 
of  the  depreciation  and  remove  the  whole  cause  if  you  would  remove  the 
whole  effect.  I  will  state  fairly  that  I  believe  the  remonetization  of  silver 
by  the  United  States  will  have  some  effect  in  restoring  its  value.  I  do  not 
know  how  much,  and  therefore,  as  you  will  find  directly,  I  am  unwilling  to 
adopt  a  measure  which  proposes  simply  to  increase  the  weight  of  silver,°be- 
cause  we  cannot  tell  now  exactly  how  much  effect  remonetization  will  have 
in  restoring  its  value.  But  that  it  will  have  the  full  effect  of  restoring  its 
value  I  cannot  believe.  It  may  have  a  temporary  effect,  more  apparent  than 
real,  and  not  by  any  means  permanent.  It  may  seemingly  restore  it  for  a 
little  while,  but  it  cannot  last. 

Then  I  put  this  to  senators :  as  you  do  not  wish  to  coin  a  depreciated 
money,  as  all  the  causes  which  we  may  reasonably  say  have  united  in  pro 
ducing  its  depreciation  cannot  be  removed  by  us,  as  we  can  only  remove  one, 
as  we  will  in  all  probability  fail  to  restore  by  the  act  of  one  nation  the  value 
of  silver  in  equal  value  to  that  of  the  gold  dollar,  you  see  the  hazard  at  once 
of  passing  this  bill  without  any  limitation  upon  it.  If  you  do  produce  a 
dollar  that  is  not  worth  a  gold  dollar  you  see  you  derange  the  currency,  you 
confuse  all  values,  and  you  inflict  very  great  mischief  upon  the  country. 
You  admit  that  you  ought  to  avoid  that.  Will  it  not  be  better  then,  instead 
of  risking  this  terrible  evil  upon  the  country  at  this  particular  juncture  to 
avoid  it  if  we  possibly  can  ? 

Mr.  Maxey. — Will  the  senator  permit  me  to  ask  him  a  question  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Maxey. — If  silver  were  at  a  premium  of  three  per  cent,  in  1873, 
when  it  was  demonetized,  is  it  necessary  to  bring  it  back  to  that  rate  in  order 
to  justify  the  recoinage  of  it. 

Mr.  *Hill. — I  must  say  to  my  friend  from  Texas  that  that  is  a  very  un 
necessary  question.  I  have  said  fifty  times  in  language  as  strong  as  I  can 
use,  that  I  would  have  a  silver  dollar  equal  to  the  gold  dollar. 

Mr.  Maxey. — It  will  be  more  than  equal  when  remonetized. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  do  not  want  either  metal  of  superior  value  to  the  other. 
All  I  want  is  equality.  That  is  the  condition  of  the  companionship  of  the 
two  metals,  as  I  said  to  the  senator  from  Maine.  How  may  you  avoid  these 
disastrous  consequences  and  yet  give  the  people  a  silver  dollar?  You  can 
do  it,  in  my  opinion,  in  either  one  of  three  ways.  You  can  do  it  by  increas 
ing  the  weight.  I  prefer  not  to  adopt  that  method.  I  say  to  my  eloquent 
friend  from  Connecticut  (Mr.  Eaton)  and  the  senator  from  Michigan  (Mr. 
Christiancy),  and  the  senator  from  Maine  (Mr.  Klaine)  who  have  already 
offered  amendments  to  increase  the  weight  of  the  silver  dollar,  that  is  a  wise 
measure,  it  is  a  proper  remed}T,  but,  in  my  opinion,  it  is  not  the  best,  and 
give  this  reason  for  it,  that  you  cannot  tell  now  at  what  weight  you  should 
fix  the  silver  dollar.  If  you  were  to  fix  a  weight  to-morrow  that  would  be 
equal  to  o-olrl  t.hp  npvt  i\*\r  it,  mio-ht  not  be  and  the  same  evil  would  occur. 


»    ^-'  »         ^*  ^J  i   »  I*  A   •  t   ±.          m    v»  1^*  »    V  *    ***          **  **  ^^ 

gold,  the  next  day  it  might  not  be  and  the  same  evil  would  occur. 
We  must  adopt  some  system,  if  we  can,  by  which  we  can  keep  the  silver 
equal  to  the  ffold  dollar  in  purchasing  power  and  in  commercial  value. 


542  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

The  whole  difficulty  of  the  double  standard  springs  up  when  you  under 
take  to  equalize  the  dollar  by  weight.  That  is  a  very  great  difficulty  in  the 
present  condition  of  the  country,  when  a  majority  of  the  commercial  nations 
of  the  earth  are  discarding  the  double  standard.  I  am  not  going  into  the 
question  of  the  single  and  double  standard.  I  only  say  that  out  of  thirty- 
three  nations,  not  counting  the  United  States,  fifteen  have  already  adopted 
the  single  gold  standard,  ten  have  adhered  to  the  single  silver  standard,  and 
only  eight  have  the  double  standard  of  gold  and  silver  ;  so  that  the  tendency 
of  the  world  is  clearly  to  establish  the  single  gold  standard.  At  this  time  I 
do  not  propose  to  discuss  the  single  gold  standard  for  this  country,  but  for 
the  reason  given  I  prefer  not  to  increase  the  weight  of  the  silver  dollar. 
Then  I  propose  to  retain  412J  grains  of  silver  nine-tenths  fine  as  the  silver 
dollar.  How,  then,  will  you  prevent  its  depreciation  ?  One  way  is  to  limit 
the  coinage.  That  is  not  the  best  way,  but  that  is  a  way,  and  you  may 
have  to  come  to  that.  Whenever  you  limit  the  supply  of  an  article  you  ne 
cessarily  increase  the  value  of  that  article.  If  you  will  limit  the  coinage  of 
your  silver  when  you  get  the  proper  limitation  upon  its  coinage,  it  will  fill 
the  natural  demand  for  it,  and  then  of  course  you  will  increase  its  value. 
The  fact  stated  by  the  senator  from  Ohio  that  the  ratio  in  France  is  only 
15£  of  silver  to  1  of  gold,  and  yet  it  is  equal  to  gold  in  circulation  as  money, 
is  true,  but  why?  Because  France  absolutely  prohibited  the  increase  of 
those  dollars. 

Mr.  Allison. — How  many  had  they  ? 

Mr. Hill. — I  do  not  remember.     I  suppose  you  know. 

Mr.  Allison. — Between  $300,000,000  and  $400,000,000. 

Mr.  Hill. — Very  well ;  still  France  has  stopped  the  coinage  and  she  keeps 
silver  at  par.  She  closes  down  her  mints,  and  why  does  she  keep  her  mints 
closed?  Because,  as  my  friend  must  admit, the  French  people  know  that  if 
they  do  what  you  propose  to  do  by  this  bill,  reopen  the  mints  or  restore  the 
unlimited  free  coinage  of  silver  her  silver  would  go  down  in  twenty-four 
hours  and  it  would  drive  the  other  metal,  gold,  away,  which  is  the  same 
thing.  Whenever  you  depreciate  one  metal  you  drive  the  other  away. 
That  is  an  established  fact.  France  stopped  the  coinage  of  silver  to  prevent 
that  effect  and  retain  her  gold. 

I  am  willing  for  you  to  have  silver  ;  I  am  a  silver  man.  I  protest  here 
and  now  against  the  constantly  repeated  arguments  on  this  floor  that  those 
of  us  who  cannot  support  this  bill  want  to  destroy  all  the  silver  in  the  coun 
try.  We  want  to  regulate  silver  so  as  to  keep  it  equal  with  gold  and  thus 
keep  both  in  the  country.  That  is  all  I  want,  and  then  you  can  have  as 
much  of  it  as  you  please.  The  example  of  France  proves  to  us  that  it  is 
possible  to  have  silver,  and  a  large  amount  of  silver  even,  at  less  than  41 2 1 
grains,  less. than  16  to  1,  and  it  will  keep  at  par,  but  it  is  done  by  a  limitation 
upon  the  coinage.  There  can  be  no  other  reason  for  it.  Here  you  propose 
an  unlimited  free  coinage. 

Mr.  Allison. — No. 

Mr.  Hill. — You  do  not.  I  mean  the  advocates  of  the  bill  as  it  came  from 
the  House. 

But  I  believe  the  most  effective  way  and  the  permanent  way  to  keep  the 
purchasing  power  of  the  silver  dollar  equal  to  the  purchasing  power  of  the 
gold  dollar  is  to  prescribe  for  silver  an  appropriate  and  fitting  place  in  the 
field  of  currency  which  will  take  it  out  of  competition  with  gold.  I  do  not 
mean  to  make  it  alone  in  this  country  a  subsidiary  coin.  I  am  willing  to 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  543 

compromise  and  get  together  and  have  accord  on  this  subject,  and  make 
silver  more  than  a  subsidiary  coin,  but  I  would  limit  its  legal-tender  power. 
Why  ?  For  the  very  reason  of  the  example  you  have  before  you.  The 
senator  from  Missouri  has  thrown  it  in  our  faces  that  two  of  the  present 
half  dollars  are  of  less  weight  than  41 2  J  grains  and  yet  they  pass  at  par. 
Why?  Is  it  because  the  value  of  the  silver  in  them  is  equal  to  25.8  grains 
of  gold  ?  No,  sir  ;  but  because  of  the  limit  in  legal-tender  power,  and 
because  there  is  no  other  currency  with  which  it  conies  into  competition. 
For  the  very  same  reason  your  minor  coins  pass  at  par.  The  nickel  passes 
at  par  and  so  the  copper  cent  passes.  They  are  not  equal  in  commercial 
value  to  gold  or  silver,  but  why  is  it  that  we  all  take  a  copper  cent  and  the 
nickel  three-cent  piece  and  the  nickel  five-cent  piece  ?  Because  they  per 
form  the  function  of  change,  the  function  of  a  money  which  there  is  no 
other  money  to  perform. 

So  in  England.  Look  at  her  case.  England  you  say  has  demonetized 
silver  ;  but  yet  England  makes  coined  silver  a  subsidiary  coin  and  she  gives 
the  silver  money  higher  legal-tender  power  than  we  have  done  with  our 
fractional  currency.  She  makes  it  a  legal  tender  for  about  $10.  What  is 
the  result  ?  England  circulates  from  eighty  to  a  hundred  millions  of  silver, 
and  it  is  not  equal  in  value  to  our  silver  dollar.  She  buys  the  silver  bullion 
at  53  pence,  coins  it  and  puts  it  in  circulation  at  66,  thereby  making  13 
pence,  or  26  per  cent,  nearly. 

How  does  she  do  it?  By  simply  limiting  the  legal-tender  power,  by 
simply  giving  silver  a  field  in  which  it  does  not  come  into  competition  with 
gold.  What  should  you  do  here  ?  Limit  the  legal-tender  power  of  the 
silver  dollar,  and  give  ample  silver  to  supply  the  wants  of  the  people.  I  am 
willing  to  agree  upon  any  reasonable  amount.  My  own  opinion  is  that  if 
you  will  make  the  silver  dollar  a  legal  tender  for  $100  the  people  will  have 
it  for  all  the  purposes  they  need  or  desire,  and  it  will  go  just  as  much  into 
circulation  as  if  you  were  to  make  it  an  unlimited  legal  tender,  and  it  will 
be  just  as  valuable  to  the  people,  and  it  will  not  drive  out  the  gold  from 
circulation  or  from  the  country. 

In  that  event,  I  believe  the  silver  dollar  of  41 2 £  grains  would  have  as 
much  purchasing  power  as  the  gold  dollar.  That  is  my  opinion.  Why  not 
do  it  if  we  can  thus  avoid  this  confusion  and  all  hazard  and  yet  gratify  the 
people?  The  people  demand  of  you  the  silver  dollar,  but  they  do  not 
demand  of  you  a  silver  dollar  that  shall  drive  out  the  gold  from  the  country. 
They  do  not  tell  you  in  what  way  to  give  them  the  silver  dollar ;  they 
leave  that  to  your  wisdom,  and  they  expect  you  to  do  it  in  a  manner  that 
will  be  wise  and  that  will  secure  equality  between  the  silver  dollar  and  the 
gold  dollar.  The  senator  from  Ohio  said,  and  justly  said,  that  the  silver 
money  is  the  money  of  the  common  people.  That  is  true,  and  will  the 
'Senate  take  the  hazard  of  throwing  out  to  the  country  a  money  that  is  to  be 
used  by  the  common  people  which  will  be  less  valuable  than  the  gold  which 
is  used  by  the  rich  people  ?  Will  that  be  justice  to  the  laboring  claw— will 
that  be  justice  to  the  poor  class?  Ah,  gentlemen,  when  you  go  home  and 
tell  the  people  that  you  have  passed  a  bill  which  gives  them  a  silver  dollar, 
and  they  find  out  that  you  have  given  them  a  silver  dollar  of  less  value  than 
the  gold  dollar,  they  will  want  to  know  why  you  have  thus  discriminated 
against  them. 

Both  by  our  own  example  and  by  the  example  of  England  and 
reason  of  the  thing,  I  think  it  would  be  wise  to  limit  the  legal- tender  power 


544  SENATOR  R   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

of  silver,  giving  it  a  place  in  the  currency  which  it  may  occupy  without 
competition  with  gold,  just  as  the  minor  coins  occupy  a  distinct  field.  Then 
silver  will  be  always  at  par  and  have  an  equal  purchasing  power  with  gold 
in  the  ordinary  business  of  the  country,  and  there  will  be  no  necessity  to  be 
constantly  re-enacting  laws  to  keep  silver  and  gold  equal. 

Mr.  Morgan. — Will  the  senator  from  Georgia  allow  me  to  ask  him 
whether  he  would  favor  the  use  of  silver  in  the  payment  of  the  bonded 
debt  of  the  United  States  or  the  interest  thereof? 

Mr.  Hill. — I  am  corning  to  that  directly,  my  friend.  I  am  going  to  deal 
with  the  bonds.  My  opinion  is  that  the  bonds  ought  to  be  lifted  out  of 
this  question,  provided  we  can  lessen  taxation  by  it ;  but  I  am  coming  to 
that  directly.  I  would  give  silver  a  legal-tender  power  for  all  payments  in 
any  one  payment  not  exceeding  $100,  or  even  more,  for  a  compromise.  I 
arn  willing  to  do  that,  and  I  believe  the  country  would  accept  it,  and  would 
be  gratified  by  it.  I  believe  it  would  preserve  the  value  of  the  silver  dollar 
without  increasing  its  weight.  I  do  not  insist  upon  $100  as  the  limit  ;  I 
will  be  reasonable  on  that  point.  It  is  the  principle  I  am  after.  I  believe 
at  last  you  have  got  to  come  to  that.  I  believe  that  is  going  to  be  the  re 
sult  of  all  this  confusion  in  the  world  about  the  single  and  double  standard. 
It  is  not  natural,  it  never  was  intended  by  nature  that  silver  should  have  the 
same  extent  of  circulation  that  gold  has.  Who  would  think  of  coining  a 
twenty-dollar  silver  piece  ?  No  one ;  any  more  than  you  would  think  of 
coining  a  dollar  copper  piece.  We  will  build  our  financial  temple  thus : 
We  will  have  copper  and  nickel  for  the  mudsills  ;  let  us  then  make  silver 
the  basement,  and  let  us  make  its  superstructure  of  gold.  Give  each  its 
place.  Give  the  copper  and  the  nickel  their  place  in  circulation,  silver  its 
place  in  circulation,  gold  its  place  ;  and  above  gold  let  there  be  drafts, 
checks,  and  such  paper  money  as  you  may  see  proper  to  authorize. 

That,  I  believe  Mr.  President,  is  a  solution  of  this  question.  I  submit 
these  views  with  diffidence  because  I  admit  that  it  is  a  very  complicated  and 
difficult  subject  in  any  view,  but  I  believe  that  is  what  we  ought  to  do.  I 
do  confess  I  do  not  contemplate  with  the  slightest  degree  of  pleasure  the 
proposition  that  we  are  to  multiply  the  depreciated  money  of  this  country, 
and  prolong  and  increase  the  agonies  of  the  people  which  result  from  that 
depreciated  money.  I  want  to  come  to  an  honest  standard.  I  would  have 
gold  and  silver  both  in  airculation,  each  to  equal  the  other,  and  a  paper 
money  convertible  into  either,  according  to  law.  Then  I  believe  confidence 
will  be  restored  ;  then  I  believe  business  will  revive  ;  then  I  believe  these 
failures  and  bankruptcies  will  begin  to  end  ;  then  I  believe  the  laborer  will 
begin  to  have  bread  and  the  naked  will  begin  to  have  clothing.  It  is 
strange  to  me,  after  the  world  has  passed  through  so  many  revolutions,  and 
has  so  often  felt  the  bad  effects  of  a  depreciated  currency,  in  producing  first 
speculation  and  extravagance,  then  collapse,  and  then  bankruptcies,  that  wo 
will  not  see  that  it  is  precisely  the  ordeal  through  which  this  country  is  now 
passing,  and  that  there  is  no  escape  and  no  remedy  for  it  until  you  get  back 
to  a  sound  currency.  But  a  sound  currency  in  this  country  means  gold  and 
silver  money  equal  each  to  the  other,  and  a  paper  money  equal  to  either. 
That  is  what  it  means  and  nothing  else. 

Give  me  good  reasons  for  believing  that  remonetization  alone  will  restore 
silver  to  an  equal  value  with  gold  and  I  will  support  the  measure.  But  for 
the  reasons  I  have  given,  with  the  plain  history  of  the  world  occurring  at 
the  very  time  this  silver  began  to  depreciate  (for  the  greatest  depreciation 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  645 

of  silver  occurred  in  1876,  when  it  fell  twenty  per  cent.},  I  am  convinced 
that  all  these  causes  culminating  just  at  that  time,  this  demonetization  by 
eleven  nations,  this  great  increase  in  production,  and  the  great  decline  in 
its  demand,  combined  to  produce  that  wonderful  result  in  the  history  of 
this  country.  Believing  so  I  am  not  willing,  anxious  as  I  am  to  be  in  accord 
with  my  friends  on  this  subject,  to  take  the  hazard  of  driving  the  gold  from 
the  country  for  money  that  I  believe  will  be  more  depreciated  than  the 
greenback  and  that  will  pull  the  greenback  down  to  it,  and  postpone  resump 
tion  and  continue  this  condition  of  uncertainty  and  hardship  and  suffering 
among  the  people. 

Mr.  President,  I  have  taken  so  much  longer  than  I  expected  that  I  shall 
hurry  on.  I  have  disposed  of  the  questions  that  I  think  are  before  the  Sen 
ate.  I  do  not  say  that  I  will  insist  on  all  the  amendments  that  I  havo  sug 
gested  as  indispensable  before  I  will  vote  for  the  bill.  I  never  will  vote  for 
it  as  it  stands.  I  am  willing  to  compromise.  I  believe  that  gentlemen  who 
differ  with  me  on  this  question  are  as  honest  and  patriotic  as  I  am.  They 
are  men  whom  I  love.  I  desire  to  be  in  accord  with  you  in  all  things 
because  I  know  your  worth.  I  am  willing  therefore  to  unite  with  you  to 
bring  about  any  method  that  will  reasonably  secure  what  we  all  say  we 
want,  equality  in  value  between  these  two  metals,  and  hasten  the  period  of 
resumption.  I  will  unite  with  you  in  anything  that  is  reasonable  to  that 
end ;  but  do  not  attach  your  support  to  a  bill  which  I  think  is  monstrous  in 
its  character  ;  a  bill  that  I  think  will  relieve  nobody  but  a  few  bullion 
holders  and  will  enrich  them  ;  a  bill  that  will  multiply  the  bankruptcies  of 
this  country,  which  will  increase  the  sufferings  of  this  country,  which  will 
postpone  the  resumption  of  specie  payments  and  the  day  of  a  sound  cur 
rency.  Do  not  plant  yourselves  in  favor  of  such  a  bill  and  say  you  will  not 
move  an  inch.  Come,  we  are  all  together.  Our  people  are  interested. 
They  are  suffering.  We  desire  to  relieve  them.  Why  cannot  we  have 
wisdom  enough  to  adopt  a  proper  measure  that  will  avoid  the  evils  on  the 
one  hand  and  secure  the  good  on  the  other? 

Mr.  Withers. — Let  us  do  it. 

Mr.  Hill. — Exactly.  Now  let  us  go  to  work  and  do  it ;  but  you  say, 
"  this  bill  or  nothing." 

Having  disposed  of  these  questions  that  belong  to  the  issue  I  want  to 
make  a  few  more  remarks  upon  matters  which  have  been  introduced  into 
the  discussion  which  I  think  have  no  relevancy,  but  it  is  proper  that  I  should 
say  something  about  them. 

Mr.  President,  with  all  due  deference  to  every  man  in  my  hearing  and  to 
every  member  of  the  Senate,  I  enter  my  protest  solemnly  against  two  argu 
ments  which  have  been  too  often  used  in  this  hall,  and  which  are  used  every 
day  through  the  country.     I  know  of  no  way  of  dealing  with  a  ques 
with  frankness  and  candor.     I  represent  nobody  but  the  people,  and 
ernment,  and  truth.    I  care  nothing  for  bondholders,  or  creditors,  or  bankers, 
or  any  other  class  of  people.     I  believe  that  legislation  which   is 
one  class  is  wise  for  all  classes.     The  man  who  attempts  to  array  in 
country  the  poor  against  the  rich,  and  those  who  are  not  bankers  and 
holders  against  those  who  are,  and  talks  about  legislation  for 
a  class,  is  doing  Herculean  work  to  destroy  the  happiness  and 
all  classes.  ,  f 

It  has  been  said,  and  it  has  gone  over  the  country  in  a  thousand 
nating  forms,  that  the  bondholder  bought  his  bond  originally  for  sixty 


546  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

on  the  dollar  or  less.  I  have  one  word  to  say  on  the  subject :  When  the 
government  first  negotiated  its  bonds  we  were  engaged  in  a  terrible  sec 
tional  war.  One  party  to  the  sectional  fight  had  possession  of  the  govern 
ment.  It  was  uncertain  what  the  result  would  be.  The  depreciation  upon 
that  bond  was  the  result  of  that  uncertainty.  I  confess  myself  that  I  was 
on  the  side  that  was  against  the  bondholder,  and  I  was  doing  my  very  best, 
honestly  and  conscientiously,  to  make  the  bondholder  lose  not  only  the  forty 
cents  he  sought  to  make,  but  the  sixty  cents  he  paid  for  the  bond.  I  say 
frankly  and  conscientiously  I  do  not  feel  that  it  is  becoming  in  me  now  to 
raise  a  hue  and  cry  against  the  bondholder  because  in  spite  of  my  efforts  to 
the  contrary  he  made  a  good  bargain  out  of  it.  If  he  made  a  good  bargain 
it  is  not  my  fault.  It  was  a  fair  fight  and  I  took  the  consequences.  I  hope 
no  Southern  man  will  ever  urge  that  argument.  I  say  it  with  profound 
kindness.  Then,  again,  every  day  it  is  said  that  originally  the  bonds  were  pay 
able  in  currency,  that  they  were  payable  in  lawful  money.  That  is  clearly 
true.  I  believe  according  to  the  original  law  the  bonds  were  payable  in 
lawful  money,  which  meant  legal-tender  currency. 

Now,  Mr.  President,  while  upon  this  subject  I  will  say  that  the  credit  of 
the  government  is  as  dear  to  me  as  to  any  man.  During  the  war  I  was  do 
ing  what  I  thought  was  right.  When  I  surrendered,  I  surrendered  honestly. 
I  belong  to  this  government ;  it  is  my  government,  and  mine  forever,  and  I 
intend  to  be  just  as  faithful  in  all  respects  to  the  credit  of  the  United  States 
as  I  would  have  been  to  the  credit  of  the  Confederate  States  if  they  had 
succeeded.  It  is  my  country,  and  I  am  gratified  to  know  that  no  Southern 
man  upon  this  floor  has  thus  far  uttered  a  sentiment  to  the  contrary,  nor  do 
I  believe  one  will. 

But  it  is  said  these  bonds  were  originally  payable  in  lawful  money,  that 
is,  in  greenbacks.  I  admit  that  to  be  true.  You  say  it  was  a  great  wrong 
to  change  that  law.  Gentlemen,  let  us  deal  with  perfect  fairness  and  candor 
here.  The  law  which  originally  authorized  the  bonds  to  be  payable  in  law 
ful  money  also  authorized  that  lawful  money  to  be  funded  in  six  per  cent, 
bonds.  Congress  afterward  repealed  that  funding  portion  of  the  law. 
Now,  if  you  will  insist  it  was  right  to  pay  the  bonds  in  lawful  money,  you 
ought  to  restore  the  funding  quality  of  the  money  in  which  you  paid  it. 
That  would  be  a  singular  idea.  Where  would  be  the  gain  and  benefit  of 
paying  for  a  bond  in  lawful  money,  when  the  man  who  got  the  lawful 
money  could  turn  right  around  and  demand  another  bond.  I  suppose,  if 
you  will  make  greenbacks  fundable  in  six  per  cent,  bonds,  there  is  not  a 
bondholder  now  but  what  would  take  them  for  his  bonds,  because  it  would 
be  worth  a  large  premium,  and  he  would  go  immediately  and  fund  them  in 
six  per  cent,  bonds. 

Mr.  JTernan. — Greenbacks  would  go  up  then. 

Mr.  Hill. — Yes,  greenbacks  would  go  up  to  gold.  I  do  not  think  that 
we  ought  to  rail  against  that  act  of  1869,  for  another  reason.  According 
to  my  recollection,  in  the  great  Presidential  contest  of  1868,  the  Democratic 
party  took  the  distinct  ground  that  these  bonds  were  payable  in  lawful 
money.  That  is  my  recollection  of  the  great  Ohio  position.  The  Republi 
can  party  took  the  contrary  position,  that  they  ought  to  be  paid  in  coin. 
The  people,  I  think  very  unwisely,  decided  in  favor  of  the  Republican 
party. 

Mr.  Voorhees. — Will  the  senator  from  Georgia  allow  me  to  correct  him  ? 
In  the  State  of  Ohio  and  jn  the  State  of  Jndiana  the  Republican  party  toot; 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND    WRITINGS.  547 

precisely  the  same  ground  that  the  Democratic  party  did  on  that  question 
by  resolution  in  their  State  conventions. 

Mr.  Hill.— The  position  was  that  the  bonds  were  payable  in  lawful 
money. 

Mr.  Vborhees. — Yes. 

Mr.  Hill.- -That  was  right.     Well,  I  am  not  going  to  get  up  a  division 
in  the  party  here  now. 
Mr.  Voorhees. — Oh,  no. 

Mr.  Hill— I  am  opposed  to  that ;  I  say  that  position  was  taken  ;  I  know 
it  was  argued  in  the  canvass. 

Mr.  Butler.-  -That  position  was  taken  in  the  national  convention. 

Mr.  Hill.— Very  well.  The  people  decided  against  the  Democratic 
party,  and  I  think  very  unwisely.  The  act  of  1869  was  the  first  act  ap 
proved  by  General  Grant,  who  was  elected,  as  I  understand  it,  in  response 
to  what  they  considered  and  claimed  to  be  the  verdict  of  the  people  in  that 
election.  So  that  if  the  people  have  authorized  this  act,  and  it  is  an  unwise 
act,  let  the  people  who  authorized  it  complain.  In  the  mean  time  I  accept  it 
as  the  law  of  the  land,  without  any  further  controversy  about  it. 

Then,  as  to  the  act  of  1870,  the  great  purpose  of  the  act  of  1870  was  simply 
to  refund  our  debt  at  a  lower  interest.  It  authorized  the  refunding  of  our 
debt  into  four,  four  and  a  half,  and  five  per  cent,  bonds,  chiefly,  I  believe, 
four  per  cents.  Nobody,  I  suppose,  can  complain  of  that ;  but  a  great  hue 
and  cry  has  gone  out  to  the  country  about  the  act  of  1873.  I  am  not  going 
to  defend  that  act  or  any  of  these  acts  ;  I  am  not  responsible  for  them  ;  but 
I  am  only  speaking  of  what  I  think  the  proper  remedy  is.  Senators,  what 
difference  does  it  make  ?  Suppose,  for  the  sake  of  the  argument,  that  it 
was  unwise  to  strike  silver  from  the  coinage  in  1873 — suppose  it  was  done 
surreptitiously — that  does  not  affect  the  question  of  restoring  silver  now  or 
not  restoring  it.  We  must  determine,  not  whether  it  was  wise  to  strike  it  from 
the  coinage  of  1873,  but  whether  it  is  wise  to  restore  it  now.  We  should 
determine  this  question  not  according  to  the  condition  of  things  in  1873,  but 
according  to  the  condition  of  things  now.  Suppose  it  was  unwise  to  strike 
silver  from  the  coinage  in  1873  under  the  condition  of  things  then  existing, 
still  if  under  the  condition  of  things  as  they  now  stand  it  is  unwise  to  re 
store  it  with  unlimited  legal-tender  power,  will  you  do  an  unwise  act  now 
because  you  condemn  an  unwise  act  then  ?  That  is  bad  logic  and  worse 
statesmanship.  Pass  this  bill  or  not,  according  to  the  present  condition  of 
the  country.  If  it  is  wise  now  to  restore  silver,  let  us  restore  it ;  if  it  is 
wise  not  to  restore  it,  let  us  not  restore  it.  If  it  is  wise  to  restore  it  with 
limited  legal-tender  power,  restore  it  on  terms,  and  let  us  prescribe  the  terms 
and  do  whatever  is  wise  and  best  for  the  country. 

There  is  another  style  of  argument  to  which  I  wish  to  express  my  utter 
dissent.  There  are  some  who  claim  that  under  these  laws  as  they  exist  the 
bonds  are  now  payable  in  gold  alone.  In  my  judgment  that  is  a  totally  un 
tenable  position.  *  It  is  true,  I  admit,  that  you  cannot  pay  the  bonds  in 
what  was  not  coin  ;  but  if  silver  is  restored  to  the  coinage,  that  moment  the 
bonds  are  payable  in  silver  as  well  as  gold  because  the  pledge  in  the  act  of 
1869  is  not  to  pay  in  gold,  is  not  to  pay  in  silver,  but  to  pay  in  coin,  and 
both  silver  and  gold  are  coin.  So  the  act  of  1870  expressly  says  that  this 
bond  is  redeemable  in  coin.  Silver  at  that  time  was  of  as  much  value  as 
gold,  and  the  best  way  for  everybody  to  meet  this  question  is  to  meet  it  ac 
cording  to  the  facts,  TJaere  is  not  a-  judge  on  earth  tf'ho  would  not  bold 


548  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

that  "coin"  in  the  act  of  1869  and  the  act  of  1870  meant  gold  and  silver. 
You  may  by  virtue  of  your  sovereign  power  have  a  right  to  strike  either 
from  the  coinage  ;  but  if  both  are  coined,  then  the  bond  is  payable  in  either, 
and  that  position  is  the  true  one — the  correct  one. 

Gentlemen  who  are  anxious  for  the  credit  of  the  nation  do  an  injustice 
when  they  charge  bad  faith  upon  the  government  simply  because  it  stands 
up  to  its  contract.  There  is  no  bad  faith  in  executing  the  contract. 

There  is  another  thing  I  wish  to  say  which  has  not  been  said.  It  is  said, 
increase  the  weight  of  the  silver  dollar  before  you  pay  it  to  the  bondholder. 
Under  the  act  of  1869  all  bonds  issued  before  that  day,  or  which  have  not 
been  refunded  under  the  act  of  1870,  are  payable  in  gold  or  silver  at  what 
ever  is  the  standard  value  of  silver  and  gold  when  the  bond  is  paid.  But 
that  rule  does  not  apply  to  the  bonds  that  have  been  issued  under  the  act  of 
1870,  because  that  act  expressly  says  they  shall  be  redeemable  in  coin 
at  the  standard  value  of  that  day  ;  that  is,  in  silver  of  41 2  J  grains,  in  gold 
of  25.8  grains.  You  cannot  change  that  act  by  changing  your  coinage  law. 
That  is  fixed.  You  may  pass  my  friend's  (Mr.  Eaton's)  bill  to  make  a  silver 
dollar  of  440  grains  ;  but  the  bondholder  is  not  entitled  to  440  grains.  He 
is  only  entitled  to  41 2  J,  because  that  was  the  standard  value  in  1870. 

Though  silver  may  fall  in  commercial  value  to  50  per  cent,  on  the  dollar, 
still  if  the  United  States  chooses  to  pay  in  that  coin,  she  has  the  legal  naked 
right  to  pay  in  silver  worth  50  per  cent,  so  it  contains  41 2 ^  grains.  That  is 
the  true  construction  of  the  contract.  If  silver  decreases  in  value  the  bond 
holder  can  only  get  41 2J  grains  to  the  dollar.  If  silver  increases  in  value 
the  bondholder  can  still  get  his  41 2  J  grains,  because  that  was  the  standard 
value  of  the  silver  dollar  in  1870.  That  any  lawyer  or  any  judge  on  earth 
I  believe  will  be  compelled  to  say. 

Mr.  Butler. — Is  it  wise  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — The  question  of  wisdom  is  another  thing  ;  and  here  I  want  to 
make  a  remark  which  I  wish  the  country  to  hear.  There  is  a  vast  distinc- 

•/ 

tion  between  the  right  of  the  bondholder  and  the  policy  and  credit  of  the 
government.  This  thing  of  charging  every  man  who  wants  to  maintain 
the  credit  of  the  government  with  being  on  the  side  of  the  bondholder  is 
not  only  unfair  but  it  assumes  that  the  people  whom  such  speakers  represent 
are  against  the  credit  of  the  government.  My  opinion  is  that  it  is  the 
interest  of  all  classes  of  this  country,  and  of  none  more  than  the  laboring 
classes,  to  maintain  the  very  highest  credit  for  the  government. 

Now  how  are  statesmen  to  meet  this  question?  Here  is  a  condition  of 
things  nobody  anticipated  at  the  time  the  law  was  passed.  The  object  of 
the  act  of  1870  was  to  lessen  the  burdens  of  the  people  by  funding  the  debt 
at  a  lower  rate  of  interest.  At  the  time  of  the  passage  of  both  these  acts, 
1869  and  1870,  silver  was  fully  equal  to  gold,  if  not  better.  Therefore  the 
Avord  "  coin  "  was  used,  Avhich  included  both  silver  and  gold.  But  there  has 
followed  a  condition  of  things  which  nobody  had  anticipated,  which  the 
government  did  not  anticipate.  The  increase  in  the  production  of  silver, 
the  decline  of  the  demand  for  [it,  the  natural  tendency  of  the  commercial 
world  to  discard  silver  and  adopt  the  gold  standard,  have  carried  silver  below 
where  any  of  us  thought  it  would  go.  Now  what  is  to  be  done  in  this 
situation?  I  trust  nobody  on  this  floor  Avill  cater  to  a  desire  in  anybody  to 
pay  the  bondholders  as  cheap  as  you  can,  or,  as  the  common  saying  is,  cheat 
them  as  much  as  you  can.  Deal  fairly,  deal  justly,  deal  honorably.  A 
government  cannot  afford  to  be  anything  else  than  honorable  and  just.  The 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  549 

bondholder  must  be  content  with  his  contract  if  the  government  insists  upon 
it.  The  government  must  stand  up  to  its  contract.  There  is  no  bad  faith 
when  the  contract  is  discharged  according  to  its  terms. 

Now,  what  will  you  do  ?  I  think  this  is  the  wise  course  for  us  to  pursue. 
I  suppose  every  gentleman  will  admit  that  under  the  present  state  of  things, 
with  the  development  made  by  this  discussion  that  has  been  going  on  now 
for  two  months,  there  will  be  no  more  four  per  cent,  bonds  negotiated.  I 
do  not  suppose  that  any  capitalist,  when  he  learns  that  he  is  to  be  compelled 
to  take  silver  at  whatever  depreciation,  at  the  option  of  the  government,  and 
when  there  is  such  a  clamor  raised  in  the  country  to  make  him  take  it,  will 
ever  take  a  4  per  cent,  bond  under  existing  law.  I  do  not  suppose  any  man 
on  this  floor  thinks  he  will.  Now,  then,  what  will  you  do?  If  the  present 
laws  remain  as  they  are,  the  result  is  the  people  must  pay  a  high  rate  of 
interest.  This  generation  will  not  pay  the  principal.  You  cannot  expect 
this  generation  to  pay  the  principal.  I  do*  not  think  we  ought  to  require 
this  generation  to  pay  the  principal ;  but  this  generation  must  pay  the  in 
terest  ;  and  now  is  it  not  wisdom,  is  it  not  our  duty  to  adopt  such  a  plan 
as  if  possible  will  procure  a  lower  rate  of  interest  for  the  people  ?  We  are 
told  officially  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  that  if  we  can  fund  our 
existing  debt  in  four  per  cent,  bonds  we  shall  save  $23,000,000  annually  in 
interest  to  the  tax-payers.  Gentlemen,  you  who  cry  relief  for  the  people, 
you  who  talk  about  an  overburdened  people,  here  is  an  opportunity  to  serve 
the  people,  serve  them  really,  savetthem  $23,000,000  annually.  How  will  you 
do  it  ?  The  way  is  plain.  Do  not  stand  here  trying  to  bring  into  disrepute 
the  existing  laws  of  the  country  ;  do  not  stand  here  abusing  the  bondholders 
and  arraying  class  against  class.  Do  this  :  remove  the  confusion  and  uncer 
tainty  which  have  grown  up  since  the  enactment  of  the  present  law,  and  say 
to  the  capitalists  of  the  world  that  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  may  ne 
gotiate  a  new  bond  payable  in  gold  if  they  will  take  the  bond  at  four  percent. 

We  do  not  expect  to  see  silver  always  less  than  gold.  If  silver  depreci 
ates,  we  cannot  govern  it  by  arguments.  We  expect  to  make  silver  equal  to 
gold  and  our  paper  equal  to  gold.  There  is  no  harm,  therefore,  in  making  a 
new  contract  with  a  new  law.  It  is  a  matter  of  business  ;  it  is  a  matter  of 
common  sense.  The  capitalist  is  ready  to  exchange  a  bond  bearing  6  per 
cent,  to  avoid  the  dangers  of  silver  fluctuation  ;  but  the  capitalist  is  not 
willing  to  change  that  and  take  a  low  rate  of  interest  and  continue  that  risk 
of  fluctuation  under  existing  laws.  He  may  for  the  purpose  of  a  safe  and 
secure  investment  be  willing  to  take  a  four  per  cent,  bond,  if  it  is  certainly 
payable  in  gold. 

Now  remove  the  doubt.     Pass  laws  authorizing  the  Secretary  of 
Treasury  to  enter  into  negotiations  by  which  he  shall  refund  all  our  debt  in 
four  per  cent,  bonds,  and  make  them  for  that  reason,  to  secure  that  con 
sideration,  payable  in  gold.     Why  not  ?     You  remove  the  doubt  ;  you  take 
the  bond  out  of  this  whole  question  ;  and  if  you  do  give  him  a  bond  payable 
in  gold  you  simply  do  it  for  the  benefit  of  the  people  by  lessening 
interest  which  the  people  have  to  pay.     It  is  not  for  the  benefit  of  the  bond 
holder  that  I  am  in  favor  of  giving  this  bond  ;  it  is  for  the  benefit  of  the 
people  ;  it  is  a  question  of  taxation.     Twenty-three  million  dollars 
to  the  people  is  no  small  matter.     I  do  not  want  to  cheat  the  government 
I  do  not  want  to  cheat  the  boldholder  ;  but  I  am  willing  to  make  a  new 
contract,  because  the  value  of  the  present  one  is  uncertain  to  the  credit 
and  burdensome  to  the  people.     Now  let  both  people  and  bondholder 
satisfied,  come  together  in  the  spirit  of  honesty  and  candor,  and  let  us  make 


550  SENATOR  B.  ff.  HTLL,  Of  GEORGIA. 

a  new  contract  and  remove  the  uncertainty  which  the  bondholder  dislikes, 
and  remove,  on  the  other  hand,  the  burden  of  interest  which  bears  so  heav 
ily  on  the  people.  That  is  my  proposition. 

Mr.  President,  I  protest,  therefore,  against  everything  that  tends  to  bring 
the  laws  of  the  country  into  disrepute,  and  I  protest  equally  against  every 
thing  that  attempts  to  claim  by  interpolation  a  benefit  for  anybody  under 
the  law  that  he  is  not  entitled  to. 

Mr.  President,  I  shall  conclude  what  I  have  to  say.  I  know  what  I  am 
going  to  say  in  conclusion  is  prompted  by  no  feeling  of  passion  or  prejudice. 
It  is  prompted  by  nothing  but  an  honest  purpose  to  offer  in  my  place  in  this 
Chamber  a  warning  to  the  country  against  evils  which  I  think  are  entirely 
probable  if  certain  courses  are  continued.  My  friend  from  Connecticut, 
(Mr.  Eaton),  in  a  speech  which  he  made,  remarkable  for  ability,  eloquence, 
and  patriotism,  rarely  surpassed,  uses  these  words  : 

Agrarianism  and  communism  will  riever  find  a  foothold  in  the  United  States.  Ap 
peals  against  classes  and  sections  have  been  heretofore  and  doubtless  will  again  be  made, 
but  confiding  as  I  do  in  the  good  sense  of  the  people  they  pass  by  me  as  the  "  idle  wind, 
which  I  respect  not." 

These  are  noble  words,  worthy  of  the  best  men  in  the  best  ages  of  any 
country.  Would  I  could  feel  as  my  honorable  friend  says  he  feels.  Would 
I  could  feel  justified  in  believing  there  was  no  danger  of  the  evils  to  which 
he  alludes  ;  but,  sir,  I  cannot  do  it.  We  all  know  that  the  passions  of  a 
people  may  be  lashed  into  a  fury  which  no  power  can  control. 

Sir,  the  people  of  the  United  States,  we  know  by  sad  experience,  have 
been  persuaded  to  believe  that  it  was  a  religious  duty  to  destroy  by  force  a 
property  recognized  by  the  Constitution.  Can  my  honorable  friend  the 
senator  from  Connecticut  read  those  lines  of  compulsory  repudiation  in  the 
Constitution  of  the  country,  which  he  and  I  are  sworn  to  support,  and  will 
support,  and  not  feel  his  confidence  weaken  ?  Sir,  wThat  means  it  when  wre 
hear  speeches,  and  able  speeches,  deliberate  speeches,  eloquent  speeches, 
prepared  speeches,  seeking  to  prove  to  the  country  that  all  the  laws  which 
form  the  basis  to-day  of  the  credit  of  the  government  were  passed  by  fraud, 
bought  through  Congress  for  the  purpose  of  making  slaves  of  the  common 
people  to  a  moneyed  aristocracy  ?  Sir,  those  words,  "  pirates,"  "  bloated 
money-holders,"  "fortunate  men  living  in  ease  on  the  labor  of  others," 
"tyrants  seeking  to  enslave  the  poor,"  these  are  familiar  words  in  the 
vocabulary  of  American  fanaticism  and  demagogism,  and  they  have  had 
their  career  of  blood  and  waste  and  terror.  For  myself  I  stand  here  to  re 
joice  in  the  recollection  that  on  no  occasion,  under  no  circumstances,  have  I 
ever  taught  either  individuals  or  a  people  that  there  is  any  possible  contin 
gency  which  can  justify  the  disregard  of  a  solemn  obligation  of  any  kind. 
The  first  sin  is  not  the  easiest  committed.  Tell  me  not  that  there  is  no 
danger  of  repudiation  in  this  country — ay,  no  danger  of  agrarianism  and 
communism  and  crusades  against  property,  when  the  country  has  written 
all  over  it  in  letters  of  blood  a  chapter  of  history  which  tells  of  nothing  but 
a  crusade  against  property. 

Sir,  there  is  but  one  patriotic  course  for  men  to  pursue  in  the  high  posi 
tions  of  this  country.  Call  back,  if  you  can,  the  people  to  an  honest,  renewed 
recognition  of  the  obligations  of  contracts  and  of  covenants.  Teach  the 
present  generation,  teach  all  generations  that  unflinching  fidelity  to  obliga 
tions,  fidelity  to  constitutional  obligations,  and  fidelity  to  contract  obligations, 
through  all  trials  and  at  any  cost,  is  the  purest  religion,  the  wisest  states 
manship,  and  the  highest  patriotism. 


SPEECH    DELIVERED    IN     THE     SENATE    OF    THE   UNITED 
STATES  ON  THE  SUBJECT  OF   WAR  CLAIMS,  JANUARY  27, 

1879. 

The  Senate,  as  in  Committee  of  the  Whole,  having  under  consideration 
the  bill  (S.  No.  855)  for  the  relief  of  Warren  Mitchell,  Mr.  Hill  said  : 

Mr.  President :  I  suppose  that  we  had  as  well  meet  here  as  anywhere  the 
question  made  by  this  bill.  I  shall  vote  against  it.  I  shall  vote  against  it 
because  I  think  it  ought  not  to  pass.  I  am  not  driven  to  this  course  by 
what  is  called  policy,  because  the  gentlemen  on  the  other  side  are  seeking 
to  make  political  capital  out  of  this  and  like  claims.  I  am  influenced  by  no 
such  consideration.  On  the  contrary,  if  I  were  influenced  in  this  case  by 
the  precedents  which  Republicans  have  set  us  in  previous  Congresses,  I 
should  feel  constrained  to  vote  for  the  passage  of  this  bill.  I  know  that  by 
act  of  Congress  the  United  States  Government  have  paid  some  very  large 
claims  for  cotton  seized  by  General  Sherman  at  Savannah  ;  and  if  the  sena 
tor  from  Massachusetts  (Mr.  Hoar),  as  is  implied  by  the  question  he  pro 
pounded  to  the  senator  from  Kentucky  (Mr.  McCreery),  takes  the  position 
that  none  of  the  cotton  seized  by  General  Sherman  at  Savannah  ought  to  be 
paid  for  by  the  goverment,  then  the  senator  from  Massachusetts  takes  position 
against  the  payment  of  claims  that  have  been  allowed  by  the  United  States 
Government  and  by  act  of  Congress.  But  I  have  not  investigated  to  see 
which  way  that  senator  voted  on  the  question.  It  would  be  entertaining 
and  interesting  to  examine  and  see  how  he  did  vote.  One  claim  for  cotton 
seized  at  Savannah  by  General  Sherman,  amounting  to  over  $500,000,  was 
paid  by  the  votes  of  a  Republican  Congress  w^hen  the  House  and  the  Senate 
were  both,  I  believe,  about  two-thirds  Republican. 

Mr.  Conkling. — What  case  was  that? 

Mr.  Hill. — The  case  of  Lamar.  That  was  a  very  large  claim.  It  cer 
tainly  had  very  little  loyalty  behind  it  to  push  it  through.  I  suppose  we 
must  conclude  that  that  case  was  large  enough  to  go  through  Congress  by 
its  own  momentum. 

Mr.  Dawes. — Was  not  that  a  judgment  of  the  Court  of  Claims  ? 

Mr.  Hill— I  have  no  recollection'that  it  was.  It  may  have  been  passed 
upon  by  the  Court  of  Claims.  I  do  not  remember. 

Mr.  Dawes. — I  think  it  was. 

Mr.  Hill.— Certainly  there  was  nothing  in  that  case  which  made  it  bet 
ter  than  this  and  many  others  either  before  either  that  court  or  before  Con 
gress.     I  do  not  know  how  that  got  through. 

Mr.  Dawes.— I  do  not  affirm  that  it  was,  but  I  will  inquire, 
was. 

Mr.  Hill— I  only  say  to  the  senator  from  Massachusetts  that  whether  it 
went  through  one  tribunal  or  another,  I  happen  to  know  it  went  througl 
under  Republican  auspices.     I  mention  this  simply  to  show  that 
think  our  friends  on  the  other  side  should  be  at  this  late  day  exceedingly 
virtuous  on  this  subject  of  loyal  claims.     I  have  not  made  the  examination. 
Others  profess  to  have  made  that  examination,  and  they  say  not  only 

551 


552  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

• 

claim,  but  claims  amounting  to  100,000,000,  of  like  character,  have  been  paid 
by  the  Republican  party  during  the  last  ten  years.  I  do  not  know  whether 
they  have  or  not  ;  I  am  not  a  man  to  delve  in  this  kind  of  records  ;  but  cer 
tainly  we  do  know  that  a  very  large  number  have  been  paid,  amounting 
to  very  large  sums  of  money.  So  if  I  should  follow  precedents  in  this  case, 
the  precedents  set  by  gentlemen  on  the  other  side,  I  should  feel  it  my  duty 
to  vote  for  this  bill. 

I  am  willing  to  concede,  too,  that  this  gentleman,  now  asking  relief  at  the 
hands  of  the  Senate,  is  not  in  the  character  of  a  great  many  others.  He  is  most 
evidently  an  honest  man  from  all  the  evidence  I  have.  I  know  him  but 
slightly  personally  ;  but  I  have  a  great  many  letters  from  a  great  many  per 
sons  in  relation  to  him,  and  I  am  satisfied  from  all  the  evidence  that  he  is 
not  only  an  honest  man,  but  that  he  is  incapable  of  preferring  a  claim  before 
this  body,  or  any  body,  that  he  does  not  believe  to  be  just  and  right.  I  be 
lieve  all  that  the  senator  from  Kentucky  has  said  on  that  subject  is  correct. 
So  I  do  not  vote  against  this  claim  because  I  have  any  suspicion  that  the 
gentleman  who  prefers  it  is  any  other  than  an  honest,  correct  man,  and  that 
he  sincerely  believes  his  claim  ought  to  be  paid. 

But,  Mr.  President,  I  vote  against  this  bill  because,  in  my  judgment,  it  is 
what  we  call  par  excellence  a  war  claim,  and  I  am  against  the  payment  of  all 
war  claims,  whether  they  be  loyal  or  disloyal,  unless  it  be  perhaps  some  few 
exceptions  in  favor  of  religious,  educational,  and  charitable  institutions  ;  and 
there  are  very  few  even  of  that  character  that  I  will  accept.  I  vote  against 
their  payment  upon  principle.  I  have  considered  this  question  very  care 
fully,  and  for  a  long  time,  and  to-day  is  the  first  occasion  I  have  expressed 
publicly  my  views  upon  the  subject,  because  I  did  not  desire  to  express  them 
until  after  careful  consideration  of  the  "question. 

Now,  why  do  I  vote  against  this  claim  ?  It  is,  ^s  I  have  said,  emphati 
cally  a  war  claim  ;  that  is,  it  is  a  claim  for  compensation  by  reason  of  losses 
incurred  during  the  war  and  by  act  of  war.  My  first  reason  for  not  voting 
for  it  is  that  we  cannot  pay  all  of  this  kind  of  claims.  They  would  bankrupt 
the  government.  It  is  impossible  that  the  government  should  be  expected 
to  pay  all  these  claims,  and  claims  standing  on  as  good  footing  as  this  in 
every  respect.  If  we  cannot  pay  them  all,  to  undertake  to  pay  some  is 
unjust  to  the  rest ;  it  is  an  unjust  discrimination  ;  and  why  should  it  be 
made? 

On  this  subject  of  loyalty  it  is  a  curious  spectacle  to  witness  in  the  Senate 
of  the  United  States  my  excellent  friends  on  the  other  side  who  are  anxious 
to  prove  that  this  gentleman  was  disloyal,  and  therefore  vote  against  this 
claim,  and  some  gentlemen  on  this  side  seem  exceedingly  anxious  to  prove 
that  he  was  loyal  and  therefore  will  vote  for  his  claim.  I  shall  not  trouble 
myself  to  consider  that  question.  The  question  of  loyalty  is  one  that  must 
yet  receive  its  definition  in  this  country.  It  has  never  yet  received  it.  The 
word  'loyal"  as  used  by  gentlemen  on  the  other  side,  and  the  word 
'  loyalty  "  at  all,  in  my  judgment,  is  not  a  word  applicable  in  a  popular  gov 
ernment,  do  dislike,  I  confess,  to  hear  it.  What  do  you  mean  by 
'  loyal "?  Do  you  mean  by  "  loyal "  a  man  who  was  devoted  to  the  Union 
of  the  States  under  the  Constitution  ?  If  you  thus  define  it,  there  are  thou 
sands,  many  thousands  in  the  South  who  are  and  ever  have  been  loyal  in  the 
highest  sense.  It  was  an  easy  matter  for  gentlemen  living  in  Maine  and 
New  York  and  Massachusetts  during  the  terrible  ordeal  through  which  we 
passed  to  proclaim  their  devotion  to  the  Union—  a  very  easy  matter.  Every- 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   ANJ)  WRITINGS.  553 

body  concurred  with  them.  It  would  have  required  some  courage  for  in\ 
friend  here  (Mr.  Allison),  in  Iowa,  to  have  said  that  he  was  not  for  the 
Union.  And  where  it  was  such  an  easy  matter  to  have  professed  unbounded 
devotion  to  the  Union,  I  do  not  think  that  such  profession  has  much  merit  in 
it.  But  further  down,  where  the  sun  was  warmer  and  the  feelings  were  more 
heated,  it  required  courage,  when  the  test  was  made,  for  a  man  to  say  that  he 
was  devoted  to  the  Union.  That  man  is  entitled  to  some  credit,  and  I  do 
know  that  there  are  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  who  under  the  most  try 
ing  ordeal  to  which  human  courage  was  ever  subjected,  stood  up  and  pro 
claimed  their  fidelity  to  the  Union  to  the  last  moment.  Yes,  sir,  there  were 
thousands  of  men  throughout  the  Southern  States  who  were  fearlessly  de 
fending  the  preservation  of  the  Union,  and  resisting  the  current  that  was 
against  them,  when  hundreds  and  thousands  who  for  years  have  been  loudly 
blatant  in  declaring  their  devotion  to  the  Union  where  it  was  safe  to  do  so, 
would  not  have  dared  to  open  their  mouths  on  that  line.  Yet  these  gentle 
men  up  here  are  par  excellence  loyal,  and  those  gentlemen  down  there,  who 
fought  against  secession  until  it  became  an  accomplished  fact  and  submitted 
to  disunion  as  they  would  submit  to  the  death  of  a  father,  from  necessity 
only,  and  then  in  sorrow  and  sadness  of  heart,  are  denounced  as  disloyal  be 
cause  they  did  what  they  could  only  do  in  their  conscience  or  fact,  go  with 
their  own  people  when  they  were  determined  to  go  and  did  go — these  men 
are  now  held  up  as  disloyal ;  and  senators  in  this  body  are  exerting  their 
wits  and  exhausting  their  patience  and  industry  to  find  some  little  circum 
stance  that  ma}'  taint  somebody  with  disloyalty  for  the  purpose  of  defeat 
ing  his  rights  !  As  I  say,  this  question  of  loyalty  has  yet  to  receive  a 
definition.  It  has  not  yet  received  a  proper  definition,  and  cannot  be 
properly  defined  until  passion  shall  subside,  and  sound  reason  be  fully  re 
stored. 

I  know  thousands  of  men  who  were  ready  to  give  everything  to  prevent 
the  act  of  secession,  who  were  devoted  in  their  hearts  and  lives  to  the  pres 
ervation  of  the  Union  of  these  States  ;  who  felt  conscientiously  bound 
under  the  teachings  of  their  lifetime  and  under  the  circumstances  that  sur 
rounded  them,  compelled  as  they  were  necessarily,  compelled  conscientiously, 
not  by  duress,  compelled  by  honest  convictions  as  the  result  of  a  policy 
which  they  did  not  approve,  to  go  as  they  did  go  ;  and,  sir,  I  know  that 
they  were  just  as  devoted  to  the  Union  as  gentlemen  who  in  a  different 
climate  and  on  more  convenient  occasions  could  safely  proclaim  their  loyalty 
and  who  are  now  denouncing  them  as  disloyal.  It  is  all  wrong,  Mr.  Presi 
dent. 

This  gentleman,  I  dare  say,  was  a  Union  man.     I  know  thousand! 
Union  men  in  the  South  who  were  never  guilty  of  an  act  of  infidelity  to 
Confederacy  and  who  yet  never  saw  the  hour  nor  the  moment  that^thcy 
would  not  have  terminated  the  war  on  the  basis  of  honest  reunion, 
were  ready  at  all  times  to  do  it,  and  their  sentiments  were  not  concealed, 
yet  they  went  with  their  section.     Shall  we  say  that  this  is  disloyalty,  and 
that  they  only  were  loyal  who  desired  that  one  section  should 
conqueror  of  another  section  of  a  common  country  ?     Is  that  what  you  mean 
by  loyalty  ?     If  you  mean  by  loyalty  devotion  to  the  Union,  desire  to  preserve 
the  tmon,  desire  even  that  the  result  of  the  conflict  on  terms  honorable 
both  should  be  the  preservation  of  the  Union— if  that  is  the  meaning  o 
loyalty,  there  are  thousands  and  millions  in  the  South  who  were  loyal  an 
always  were  loyal.     But  if  you  mean  by  loyalty  a  desire  that  one 


554  SENATOR  £.   //.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

of  a  common  country  should  become  the  conqueror  of  another  section,  it 
will  be  a  fatality  for  this  country  if  anybody  is  loyal.  I  am  not  ashamed 
to  stand  up  here  and  say  that  I  believed  the  greatest  possible  calamity  that 
could  happen  to  this  country  was  for  one  section  to  become  the  conqueror 
of  another  section  of  a  common  country ;  and  yet  the  sun  has  never  shone 
for  an  hour  when  in  my  heart  of  hearts  the  highest  political  ambition  I  ever 
had  was  not  to  see  the  American  Union  under  the  Constitution  preserved, 
perpetuated,  and  obeyed  forever.  And  yet,  sir,  there  never  was  an  hour 
when  I  would  not  have  laid  down  my  life  and  my  all  rather  than  have  seen 
one  section  of  a  common  country  become  the  conqueror  of  another  section 
of  that  same  common  country,  and  I  believe  that  the  wise  men  of  this  coun 
try  will  yet  wake  up  to  the  fact  that  the  greatest  misfortune  that  has  ever 
befallen  us  among  our  many  misfortunes  is  the  fact  that  a  successful  party 
to  a  sectional  war  obtained  immediate  and  unchecked  control  of  the  whole 
government  over  both  sections. 

So  this  talk  about  loyalty  and  disloyalty  has  no  weight  whatever  with 
me  in  this  case.  I  vote  against  this  bill  from  higher  and  different  considera 
tions  altogether.  I  say  that  if  the  evidences  of  loyalty  in  this  case  are  to  be 
accepted  as  satisfactory,  and  if  that  definition  of  loyalty  which  I  believe  is 
the  only  proper  one  is  to  obtain,  then  there  are  thousands  of  men  who  have 
been  wronged,  reduced  to  poverty,  utter  poverty,  in  the  South,  who,  "  in 
times  that  tried  men's  souls,"  gave  higher  evidence  of  devotion  to  the  Union 
than  has  been  given  by  equal  thousands  who  are  so  ready  to  denounce 
them  as  rebels.  It  is  very  well  for  gentlemen  who  have  never  been  put 
to  the  test,  it  is  very  well  for  gentlemen  who  have  never  had  their  courage 
tried,  very  well  for  gentlemen  who  have  never  been  where  it  required 
courage  to  defend  the  right  as  they  believed  it,  very  well  for  gentlemen 
who  could  get  up  in  the  North  and  say  they  were  for  the  Union  and  receive 
the  undivided  plaudits  of  every  listener,  very  well  for  gentlemen  of  that 
sort  to  talk  about  their  devotion  to  the  Union  and  their  loyalty,  but  I  tell 
them  their  devotion  and  loyalty  has  never  been  tested. 

Sir,  I  have  seen  men  since  I  have  been  in  the  American  Congress  who 
have  been,  on  all  occasions,  parading  their  devotion  to  the  Union  and  using 
every  occasion  to  denounce  Southern  men  as  disloyal,  who,  in  my  heart  of 
hearts  I  believe,  if  they  had  lived  in  the  South,  would  have  rivaled  William 
L.  Yancey  in  their  devotion  to  secession.  They  have  the  same  tempera 
ment,  the  same  disposition,  the  same  character  of  mind,  and  they  would  go 
on  whichever  side  was  popular,  whether  in  the  North  or  in  the  South, 
perhaps  honestly  so.  The  gentleman  to  whom  I  have  alluded  was  honest 
in  his  convictions.  A  gentleman  of  naturally  extreme  temperament  and 
extreme  ways  of  thinking  will  take  an  extreme  position  in  one  climate  or  the 
other.  The  people  of  this  country  ought  to  wake  up  to  the  conviction  that 
the  late  war  was  an  honest  war  ;  it  was  a  war  based  upon  honest  differences. 
The  people  of  the  South  had  been  taught  to  believe  in  what  was  called  the 
sovereignty  of  the  States,  but  the  first  people  who  talked  about  secession 
were  the  people  of  New  England.  The  North  believed  one  way,  the  South 
believed  the  other.  The  North  was  opposed  to  slavery,  the  South  was  in 
favor  of  it ;  but  yet  the  South  did  not  bring  the  slaves  to  this  country.  It 
was  an  honest  difference  of  opinion  on  the  powers  of  government  and  the 
rights  of  property,  and  each  man  who  was  faithful  to  his  own  side  ought 
to  command  the  respect  of  every  man  on  each  side  and  on  both  sides.  I 
like  courage  that  is  exhibited  in  defense  of  honest  convictions,  whether 


BIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  555 


those  convictions  be  right  or  wrong.  I  do  not  like  that  courage  that  is 
loudest  when  it  is  safest.  Human  courage,  under  all  circumstances,  is  a  thing 
for  human  admiration.  We  are  told  in  classic  verse  that  the  very  gods 
look  upon  it  with  favor,  and  I  admit  that  those  gallant  men  of  the  North, 
Democrats  and  Republicans  alike,  who  met  and  sle\\r  the  Hotspur  of  seces 
sion  in  the  day  of  his  vaunted  power  and  strength  were  the  right  royal  heirs 
of  a  truly  regal  heroism.  But  these  men  who,  thirteen  years  after  this  Hot 
spur  has  been  dead,  are  forever  exhibiting  their  Falstaffian  courage  by  stick 
ing  their  tongue-swords  in  the  thighs  of  this  dead  Hotspur  for  no  purpose 
but  to  claim  undeserved  rewards  and  honors  from  a  deluded  people,  are  not 
entitled  to  the  respect  of  either  gods  or  men.  I  do  not  say  that  anybody  is 
doing  it  here,  but  this  perpetual  talk  about  loyalty  and  disloyalty,  this  per 
petual  talk  about  rebels  is  all  wrong.  It  does  not  come  from  a  magnani 
mous  spirit.  Magnanimity  in  victory  is  a  higher  virtue  than  courage  in  bat 
tle.  It  is  of  the  very  essence  of  Divinity  itself.  And  why  cannot  the 
American  people,  North  and  South,  wake  up  to  realize  the  fact  that  four 
million,  or  eight  million,  if  you  choose  to  call  them  so,  of  people  in  the 
South  honestly  differed  on  questions  of  political  duty  and  allegiance  with  a 
larger  number,  twenty  millions  or  more,  in  the  North,  and  unfortunately 
went  to  war  on  the  subject?  The  war  is  over  ;  the  Union  is  restored  ;  it  is 
time  that  we  should  leave  the  passions  of  the  war  where  I  propose  to  leave 
its  losses — behind. 

But,  Mr.  President,  I  have  been  betrayed  into  saying  a  great  deal  that  I 
did  not  intend  to  say.  I  merely  intended  to  give  my  reasons  briefly  why  I 
cannot  vote  for  this  or  any  other  like  bill.  I  will  proceed  to  give  another 
reason.  To  pay  some  of  these  bills  and  not  all  of  them,  is  not  only  unjust 
in  fact  but  unjust  in  its  effects.  Those  who  are  not  paid  and  are  equally  de 
serving  have  to  be  taxed  in  order  to  compensate  those  who  are  paid.  Now, 
there  are  tens  of  thousands  of  people  in  the  South  who  lost  everything  in 
the  war,  who  were  devoted  to  the  Union  as  far  as  sentiment  could  make 
them  devoted,  and  who  were  faithless  to  the  Union  only  in  obedience  to 
circumstances  they  could  not  control  and  a  power  they  could  not  resist. 
They  lost  everything.  Are  you  to  tax  them  in  order  to  pay  my  friend  from 
Kentucky  ?  Why,  sir,  throughout  the  South  there  are  thousands  upon  thou 
sands  of  soldiers  who  went  to  the  war  and  who  lost  everything- -lost  their 
arms,  lost  their  legs,  lost  their  health  ;  many  of  them  lost  their  lives.  They 
can  never  get  anything  for  their  losses  ;  they  will  never  ask  anything  for 
their  losses.  Nobody  in  this  hall  on  either  side  of  it  would  pretend  to  pay 
one  of  those  men  or  their  widows  and  orphans  for  their  losses.  The  manned 
Southern  soldier  will  never  come  here  and  ask  for  a  pension  ;  his  widow  and 
orphans  will  never  ask  for  a  pension.  They  accept  their  losses  as  the 


—   v       .    .     .   .   ,       i^       J^  I    "£4  \j       I  I  1  14  11  \          VA          T»    *  •  V  A*-*.      --•*»    •     *~ ^y  , 

not  that— am  I  to  tax  them  for  the  purpose  of  paying  these  claima 
come  here  and  say  they  must  be  paid  because  they  are  loyal,  and  when  my 
loyal  friends  on  the  other  side  will  not  believe  they  were  loyal  at 
is  not  right. 

The  fact  of  the  business  is  that  the  war  which  we  have  had  in  many  re 
spects  cannot  be  judged  by  the  rules  which  have  been  established 
nary  wars.     It  was  a  peculiar  war,  a  war  of  a  sectional  character, 
war  between  citizens  of  the  same  country,  unfortunately  divided  by  sectional 


556  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

lines.  You  cannot  repair  the  losses  of  the  war.  You  could  not  do  it  if  you 
were  to  undertake  to  do  it,  and,  in  my  judgment,  the  sooner  our  people  in 
the  South  are  taught  not  to  be  looking  here  to  government  for  the  repara 
tion  of  their  losses,  the  sooner  they  are  taught  that  the  only  means  by  which 
they  can  repair  their  losses  is  to  go  to  work  like  honest  men  and  do  it  by 
frugality  and  industry  and  time,  the  better  it  will  be  for  them,  the  better  it 
will  be  for  the  country.  The  tens  of  thousands  throughout  the  South  who 
are  best  entitled  to  pay,  viewed  from  any  standpoint,  who  are  the  most  de 
serving,  who  made  the  greatest  sacrifices,  who  are  in  the  most  need,  can 
never  get  one  dollar  of  compensation,  and  will  never  ask  one  dollar  of  com 
pensation  ;  and  I  protest  against  taxing  them  to  pay  a  few  others  who  have 
the  ability  to  come  here  and  worry  Congress  into  granting  them  compensa 
tion.  Let  the  losses  of  the  war  go,  and  if  people  want  to  avoid  losses  by 
wars  in  future  let  them  be  taught  to  avoid  having  wars  at  all.  This  is  the 
best  way. 

I  think,  sir,  all  parties  ought  to  take  this  position.  It  is  a  little  painful 
to  me  to  see  gentlemen  of  one  party  seeking  to  make  political  capital  out  of 
cases  of  this  kind,  and  the  other  side  protesting  that  it  is  not  right.  Why 
not  agree  to  take  one  common  position,  that  these  war  losses  cannot  be 
paid  ?  The  government  is  not  able  to  pay  them ;  the  government  ought 
not  to  pay  them,  in  view  of  their  peculiar  character  and  the  circumstances 
of  the  war,  and  the  sooner  the  people  are  taught  that,  the  better,  and  let 
these  constant  irritations  about  the  payment  of  war  losses  cease.  As  I  said, 
I  might  make  a  few  exceptions  in  favor  of  religious,  educational,  or  chari 
table  institutions,  but  I  should  make  very  few  of  that  sort.  Where  the 
property  destroyed  was  of  such  a  character  as  to  be  of  great  public  im 
portance  and  great  public  benefit,  not  only  to  one  section  of  the  country, 
but  to  all  sections  of  the  country,  I  should  think  it  would  be  legitimate  and 
proper  as  a  public  benefit  to  pay  that  kind  of  loss.  There  are,  I  think,  per 
haps  a  few  cases  of  that  kind,  but  put  them  altogether,  so  far  as  my  knowl 
edge  extends,  they  will  not  exceed  half  a  million  of  dollars. 

Mr.  President,  perhaps  I  ought  not  to  take  the  time  of  the  Senate,  but  I 
will  give  my  idea  of  the  character  of  these  war  claims,  loyal  and  disloyal,  by 
an  illustration  from  real  incidents.  I  will  give  you,  first,  the  character  of  a 
claim  that  will  not  be  paid,  and  it  is  a  type  of  many  millions.  Early  in  the 
month  of  September,  1865,  it  became  necessary  for  me,  in  the  discharge  of  a 
professional  engagement,  to  travel  one  hundred  miles  in  the  immediate  track 
of  Sherman's  march  through  Georgia.  One  day,  about  two  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  I  became  exceedingly  hungry.  I  said  to  the  youth  who  was  driv 
ing  the  horse  :  "  You  must  stop  at  the  first  favorable  opportunity  and  let  me 
get  something  to  eat."  I  shall  never  forget  the  expression  of  the  young 
man.  "Ah  !"  says  he,  "mister,  I  don't  reckon  you  will  find  anything  you 
will  consider  fit  to  eat  in  this  part  of  the  country  ;  Sherman  has  been  along 
here."  "  Well,"  I  said,  "  but  the  people  in  this  "part  of  ti:e  country  live  on 
something,  do  they  not?"  "Oh,  yes,  but  I  don't  hardly  know  how  it  is 
they  live  ;  they  seem  to  live,  though."  "  Well,"  I  said,  "I  can  live  one  day 
on  what  they  live  on  constantly,  I  am  pretty  sure,  and  therefore  we  will 
stop  at  the  most  favorable  chance  apparent."  It  was  not  long  before  we 
came  to  a  very  good-looking  frame  dwelling,  two  stories  high,  a  dwelling  of 
a  character  very  well  known  in  the  South,  containing  six  rooms,  well  built, 
and  indicating  in  former  times  a  country  family  well-to-do  in  the  world. 
The  fencing  was  all  gone.  The  chimneys  were  standing  on  the  outside, 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  557 

showing  that  the  outhouses  had  been  burned,  but  there  stood  the  main 
dwelling  ;  and  I  said  to  the  young  man  :  "Stop  here,  and  I  will  see  if  I  can 
get  something  to  eat,"  and  I  went  in.  I  was  met  at  the  door  by  a  very 
excellent  looking  lady,  modest,  but  evidently  refined  and  educated,  as  slfe 
turned  out  to  be — a  country  lady  of  great  hospitality,  but  with  evidence  of 
poverty  all  around  her,  and  she  looked  prematurely  old.  She  said  to  me 
when  I  made  known  my  purpose  of  stopping,  "  Why,  my  dear  sir,  I  would 
be  glad  to  give  you  anything  if  I  could,  but  I  have  nothing  that  you  will 
have  I  suppose,  nothing  that  I  feel  inclined  to  offer  you."  "Anything  that 
you  have,"  I  said,  "  will  suit  me,  because  I  am  exceedingly  hungry."  She- 
said,  "  I  can  prepare  for  you  nothing  but  some  potatoes  and  some  eggs,  but  I 
have  nothing  in  which  to  cook  the  potatoes  except  the  embers  ;  we  are  in  the 
habit  of  roasting  them  in  the  ashes.  I  have  nothing  in  which  to  cook  the 
eggs  except  the  ashes  or  a  broken  skillet,  I  have  not  a  whole  piece  of  furni 
ture  or  a  whole  kitchen  implement  on  the  premises ;  everything  is  broken." 
She  handed  me  a  seat.  Said  she  :  "  I  have  handed  you  the  best  seat  I  have, 
and  the  back  of  that  is  broken  as  you  see."  "Why  is  all  this?"  "Why," 
she  said,  "  Sherman's  army  passed  along  here  and  did  all  this."  Well,  I  told 
her  that  I  would  take  the  potatoes  and  eggs,  and  she  put  them  in  the  ashes  ac 
cordingly,  and  while  they  were  roasting  I  said  to  her,  "  Will  you  please 
give  me  an  account;  of  your  experience  and  trials  when  Sherman's  army 
passed  along  here  ? ':  She  said  she  would.  I  cannot  give  it  all  to  the  Sen 
ate,  but  certainly  it  was  one  of  the  most  interesting  narratives  I  ever  listened 
to  in  my  life. 

The  lady  was  one  who  had  married  about  eight  years  before  the  war  be 
gan.  She  was  well  raised  and  graduated  at  a  female  college  in  Georgia. 
She  and  her  husband  settled  at  that  place  and  built  that  house  ;  they  had 
about  one  thousand  acres  of  land,  thirty  slaves,  and  all  needed  personality, 
and^were  entirely  out  of  debt  and  perfectly  happy.  They  had  had  three 
children  born  to  them,  the  oldest  at  the  time  of  my  visit  being  only  twelve 
years  old. 

It  turned  out  that  her  husband  went  into  the  Confederate  army  and  lost 
his  life  in  one  of  the  battles  in  Virginia.     His  remains  were  brought  home 
and  buried  in  sight  of  where  we  were  sitting.     About  a  year  after  her  hus 
band  was  killed  in  Virginia  in  the  Confederate  army,  Sherman's  army  passed 
through  Georgia,  and  all  her  slaves  except  one,  her  cook,  called  Aunt  Millie, 
left.   ^This  Aunt  Millie  was  raised  with  this  lady,  and  had  nursed  her  in  her 
infancy,  and  was  given  to  her  by  her  father  ;  and  she  said  she  would  never 
leave  her  under  any  circumstances,  and  she  remained  with  her.     But  to  make 
a  long  story  short,  everything  they  had  was  taken.     All  the  stock,  all 
provisions  were  taken  away.     Everything  that  could  not  be  carried  away 
was  killed  or  broken  or  burned,  except  one  cow,  two  banks  of  potatoes,  and 
one  small  crib  of  corn.     The  cow  was  saved  by  Aunt  Millie  claiming 
her  own,  which  she  did  for  the  purpose  of  saving  it.     The  corn-crib  was 
saved  in  this  way  ;  the  lady  sat  in  her  house  with  her  three  children  and 
everything  being  burned  ;  seeing  the  torch  about  to  be  applied  to 
corn-crib  she  summoned  courage  and  went  out  with  her  babe  in  her  arms 
and  her  two  little  children  by  her  side  and  said  to  the  officer  who  seemed 
have  charge  of  the  sport :  "Sir,  have  you  a  family  at  home  ?  he  oi 

said  he  had  a  wife  and  two  children.     "  What  would  you  think     said 
"  if  a  Southern  armv  should  pass  through  your  country  and  take 
mouthful  of  bread  your  wife  and  children  had?'     The  officer  was  a  man. 


558  SENATOR  B.   H.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

He  lifted  his  hat  most  gallantly  and  then  said  to  his  squad,  "Don't  fire  that 
crib,"  and  he  said  to  the  squad  in  the  garden,  "  Don't  disturb  further  these 
potatoes,"  and  that  is  the  way  the  lady  saved  the  crib  of  corn  and  banks  of 
potatoes.  In  the  mean  time  the  squad  had  gone  into  the  house,  pulled  down 
all  the  pictures,  defaced  the  walls,  broke  all  the  furniture,  broke  everything 
she  had  in  the  shape  of  kitchen  utensils,  and  carried  off  all  her  silverware 
and  cutlery.  The  last  she  saw  they  were  pulling  the  covering  from  the 
grave  of  her  husband,  and  supposing  they  were  going  to  take  his  body  off, 
she  fainted  away.  But  Aunt  Millie  stopped  them  by  telling  them  "  for 
God's  sake  not  to  make  war  on  the  dead,"  and  they  left.  This  is  a  literal 
fact.  That  woman  had  raised  a  patch  of  one  acre  of  potatoes  and  one  small 
field  of  corn,  working  with  her  own  hands  and  aided  by  this  good  woman 
Aunt  Millie  and  her  three  little  children,  and  they  had  lived  on  that  scant 
allowance  from  the  time  Sherman's  army  passed  by  until  I  met  her. 

Now,  that  woman  will  never  come  here  to  have  her  losses  repaired  ;  she 
will  never  come  here  with  a  claim  before  Congress  and  ask  for  compensation. 
And  now  I  will  give  you  another  claim.  A  few  weeks  after  I  took  my  seat 
as  a  member  of  the  other  House  in  the  Forty-fourth  Congress  I  received  a 
card  one  day  by  a  messenger,  who  said  that  a  lady  desired  to  see  me  in  the 
Speaker's  reception  room.  I  went  in.  She  was  exceedingly  well  dressed. 
She  had  velvet  and  diamonds  and  laces  all  over  her,  and  the  first  speech  she 
made  to  me  was  to  express  the  great  gratification  of  all  Georgians  that  I  had 
been  elected  to  Congress,  "  for  now,"  she  said,  "  all  Georgians  will  get  their 
rights."  She  soon  made  known  the  animus  of  that  speech,  for  in  the  next 
sentence  she  said  she  had  a  claim  before  Congress  which  she  desired  me  to 
support,  and  she  knew  I  would  support  it  because  she  was  a  Georgia  lady, 
born  and  raised  in  Georgia,  and  she  knew  I  would  support  her  claim. 
"Well,  who  are  you?  If  you  were  born  and  raised  in  Georgia  and  had 
losses  in  Georgia,  why  are  you  here  in  the  condition  I  see  you  ?  '  "  Oh," 
she  said,  "when  Sherman's  army  passed  through  Georgia  they  destroyed  my 
property,  but,"  she  added,  "  I  married  one  of  the  Federal  officers  and  came 
North." 

Mr.  Hoar. — She  took  her  revenge  in  that  way. 

Mr.  If  ill.- -Yes,  sir.  She  married  a  Federal  officer.  The  first  woman  I 
mentioned  lost  her  husband  in  the  Confederate  armv,  and  therefore  is  dis- 

••   * 

loyal.  The  second  woman  married  an  officer  in  the  Union  Army,  and  there 
fore  is  loyal !  Well,  her  statement  was  true,  because  she  produced  a  very 
complimentary  and  flattering  letter  from  General  Sherman.  Evidently  the 
letter  was  genuine  and  not  dictated  by  a  woman.  But  I  will  sajr  in  justice 
to  General  Sherman  that  I  am  satisfied  he  gave  that  letter  more  on  account 
of  the  woman's  husband,  who  was  a  Federal  officer,  than  on  account  of  her 
claim.  I  assume  and  believe  he  did. 

But  I  asked  this  lady,  "  What  is  your  claim  for  ?  v  "  Why,"  she  said, 
'for  personal  property  destroyed  by  Sherman's  army."  "How  much  is 
your  claim  for?'  "Eight  hundred  thousand  dollars,"  she  said,  whereupon 
I  became  bewildered.  Eight  hundred  thousand  dollars  of  personal  property 
of  one  person  destroyed  by  the  war  !  Yes,  she  said,  it  was  well  proven  ; 
proven  by  the  very  officers  and  men  who  destroyed  it,  who  set  fire  to  it,  and 
she  named  quite  a  number  of  Republicans  in  the  House  who  she  said  had 
promised  to  vote  for  her  bill ;  but  they  had  told  her  it  was  very  important 
for  her  to  get  a  Democrat,  and  best  of  all  a  Southern  Democrat,  to  introduce 
it,  Therefore  she  cain.e  to.  me  as  §  Democrat  aM  a  Southern  Pem.QQra.ti 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  559 

from  her  own  State — her  dear  Georgia — to  introduce  her  bill.  She  said  the 
Republicans  assured  her  that  if  she  would  get  a  little  re-enforcement  from 
the  South  and  from  the  Democratic  party  her  bill  would  certainly  become  a 
law.  I  said  to  the  lady,  "  It  will  be  very  difficult  to  make  me  believe  that 
the  whole  county  ever  at  one  time  had  eight  hundred  thousand  dollars' 
worth  of  personal  property."  But  she  said,  "  It  is  all  proven,  it  is  all  right, 
and  the  Republicans  are  ready  to  vote  for  it."  I  do  not  say  they  were  ;  I 
can  only  tell  you  what  the  woman  said,  and  as  she  is  loyal  you  ought  to 
accept  her  as  a  good  witness. 

Seeing  that  her  entreaties  could  do  no  good,  she  finally  said  to  me  that  I 
had  to  vote  for  her  bill  ;  that  she  had  a  great  many  friends  among  the 
newspaper  men,  and  she  sometimes  wrote  for  the  newspapers  herself ;  and, 
looking  at  me  with  all  the  air  of  command  and  of  one  having  authority,  she 
said,  "  Mr.  Hill,  if  you  don't  vote  for  my  bill  you  will  never  go  to  the  Senate." 
Thereupon  I  made  the  lady  a  bow,  gave  her  a  flat  refusal  to  have  any 
thing  to  do  with  her  or  her  bill,  and  left. 

Those  are  specimens  of  the  character  of  what  you  call  Southern  claims. 
This  first  claim  will  never  come  here  ;  the  second  and  cases  like  it  will 
always  be  here  ;  and  I  saw  this  same  claim  of  $800,000  for  the  woman  who 
became  loyal  by  marriage  and  for  whom  Republicans  were  ready  to  vote- 
I  saw  the  same  claim  paraded  through  the  Northern  press  in  the  campaign 
of  1876  as  evidence  that  if  the  Southern  Democrats  ever  did  get  here  in 
power  and  the  Democratic  party  had  the  majority,  they  would  take  every 
thing  there  was  in  the  treasury.  Now,  should  I  vote  to  tax  that  woman 
who  fed  me  on  the  eggs  and  potatoes  to  pay  this  woman  in  velvet,  laces,  and 
diamonds  ?  But  this  claim,  says  my  friend  from  Kentucky,  is  not  Mitchell's 
claim.  What  is  Mitchell's  claim,  to  come  to  the  honest  truth  of  it  ?  I  have 
not  an  unkind  feeling  for  Mr.  Mitchell  ;  I  admit  he  is  a  good  man  ;  but 
does  not  everybody  in  the  Senate  know  that  it  is  a  speculative  claim  ?  Is  it 
not  a  mere  speculative  claim  ?  The  woman  I  spoke  of  in  Georgia  lost  her 
living,  the  livins:  of  herself  and  her  little  children,  and  she  does  not  come 

^^ 

here  to  ask  you  for  a  dollar.  Here  is  a  gentleman,  a  good  gentleman,  who 
went,  by  permission  of  the  military  authorities,  into  the  South  during  the 
war  and  bought  a  large  amount  of  cotton,  by  which  he  hoped  to  realize  a 
fortune,  as  you  all  know.  He  took  the  chances  of  the  war  in  his  specula 
tion,  and  the  chances  were  against  him  ?  Shall  we  tax  that  woman  who 
fed  me  on  the  eggs  and  potatoes  and  tax  the  little  land  that  she  and  her 
children  are  working  for  the  purpose  of  paying  these  speculative  losses  of 
Mr.  Mitchell  ?  Would  it  be  right  ?  Would  it  be  just?  I  will  not  do  it. 

All  over  the  South  there  are  hundreds  and  thousands  of  people,  limping, 
weak,  poor,  impoverished  by  the  war,  laboring  as  best  they  can  for  a  bare 
sustenance,  asking  Congress  for  nothing,  not  looking  to  the  government  for 
compensation  for  their  losses,  and  here  and  there  is  some  man  who  has  lost 
something,  who  has  lost  some  property,  or  failed  to  make  what  he  hoped  for 
in  some  speculative  venture,  coming  here  and  asking  Congress  to  pay  his 
losses  and  that  we  shall  tax  these  poor  people  to  pay  his  losses.  I  for  one 
shall  not  do  it.  I  am  against  these  bills,  therefore,  upon  principle, 
not  need  any  constitutional  amendment  to  make  me  vote  against  them. 
There  will  be  a  great  many  hard  cases,  I  concede.  War  is  nothing  but  an 
ordeal  of  hard  cases.  I  do  not  know  of  anything  produced  by  war  except 
hard  cases.  You  cannot  repair  all  those  hard  cases.  Mr.  Mitchel 
hard  case,  but  his  case  is  not  harder  than  thousands  of  others  who  lost  like. 


560  SENATOR  B.  II.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

property  or  other  property,  and  who  were  just  as  loyal  as  he  was.  You 
cannot  repair  these  losses.  Let  it  go  forth,  therefore,  that  wTe  take  the 
position  distinctly  and  emphatically  that  this  talk  of  paying  Southern  war 
claims  must  end.  Teach  it  to  our  people  and  teach  it  to  all  the  people,  and 
let  all  this  political  excitement  on  the  subject  end. 

Mr.  President,  I  am  the  humblest  man  in  the  Democratic  party.  That 
party,  after  eighteen  years  of  absence,  I  trust  and  believe,  is  about  to  return, 
full-fledged,  to  power.  I  think  it  will  have  possession  of  every  department 
of  this  government.  It  certainly  will  have  it  if  we  convince  the  people 
North  and  South  that  we  deserve  to  have  it ;  for  evidently  the  people  are 
well  satisfied  that  the  Republican  party  does  not  deserve  to  be  continued  in 
power,  and  the  only  question  with  the  people  is  whether  the  Democratic 
party  does  deserve  to  be  intrusted  with  power.  If  I  had  control  of  the 
party  as  I  have  not,  and  shall  never  have,  if  my  voice  were  worth  anything, 
there  are  four  things  I  would  have  the  Democratic  party  to  proclaim  to  the 
world  in  most  convincing  terms  and  adhere  to  with  unflinching  fidelity.  I 
would  have  the  party  to  say  : 

1.  We  will  not  pay  war  losses,  loyal  or  disloyal,  unless  we  make  a  few 
exceptions  of  religious,  educational,  and  charitable  institutions,  and  very  few 
of  these. 

2.  We  will  vote  no  more  of  the  public  money  and  no  more  of  the  public 
credit  and  no  more  of  the  public  lands  to  build  up  or  enrich  mammoth 
monopolies  in  the  shape  of  railroad  corporations. 

3.  We  will  in  good  faith  pay  every  dollar  of  the  public  debt,  principal 
and  interest,  in  good  money  of  the  standard  value. 

4.  We  will  restore  the   Constitution  to  the  country  and  honesty  and 
economy  to  its  administration,  confining  the  general  government  to  its  lim 
ited,  delegated  sovereign  powers  to  promote  the  general  welfare,  and  leav 
ing  the  States  unmolested  in  the  exercise  of  their  reserved  sovereign  powers 
to  promote  the  local  welfare  of  the  people. 

Do  these  four  things,  and,  in  my  judgment,  the  child  is  not  born  who 
will  witness  the  termination  of  Democratic  administration  in  this  country,  and 
the  tongue  has  not  been  gifted  with  language  that  can  express  the  pros 
perity  which  will  follow  to  all  our  people  in  every  section  of  our  country. 


SPEECH    DELIVERED    IN    THE     SENATE    OF    THE    UNITED 

STATES,  JUNE   11,    1879. 


THE  UNION  UNDER  THE  CONSTITUTION  KNOWS  NO  SECTION,  BUT  DOES  KNOW 

ALL  THE  STATES. 


"Thou  shall  not  bear  false  witness  against  thy  neighbor." 

This  speech  was  made  in  reply  to  an  attack  made  by  Senator  Blaine  upon  Senator 
Hill's  course  in  the  Secession  Convention  and  as  Confederate  State  Senator.  While 
vindicating  himself,  the  speech  goes  beyond  the  merely  personal  feature  involved,  and 
i-  replete  with  beautiful  sentiments  and  patriotic  appeals  for  sectional  harmony  between 
North  and  South.  The  speech  contains  a  masterly  argument,  proving  that  the  character 
of  our  government  was  not  changed  by  the  results  of  the  war. 

The  Senate  having  resumed  the  consideration  of  the  bill  (S.  No.  621) 
authorizing  the  employment  of  the  militia  and  the  land  and  naval  forces  of 
the  United  States  in  certain  cases,  and  for  other  purposes,  Mr.  Hill,  of 
Georgia,  said : 

Mr.  President :  I  trespass  upon  the  kind  indulgence  of  the  Senate  a  sec 
ond  time  in  this  discussion  with  great  reluctance.  I  would  not  trouble  the 
Senate  at  all  but  for  the  fact  that  during  my  absence  from  the  Senate  and 
from  the  city,  the  senator  from  Maine  (Mr.  Blaine)  saw  proper  to  make 
some  allusions  to  myself  that  I  think  it  is  due  to  the  Senate  and  to  myself 
that  I  should  notice. 

I  desire  to  say,  first  of  all,  however,  and  in  advance,  that  no  senator  I 
trust  will  do  me  the  injustice  for  one  moment  to  imagine  that  I  will  make 
in  this  Senate  a  personal  criticism  of  a  senator.  Respect  for  the  Senate  will 
restrain  me  from  a  retort  in  kind  upon  the  senator  from  Maine.  Strangers 
have  kindly  furnished  me  with  many  documents  and  records  for  what  they 
supposed  was  my  purpose  on  this  occasion.  I  only  wish  to  say  that  I  have 
given  all  such  records  to  the  waste-basket. 

I  trust  as  long  as  I  have  the  honor  of  a  seat  on  this  floor  I  shall  not  for 
get  that  this  is  the  Senate  of  the  United  States*;  that  it  is  neither  a  bear 
garden,  nor  a  fish  market,  nor  a  circus  show  for  the  amusement  of  the 
galleries.  I  shall  therefore  confine  myself  to  matters  entirely  pertinent, 
which  have  in  this  discussion  and  on  one  previous  occasion  been  brought  to 
the  attention  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  from  the  same  quarter  in 
regard  to  myself. 

On  the   19th  of  May,  the  senator  from  Maine  addressed  the  Senate  at 
length.     I  will  read  the  portion  of  his  remarks  to  which  I  shall 
duty  to  call  the  attention  of  the  Senate.     He  said  : 

Nor  do  I  desire  to  misrepresent  the  honorable  senator  from  Georgia- 
Very  significant,  indeed — 

who  I  regret  is  not  in  his  seat.     But  the  honorable  senator  from  Georgia  the  other  day 
made  a  speech  that  was  somewhat  remarkable.     Among  <>th<T  thing  he  depi 
overwhelming  grief  he  had  at  the  secession  of  the  Southern  States  ;  and  when  he  *J 
•'Hlled  upon  by  the  independent  voters  of  the  County  of  Troup  to  represent 
Secession  Convention  he  wrote  this  letter  to  them,  as  he  says  : 

561 


562  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

' '  I  will  consent  to  the  dissolution  of  the  Union  as  I  would  consent  to  the  death  of  my 
father,  never  from  choice,  only  from  necessity,  and  then  in  sorrow  and  sadness  of 
heart." 

Well,  he  was  elected  on  that  platform,  and  he  went  to  the  convention,  and  the  con 
vention,  as  we  all  know,  passed  the  ordinance  of  secession.  And  in  the  evening  of  Janu 
ary  19,  1861,  he  writes  to  a  friend  a  letter  which  he  quotes  himself  : 

' '  Dear  Sir :  The  deed  is  done.  Georgia  this  day  left  the  Union.  Cannon  have  been 
firing  and  bells  tolling.  At  this  moment  people  are  filling  the  streets  shouting  vocifer 
ously.  A  large  torchlight  procession  is  moving  from  house  to  house  and  calling  out 
speakers.  The  resolutions  declaratory  passed  on  yesterday,  and  similar  scenes  were  en 
acted  last  night.  The  crowd  called  loudly  for  me,  but  my  room  was  dark,  my  heart  was 
sad,  and  my  tongue  was  silent.  Whoever  may  be  in  fault  is  not  now  the  question. 
Whether  by  the  North  or  by  the  South,  or  by  both,  the  fact  remains  :  our  Union  has 
fallen.  The  most  favored  sons  of  freedom  have  written  a  page  in  history  which  despots 
will  read  to  listening  subjects  for  centuries  to  come  to  prove  that  the  people  are  not 
capable  of  self-government.  How  can  I  think  thus  and  feel  otherwise  than  badly  ?  " 

These  are  very  just  sentiments  ;  and  now  I  want  to  read  the  wonderful  declaration  of 
the  ordinance  of  Georgia  which  the  senator  from  Georgia  would  consent  to  have  enacted 
as  he  would  consent  to  the  death  of  his  father,  and  that  so  pierced  his  heart  with  sadness 
when  it  was  accomplished.  I  want  to  read  it,  and  my  friend  from  Connecticut  will  ob 
serve  its  language,  as  he  boasted  the  other  day  that  Connecticut  was  ' '  a  free  and  inde 
pendent  State." 

Mr.  Eaton. — I  did  not  boast.  I  said  that  was  the  oath  that  Connecticut  voters  had  to 
take. 

Mr.  Elaine. — Here  is  the  "ordinance  to  dissolve  the  union  between  the  State  of 
Georgia  and  other  States  united  with  her  under  a  compact  of  government  entitled  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States."  This  is  the  original  journal  of  the  Georgia  conven 
tion.  It  is  a  rare  book.  The  literature  of  that  section  from  some  cause  is  very  hard  to 
procure. 

' '  We,  the  people  of  the  State  of  Georgia,  in  convention  assembled,  do  declare  and  ordain, 
and  it  is  hereby  declared  and  ordained, 

'  That  the  ordinance  adopted  by  the  people  of  the  State  of  Georgia  in  convention  on 
the  2d  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1788,  whereby  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  of  America  was  assented  to,  ratified,  and  adopted ;  and  also  all  acts  and 
parts  of  acts  by  the  General  Assembly  of  this  State,  ratifying  and  adopting  amendments 
of  the  said  Constitution,  are  hereby  repealed,  rescinded,  and  abrogated. 

"  We  do  further  declare  and  ordain,  That  the  union  now  subsisting  between  the  State 
of  Georgia  and  other  States,  under  the  name  of  the  '  United  States  of  America/  is  hereby 
dissolved,  and  that  the  State  of  Georgia  is  in  the  full  possession  and  exercise  of  all  those 
rights  of  sovereignty  which  belong  and  appertain  to  &free  and  independent  State." 

That  was  the  ordinance  which  the  senator  from  Georgia  said  to  the  people  of  Troup 
he  would  consent  to  as  he  would  to  the  death  of  his  father,  and  the  ordinance  which  the 
evening  after  it  was  passed  so  filled  his  heart  with  sadness  that  he  put  out  the  lights  in 
his  room  and  would  not  make  a  speech  to  a  crowd  outside  serenading  him.  I  have  read 
the  yeas  and  nays  on  that,  and  what  is  my  unbounded  surprise  to  find  that  the  senator 
from  Georgia  himself  voted  for  the  ordinance.  Here  he  is,  "  Hill  of  Troup."  I  believe 
I  am  right  in  saying  that  he  is  the  man.  There  were  two  or  three  Hills,  all  voting  for  it, 
but  "Hill  of  Troup  "  voted  for  it,  and  he  cannot  say  in  defense  of  that  vote  that  he  did  it 
because  there  was  one  of  those  tempestuous  and  tumultuous  rushes  of  public  opinion 
which  bear  everything  before  it  and  wyhich  no  man  could  resist.  We  know  what  that  is. 
It  sometimes  assumes  such  positive  and  portentous  force  as  to  have  mob-like  violence. 
That  was  not  so  in  this  convention.  On  the  call  of  the  yeas  and  nays  there  were  208  in 
favor  of  the  ordinance  of  secession  and  89  against  it,  and  in  the  89  were  Alexander  H. 
Stephens  and  Herschel  V.  Johnson,  who  had  that  very  year  run  for  Vice-President  on 
the  Douglass  ticket.  The  senator  from  Georgia  (Mr.  Hill)  who  would  consent  to  it  just 
as  he  would  to  the  death  of  his  father,  made  up  his  mind  that  if  two  hundred  and  eight 
men  wanted  to  murder  the  old  man  he  would  join  with  them.  (Great  laughter  and  ap 
plause.)  Rather  than  be  in  a  minority,  he  would  join  the  murderous  crowd  (laughter) 
and  be  a  parricide. 

Now,  I  have  read  that  whole  extract  from  the  speech  of  the  senator  from 
Maine,  including  the  great  laughter  and  tlie  applause.  Mr.  President,  I  shall 
never  dp  the  unparliamentary  thing  of  attacking  the  motives  of  senators  on 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  563 

this  floor.  But  I  have  this  to  say,  that  if  the  senator  from  Maine  intended 
by  the  manner  in  which  he  has  presented  these  facts  to  represent  that  in  the 
convention  of  Georgia  on  the  test  question  as  to  whether  Georgia  should  or 
should  not  secede  I  voted  for  secession,  he  stated  that  which  the  documents 
which  he  professed  to  have  in  his  hand  taught  him  was  not  true.  If  he  said 
that  in  giving  the  vote  in  this  particular  form  at  the  time  and  manner  in 
which  it  was  given  there  was  any  intention  on  my  part  to  express  an  ap 
proval  of  secession,  he  said  that  which  the  record  he  held  in  his  hand  most 
abundantly  showed  was  not  correct. 

If  the  honorable  senator  simply  intended  and  desired  to  get  off  some 
smart  things  for  the  amusement  of  the  galleries,  and  found  it  necessary  to 
fix  up  his  facts  in  a  manner  to  suit  his  purpose  rather  than  the  truth  of 'the 
case,  I  should  judge  from  the  loud  applause  and  laughter  that  he  had  some 
success. 

It  cannot  be  a  very  material  question  to  this  Senate  or  to  this  country 
whether  I  have  on  any  particular  question  been  consistent  or  inconsistent,  for 
whether  I  have  been  consistent  or  inconsistent  cannot  illustrate  any  point  in 
discussion,  and  I  shall  never  allude  to  any  record  of  a  senator  unless  it 
throws  light  upon  some  question  involved  in  discussion.  Even  if  I  had  been 
inconsistent,  it  is  remarkable  that  the  people  whom  I  represented  in  the  con 
vention  never  discovered  that  inconsistency,  for  from  that  day  to  this  there 
lias  not  been  an  hour  when  I  have  not  enjoyed  the  undivided  absolute  confi 
dence  of  the  people  of  that  county.  So  it  is  impossible  that  there  should 
have  been  an  inconsistency  in  their  estimation,  certainly  not  an  inconsistency 
which  would  involve  an  abandonment  of  the  pledges  given  them  in  the 
canvass. 

But,  sir,  as  the  senator  has  seen  proper  to  introduce  this  question,  I 
deem  it  proper  to  give  the  facts,  and  I  premise  the  facts  with  one  statement 
which  is  historical  in  its  character,  and  which,  perhaps,  everybody  ought  to 
know  ;  and  that  is,  that  not  only  in  Georgia  but  in  the  Southern  States  gen 
erally  during  the  contest  over  the  question  as  to  whether  the  States  should 
or  should  not  secede,  while  there  was  great  division  on  the  main  question, 
and  while  there  was  earnest,  and  sometimes  even  bitter  debate  between  the 
advocates  and  opponents  of  secession,  it  was  universally  conceded  that  if  the 
State  should  determine  to  secede,  when  that  declared  will  should  be  ascer 
tained,  it  was  the  duty  of  all  her  citizens  to  support  her  act ;  and  two  reasons 
were  given  for  that.  The  first  was  that  to  oppose  the  will  of  the  State,  after 
that  will  had  been  officially  ascertained  and  declared,  could  have  but  one 
result  in  our  own  midst,  and  that  was  a  civil  war  in  the  State,  which  we 
determined,  at  all  hazards,  to  avoid  ;  for  whether,  as  some  said,  the  States 
seceded  by  virtue  of  a  Constitutional  right,  or  whether,  as  others  contended, 
secession  could  be  nothing  more  than  a  revolutionary  right  and  a  revolu 
tionary  act,  still  when  the  State  took  the  act,  declared  her  solemn  will  in 
solemn  convention,  it  mattered  not  upon  what  principle  the  act  was  put,  there 
was  but  one  result,  and  that  was  for  her  own  citizens  to  sustain  the  State  ; 
otherwise  we  should  have  had  civil  war  at  our  doors. 

Then,  again,  there  was  another  reason.  We  believed  that  if  the  Northern 
people  should  see  that  after  the  will  of  the  State  was  declared  there  was 
unanimity  in  its  support  among  all  her  people,  it  would  have  a  happy  moral 
effect  to  avert  the  catastrophe  of  a  sectional  war,  for  it  was  generally  charged 
through  the  country  that  the  secession  movement  was  simply  a  factious 
movement.  \Vhether  that  were  true  or  false,  if  the  Northern  pe 


564  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

should  wake  up  to  the  fact  that  the  whole  people  of  the  South  sustained 
it  after  it  was  adopted,  we  hoped  it  would  have  a  happy  effect  to  bring 
the  people  everywhere  to  their  senses  and  would  result  in  averting  a  war  ; 
and  those  of  us  who  sedulously  and  earnestly  opposed  secession  firmly  believed 
that  if  war  could  only  be  averted  for  a  few  months,  the  whole  movement 
of  secession  would  fail.  I  state  as  a  fact  known  to  myself  that  those  of  us 
who  were  prominent  in  opposing  the  movement  in  the  Gulf  and  South 
Atlantic  States  were  in  constant  communication  with  the  leaders  of  what 
were  known  as  the  Southern  Border  States ;  and  at  that  very  moment  we 
were  expecting  that  a  movement  would  be  made  for  a  peace  conference,  by 
which  we  hoped  that  all  differences  between  the  sections  would  be  adjusted 
and  the  bitter  ordeal  of  a  sectional  war  would  thereby  be  averted. 

In  this  state  of  things  and  with  these  feelings  the  Georgia  convention 
met  at  Milledgeville  on  the  16th  of  January,  1861.  I  have  the  journal  of 
that  convention  in  my  hand.  There  were  nearly  three  hundred  delegates, 
two  hundred  and  ninety-seven  at  least  voting  ;  the  largest  vote,  I  believe, 
polled  in  that  convention.  Two  days  were  consumed  in  organizing  the  con 
vention,  agreeing  upon  the  rules  of  proceeding,  etc.  On  the  third  day  of  the 
convention,  to  wit,  on  the  18th  of  January,  the  real  question  came  up,  and  a 
programme  was  distinctly  agreed  upon  by  all  parties ;  for  while  the  parties 
were  in  earnest,  yet  I  must  say  I  never  met  more  honorable  adversaries. 
Nothing  was  concealed,  nothing  was  attempted  that  was  unfair,  no  advantage 
was  sought  to  be  taken.  It  was  agreed  that  Judge  Kisbet  should  bring 
forward  the  test  resolution  in  favor  of  secession  and  Ex-Governor  Herschel 
V.  Johnson  should  offer  for  that  the  substitute  agreed  upon  by  the  oppo 
nents  of  the  resolution  for  secession  ;  and  we  put  that  substitute  in  the 
strongest  form  possible,  by  simply  providing  that  the  question  whether  the 
State  should  secede  or  not  should  be  postponed  until  after  an  effort  should 
be  made  to  secure  a  convention  of  the  Southern  States  for  the  purpose  of 
acting  and  consulting  together  upon  the  subject,  we  believing  that  by  the 
time  that  the  convention  could  assemble  the  peace  conference  of  the  States 
generally,  which  was  called  on  that  very  day  by  the  State  of  Virginia,  should 
also  assemble,  and  thus  the  evil  might  be  averted.  So  the  two  parties  then 
before  the  convention  were  what  was  known  as  the  party  of  immediate 
Secessionists,  unconditional  and  absolute,  and  the  party  in  favor  of  post 
poning  decisive  action  until  there  could  be  a  co-operation  and  a  consultation 
on  the  part  of  the  different  States  involved.  Therefore,  on  the  18th  of 
January,  1861 — I  now  read  from  the  journal  : 

The  doors  were  then  closed,  when  Mr.  Nisbet  offered  the  following  resolutions,  which 
were  taken  up  and  read  : 

"  Resolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  convention,  it  is  the  right  and  duty[of  Georgia  to  ' 
secede  from  the  present  Union,  and  to  co-operate  with  such  of  the  other  States  as  have  or 
shall  do  the  same,  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a  Southern  Confederacy  upon  the  basis  of 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

"Resolved,  That  a  committee  of be  appointed  by  the  Chair  to  report  an  ordinance 

to  assert  the  right  and  fulfill  the  obligation  of  the  State  of  Georgia  to  secede  from  the 
Union." 

He  then  moved  to  take  up  the  first  resolution. 

Whereupon  Mr.  Johnson,  of  Jefferson,  offered  the  following  preamble  and  ordinance 
as  a  substitute  for  Mr.  Nisbet's,  and  moved  the  reference  of  both  to  a  committee  of  \ 
twenty-one. 

The  substitute  thus  offered  by  Governor  Johnson  was  the  one  to  which  I 
have  alluded,  on  which  the  opponents  of  immediate  secession  had  all  agreed 
as  in  our  opinion  the  strongest  ground  upon  which  we  could  stand  with  hope 


LIFE,  SPKECtiKS,  AND  WRITINGS,  565 

of  success.     It  is  long  and  I  will  not  trouble  the  Senate  to  read  it,  but  it  is 
precisely  of  the  character  I  have  stated. 

Now  the  issue  was  distinctly  joined.  Here  was  the  resolution  of  Jud™ 
Nisbet  declaring  it  the  right  and  duty  of  the  State  of  Georgia  to  secede 
from  the  Jnion.  Here  was  the  substitute  offered  by  Governor  Johnson 
postponing  that  act,  and  proposing  to  call  a  convention  of  the  Southern 
States  for  the  purpose  of  consulting  on  the  subject.  Upon  that  issue  thus 
joined  the  debate  sprang  up,  and  the  whole  question  was  decided  The  verv 
journal  which  the  senator  from  Maine  had  in  his  hand  informed  him  if  he 
read  it,  that  : 

After  an  elaborate  discussion,  in  which  Messrs.  Nisbet,  Johnson  of  Jefferson  Cobb 
Stephens  of  Taliaferro,  Toornbs,  Means,  Reese,  Hill  of  Troup,  and  Bartow  participated' 
a  call  was  made  for  the  "  previous  question,"  which,  being  sustained  under  the  rulino-  of 
the  Chair,  cut  off  the  motion  to  commit  and  a  vote  on  the  substitute,  and  brought^the 
convention  to  a  direct  vote  on  the  first  of  the  original  resolutions  of  Mr.  Nisbet  Where 
upon  the  yeas  and  nays  were  demanded ;  which,  being  called,  resulted  as  follows  (the 
president  voting  in  the  affirmative) — yeas  166,  nays  130. 

This  journal  informed  the  senator  that  this  resolution,  offered  by  Mr. 
Nisbet,  declaring  it  the  right  and  duty  of  the  State  to  secede  was  the  resolu 
tion  upon  which  the  discussion  was  had.  It  was  to  test  the  sense  of  the  con 
vention,  and  upon  that  resolution  the  whole  test  was  had  and  the  actual  test 
was  made,  and  I  had  the  honor  of  closing  the  debate  in  opposition  to  that 
resolution.  While,  doubtless,  all  who  opposed  that  resolution  made  abler 
speeches  than  I  could  have  made,  yet  I  presume  there  was  no  member  of  that 
convention,  and  no  person  who  heard  it,  who  would  not  concede  that  there 
was  certainly  no  speech  more  earnest  in  opposition.  That  vote  was  taken, 
and  my  vote  was  recorded  in  the  negative  against  the  adoption  of  the  reso 
lution.  But  that  resolution  was  adopted. 

Mr.  Nisbet  moved  to  fill  the  blank  in  the  second  resolution. 

Which  was,  as  I  have  read  to  you,  a  resolution  appointing  a  committee 
to  bring  in  an  ordinance  to  carry  out  the  resolution  declaratory,  to  which  I 
have  referred.     That  was  all,  and  that  was  the  only  purpose  of  the  ordinance. 
It  was  simply,  as  all  lawyers  understand,  a  mere  pro  forma  entering  of  the 
judgment  after  the  verdict  had  been  rendered  ;  and  as  evidence  of  that  this 
record  shows  that  Judge  Nisbet  moved  to  fill  the  blank  in  thesecond  resolu 
tion  with  the  number  seventeen,  instructed — not  requested,  not  authorized- 
but  instructed  to  bring  in  an  ordinance  to  assert  and  fulfill  the  obligation  of 
the  resolution.     On  that  committee  there  were  seventeen  gentlemen,  nine  of 
whom  had  voted  for  Mr.  Nisbet's  resolution,  eight  of  whom,  myself  among 
them,  had  voted  against  it ;  and  as  the  journal  shows  that  the  ordinance 
thus  referred  to  a  committee  of  seventeen,  eight  of  whom  had  voted  against 
secession,  was  unanimouly  reported.     There  was  no  dissent  whatever.     Why  ? 
It  simply  reported  that  that  ordinance  was  a  proper  form  of  judgment  to 
carry  out  what  the  body  declared  it  was  its  duty  to  do.     At  this  point,  when 
this  ordinance  was  reported,  a  discussion,  very  slight  in  its  character,  arose  ;  an 
interchange  of  views  rather  between  those  of  us  who  opposed  secession,  as  to 
whether  the  time  had  come  to  cease  resistance.     There  was  a  general  con 
currence  of  views  that  it  had,  and  some  thought  it  best  to  express  that  con 
currence  by  simply  voting  for  the  ordinance  ;  others  thought  it  would  be 
better  perhaps  to  vote  against  the  ordinance  and  afterward  sign  it.     Every 
senator  will  see  that  whether  a  man  voted  for  it  or  signed  it  could  make  no 
difference,  because  neither  the  voting  for  it  nor  the  signing  it  was  a  test 


566  SENATOR  B.  R  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

question.     That  question  had  been  settled,  after  earnest  and  elaborate  d 
by  positive  resolution. 

I  was  unwilling  myself,  however,  to  yield  until  another  effort  was  made, 
as  the  journal  shows.  I  was  dissatisfied,  because  I  thought  it  was  not 
exactly  fair  that  the  previous  question  should  have  been  called  upon  the 
adoption  of  Mr.  Nisbet's  resolution  after  the  discussion  was  had,  when  the 
only  effect  of  calling  it  was  to  cut  off  a  direct  vote  upon  the  substitute 
offered  by  Governor  Johnson.  I  was  exceedingly  anxious  to  get  a  direct, 
square  vote  upon  that  substitute,  and  therefore  I  insisted  on  it,  as  the  jour 
nal  shows.  That  ordinance  was  reported  on  the  19th  of  January. 

Mr.  Nisbet,  from  the  committee  appointed  to  report  an  ordinance  to  assert  the  right 
and  fulfill  the  obligation  of  the  State  of  Georgia  to  secede  from  the  Union,  reported  the 
following  ordinance : 

•  •  •  •  »  •  • 

The  report  was  taken  up,  and,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Toombs,  the  ordinance  was  twice 
read. 

Mr.  Hill,  of  Troup,  moved  that  the  preamble  and  resolutions  offered  by  Mr.  Johnson, 
of  Jefferson,  on  yesterday,  as  a  substitute  for  the  resolutions  adopted  by* the  convention 
raising  the  committee  to  report  an  ordinance  to  assert  the  right  and  fulfill  the  obligation 
of  the  State  of  Georgia  to  secede  from  the  Union,  be  received  as  a  substitute  for  the  same. 

That  is,  I  moved  that  the  substitute  offered  by  Governor  Johnson  to  Mr. 
Nisbet's  resolution,  and  a  vote  upon  which  had  been  cut  off  by  the  call  of 
the  previous  question,  be  now  made  a  substitute  for  the  ordinance,  and  upon 
that  the  yeas  and  nays  were  called,  and  I  need  not  look  at  the  journal,  for  I 
am  perfectly  familiar  with  it.  The  yeas  were  133  in  favor  of  my  motion  to 
164  against.  That  was  the  strongest  vote  we  ever  obtained  in  the  conven 
tion  against  secession.  On  the  first  vote  the  resolution  was  adopted  by  36 
majority,  the  yeas  being  166  and  the  nays  130  ;  on  my  motion  of  a  substi 
tute  for  the  ordinance  the  yeas  were  133  and  the  nays  164,  being  31 
majority. 

Now,  every  man  here  sees  and  every  man  in  the  State  itself  saw  what  is 
true,  that  the  convention  by  a  most  solemn  resolution  declared  that  it  was 
the  duty  of  the  State  to  secede  ;  a  committee  had  been  appointed  to  report 
an  ordinance  to  carry  out  that  resolution  ;  that  ordinance  had  been  reported 
unanimously  ;  a  substitute  for  that  ordinance  had  been  voted  down  ;  so  the 
matter  was  closed.  The  only  question  then  was  when  would  you  signify 
your  intention  to  abide  the  action  of  the  State,  whether  it  received  your 
approval  or  disapproval.  It  fell  to  my  lot  to  make  the  last  speech  against 
the  resolution  declaring  it  the  duty  of  the  State  to  secede.  It  fell  to  my 
lot  to  make  the  last  motion  to  postpone  the  execution  of  that  resolution, 
making  the  very  last  motion  in  the  convention  ;  and  when  nothing  else 
could  be  done,  it  was  agreed  among  ourselves  that  every  man  should  vote 
as  he  pleased  ;  some  voted  for  the  ordinance,  one-third  simply  saying,  "  The 
matter  is  closed  ;  it  is  impossible  to  reconsider  ;  the  convention  has  refused 
to  accept  anything  in  the  way  of  a  substitute  ;  has  refused  to  postpone  the 
matter."  One-third  of  us,  therefore,  voted  for  the  ordinance  as  the  proper 
form  to  carry  out  the  resolution.  The  other  two-thirds  voted  against  it, 
but  all  signed  it.  I  see  the  journal  does  not  state  that  any  did  not  sign  it 
at  all.  I  have  a  recollection,  I  may  be  mistaken  in  that,  that  some  three  or 
four  gentlemen  did  refuse  to  sign,  but  I  am  not  sure  that  I  am  correct  in 
that.  Certainly,  all  but  three  or  four  signed  the  ordinance  because  it  was 
nothing  in  the  world  but  a  method  of  testing  our  readiness  to  abide  the  will 
of  our  State,  thus  solemnly  expressed.  That  was  all  there  was  in  it. 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WAITINGS.  567 

Mr.  President,  these  are  the  facts.  If  the  senator  from  Maine  had  stated 
all  these  facts  just  as  they  occurred,  and  had  he  chosen  to  express  his  opin 
ion  that  my  vote  was  inconsistent  with  my  views  upon  the  subject  of  seces 
sion,  I  should  have  cared  nothing  for  it.  As  to  whether  I  was  or  was  not 
consistent,  the  opinion  of  the  senator  from  Maine  is  a  matter  of  utter  indif 
ference  to  me.  That  was  a  question  which  I  had  to  answer  to  my  constitu 
ents,  with  which  my  constituents  were  entirely  satisfied,  and  have  been 
satisfied  to  this  day.  But,  sir,  the  senator  from  Maine,  for  some  purpose  of 
his  own,  chose  to  suppress  facts  which  did  exist ;  he  chose  to  suggest  facts 
which  did  not  exist  ;  and  upon  this  double  misrepresentation  of  the  facts  lie 
chose  to  employ  his  wit  and  his  smartness  ;  and  all  when  lie  knew  I  was 
seven  hundred  miles  away.  I  make  that  simple  statement,  and  leave  the 
senator  to  the  judgment  of  honest  men  and  honorable  debaters  without 
comment. 

There  is  one  other  statement  made  by  the  senator  which  I  will  notice, 
which  I  almost  feel  like  apologizing  to  the  Senate  for  noticing,  and  my  only 
object  in  noticing  it  is  that  it  furnishes  a  very  fair  specimen  of  that  gentle 
man's  style  of  representing  his  adversary  in  debate  : 

The  honorable  senator  from  Georgia  made  the  astonishing  assurance  that  this  Union 
had  been  saved  by  the  Northern  Democrats  ;  they  were  the  men  that  did  it.  It  was  the 
Northern  Democrats.  Why,  in  Connecticut  it  was  not  William  A.  Buckingham  or 
Joseph  R.  Hawley  that  helped  save  the  Union.  The  honorable  senator  from  Connecticut 
did  it.  It  was  not  in  New  York  William  H.  Seward  that  did  anything  for  the  Union  ; 
it  was  Governor  Seymour.  Out  in  Ohio  it  was  not  Salmon  P.  Chase  that  helped  along 
the  Union  cause,  but  it  was  Clement  L.  Vallandigham. 

Mr.  President,  will  any  man  who  loves  accuracy  or  has  respect  for 
accuracy  take  the  remarks  I  made  on  the  occasion  alluded  to,  and  see  if 
those  remarks  justify  that  senator  in  saying  that  I  intimated  that  the 
Republicans  did  not*  help  save  the  Union  and  that  Mr.  Seward,  of  New 
York,  did  nothing  to  save  the  Union  ;  and  if  I  made  no  such  statement, 
what  is  to  be  accomplished  by  such  a  representation  ?  Is  it  to  improve 
the  dignity,  elevate  the  character  of  the  Senate,  or  is  it  to  enlighten  the 
people  ?  Now  just  see  what  I  did  say  on  that  subject.  The  senator  refers 
to  one  paragraph  only.  Let  me  read  two  others,  though  it  is  not  necessary, 
I  am  sure,  to  the  audience  who  heard  the  remarks. 

Here  is  what  I  said  in  that  same  speech  : 

All  good  Union  men  at  the  North,  by  reason  of  the  condition  of  things,  being  com 
pelled  to  go  into  the  Federal  Army  as  others  in  the  South  of  a  like  character  who  had  no 
sympathy  with  secession  were  compelled  to  go  into  secession,  it  was  by  the  aid  of  the 
democracy  of  the  North,  of  the  conservative  men  of  the  North  who  did  not  agree  to 
absolute  nationalism,  who  did  not  agree  to  the  doctrine  of  consolidation,  who  did  not 
agree  to  the  absolute  theory  of  a  national  government  in  the  Federal  head— it  was  by  the 
"id  of  these  Democrats  and  conservative  men  that  the  Federal  armies  were  enabled  to 
triumph  and  crush  out  secession.  A  united  North  overpowered  a  divided  South. 

Is  not  that  a  fair  statement,  and  is  that  a  fair  representation  to  the  coun 
try  of  my  position  on  that  subject  which  the  senator  from  Maine  made. 
But,  again,  hear  what  I  further  said  in  a  few  sentences  preceding  what 
senator  from  Maine  read  : 

Now,  we  have  tried  sectionalism  and  we  have  abandoned  it,  and  therefore  we  cannot 
consistentlv  affiliate  with  the  Republican  party.     We  are  for  national  parties  now. 
come  back' to  the  grand  old  party  of  the  North  that  never  went  off 
never  went  after  the  Baals  of  consolidation.     If  there  are  any  men  on  this  earth  for  w 
I  have  a  higher  regard  than  others,  they  are  the  Democrats  of  the  !North. 


568  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

of  us  at  the  South  who  were  for  the  Union  went  through  a  trying  ordeal,  and  none  can 
ever  know  how  trying  it  was  except  those  who  passed  through  it  ;  but  it  seems  to  me  the 
Northern  Democrats  who  were  so  maligned  and  abused  by  the  Republicans  went  through 
a  greater,  for  when  the  crisis  came  they  that  had  no  sympathy  with  the  objects  or  pur 
poses  of  the  Republican  party  shouldered  their  arms  and  marched  side  by  side  with  the 
Republicans  of  the  North  to  put  down  their  real  friends  in  the  South,  and  they  did  it. 
And  yet,  notwithstanding  their  fidelity  to  the  Union,  notwithstanding  so  many  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  Democrats  periled  their  all  in  the  war,  you  abuse,  you  malign  them,  you 
give  them  no  credit  for  it.  And  why  do  we  affiliate  with  them?  Because  when  we 
grounded  our  arms  they  met  us  as  brethern  and  not  as  enemies. 

How  did  I  represent,  and  how  is  any  senator  who  has  any  regard  for 
accuracy  in  debate  justified  in  stating  that  I  represented,  that  the  Demo 
crats  alone  saved  the  Union  and  that  the  Republicans  did  nothing  even  to 
help  in  that  work  ?  Where  is  anything  to  justify  such  an  interpretation  ? 
Sir,  is  it  not  true  ?  A  stranger  from  any  other  country  coming  into  these 
halls  would  never  suspect  that  it  was  true  if  he  listened  only  to  that  side. 
He  would  conclude  that  every  Democrat  in  the  North  refused  to  co-operate 
in  the  war  and  perhaps  were  what  the  gentleman  is  pleased  to  term  rebel. 
He  would  conclude  in  listening  to  the  views  of  gentlemen  on  that  side  of  the 
Chamber  that  nobody  went  to  battle^but  Republicans. 

Sir,  take  the  muster-rolls  of  your  armies  at  Antietam,  at  Gettysburg,  and 
Appomattox,  everywhere  take  the  muster-rolls  of  the  Federal  armies  and  strike 
from  them  the  Democrats  who  were  there,  and  will  any  sane  man  say  that 
the  war  against  secession  would  have  been  successful  ?  Does  any  man  believe 
it  ?  Then,  why  is  it  that  when  I  represent  on  this  floor  that  without  the  aid 
of  Northern  Democrats  the  war  against  secession  never  would  have  been 
successful,  and  that  therefore  all  the  credit  of  putting  down  what  you  call 
the  rebellion  is  not  due  to  the  Republican  party  ;  why  is  it  that  gentlemen 
on  that  side  take  offense?  Nay,  more  ;  is  it  fair,  senators — without  mean 
ing  to  be  offensive — is  it  honorable  for  you  to  abuse  and  malign  and  detract 
from  the  merits  of  the  Northern  democracy  when  you  know  that  without 
their  co-operation  the  war  on  the  part  of  the  Federal  Government  would 
have  been  an  utter  failure  ?  Give  all  credit.  There  were  many  Repub 
licans,  hundreds  of  thousands  of  them,  that  acted  bravely  and  nobly.  But 
in  the  Confederate  army  it  was  a  common  report  and  believed  that  the  best 
fighters,  certainly  as  good  fighters  as  any  in  the  Federal  Army,  were  the 
Democrats.  And  yet  gentlemen  ridicule  them  ! 

Mr.  President,  I  have  another  duty  to  perform  which  I  take  some  plea 
sure  in  performing,  and  yet  feel  some  pain  in  performing,  for  it  is  always 
painful  to  have  to  refer  to  myself.  I  do  not  know  why  it  is,  but  there  seems 
to  be  a  persistent  effort  on  the  part  of  the  Republican  party  of  the  North, 
encouraged,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  by  some  senators  here,  to  present  me  to  the 
Northern  people  as  a  cruel,  brutal  man,  bloodthirsty,  willing  to  kill  every 
body,  and  that  I  had  made  an  especial  record  of  that  sort  during  the  war. 
Soon  after  my  first  appearance  in  Congress,  the  senator  from  Maine  deemed 
it  proper  to  make  a  bitter  assault  upon  the  character  of  the  people  of  the 
South  in  relation  to  the  prisoners  held  by  them  during  the  war.  Familiar 
with  the  facts  as  I  was,  and  knowing  that  the  representations  made  by  the 
senator  from  Maine  were  utterly  untrue,  I  deemed  it  my  duty  to  reply  and 
state  the  facts  from  the  records  and  official  letters  of  the  Federal  Govern 
ment  itself.  In  the  midst  of  that  discussion  the  senator  from  Maine  inter 
rupted  me — interrupted  me  with  a  question  that  had  no  relevancy  whatever 
to  the  subject  under  discussion,  and  I  will  now  detain  the  Senate  by  reading 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS. 

what  then  occurred,  because  I  wish  to  get  everything  upon  this  subject  fairly 
and  fully  before  the  Senate.  I  read  from  the  Congressional  Record  of  Janu 
ary  11,  1876: 

Mr.  Elaine. — I  believe  the  gentleman  from  Georgia  (Mr.  Hill)  was  a  member  of  the 
Confederate  Senate.  I  find  in  a  historical  book  of  some  authenticity  of  character  that  in 
the  Confederate  Congress  Senator  Hill,  of  Georgia,  introduced  the  following  resolution, 
relating  to  prisoners. 

Mr. Hill. — You  are  putting  me  on  trial  now,  are  you  ?    Go  ahead. 

Mr.  Elaine. — This  is  the  resolution  : 

"  That  every  person  pretending  to  be  a  soldier  or  officer  of  the  United  States  who  shall 
be  captured  on  the  soil  of  the  Confederate  States  after  the  1st  day  of  January,  1863,  shall 
be  presumed  to  have  entered  the  territory  of  the  Confederate  States  with  the  intent  to  in 
cite  insurrection  and  abet  murder  ;  and,  unless  satisfactory  proof  be  adduced  to  the  con 
trary  before  the  military  court  before  which  the  trial  shall  be  had,  shall  suffer  death.  This 
section  shall  continue  in  force  until  the  proclamation  issued  by  Abraham  Lincoln,  dated 
at  Washington  on  the  22d  day  of  September,  1862,  shall  be  rescinded,  and  the  policy 
therein  announced  shall  be  abandoned,  and  no  longer." 

I  take  pleasure  in  reading  this  for  one  reason.  I  have  made  it  a  rule  all 
my  life  to  state,  when  I  speak,  what  I  believe  to  be  exactly  the  truth. 
Even  though  one  may  appear  sometimes  at  a  little  disadvantage  by  stating 
the  truth,  it  is  the  best  rule,  after  all,  to  adhere  under  all  circumstances 
exactly  to  the  truth. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  will  say  to  the  gentleman  from  Maine  very  frankly  that  I  have  not  the 
slightest  recollection  of  ever  hearing  that  resolution  before. 

Mr.  Elaine. — The  gentleman  does  not  deny,  however,  that  he  was  the  author  of  it. 

Think  of  a  man  asking  another  if  he  denied  that  he  was  the  author  of  a 

fj 

resolution  which  he  had  frankly  said  he  had  no  recollection  of  ever  having 
heard  of  before  ! 

Mr.  Hill. — I  do  not  know.  My  own  impression  is  that  I  was  not  the  author  ;  but  I  do 
not  pretend  to  recollect  the  circumstances.  If  the  gentleman  can  give  me  the  circum 
stances  under  which  the  resolution  was  introduced,  they  might  recall  the  matter  to  my 
mind. 

Mr.  Elaine. — Allow  me  to  read  further : 

"October  1,  1862.— The  judiciary  committee  of  the  Confederate  Congress  made  a 
report  and  offered  a  set  of  resolutions  upon  the  subject  of  President  Lincoln's  proclama 
tion,  from  which  the  following  are  extracts  : 

"  2.  Every  white  person  who  shall  act  as  a  commissioned  or  non-commissioned  officer 
commanding  negroes  or  mulattoes  against  the  Confederate  States,  or  who  shall  arm, 
organize,  train,  or  prepare  negroes  or  mulattoes  for  military  service,  or  aid  them  in  any 
military  enterprise  against  the  Confederate  States,  shall,  if  captured,  suffer  death. 

"3.  Every  commissioned  or  non-commissioned  officer  of  the  enemy  who  shall  incite 
slaves  to  rebellion,  or  pretend  to  give  them  freedom  under  the  aforementioned  act  of  Con 
gress  and  proclamation,  by  abducting  or  causing  them  to  be  abducted  or  inducing  them 
to  abscond,  shall,  if  captured,  suffer  "death." 

Thereupon  Senator  Hill,  of  Georgia,  is  recorded  as  having  offered  the  resolution  I  have 
read. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  was  chairman  of  the  judiciary  committee  of  the  Senate. 

Mr.  Elaine. — And  this  resolution  came  directly  from  that  committee  ? 

Mr.  Hill.— It  is  very  probable,  that  like  the  chairman  of  the  committee  on  the  rules  at 
the  last  session,  I  may  have  consented  to  the  report. 

Mr.  Blaine.—The  gentleman  then  admits  that  he  did  make  that  report  ? 

Mr.  Hill.— I  really  do  not  remember  it.     I  think  it  very  likely. 

A  Member  (to  Mr.  Elaine). — What  is  the  book  ? 


gentlem 
resolution. 

Mr.  Hill— I  say  to  the  gentleman  frankly  that  I  really  do  not  remember. 


570  SENATOR  B.   iff.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

Mr.  'Elaine. — The  gentleman  does  not  say  he  was  not  the  author. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  do  not.  I  will  say  this  :  I  think  I  was  not  the  author.  Possibly  I  reported 
the  resolution.  It  refers  in  terms  to  "  pretended,"  not  real  soldiers. 

Mr.  Blaine. — I  thought  that  inasmuch  as  the  gentleman's  line  of  argument  was  to  show 
the  character  of  the  Confederate  policy,  this  might  aid  him  a  little  in  calling  up  the  facts 
pertinent  thereto. 

Mr.  Hill. — With  all  due  deference  to  the  gentleman,  I  reply  he  did  not  think  any  such 
thing.  He  thought  he  would  divert  me  from  the  purpose  of  my  argument  and  break  its 
force  by 

Mr.  Blaine. — Oh,  no. 

Mr.  Hill. — He  thought  he  would  get  up  a  discussion  about  certain  measures  presented 
in  the  Confederate  Congress  having  no  relation  to  the  subject  now  under  discussion,  but 
which  grew  out  of  the  peculiar  relation  of  the  Southern  States  to  a  population  then  in  ser 
vitude — a  population  which  the  Confederate  Government  feared  might  be  incited  to  insur 
rection — and  measures  were  doubtless  proposed  which  the  Confederate  Government  may 
have  thought  it  proper  to  take  to  protect  'helpless  women  and  children  in  the  South  from 
insurrection.  But  I  shall  not  allow  myself  to  be  diverted  by  the  gentleman  to  go  either  into 
the  history  of  slavery  or  of  domestic  insurrection,  or,  as  a  friend  near  me  suggests,  "  John 
Brown's  raid."  I  know  this,  that  if  I  or  any  gentleman  on  the  committee  was  the  author 
of  that  resolution,  which  I  think  more  than  probable,  our  purpose  was  not  to  do  injustice 
to  any  man,  woman,  or  child  North  or  South,  but  to  adopt  what  we  deemed  stringent 
measures,  within  the  laws  of  war,  to  protect  our  wives  and  children  from  servile  insurrec 
tion  and  slaughter  while  our  brave  sons  were  in  the  front.  That  is  all,  sir. 

I  called  at  the  library  some  time  after  this  discussion  occurred  for  the 
purpose  of  getting  the  book  to  which  the  senator  from  Maine,  then  the  gentle 
man  from  Maine,  referred.  It  was  not  in  the  library  ;  had  not  been,  I  sup 
pose,  returned  by  the  gentleman  ;  at  least  it  was  not  in  ;  so  the  librarian  told 
me.  I  let  the  question,  therefore,  pass  from  my  mind,  being  indifferent  about 
these  personal  matters  and  really  having  no  recollection  whatever  of  the  res 
olution  referred  to.  Some  time  later  I  went  to  the  library  again,  indeed  but 
a  short  time  since,  and  found  the  book  to  which  the  gentleman  alluded,  and 
from  which  he  quoted  ;  and  I  find  that  the  gentleman  from  Maine  quoted  cor 
rectly  what  appears  in  this  book,  except  that  he  left  out  one  remark  which,  I 
think,  he  ought  to  have  stated,  but  which,  I  frankly  confess,  if  he  had  stated 
might  not  have  refreshed %my  mind,  as  it  did  not  when  I  saw  this  book.  The 
gentleman  left  out  the  following  remark  of  the  author,  following  immediately 
upon  what  he  quoted  : 

The  Confederate  Congress  finally  left  the  subject  to  President  Davis.     A  general  ex 
change  of  prisoners  under  the  recognized  rules  of  war  was  soon  after  effected  and  the 
war  progressed  without  the  black  flag  of  the  democracy  of  the  South,  save  at  Fort  Pillow  i 
and  a  few  other  places. 

If  that  portion  had  been  read  it  possibly,  though  I  doubt  it,  might  have  ' 
showed  me  that  the  subjects  to  which  the  resolution  or  the  pretended  res 
olution  referred,  related  to  retaliatory  measures  that  were  proposed  in  the 
Confederate  Congress  on  a  certain  contingency  ;  but  I  must  confess  that 
after  reading  this  book  I  was  unable  even  to  suppose  what  the  truth  was  ; 
my  recollection  was  still  an  utter  blank.  But  I  read  in  this  book  other  facts 
which  very  thoroughly  convinced  me  that  a  more  untruthful  and  unreliable 
book  was  never  written.  In  my  opinion  it  would  be  impossible  for  human 
ignorance  and  human  malice  combined  to  get  up  a  more  inveterate  calumny 
against  any  people  than  this  book  has  contrived  to  get  up  against  the  South 
ern  people.  It  is  utterly  untrue. 

But,  sir,  I  have  been  more  fortunate,  and  almost  by  accident.  I  hav( 
found  in  "  Appleton's  Annual  Cyclopaedia,"  for  1862,  quite  a  full  reference 
to  this  whole  subject,  and  the  reference  at  least  is  ample  to  bring  the  whol< 
subject  to  my  recollection,  and  it  will  be  seen  now  why  I  was  utterly  unabl< 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  571 

to  recollect  the  facts  when  quoted  by  the  senator  from  Maine  and  when  re 
peated  in  this  book  by  R.  Guy  McClellan.  The  facts  as  quoted  and  the  facts 
as  repeated  are  utterly  untrue,  and  form  a  miserable  perversion  that  ought  to 
destroy  the  reputation  of  any  one  who  voluntarily  made  such  a  statement. 
Of  course  I  presume  that  the  senator  from  Maine,  in  that  transaction,  relied 
solely  upon  the  book  from  which  he  read,  but  he  seemed  to  be  rather  anxious 
to  give  it  the  character  of  a  book  of  good  reputation  and  authenticity. 

Now,  sir,  I  want  the  attention  of  the  Senate  a  moment.  It  appears  from 
the  facts  as  they  are  given  in  Appleton's  Cyclopedia,  under  the  head  of 
"Confederate  Congress,"  of  "  Prisoners  of  War,"  and  "Public  Documents," 
wherein  the  entire  correspondence  is  given,  that  the  following  state  of  facts 
vxisted.  which  immediately  brought  up  not  the  resolution  but  certain 
proposed  action  by  the  Senate  of  the  Confederate  States.  Everybody  will  re 
member  that  soon  after  the  beginning  of  the  war  one  of  the  most  serious  differ 
ences  between  the  belligerents  was  as  to  whether  the  Federal  Government 
would  recognize  the  Confederate  Government  as  a  belligerent.  There  was 

^j  ^j 

much  feeling  upon  that  subject.  The  Federal  authorities  refused  for  a  long 
time  to  do  so.  You  remember  the  capture  of  our  privateersmen,  some 
eighty-five  or  one  hundred  in  number,  who  were  imprisoned  and  condemned 
to  be  treated  as  traitors.  Their  execution  was  prevented,  because  in  the 
mean  time  the  Confederate  Government  had  also  made  captures  and  selected 
hostages  to  be  executed  in  case  those  privateersmen  were  executed.  Quite  a 
correspondence  grew  up  upon  that.  Prisoners  were  captured  on  both  sides 
during  the  spring  of  1862,  sometimes  more  on  one  side,  sometimes  more  on 
the  other,  and  quite  a  correspondence  was  had  during  that  whole  year  for  the 
purpose  of  getting  up  a  cartel  for  the  exchange  of  prisoners.  There  was  only 
partial  success.  In  the  mean  time  a  bitter  state  of  feeling  was  growing  up 
on  both  sides.  Any  gentleman  can  see  what  that  feeling  was  by  reading 
the  preamble  to  the  act  reported  by  the  majority  of  the  judiciary  committee 
at  the  time  alluded  to. 

It  was  charged  that  persons  under  the  guise  of  Federal  soldiers  were  en 
deavoring  to  incite  insurrection  in  the  Southern  States,  were  capturing  un 
armed  citizens  ;  that  men  were  insulting  women,  were  burning  houses,  and 
committing  a  great  many  acts  of  that  sort  at  a  time  when  the  Federal 
Government  refused  to  recognize  the  Confederate  Government  as  a  belliger 
ent  power.  There  were  also  some  notable  instances  of  alleged  cruelty  and 
brutality  at  various  places. 

In  the  midst  of  this  correspondence,  and  before  the  question  had  been  set 
tied,  Mr.  Lincoln  issued  his  proclamation,  in  September,  1862,  announcing  the 


I  \o  I'f" 

and  to  murder  the  women  and  children  and  old   men  while  thevoiuiLr 
were  absent  in  the  army.     It  created  a  great  deal  of  feeling, 
cannot  appreciate  the  feeling  it  did  create.     The  Confederate  i  mel 

in  August,  1862.     It  is  proper  for  me  to  state  that  I  did  not  believe 
Lincoln  had  any  such  purpose  in  issuing  his  emancipation  proclamation,  and 
I  so  openly  and  publicly  avowed.     I  did  not  believe  that  Mr.  Lincoln  desire< 
to  incite  insurrection  among  the  slaves  of  the  South  or  desired  that  1 
treatment  should  be  visited  upon   the   unarmed  citizens  of  the 
States,  and  I  believed  further  that  if  he  did  so  intend  it  would  prove  an 
brutwnfulmen,  and  would  fail.     I  believed,  on  the  contrary,  Mr.  Line 


5*72  8KNATOR  R   H.   ttTLL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

purpose  in  issuing  that  proclamation  was  political  and  for  a  Northern  purpose. 
That  was  my  opinion. 

In  this  condition  of  things  the  matter  was  brought  by  a  resolution  of  a 
senator  from  Louisiana,  Mr.  Semmes,  before  the  Confederate  Senate,  and 
that  resolution  offered  by  Mr.  Semmes  was  referred  to  the  judiciary  com 
mittee.  The  resolution  simply  instructed  the  committee  to  inquire  as  to 
what  retaliatory  and  retributive  legislation  was  necessary  or  proper  in  view 
of  the  condition  of  things  which  I  have  laid  before  the  Senate.  When  that 
committee  met,  what  will  this  Senate  believe,  what  will  it  think  when  I  in 
form  them  that  the  fact  is  here  stated,  and  it  is  true,  that  in  the  midst  of 
all  that  excitement,  natural,  honest  excitement,  in  the  midst  of  that  alarm 
among  our  people,  I,  who  have  been  held  up  as  the  bloody  man  on  that 
occasion,  was  the  only  man  who  utterly  opposed  passing  any  retaliatory 
legislation  on  the  subject. 

Finding,  however,  as  I  stated,  a  general  purpose,  or  belief,  or  opinion, 
among  the  senators  and  on  the  judiciary  committee,  that  some  retaliatory 
legislation  ought  to  be  enacted,  I  prepared  a  bill  from  which  I  will  read  to 
the  Senate  that  portion  which  has  not  been  read.  The  judiciary  committee, 
all  but  two  of  them,  agreed  to  a  bill  which  is  here  quoted  in  full.  That 
bill  was  not  intended,  as  the  authors  of  it  declared,  to  make  it  criminal  fora 
man  to  be  a  soldier  in  the  Federal  Army,  but  I  thought  it  might  bear  that 
construction.  Therefore  I  refused  to  join  in  reporting  it,  but  agreed  to  it  if 
that  construction  could  be  made  explicit.  I  would  not  agree  to  make  it  a 
crime  for  any  man  to  belong  to  the  Federal  Army,  or  to  assume  that  he  was 
a  criminal  because  he  belonged  to  the  Federal  Army.  It  is  just  to  that 
committee  to  say  that  they  disclaimed  and  denied  that  that  was  the  proper 
interpretation  of  their  bill.  I  thought  it  would  be  subject  to  that  construc 
tion,  and  therefore  I  declined  to  agree  to  it.  Another  senator  offered 
another  resolution,  not  a  bill.  He  proposed  a  resolution  very  violent  in 
character,  in  which  he  declared  that  the  rules  of  civilized  warfare  had  been 
repudiated  by  the  Federal  Government  and  should  be  repudiated  by  the 
Confederate  Government.  I  will  sav  in  defense  of  that  man — he  is  dead 

*./ 

and  gone — that  he  sincerely  believed  that  policy  would  bring  the  war  to  a 
speedy  termination.  It  only  shows  how  men  can  be  misjudged. 

I  could  not  agree  to  any  of  these  propositions,  and  refused  to  join  in  re 
porting  any  of  them,  but  I  drafted  a  bill  which  would  steer  clear  of  the 
difficulty  which  I  had  insisted  might  attach  to  the  bill  of  the  majority  of 
the  committee,  and  reported  it,  not  for  adoption  but  for  consideration,  if 
any  legislation  should  be  adopted  at  all.  Now,  I  want  to  read  the  first  sec 
tion  of  that  bill.  The  gentleman  from  Maine  asked  me  if  I  had  introduced 
a  resolution,  and  what  he  quoted  as  the  resolution  is  the  second  section  of 
this  act,  and  it  is  quoted  in  this  book  by  McClellan  as  a  resolution,  an  in 
dependent  resolution  offered  by  me.  When  I  come  to  see  the  whole  facts 
I  find  that  what  they  call  a  resolution  was  the  second  section  of  a  bill  pro 
posed  by  me.  The  writer  left  out  the  first  section,  which  thoroughly  ex 
plained  the  second,  and  shows  precisely  what  I  meant.  I  want  to  read  that 
first  section  now  to  the  Senate  : 

That  if  any  person  singly,  or  in  organized  bodies,  shall,  under  pretense  of  waging 
war,  kill  or  maim,  or  in  any  wise  injure  the  person  of  any  unarmed  citizen  of  the  Con 
federate  States,  or  shall  destroy,  or  seize,  or  damage  the  property,  or  invade  the  house  or 
domicile,  or  insult  the  family  of  such  unarmed  citizen  ;  or  shall  persuade  or  force  any 
slave  to  abandon  his  owner,  or  shall,  by  word  or  act,  counsel  or  incite  to  servile  insurrec 
tion  within  the  limits  of  the  Confederate  States,  all  such  persons,  if  captured  by  the 


MX  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  573 

forces  of  the  Confederate  States,  shall  be  treated  as  criminals,  and  not  as  prisoners  ol 
war,  and  shall  be  tried  by  a  military  court,  and,  on  conviction,  suffer  death. 

I  do  not  believe  there  is  a  senator  on  that  side  who  would  disagree  to 
that  section.  I  especially  want  to  read  to  the  Senate  the  language  I  used  in 
presenting  that  bill  to  the  Confederate  Senate.  Here  it  is,  fortunately,  re- 
ported  in  this  work  : 

Mr.  Hill,  of  Georgia. — I  must  be.  allowed  to  say  for  myself 

Now,  senators,  mark  you,  this  is  after  the  other  bill  by  the  committee 
had  been  reported.  This  is  after  Mr.  Phelan,  of  Mississippi,  had  reported 
his  substitute.  I  came  last  and  said  : 

I  must  be  allowed  to  say  for  myself  that  I  regard  the  proclamation  of  Mr.  Lincoln  as 
a  mere  brutamfulmen,  and  so  intended  by  its  author.  It  is  to  serve  a  temporary  purpose 
at  the  North.  I  fear  we  are  dignifying  it  beyond  its  importance.  As  the  Senate  has 
concluded  to  notice  it,  I  am  in  favor  of  the  simplest  and  most  legal  action.  We  must 
confine  our  action  icithin  the  line  of  right  under  the  laws  of  nations.  In  my  opinion  we 
have  the  right  to  declare  certain  acts  as  crimes,  being  in  conflict  with  civilized  war,  and 
the  actors  as  criminals  ;  and  a  criminal,  though  a  soldier,  is  not  entitled  to  be  considered 
a  prisoner  of  war.  While,  therefore,  I  approve  the  general  idea  to  treat  persons  guilty  of 
certain  acts  as  criminals,  contained  in  the  bill  reported  by  the  senator  from  Louisiana  (Mr. 
Semmes),  and  agreed  to  that  report  as  being  the  one  most  favored  by  the  majority  of  the 
committee,  I  also,  in  accordance  with  the  understanding  of  the  committee,  propose  the 
following  bill,  and  ask  that  it  be  printed  for  the  consideration  of  the  Senate. 

And,  sir,  what  are  the  facts  ?  In  the  excited  condition  of  the  country 
then,  I  stood  up  in  that  Senate  and  I  refused  to  agree  to  any  legislation  ex 
cept  that  which  simply  made  wrongs  committed  upon  an  unarmed  citizen  crim 
inal  acts.  Why,  sir,  I  know  the  honorable  senator  from  Illinois  (Mr.  Logan), 
and  I  believe  every  honorable  man  on  that  side  of  the  Chamber  would  say 
that  it  was  right  to  provide  by  law  for  the  punishment  of  those  who  should 
make  war  upon  unarmed  citizens,  old  men,  women,  and  children  in  their 
homes.  That  was  all  I  proposed  to  do,  and  I  did  not  even  propose  to  do 
that.  I  advised  the  Confederate  Senate  to  take  no  action  at  all — to  pass  no 
bill  on  the  subject  of  retaliation.  I  knew  the  dangers  to  which  it  would  lead. 
I  knew  the  sufferings  that  might  result.  I  thought  passion  was  already  too 
high.  I  thought  the  motives  of  Mr.  Lincoln  in  issuing  that  proclamation 
were  misconceived.  I  said  first,  "  I  propose  no  action."  Secondly,  "  If  you 
will  act,  I  insist  that  you  make  nothing  criminal  but  acts  of  wrong  upon  un 
armed  citizens,  whether  committed  by  anybody,  soldiers  or  otherwise  ;  but 
I  advised  in  conclusion  that  it  would  be  best  to  pass  the  matter  over  ;  that 
\ve  were  dignifying  it  unnecessarily.  I  did  not  believe  the  insurrections 
would  take  place  that  were  apprehended.  And,  sir,  I  have  the  pleasure  of 
saying  to  this  Senate,  as  the  record  here  shows,  the  Confederate  Senate 
adopted  my  suggestion  and  passed  none  of  these  measures. 

Sir,  let  my  part  in  this  transaction  pass.     I  am  an  unimportant  individ 
ual  in  this  country ;  but  I  challenge  the  gentleman   to  take  the  annab 
war  and  point  me  to  a  single  instance  in  the  history  of  any  country  where 
under  circumstances  half  so  threatening  the  authorities  were  hall 
siderate  and  moderate.     The  whole  Confederacy  has  been  held  up  to  the 
country  as  proposing  and  passing  these  laws  to  punish  Federal  soldiers  wr 
death  because  they  were  Federal  soldiers.     I  have  been  placarded  to  the 
whole  North,  with  the  New  York  Tribune  ir   the  lead,  as  a  man  especially 
brutal,  proposing  in  the  Confederate  Senate  as  an   independent  measure, 
voluntarily  offered  by  myself,  a  resolution  to  treat  Federal  soldiers  as  cnmi- 
n.als  simply  because  they  were  Federal  soldiers.     And  now  the 


574  SENATOR  R   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

conclusively  show  there  was  not  only  no  truth  in  the  charge,  but  that  the 
very  contrary  of  the  charge  is  the  truth. 

Mr.  Logan. — If  the  senator  will  allow  me,  inasmuch  as  he  referred  to  me, 
I  merely  wish  to  ask  him  one  question.  As  I  understood  the  reading  of  the 
first  section  of  that  bill,  it  provided  that  individuals,  singly  or  organized 
bodies,  should  be  punished  if  they  interfered  with  the  private  property  of 
citizens  unarmed.  I  do  not  ask  the  question  with  a  view  of  entering  into 
this  discussion,  but  I  ask  if  that  would  not  apply  to  a  foraging  party  that 
might  be  sent  out  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  fodder,  corn,  wheat,  pork,  or 
anything  of  that  kind  for  the  use  of  the  army?  I  ask  whether  it  would  not 
apply  to  that  class  of  men  where  they  took  this  property  from  private  citi 
zens  unarmed  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — I  thank  the  senator  for  asking  me  the  question.  I  see  his 
motive  is  good,  and  on  this  question  I  want  no  misunderstanding. 

Mr.  Logan. — It  struck  me  at  the  time  that  it  would,  and  I  suggested  it 
for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining. 

Mr.  Hill. — It  would  not.  If  you  will  notice  the  language  of  the 
whole  bill  you  will  find,  and  even  my  language  in  introducing  it  shows, 
that  it  is  confined  not  to  real  soldiers  but  simply  to  those  who,  acting  un 
der  pretense,  might  go  on  marauding  excursions  under  the  protection  of 
Federal  uniforms.  It  did  not  apply  to  lawful  soldiers  in  any  capacity. 
Although  the  question  of  the  senator  from  Illinois  is  a  very  proper  one  and 
a  very  natural  one,  the  senator  will  see  that  I  was  utterly  opposed  to  any 
legislation  that  was  not  strictly  within  the  line  of  right  and  the  law  of 
nations.  I  call  attention  to  the  language  of  the  act  again  : 

That  if  any  person  singly,  or  in  organized  bodies,  shall,  under  pretense  of  waging  war. 

It  simply  struck  at  what  we  believed  would  be  organized  bands  of  men 
taking  advantage  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  proclamation  to  go  into  the  Southern 
States  under  pretense  of  waging  war  for  the  purpose  really  of  plunder  upon 
the  unarmed  citizens.  This  was  intended  to  meet  that  case  ;  but  for  fear  of 
the  opposite  construction,  believing,  as  I  say,  that  Mr.  Lincoln's  proclama 
tion  had  no  such  purpose  and  could  have  no  such  eifect,  I  insisted  that 
nothing  should  be  done,  not  even  that  that  bill  should  be  passed,  and  it  was 
not  passed.  It  never  did  become  a  law.  I  myself  was  opposed  to  it.  I 
simply  proposed  it  as  an  alternative  proposition  to  avoid  what  I  thought 
might  be  the  difficulties  of  other  propositions  submitted. 

Now,  gentlemen  on  the  other  side,  we  differ  in  politics,  and  we  give  each 
other  manly  blows  in  consequence  of  our  differences  of  political  opinion,  but 
I  submit  to  every  fair-minded  man  on  that  side  of  the  Chamber,  is  there 
anything  brutal  in  my  conduct  there  ?  Is  it  not  everything  to  the  contrary  ? 
Sir,  whether  the  Republican  press  at  the  North  shall  correct  the  misrepre 
sentations  which  they  have  so  industriously  circulated  upon  this  subject,  and 
which  they  have  made  this  resolution  or  pretended  resolution  the  excuse  for 
circulating,  is  a  matter  which  I  shall  leave  to  their  own  sense  of  honor  and 
truth. 

I  am  notified  in  the  debate  which  occurred  in  1876  of  a  fact  which  I  had 
heard  before.  A  distinguished  gentleman  of  the  Republican  party  had 
taken  the  pains  to  send  South  and  gather  up  all  my  records,  and  they  say 
they  found  them  quite  voluminous.  Really  I  have  never  preserved  any  my 
self  ;  I  have  never  made  a  habit  of  preserving  my  own  speeches  and  letters. 
I  am  told  that  there  is  much  in  that  record  inconsistent  with  what  I  have 
said  upon  this  floor. 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  575 

Mr.  President,  I  claim  no  superiority  of  intellect  over  others;  none 
whatever.  In  view  of  the  troubles  which  have  cursed  our  country  durimr 
the  past  twenty  years,  it  seems  to  me  every  man  who  pretends  to  have  been 
a  statesman  during  that  trying  period  ought  to  feel  humbled  that  the  states 
manship  of  this  country  was  wholly  insufficient  to  avert  such  a  cruel  and 
wicked  war  ;  it  ought,  I  say,  to  humble  in  the  dust  every  man  in  the  coun 
try.  I  feel  humbled  in  view  of  my  utter  inability  to  accomplish  the  <*ood  I 
so  much  desired  ;  I  certainly  feel  nothing  like  boasting.  But  he  who  here 
or  elsewhere  assails  the  sincerity  of  my  convictions,  the  candor  of  my  utter 
ances,  the  honesty  of  my  action,  and  the  kindness  of  my  nature,  my  devotion 
to  the  Union  of  the  States  under  the  Constitution,  or  my  fidelity  to  any  and 
every  trust,  is  simply  "  a  liar,  and  the  truth  is  not  in  him." 

Upon  two  subjects  I  stand  here  and  throw,  not  only  to  the  other  side 
but  to  the  world,  a  proud  and  confident  defiance.  Search  all  my  letters, 
public  and  private,  rake  through  the  earth,  you  cannot  find  in  one  of  them 
one  line,  one  word,  one  syllable  to  justify  the  charge  that  anywhere  before 
the  war,  during  the  war,  or  since  the  war  I  ever  spoke  in  the  slightest 
degree  disrespectfully  of  the  union  of  these  States  under  the  Constitution 
of  my  country.  There  have  been  times,  I  confess,  when  I  have  almost  de 
spaired  of  its  preservation,  and  there  may  be  found  words  sometimes  of 
despondency.  You  will  find  much  against  secession,  you  will  find  much 
against  the  Republican  party,  you  will  find  much  against  the  war,  and  you 
will  find  burning  words  against  Reconstruction.  All  that  is  true  ;  but 
against  the  Union  of  these  States,  partly  national  and  partly  Federal, 
against  this  confederate  nation  as  explained  by  Madison  and  expounded  by 
Webster,  I  have  had  no  feeling  but  one  of  perpetual  adoration  from  the 
time  I  understood  it  to  this  hour  ;  and  upon  that  subject  I  defy  criticism 
and  challenge  malice.  I  know  it  has  been  frequently  said  that  I  have  been 
inconsistent.  That  is  untrue. 

Sir,  I  have  had  to  submit  to  many  things  I  did  not  approve.  I  did  not 
approve  secession,  but  when  the  will  of  my  State  was  declared  I  submitted 
to  it.  I  did  not  approve  of  the  war  of  subjugation,  but  when  subjugation 
was  accomplished  I  submitted  to  it.  I  did  not  approve  of  Reconstruction. 
I  believe  to-day  it  has  inflicted  a  deeper  wound  upon  the  vitals  of  our  Con 
stitutional  system  than  both  secession  and  the  war  combined,  and  I  did 
ivsist  it  with  all  the  power  and  zeal,  and  even  invective,  I  could  command  ; 
but  when  Reconstruction  was  accomplished  I  submitted  to  it.  But  I  rejoice 
that  one  grand  fact  on  which  I  always  kept  my  mind  remains  unchanged. 
I  did  fear  that  the  nation  could  not  survive  the  war.  I  did  fear  that  in 
some  form  the  liberties  of  the  people  would  be  subverted  and  destroyed.  I 
did  fear  that  the  character  of  our  government  (and  I  explained  it  the  other 
day)  would  be  utterly  changed.  But,  sir,  the  fact  to  which  I  allude  with 
so  much  pride  and  satisfaction  is  that  we  have  passed  through  secession, 
through  the  war,  and  even  through  the  carpet-bag  infamies  of  the  South, 
and  the  character  of  our  government  still  remains  essentially  the  same  ;  it 
has  never  been  changed.  The  Thirteenth,  Fourteenth,  and  Fifteenth 
Amendments,  which  give  certain  additional  rights  to  a  portion  of  the  people 
<>t'  the  country,  have  not  changed  in  any  degree  the  relations  between  the 
States  and  the  Union,  nor  in  any  manner  the  character  of  our  Confederate, 
Federal,  and  National  Government,  mixed  and  composite,  as  Mr.  Madison 
siys  it  is ;  and  I  rejoice  that  it  has  been  preserved.  I  look  back  through 
that  lonir  niiHit  of  danger  and  threatening  and  feel  that  every  man  in  this 

*^  C3  £5  *>r^ 


576  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

country  ought  to  rejoice  that  we  have  passed  through  that  angry  storm  of 
passion  and  hatred,  as  I  trust  we  are  through,  with  our  Constitution  still 
undestroyed  ;  and  it  ought  to  be  the  pride  and  ambition  of  every  public  man 
every  party  to  see  to  it  that  it  shall  be  re-established  and  re-enthroned  in 
the  hearts  of  the  people. 

But,  sir,  I  come  to  the  other  subject  upon  which  I  want  to  throw  out  a 
defiance.  I  have  passed  through  the  war.  I  have  seen  scenes  of  suffering, 
and  many  of  them.  I  have  seen  occasions  when  many  might  be  tempted  to 
be  cruel  and  unkind  ;  but  I  defy  any  human  being,  I  care  not  what  his 
position  is,  to  put  his  finger  on  a  single  word  or  act  of  mine  that  was  ever 
cruel  to  a  human  being.  It  is  impossible  to  do  so,  and  tell  the  truth.  I  am 
a  man  of  positive  convictions  ;  I  denounce  wrong,  and  have  done  it  unspar 
ingly  ;  but  cruelty,  unkindness,  is  no  part  of  my  nature,  and  was  never  com 
mitted  by  me. 

It  is  not  for  me,  Mr.  President,  to  parade  to  this  country  and  to  this 
Senate  my  acts  of  kindness,  and  I  shall  not  do  it.  They  were  not  committed 
for  that  purpose.  But  there  is  one  incident  in  my  life  which,  as  it  reflects 
credit  upon  others  perhaps  more  than  upon  myself,  and  was  somewhat  of  a 
public  character,  and  as  living  witnesses  are  abundant  to  prove  it,  I  will 
take  occasion  to  state  to  the  Senate  briefly.  During  the  month  of  April, 
1865,  the  Federal  army  under  General  Wilson  passed  from  Alabama  into 
Georgia,  just  previously  to  the  surrender  of  General  Johnston  and  General 
Lee.  The  main  army  under  General  Wilson  entered  Georgia  at  Columbus. 
There  a  detachment  of  Federal  soldiers,  four  thousand  I  understood,  under 
Colonel  La  Grange,  entered  the  State  of-  Georgia  at  West  Point,  which 
is  in  the  county  in  which  I  resided,  and  sixteen  miles  from  the  county  seat, 
my  residence.  Hearing  of  the  approach  of  that  army,  of  course  I  left 
hastily.  Standing  in  the  ashes  of  Atlanta,  seventy  miles  away,  I  received 
two  messages  simultaneously.  One  was  that  my  own  house  was  burning  ; 
the  other  was  that  General  Lee  had  surrendered.  Imagine  my  surprise 
when  on  returning  to  my  home  a  few  days  after  I  found  that  my  house  had 
not  only  not  been  burned,  but  that  my  family  had  not  been  in  the  slightest 
degree  disturbed,  and  that  a  Federal  soldier  had  not  put  his  foot  on  my 
premises,  the  most  conspicuous  place  in  the  town.  Every  other  citizen  per 
haps  had  been  visited,  and  some  public  houses  had  been  burned,  warehouses, 
etc.  This  was  a  mystery,  and  a  very  great  mystery,  and  to  none  more  a 
mystery  than  to  myself.  I  expected,  of  course,  that  I  should  suffer  above 
any  other  citizen  of  the  town.  I  suffered  not  at  all,  and  all  others  suffered 
more  or  less,  and  some  very  severely.  It  was  a  mystery  to  the  town  ;  it 
was  the  general  talk  how  was  it. 

„*  No  man  doubted  my  fidelity  to  the  Confederacy,  because  at  that  very 
]t  moment,  and  for  two  months  before,  I  had  been  the  only  public  man  in 
the  Confederacy  on  the  stump  trying  to  rally  the  people  against  uncondi 
tional  surrender.  Of  course  the  event  was  of  sufficient  consequence  to  in 
duce  me  to  make  an  effort  to  explain  the  mystery.  I  was  told  on  inquiry 
that  at  the  battle  of  West  Point,  for  there  was  a  considerable  little  battle 
fought  there,  a  young  Federal  officer  was  severely  wounded  who  was  a 
favorite  with  Colonel  La  Grange  in  command,  and  while  not  dangerously 
wounded  he  was  so  painfully  wounded  that  he  could  not  go  on  with  the 
Federal  forces.  I  fortunately  had  a  niece  living  in  the  town  of  West  Poinl, 
whose  husband  was  a  physician  and  surgeon.  Knowing,  as  was  afterward 
reported,  that  the  act  would  be  altogether  agreeable  to  me,  he  went  and 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  577 

offered  his  services  to  take  that  young  wounded  Federal  officer  to  his  home 
and  care  for  him.     I  suppose  that  had  something  to  do  with  it. 

Then  my  slaves,  who  were  faithful  and  devoted  to  the  last  hour,  claimed 
that  they  had  gone  to  the  Federal  headquarters,  for  the  Federal  troops 
camped  two  nights  and  a  day  in  the  town,  and  interposed  for  the  protection  of 
my  family.  That  I  supposed  also  had  something  to  do  with  it.  After  all 
the  armies  had  surrendered,  in  the  month  of  May,  a  detachment  of  Federal 
soldiers,  under  somebody's  order  I  understand  here  at  Washington,  per 
haps  the  Secretary  of  War,  came  to  La  Grange,  and  at  two  o'clock  in  the 
morning  arrested  me  and  took  me  off  to  Atlanta.  While  waiting  there  for 
transportation  to  Fort  La  Fayette,  a  gentleman  came  to  see  me  who  said  he 
came  directly  from  Colonel  La  Grange,  who  was  then  in  the  city  of  Macon, 
and  received  the  following  facts  from  his  own  lips  in  explanation  of  my 
exemption  from  pillage  on  that  occasion.  Colonel  La  Grange  stated  that 
during  the  summer  or  fall  of  1864,  while  the  armies  of  General  Johnson  and 
General  Sherman  were  north  of  Atlanta,  in  the  northern  part  of  Georgia,  a 
number  of  ladies,  Northern  ladies  by  birth,  who  had  been  residing  in  the 
South  and  who  had  passed  safely  through  General  Johnson's  line  under 
passports  from  the  Confederate  Government,  on  their  return  North  were 
captured  in  General  Sherman's  line  and  carried  to  his  headquarters  under 
suspicion  of  being  spies.  They  were  of  course  properly  required  to  give  an 
account  of  themselves.  It  turned  out  that  these  ladies  happened  to  be  some 
among  many  who  had  written  to  me  frequently,  and  on  this  occasion  espe 
cially,  to  Richmond,  asking  my  advice  as  to  whether  under  the  circumstances 
of  privation  and  suffering  in  the  Southern  States  I  would  advise  them  to 
leave  the  people  who  they  said  had  been  so  kind  to  them,  though  Northern 
ladies,  and  return  to  their  friends  in  the  North,  who  had  abundance,  and,  if 
I  would  give  that  advice,  to  give  them  the  proper  means  of  getting  through 
the  lines.  I  sent  them  everything  they  needed  and  advised  them  to  go. 

I  never  heard  from  them  any  more.     I  sent  them  passports  and  every 
thing  else  necessary  to  take  them  to  their  friends  in  the  North.     When 
these  ladies  were  required,  at  General  Sherman's  headquarters,  to  give  an 
account  of  themselves  they  were  naturally  quite  exuberant  and  extravagant 
in  their  account  of  my  own  treatment  of  them.     Colonel  La  Grange  was  at 
that  time  in  General  Sherman's  headquarters,  I  believe — I  am  not  sure — a 
member  of  his  staff.     The  senator  from  Illinois  will  know  better  ;  but  at 
least  he  was  there.     He  became  acquainted  with  these  ladies,  and  heard  the 
story  of  this  kindness,  and  much  in  relation  to  myself  that  I  will  not  venture 
to   relate.     As   he  approached  the  town  of  La  Grange,  the  place  of  my 
residence,  these  facts  detailed  to  him  by  these  ladies  came  to  his  recollec 
tion,  and  he  informed  this  gentleman  that  when  he  reached  wi 
miles  of  my  residence  he  stopped  his  whole  command.     He  gave  them  first 
information  that  at  the  next  place  a  Confederate  senator  resided,  and 
would  perhaps  think  that  they  had  a  right  to  raid  upon  him ;  but  he  i 
an  order  forbidding,  under  severe  penalties,  any  soldier  from  putting  h 
foot  upon  my  premises  under  any  pretext,  and  it  was  strictly  obeyed, 
was  the  solution  of  the  mystery. 

Mr.  President,  we  are  told  that  when  God  created  the  heavens  and 
earth  on  the  third  day,  he  said,  "  Let  the  earth  bring  forth  grass,  the  herb 
yielding  seed  and  the  fruit  tree  yielding  fruit  after  his  kind,  whose  seed 
m  itself,  upon  the  earth  ;  and  it  was  so."     From  that  day  to  this 
been  so.     Yet  all  these  seeds  must  be  sown  in  their  season  and  in  a  chmat. 


578  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

adapted  to  their  nature,  else  they  will  perish.  But,  sir,  there  is  seed  which 
will  bear  fruit  in  all  seasons  and  in  every  clime  under  the  heavens.  Plant 
it  in  the  cold  where  the  snows  never  melt,  or  in  the  heat  where  the  frosts 
never  come  ;  scatter  it  on  the  naked  rocks  or  in  the  most  fertile  soil ;  drop 
it  in  the  water  or  on  the  land,  and  everywhere,  every  seed  will  germinate 
and  grow  and  reward  the  sower.  It  is  tilled  by  a  hand  that  never  tires  ;  it 
is  watched  by  an  eye  that  never  sleeps  ;  it  is  trained  by  a  power  that  tem 
pers  all  the  elements  to  its  healthiest  maturity.  That  seed,  sir,  is  kindness, 
and  I  have  garnered  its  fruits  when  and  where  they  were  least  expected. 
Will  leaders  of  a  great  party,  will  men  who  aspire  to  hold  in  their  hands 
the  destinies  of  millions  living  and  of  many  more  millions  yet  to  live,  never 
learn  that  abuse  and  slander  and  calumny  and  misrepresentation  are  not  the 
means  which  wise  or  good  men  employ  to  give  peace  to  a  country  or  pros 
perity  to  a  people  or  stability  to  a  government  ?  Will  the  people  themselves 
at  the  North  never  learn  that  brawling  treason  and  traitors  at  men  for 
honest  differences  of  opinion  is  not  argument  and  proves  nothing  except 
that  the  brawlers  are  neither  statesmen  nor  patriots  ? 

Mr.  President,  in  looking  over  this  record  of  1862,  I  find  a  debate  which 
occurred  in  the  Confederate  Senate,  that  I  had  forgotten,  between  a  sen 
ator  from  Texas,  Mr.  Wigfall,  who  is  doubtless  known  to  members  on  this 
floor,  and  myself.  It  is  a  singular  and  a  curious  discussion  in  some  respects. 
The  question  had  arisen  what  was  the  relation  of  a  citizen  of  one  of  the 
Confederate  States  who  adhered  to  the  Union  after  secession  to  the  Confed 
erate  States  themselves.  The  senator  from  Texas,  Mr.  Wigfall,  as  was  the 
natural  corollary  of  his  view  of  politics,  held  that  the  relation  was  that 
of  a  traitor.  I  denied  it,  and  took  the  position  that  the  relation  was  that  of 
an  alien  enemy,  and  upon  that  point  the  discussion  was  had.  It  would  be 
interesting  perhaps  to  those  who  listened  to  my  argument  a  month  ago  to 
hear  this,  but  I  shall  not  read  it  all.  In  discussing  that  question  I  made  use 
of  these  words  : 

I  ask  this  :  Do  you  hold  Andrew  Johnson,  who  abandoned  the  State  of  Tennessee 
and  never  came  under  obligation  to  the  Confederate  Government,  to  be  a  traitor  ?  Caii 
he  be  a  traitor  ?  I  am  discussing  the  general  proposition.  I  say  that,  as  regards  every 
man  who  held  allegiance  to  the  United  States  originally,  while  he  had  a  right  to  adhere 
to  that  allegiance,  there  was  no  power  on  earth  could  break  his  allegiance  against  his 
consent.  This  proposition  I  assert,  and  when  a  gentleman  denies  it  he  need  not  talk 
about  State  rights  and  individual  rights.  He  erects  the  government  into  a  despotism, 
whether  it  goes  by  the  name  of  monarchy,  aristocracy,  or  democracy.  If  you  can  lay 
hold  of  a  citizen  and  tear  him  loose  against  his  will  from  his  acknowledged  allegiance, 
you  exercise  the  greatest  power  a  tyrant  is  capable  of  exercising.  I  say  again,  that  no 
power  can  rightly  force  a  man  to  break  his  allegiance.  The  very  violation  of  allegiance 
implies  a  consent  of  the  will. 

The  senator  says  that  there  are  no  citizens  of  the  Confederate  States.  But  the  Consti 
tution  says  there  are.  "  The  electors  in  each  State  shall  be  citizens  of  the  Confederate 
States."  The  gentleman  says  it  does  not  mean  that.  I  should  suspect  any  theory  that 
drove  me  to  destroy  or  change  the  language  of  the  Constitution  itself.  Here  it  is  plainly 
written;  and  because  I  abide  by  it  the  gentleman  calls  me  a  "  nationalist. "  God  save 
the  mark. 

Mr.  Wigfall.— I  hope  he  will. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  have  always  understood  that  the  fundamental  principle  of  State  rights 
is,  that  the  power  shall  be  found  in  the  grant,  and  that  it  is  to  be  defined  by  the  words 
used,  and  that  ' '  construction  "  was  the  old  theory  of  the  nationalists. 

•  •  .  .... 

I  grant  that  no  person  can  be  a  citizen  of  the  Confederate  States  "who  is  not  a  citizen 
of  some  one  of  the  States,  but  it  does  not  follow  that  a  citizen  of  a  State  is  necessarily  a 
citizen  of  the  Confederate  States.  Gentlemen  may  indorse  sublimated  theories  that  de- 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND    WRITINGS.  579 

fine  our  Constitution  after  the  manner  of  the  interpreters  of  the  will  in  Dean  Swift's 
"  Tale  of  a  Tub."  They  wanted  to  construe  it,  not  according  to  what  it  said,  but  ac 
cording  to  the  measure  of  their  own  wishes.  The  text  did  not  suit  them,  so  they  took 
sentences  ;  but  sentences  would  not  give  the  meaning,  so  they  took  words  ;  they  could 
not  find  the  right  consecutive  words,  so  they  took  syllables,  and,  finding  they  would  not 
do,  they  selected  letters,  and  putting  them  together  they  made  a  will  to  suit  their  taste. 
Gentlemen  upon  the  same  principle  may  destroy  the  Constitution,  and  make  it  mean 
what  they  please,  in  order  to  accomplish  their  purposes.  But  I  am  this  much  of  a  State 
rights  man  :  I  deny  the  Confederate  Government  has  any  power  not  granted  ;  and  I  say 
you  must  look  to  the  language  of  the  grant  to  find  the  extent  of  the  power,  and  that 
which  necessarily  results  from  the  grant — the  power  to  carry  out  the  grant  must  be  in 
the  grant. 

•  ••••.. 

There  is  no  necessity  for  the  introduction  of  these  theories  to  bring  about  a  conflict  be 
tween  the  State  government  and  the  Confederate  Government.  My  idea — I  do  not  know 
whether  it  is  a  national  one  or  not  ;  certainly  it  does  not  depend  upon  a  change  of  words 
in  the  Constitution,  upon  refined  arguments  and  well-spun  theories  for  its  justifica 
tion—is  this  :  the  States  were  originally  sovereign,  independent  States — they  are  original 
and  sovereign  yet — and  as  such  they  had  a  right  to  exercise  absolute  and  sovereign 
power.  They  have  by  their  own  free  w7ill  and  consent  delegated  these  sovereign  powers 
to  a  common  government.  And  they  made  it  a  government,  not  simply  an  agency,  for 
they  call  it  a  government  in  the  compact,  and  they  have  said  all  citizens  of  the  respect 
ive  States  shall  be  citizens  of  the  Confederate  States.  They  have  established  laws  re 
quiring  these  citizens  to  obey  that  which  the  States  have  agreed  they  shall  obey — the 
common  compact. 

To  the  extent  of  the  powers  delegated,  the  Confederate  Government  exercises  the 
sovereign  powyer.  I  grant  that  it  did  not  have  original  national  sovereignty,  nor  do  I  care 
whether  it  has  or  not.  It  has  the  power  to  declare  war,  the  power  to  make  money,  to 
collect  duties,  and  these  powers  are  sovereign  powers  ;  they  are  expressly  delegated  to  the 
Confederate  Government.  Violence  done  to  the  government  by  a  citizen  is  treason,  be 
cause  it  is  a  violation  of  the  citizen's  allegiance. 

•  •••••* 

If  we,  upon  the  part  of  the  government,  will  exercise  powers  plainly  delegated  to  us, 
and  exercise  none  that  are  not  delegated,  there  will  never  be  any  conflict  between  the 
States  and  the  Confederate  Government.  If  the  States  will  exercise  their  reserved  pow 
ers  properly,  and  the  Confederate  Government  exercises  its  delegated  powers  properly, 
there  will  never  be  any  difficulty. 


the  last.     Not  against  the  Federal  Congress,  for  there  you  had  a  majority.     Not  against 

Mr.  Buchanan— par  excellence  the  man  'chosen  by  the  South.     What  was  the  difflcu 

Mr.  President  ?    The  Northern  States,  sir,  passed  their  personal-liberty  bil 

the  acts  of  Congress.     The  State  governments  would  not  render  up  fug 

they  were  not  criminals  because  they  stole  slaves,  which  were  not  property  : 

State  judges  took  it  upon  themselves  in  their  State  courts  to  set  aside  the  act 

gress  for  carrying  out  the  fugitive  slave  law.     These  were  the  enormities  that 

South  to  her  condition  of  determined  secession.     I  know  that  through  my  sect 

country  these  facts  had  more  influence  upon  the  popular  mind 

when  Mr.  Lincoln  was  elected  it  was  thought  he  was  seeking  not  tocontim 

government,  but  pervert  the  government  and  to  accomplish,  through  Pedc 

what  the  Northern  States  had  already  sought  to  do.     That  perfected 

For  uttering  those  sentiments  in  that  Senate  I  was  denounced  as  a  consoli- 
dationist,  as  a  nationalist,  by  one  of  the  most  ultra  representatives  of  what 
I  call  the  other  extreme  theory,  that  is,  Senator  AVigfall,  of   Texas,  and 
reply  to  him,  I  said  : 

I  am  not  national  in  one  sense  ;  I  am  not  federal  in  another,  I  am  sure.     I  regard  the 
reserved  rights  of  the  States  as  much  as  any  other  man,  and  wil 


580  SENATOR  B.   H.  HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

upon  them.  The  powers  I  am  sworn  to  exercise  I  will  exercise  with  strict  reverence  for 
the  purposes  of  the  grant.  I  think  if  we  would  all  go  to  work  in  the  exercise  of  delegated 
powers,  and  act  instead  of  theorizing,  we  would  accomplish  more  satisfactory  results  for 
the  people. 

Mr.  Wigfall.—I  propose  to  answer  the  gentleman  with  the  simple  prefatory  remarks, 
that  I  am  as  much  astonished  at  his  recollection  of  the  facts  as  his  avowal  of  principles. 
For  a  senator  to  rise  in  this  Confederate  Congress,  within  a  few  brief  months  after  the 
nation  has  been  dissolved,  and  declare  the  Federal  government  of  the  United  States 
never  trespassed  upon  our  rights— 

Mr.  Hill. — I  never  said  that. 

Mr.  Wigfall. — If  you  did  not,  you  said  something  bearing  a  wonderful  resemblance 
to  it. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  said  the  trespasses  of  the  Federal  government  were  not  the  evils  alleged 
by  the  people  in  seceding  ;  it  was  not  the  trespasses  of  the  government  that  influenced  the 
people  to  secede.  I  said  it  was  the  trespasses  of  the  Northern  States  in  their  faithlessness 
to  the  common  compact. 

•  •••••• 

Mr.  Wigfall. — Well,  I  ask  if  they  had  any  complaint  against  the  judiciary  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — None. 

Mr.  Wigfall. — I  need  not  ask  him  about  the  legislative  branch,  for  he  says  we  had  no 
cause  of  complaint  here.  "  Surely  not,"  he  says,  "  for  you  had  a  majority  there."  His 
language  is  plain  and  unmistakable.  Why,  sir,  in  that  Congress  the  black  Republicans 
had  an  overwhelming  majority  in  the  House  against  us,  and  a  tie  vote  in  the  Senate,  with 
a  black  Republican  casting  vote. 

Mr.  Hill. — It.  was  not  from  any  act  of  the  Supreme  Court  or  of  Congress  or  of  the 
Federal  Executive  we  seceded.  I  do  not  say  they  always  did  right.  I  was  utterly  op 
posed  to  the  administration  of  Mr.  Buchanan. 

Mr.  Wigfall. — He  forgets  Congress  passed  a  law  abolishing  slavery  in  the  District  of 
Columbia,  declaring  no  slave  should  be  sold  there. 

Mr.  JKS.—When  did  it  pass  ? 

Mr.  Wigfall.— In  1850. 

Mr.  Hill. — And  the  people  expressly  said  they  would  not  secede  on  account  of  it. 

It  is  precisely  the  same  theory  of  government  that  I  gave  to  this  Senate 
one  month  ago,  and  for  giving  that  theory  then,  for  standing  then  upon  the 
doctrine  of  Madison  and  Webster,  I  was  denounced  by  a  Secessionist  as  a 
nationalist,  and  for  uttering  that  same  doctrine  here  I  am  denounced  by  the 
consolidationists  of  the  other  side  of  this  Chamber  as  a  Secessionist.  It  is  the 
highest  proof  that  the  position  is  a  correct  one.  These  two  extremes  are 
alike  the  enemies  to  the  true  theory  of  this  government.  My  life  has  been 
a  peculiar  one.  For  many  years  its  whole  purpose  was  to  arrest  secession, 
because  I  thought  it  unwise  and  suicidal. 

Now,  the  only  purpose  of  my  connection  with  politics  is  to  arrest  what  I 
believe  before  my  God  the  more  dangerous  enemy  to  the  true  character  of 
this  Union  than  the  secession  party  ever  was — the  consolidation  party  of  this 
country.  They  are  more  dangerous  because  they  are  more  powerful  ;  they 
are  more  dangerous  because  they  are  more  insidious  ;  they  are  more  danger 
ous  because  they  are  seeking  to  accomplish  the  destruction  of  the  States, 
without  which  there  can  be  no  Union,  under  color  of  extraordinary  and  ex 
clusive  devotion  to  the  Union.  Sir,  I  do  not  say  that  every  member  of  the 
Republican  party  intends  that.  So  it  was  that  the  great  mass  of  the  seces 
sion  party  did  not  intend  the  consequences  of  their  action  ;  but  I  do  affirm 
to-da}^  that  the  doctrine,  the  policy,  and  the  whole  tendency  of  the  Repub 
lican  party  of  this  country  at  this  d*ay,  and  for  years  past,  has  been  in  a  direct 
line  to  the  destruction  of  the  States,  and  through  the  destruction  of  the 
States  to  the  subversion  of  the  liberties  of  this  country.  It  will  result  so, 
as  the  inevitable  result  of  your  policy.  The  people  are  under  every  obliga 
tion — every  man  at  the  North,  whether  Democrat  or  Republican,  who  is 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  581 

sincere  in  desiring  to  preserve  this  Union  as  our  fathers  made  it,  is  under 
obligation  to  rally  to  the  support  of  those  who  oppose  the  further  triumph 
and  success  of  the  Republican  party. 

We  hear  it  frequently  said  that  the  mission  of  the  Republican  party  has 
not  yet  been  completed.  In  one  sense  that  is  true.  If  I  construe  the  doc 
trines  of  that  party,  its  policy  and  its  tendency,  correctly,  the  mission  of  that 
party  will  not  be  accomplished  until  the  States  of  this  Union  are  utterly 
destroyed,  the  liberties  of  this  country  are  utterly  subverted,  and  a  rigid, 
hopeless  despotism  shall  settle  down  from  one  end  of  this  country  to  the 
other.  That  is  my  sincere  conviction. 

Why,  sir,  since  I  made  a  speech  in  this  hall, — I  am  not  going  to  refer  to 
anything  personal,  as  I  see  the  senator  is  not  in  his  seat, — but  since  I  made  a 
speech  on  this  subject  a  month  ago  here,  a  distinguished  gentleman  of  the 
Republican  party  followed,  and  what  remarkable  language  did  he  use  ?  I 
want  to  call  attention  to  it.  Speaking  of  my  own  remarks,  he  said  : 

Now,  what  is  the  exact  case  as  he  states  it  ?  State  rights  and  nationality  were  the 
causes  of  the  war,  and  the  real  antagonists;  slavery  was  a  mere  incident.  Secession  was 
the  instrument  employed  by  "  State  rights  "  in  the  contest. 

I  never  had  such  an  idea  since  I  was  born. 

What  was  the  result  of  the  war  ?  "  Secession  was  crushed  out,  utterly  crushed  out." 
He  is  particularly  anxious  for  the  "  country  to  understand  that."  But  what  has  become 
of  "State  rights,"  the  guilty  principal  that  employed  this  "secession  folly,"  as  he 
calls  it  ? 

"What  has  become  of  State  rights,  the  guilty  principal?* 

Again  he  says  : 

After  all,  then,  the  war  only  destroyed  the  incident  (slavery),  and  the  instrument 
(secession),  but  the  guilty  cause  of  all  our  woes,  the  Samson  of  "  State  rights,"  still  lives 
in  all  his  vigor,  and  is  ready  to  employ  any  other  incidents  or  instruments  that  may  hap 
pen  to  answer  his  purpose  in  the  next  conflict  with  nationality. 

Here  is  a  senator,  standing  on  this  floor,  the  ambassador  of  a  State 
specially  commissioned  to  protect  the  rights  of  his  State,  speaking  of  State 
rights  as  the  guilty  criminal  and  as  the  guilty  author  of  all  our  woe!  Will 
not  such  utterances  alarm  the  country?  Nothing  is  more  common  in  these 
halls  than  to  hear  remarks  made  depreciating,  deriding,  ridiculing  the  doc 
trine  of  State  sovereignty,  and  declaring  it  synonymous  with  secession.  Sir, 
in  connection  with,  and  side  by  side,  let  me  read  the  language  of  one  of  the 
best  men  New  England  ever  produced  ;  it  comes  in,  I  think,  with  exceeding 
appropriateness.  Here  is  what  Oliver  Ellsworth,  of  Connecticut,  said  di 
rectly  on  this  point : 

Under  a  national  government  he  should   participate  in  the  national  security    as 
remarked  by  Mr.  King  ;  but  that  was  all.     What  he  wanted  was  domestic  happiness. 
national  government  could  not  descend  to  the  local  objects  on  which  this  depended. 
could  only  embrace  objects  of  a  general  nature.     He  turned  his  eyes,  therefore,  i 
preservation  of  his  rights  to  the  State  governments.    From  these  alone  he  conic 
greatest  happiness  he  expected  in  this  life.     His  happiness  depends  on  their  exis 
much  as  a  new-born  infant  on  its  mother  for  nourishment. 

State  sovereignty,  State   authority,  State    rights,    to   which  this  great 
patriot  looked   for  support  as  a  new-born   infant  looks  to  its  mother, 
denounced  in  this  hall,  by  a  distinguished  Republican,  as  a  guilty  criminal, 
the  author  of  all  our  woe. 

Mr.  Hoar. — Mr.  President- 

The  Presiding    Officer.— Does  the   senator  from  Georgia  yield 
senator  from  Massachusetts  ? 


582  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

Mr.  Hill. — If  it  is  necessary  ;  if  I  am  misstating  a  fact. 

Mr.  Hoar. — I  desire  to  say,  as  the  senator  from  Minnesota  (Mr.  Windom), 
to  whom  the  senator  from  Georgia  referred,  is  not  in  his  seat,  that  the  sena 
tor  from  Minnesota  did  not  speak  of  the  true  rights  of  the  States  in  the 
passage  to  which  he  refers,  but  spoke  merely  of  a  false  doctrine  of  State 
rights  which  speaks  of  senators  as  ambassadors  of  States. 

Mr.  Hill.  —  Mr.  President,  I  shall  be  sorry  for  the  senator  from 
Minnesota  if  he  accepts  that  as  a  true  explanation — that  is  all — and  in  be 
half  of  the  senator  from  Minnesota  who  is  not  here,  as  I  have  happened  to 
refer  to  him,  I  will  say  that  the  speech  shows  that  he  had  no  such  explana 
tion.  He  said  just  what  I  have  read  and  I  shall  be  exceedingly  careful  not 
to  misquote  him  in  the  slightest  degree.  The  speech  is  published  in  full. 

Mr.  Hoar. — Mr.  President 

Mr.  Hill. — I  do  not  wish  to  give  way  any  further. 

The  Presiding  Officer. — The  senator  from  Georgia  declines  to  yield. 

Mr.  Hoar. — Very  well. 

Mr.  Hill. — The  senator  from  Minnesota  was  replying  to  the  argument  I 
had  made,  and  I  certainly  had  not  defined  State  rights  other  than  as  Mr.  Madi 
son  and  Mr.  Webster  had  defined  it.  Therefore  the  explanation  offered  will 
not  do.  I  will  go  on. 

Now,  sir,  in  relation  to  this  great  man  Ellsworth,  see  what  Mr.  Webster 
said  about  him,  and  I  quote  it  for  two  reasons  :  first,  because  of  the  charac 
ter  it  gives  Mr.  Ellsworth  ;  and,  second,  because  of  the  indorsement  by  Mr. 
Webster  of  the  doctrine  of  Mr.  Ellsworth.  Mr.  Webster  said  in  his  cele 
brated  speech  in  reply  to  Calhoun  : 

And  I  think  I  cannot  do  better  than  to  leave  this  part  of  the  subject  by  reading  the 
remarks  made  upon  it  in  the  convention  of  Connecticut,  by  Mr.  Ellsworth,  a  gentleman, 
sir,  who  has  left  behind  him,  on  the  records  of  the  government  of  his  country,  proofs  of 
the  clearest  intelligence  and  of  the  deepest  sagacity,  as  well  as  the  utmost  purity  and  in 
tegrity  of  character.  "  This  Constitution,"  says  he,  "defines the  extent  of  the  powers 
of  the  general  government.  If  the  general  Legislature  should  at  any  time  overleap 
their  limits,  the  judicial  department  is  a  constitutional  check.  If  the  United  States  go 
beyond  their  powers,  if  they  make  a  law  which  the  Constitution  does  not  authorize,  it  is 
void  ;  and  the  judiciary  power,  the  national  judges,  who,  to  secure  their  impartiality,  are 
to  be  made  independent,  will  declare  it  to  be  void.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  States  go 
beyond  their  limits,  if  they  make  a  law  which  is  a  usurpation  upon  the  general  govern 
ment,  the  law  is  void  ;  and  upright,  independent  judges  will  declare  it  to  be  so." 

That  language  is  indorsed  by  Mr.  Webster.  That  shows  that  he  in 
dorsed  the  doctrine  of  State  rights  and  State  sovereignty  just  as  contended 
for  by  me,  which  is  not  secession,  but  that  State  right  which  recognizes  the 
States  as  sovereign  in  the  exercise  of  all  their  reserved  powers  and  the 
general  government  sovereign  in  the  exercise  of  all  its  delegated  powers. 
But,  sir,  I  want  to  read  another  sentence  from  Mr.  Webster  : 

The  people,  sir,  in  every  State  live  under  two  governments.  They  owe  obedience  to 
both.  These  governments,  though  distinct,  are  not  adverse.  Each  has  its  separate 
sphere  and  its  peculiar  powers  and  duties.  It  is  not  a  contest  between  two  sovereigns 
for  the  same  power,  like  the  wars  of  the  rival  houses  in  England  ;  nor  is  it  a  dispute 
between  a  government  de  facto  and  a  government  de  jure.  It  is  the  case  of  a  division  of 
powers  between  two  governments,  made  by  the  people,  to  whom  both  are  responsible. 
Neither  can  dispense 

Mark  this 

Neither  can  dispense  with  the  duty  which  individuals  owe  to  the  other  ;  neither  can 
call  itself  master  of  the  other  ;  the  people  are  masters  of  both. 


ffTS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  583 

Mr.  President,  I  wish  that  one  short  sentence  in  that  language  of  Mr. 
Webster  could  be  riveted  in  the  mind  of  every  man  in  America.  •  What  is 
it?  It  is  that  neither  of  these  governments  is  the  master  of  the  other. 
The  Secessionists  made  the  mistake  of  insisting  that  the  State  governments 
were  masters  of  the  Federal  government.  The  Republican  consolidation- 
ists  make  the  mistake  of  insisting  that  this  general  government  is  the 
master  of  the  States  and  the  State  governments.  It  is  not  true.  In  the 
brief,  terse,  correct,  Constitutional  language  of  that  greatest  of  Constitu 
tional  lawyers  this  country  every  produced,  neither  is  the  master  of  the 
other.  The  people  of  this  country  live  under  two  governments.  They  are 
not  adverse  ;  they  are  not  enemies  ;  they  are  not  strangers.  They  are  co- 
laborers  in  one  system  in  their  respective  spheres  to  accomplish  the  one 
grand  purpose  of  the  preservation  of  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the  people. 

Sir,  senators  talk  about  Mr.  Webster  differing  with  himself.  He  never 
differed  with  himself.  No  better  State-rights  doctrine  from  a  correct  stand 
point  was  ever  uttered  than  was  tittered  by  Mr.  Webster  in  his  second 
speech  on  Foot's  resolution  and  in  this  very  reply  to  Mr.  Calhoun.  What 
is  it  ?  It  is  that  the  States  are  sovereign  in  their  reserved  rights,  absolutely 
sovereign  in  the  exercise  of  their  reserved  rights,  and  that  this  government 
has  no  power  over  a  State  in  the  exercise  of  her  reserved  rights,  and  that 
on  the  other  hand  the  same  people  who  made  the  constitutions  of  the  States 
made  the  Constitution  of  the  Federal  government  and  clothed  it  with 
specific  powers,  and  within  its  specific  powers  the  Federal  government  is 
also  supreme,  and  of  course  within  the  delegated  powers  it  is  alone  supreme, 
just  as  the  States  in  their  reserved  powers  are  alone  supreme. 

Sir,  I  will  read  one  more  extract  from  Mr.  Webster,  and  then  I  will 
close.  In  a  great  speech  which  Mr.  Webster  made  at  Buffalo,  in  New 
York,  in  1851,  he  used  this  language  : 

Now,  gentlemen,  I  wish  I  had  ten  thousand  voices.     I  wish  I  could  draw  around  me 
the  whole  people  of   the  United  States,  and  I  wish  I  could  make  them  all  hear  what  I 
now  declare  on  my  conscience  as  my  solemn  belief,  before  the  Power  who  sits  on  high, 
and  who  will  judge  you  and  me  hereafter,  that  if  this  Texan  controversy  had  not  been 
settled  by  Congress  in  the  manner  it  was,  by  the  so-called  adjustment  measures,  civil  war 
would  have  ensued  ;  blood,  American  blood,  would  have  been  shed  ;  and  who  can  tel 
what  would  have  been  the  consequences.     Gentlemen,  in  an  honorable  war,  if  a  foreign 
foe  invade  us.  if  our  rights  are  threatened,  if  it  be  necessary  to  defend  them  by  arms,  J 
am  not  afraid  of  blood.     And  if  I  am  too  old  myself,  I  hope  there  are  those  connected 
with  me  by  ties  of  relationship  who  are  young,  and  willing  to  defend  their  country  to 
the  last  drop  of  their  blood.     But  I  cannot  express  the  horror  I  feel  at 
blood  in  a  controversy  between  one  of  these  States  and  the  Government  of  the 
States,  because  I  see  in  it  a  total  and  entire  disruption  of  all  those  ties  that  make  us  a 
great  and  happy  people. 

Sir,  those  were  the  grand  words,  not  of  a  sectionalist,  but  of  a  patriot ; 
a  man  whose  intellect  towered  up  to  the  heavens,  whose  patriotism  covered 
the  continent,  and  every  part  of  the  continent.     Sir,  in   the  days  of  AN  eb- 
ster,  the  great  assault  on  the  Constitution  of  the  country  was 
secession  and  nullification  ;  there  was  no  assault  made  on  it  from  the  othe 
direction.     Therefore  it  is  that  Mr.  Webster's  grand  utterances  are  left  c 
record  against  secession  and  nullification.     But  if  Mr.  Webster  were  livin 
to-day  and  saw  the  dangers  that  threaten  the  very  Constitution  and 
which  he  loved,  the  very  Constitutional  system  of  government  which  1 
well  understood  ;  if  he  were  living  to-day  and  could  hear  these  voice* 
consolidation  deriding  the  doctrine  of  State  rights  and  i 


534  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

he  would  thrill  this  continent  with  an  eloquence  such  as  never  characterized 
him  in  the  days  in  which  he  lived,  because  the  danger  now,  his  great  mind 
would  see,  is  infinitely  greater  than  the  danger  was  then  ;  because,  as  I  have 
said,  it  comes  from  a  more  dangerous  and  a  more  insidious  power.  Would 
that  Massachusetts  would  give  to  the  country  another  Webster  ! 

Sir,  I  cannot  hope  even  to  imitate  his  greatness  ;  but  I  should  like  to 
follow  such  a  grand  man,  even  if  it  must  be  afar  off  ;  and  I  wish  like  him 
to  have  ten  thousand  voices  to-day  ;  I  wish  I  could  command  his  eloquence 
for  one  hour  ;  I  wish  I  could  speak  as  he  only  spoke.  I  wish  every  man  in 
America  could  hear  the  words  which  I  believe  he  would  utter  in  much  more 
forcible  power  when  I  now  declare  this  Union  was  not  the  cause  of  our 
war  ;  this  Union  never  shed  fraternal  blood  ;  this  Union  never  burned  the 
houses  and  cities  and  devastated  the  soil  of  its  own  citizens.  No,  no.  All 
that  was  the  work  of  a  diabolical  sectionalism.  I  would  beg  the  American 
people  to-day,  come  back  from  these  wanderings,  these  sectional  wander 
ings,  whether  in  the  direction  of  secession  or  in  the  direction  of  consolida 
tion  and  despotism  ;  come  back  to  the  Constitution  as  our  fathers  made  it, 
as  Madison  explained  it,  as  Webster  expounded  it,  as  it  now  stands  unaltered 
in  character  by  the  three  new  amendments  that  have  been  adopted  ; 
come  back  to  it  as  a  Union  of  States  ;  come  back  to  it  as  partly  a  national 
and  partly  a  Federal  government,  such  as  no  other  people  ever  enjoyed,  and 
such  as  no  wise  people  will  ever  abandon.  I  earnestly  beg  the  people  of 
the  North,  if  they  would  preserve  this  inestimable  heritage  and  transmit  its 
blessings  to  their  posterity,  to  disband  this  sectional  Republican  party.  No 
sectional  party  ever  was  or  ever  can  be  a  Union  party.  It  is  mere,  sheer, 
naked  hypocrisy  to  pretend  so.  No  man  and  no  party  can  be  true  to  the 
whole  Union  who  is  false  to  a  part  of  it ;  no  man  and  no  party  can  be  a 
proper  administrator  of  this  common  government  who  hates  any  one  sec 
tion  of  this  country. 

I  would  ring  it  in  the  ears  of  patriots,  I  would  ring  it  in  the  ears  of 
statesmen,  I  would  ring  it  in  the  ears  of  all  the  people  North  and  South, 
East  and  West — if  we  would  save  further  strife  and  further  woe,  if  we 
would  preserve  finally  the  liberties  of  this  country,  we  must  disband  all 
sectional  parties  and  get  back  to  that  Union  under  the  Constitution  which 
knows  no  section,  but  does  know  all  the  States.  Without  States  there  may 
be  empire,  and  there  will  be  despotism,  but  there  can  be  no  Constitutional 
union  ;  while  without  union  there  may  be  license,  and  there  will  be  anarchy, 
but  there  can  be  no  liberty  or  security. 


REMARKS  IN  THE  SENATE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  MARCH 

24,  1879. 


THE  UNTRUTHFUL  CHARGE  OF  A  REVOLUTIONARY  PURPOSE  ON  THE 

DEMOCRATIC  PARTY. 


The  Senate  having  under  consideration  the  motion  of  the  senator  from 
Pennsylvania  (Mr.  Wallace),  to  proceed  to  the  election  of  officers  of  the  Sen 
ate,  Mr.  Hill  said  : 

Mr.  President:  There  is  an  issue  of  fact  raised  here  between  the  sen 
ators  who  have  addressed  the  Senate,  and  a  very  material  issue  of  fact,  one 
affecting  not  only  the  character  of  the  Democratic  party  very  materially,  but 
affecting  somewhat  the  character  of  American  institutions,  in  my  judgment, 
and  it  is  very  important  that  the  real  truth  should  be  settled  upon  this 
question.  The  senator  from  Connecticut  has  read  from  what  purports  to  be 
some  sort  of  a  circular,  I  do  not  know  what,  issued  by  the  secretary  of  this 
body  in  May,  1878,  in  which  it  is  stated  that  the  whole  Democratic  party, 
or  what  he  is  pleased  to  call  the  opposition  party,  "announce  their  intention 
to  ^attempt  the  revolutionary  expulsion  of  the  President  from  his  office." 
The  word  "revolutionary"  is  used.  The  senator  from  Connecticut  has 
denounced  those  words  as  false  and  asserted  it  in  no  measured  terms.  The 
senator  from  Maine  comes  to  the  vindication  of  the  circular  and  charges 
that  there  was  a  revolutionary  purpose,  revolutionary  not  only  on  the  part 
of  the  Democratic  party  or  a  large  portion  of  them,  but,  to  sustain  his  gen 
eral  charge,  he  is  satisfied  that  the  Potter  resolution  had  that  purpose  in 
view.  Now,  sir,  I  say  that  the  senator  from  Maine  is  as  incorrect  in  his 
statement  as  was  the  circular  of  the  secretary  of  this  body  when  it  was  writ 
ten,  and  I  say  that  the  senator  cannot  produce  a  single  fact  from  any  au 
thorized  portion  of  the  Democratic  party  to  justify  his  assertion.  What  lie 
may  quote  from  individual  expressions  I  do  not  know  ;  what  he  may  quote 
from  violent  newspapers  I  cannot  tell ;  but  I  affirm  here  and  now,  in  this 
presence,  that  he  is  not  justified  in  saying  that  any  portion  of  the  Demo 
cratic  party  ever  intended,  under  any  contingency,  a  revolutionary  movement 
for  the  expulsion  of  the  President, "and  he  cannot  produce  the  proceedings 
of  a  single  convention,  or  the  utterance  of  a  single  reputable  leader  of  the 
Democratic  party,  in  Congress  or  out  of  it,  to  justify  his  most  remarkable 
and  hazardous  assertion. 

Now,  sir,  I  think  I  have  a  right  to  know  something  of  the  small  divisions 
that  existed  in  the  Democratic  party  on  that  subject,  and  I  will  state  them 
very  briefly.  WhenHhe  electoral  commission  bill  was  passed,  it  contained 
this  provision,  to  which  I  wish  to  call  the  attention  of  the  Senate: 

SEC.  6.  That  nothing  in  this  act  shall  be  held  to  impair  or  affect  any  right  now  exist 
ing  under  the  Constitution  and  laws,  to  question,  by  proceeding  m  the  judicial  courts  ol 
the  United  States,  the  right  or  title  of  the  person  who  shall  be  declared  elected,  or  who 
shall  claim  to  be  President  or  Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  if  any  such  right 
exists. 

585 


586  SENATOR  R  H.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

That,  I  say,  is  a  provision  of  the  act  of  Congress  which  established  the 
electoral  commission.  I  need  not  remind  the  Senate  and  the  country  that 
the  provision  was  inserted  because  of  the  belief  of  some  that  if  the  elec 
toral  commission  should  do  what  was  apprehended  they  would  do,  refuse  to 
look  into  the  issue  as  to  who  was  elected  President  on  the  merits  ;  should 
refuse  to  investigate  the  broad  charges  as  to  Louisiana  and  Florida,  and  the 
result  of  that  commission  should  be  the  declaration  of  either  gentleman  as 
President  of  the  United  States  without  looking  into  the  testimony,  without 
meeting  any  issue  on  the  real  merits  because  of  the  jurisdiction  of  that  tri 
bunal,  because  of  the  Constitutional  form  in  which  that  issue  was  raised, 
the  door  should  not  be  closed  to  a  proper  judicial  investigation  which  would 
bring  out  all  the  facts  and  a  final  decision  by  the  judicial  tribunals  of  the 
country. 

That  there  was  ground  for  this  belief  that  the  courts  of  the  country 
would  have  jurisdiction  to  investigate  this  question  is  manifest  from  the 
fact  that  learned  gentlemen  and  distinguished  statesmen  on  both  sides  of 
the  Chamber,  and  on  both  sides  of  the  other  Chamber,  including  some  of 
the  most  distinguished  men  of  both  parties,  incorporated  a  provision  in  the 
electoral  act  itself  reserving  all  right  to  reopen  the  question  and  have  it 
investigated  before  the  judicial  tribunals  of  the  country. 

Now,  sir,  here  is  the  truth.  Some  of  the  ablest  lawyers  in  the  United 
States  believed  that  by  proper  proceeding  the  Supreme  Court  could  get  juris 
diction  fairly,  judicially,  to  investigate  and  determine  this  question.  It  was 
upon  that  conviction,  I  remember  distinctly,  that  the  Legislature  of  Mary 
land  passed  a  memorial  to  Congress  and  instructed  its  attorney  general  to 
bring  it  here,  and  it  was  presented  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  demand 
ing  that  proceedings  of  this  character  should  be  inaugurated,  and  there 
were  quite  a  number  of  gentlemen,  and  I  will  say  they  were  not  all  Demo 
crats,  for  I  happen  to  know  that  some  of  the  most  distinguished  Republican 
lawyers  of  the  United  States  held  that  it  would  be  perfectly  competent  in  a 
proper  proceeding  for  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  to  reopen, 
investigate,  and  determine  the  question  upon  its  merits,  for,  mark  you,  it  had 
not  been  determined  on  its  merits  by  the  electoral  commission. 

Every  gentleman  with  whom  I  am  acquainted,  every  prominent  Demo 
crat  in  the  United  States  who  desired  to  investigate  this  question  at  all, 
desired  to  do  so  through  the  courts  and  under  the  encouragement  and 
authority  given  by  the  electoral  commission  act*  itself.  Was  that  revolu 
tionary  ?  Did  that  show  a  revolutionary  purpose"  ?  Whether  that  proceed 
ing  before  the  courts  should  be  inaugurated  or  not  would  depend  upon  the 
evidence,  the  legitimate  evidence  that  might  be  ascertained  in  the  case. 
Therefore  it  was  that  all  sections  of  the  Democratic  party  were  perfectly 
willing  to  inaugurate  an  investigation  by  the  House  of  Representatives  to 
ascertain  the  real  facts ;  and  there  were  Democrats  in  this  country,  and  I 
say  there  were  Republicans  in  this  country,  who,  if  the  facts  should  develop 
an  illegal  title  and  it  should  be  held  that  the  Supreme  Court  had  jurisdiction 
to  review  and  investigate  that  title,  were  in  favor  of  the  movement.  Was 
that  revolutionary  ?  Will  any  gentleman  say  that  a  purpose  to  test  the 
question  before  the  courts,  when  the  right  so  to  test  it  had  been  held  out  to 
them  in  the  very  act  organizing  the  electoral  commission — will  any  gentle 
man  rise  in  his  place  and  say  that  was  revolutionary? 

Not  only  was  that  a  provision  in  the  act,  but  the  distinguished  gentle 
man  who  occupies  the  chair  at  this  moment  (Mr.  Edmunds),  one  of  the  best 


iris  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  687 

lawyers  in  the  Republican  party,  accompanied  that  bill  with  a  report  to 
Congress,  and  in  that  report  he  said  : 

Fourth.  It  is  provided  that  the  act  shall  not  affect,  either  way,  the  question  of  right  of 
resort  to  the  judicial  courts  of  the  United  States  by  the  persons  concerned  as  claimants  to 
the  offices  in  question. 

So  I  say  here  by  the  report  of  the  distinguished  gentleman,  himself  one 
of  the  leaders  of  the  Republican  party,  made  by  him, — a  report  agreed  to  by 
the  leading  Democrats  and  leading  Republicans  alike, — the  right  to  test  the 
question  of  the  validity  of  the  Presidential  election  before  the  courts  was 
held  out  to  the  country  as  a  reason  why  the  method  of  settlement  provided 
by  the  electoral  commission  act  should  be  adopted. 

I  confess,  so  far  as  I  am  concerned,  that  I  am  one  of  those  gentlemen 
who  believed  that  the  courts  had  no  jurisdiction.  I  confess  I  was  not  de 
ceived  by  that  report,  nor  deceived  by  that  section  of  the  electoral  commis 
sion  bill.  My  own  judgment  was  that  under  the  Constitution  of  the  coun 
try  the  determination  as  to  who  was  President  of  the  United  States  by  the 
election  of  1876  was  vested  in  the  two  Houses  of  Congress,  and  that  when 
those  two  Houses  pronounced  their  judgment,  by  whatever  methods  they 
reached  that  judgment,  that  judgment  was  final  and  conclusive.  That  was 
my  own  opinion  ;  but  abler  lawyers  than  I  am,  both  Republicans  and  Demo 
crats,  held  to  a  contrary  opinion,  and  this  contrary  opinion  was  encouraged, 
I  repeat,  both  by  the  report  made  by  the  able  lawyer  appointed  to  draft  the 
electoral  commission  bill  and  by  a  provision  in  the  electoral  commission  bill 
itself.  Therefore,  from  the  very  time  that  the  two  Houses  of  Congress 
settled  this  memorable  controversy  writh  the  aid  of  the  electoral  commission, 
and  declared  Mr.  Hayes  elected  President  of  the  United  States,  a  large  por 
tion  of  very  estimable  gentlemen  in  this  country,  North  and  South,  men 
of  high  character  as  lawyers,  desired  to  have  the  question  investigated  be 
fore  the  courts  of  the  country.  As  to  what  should  be  the  form  of  proceed 
ing  was  a  difficult  question.  "  In  my  own  judgment  as  a  lawyer  there  was 
no  form  of  proceeding  because  I  did  not  think  it  was  a  case  that  could  be 
made. 

That  was  my  own  judgment,  but  others  differed  with  me,  and  that  was 
the  only  controversy  in  the  Democratic  party.     A  large  portion  of  the  party 
we're  opposed  even  to  taking  this  proceeding  before  the  courts.     A  small 
portion  desired  to  take,  the  course  Maryland  desired  to  take.     Twenty-one 
Democrats  who  voted  on  the  Potter  resolution  or  on  the  resolution  following 
the  report  on  this  memorial  from  Maryland— twenty-one,  I  believe,  voted 
against  the  Maryland  report,  but  perhaps  it  was  fourteen.     Some  say  it  was 
fourteen  ;  I  do  not  remember  the  precise  number  ;  at  least  fourteen  thought 
the  case  ought  to  be  opened.     A  great  number  thought  the  courts  could 
not  be  opened,  and  the  only  proper  plan  was  to  let  the  matter  die. 
as  making  an  issue  was  corcerned,  so  far  as  any  attempt  to  affect  the 
dential  title  was  concerned,  the  large  majority  of  the  Democratic  party 
Congress  and  out  of  it  was  opposed  to  making  any  movement  whatever 
disturb  the  Presidential  title.     A  strong  minority  of  eloquent  gentlemen, 
able  lawyers,  aided  and  abetted  by  distinguished  members  of  the  Republics 
party,  did  desire  to  inaugurate  a  movement  before  the  courts  for  the  purpc 
of  testing  the  validity  of  that  title.     And  yet  we  are  told   that  this  was 
revolutionary.     Here  was  a  revolutionary  purpose,  and  the  secretary  of 
Senate  of  the  United  States  issued  this  circular  denouncing  this  as  revolu- 


588  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

tionaiy,  and  it  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  facts  of  this  most  remarkable  his 
tory  touching  this  whole  Presidential  imbroglio  of  1876,  that,  notwithstanding 
the"  report  made  by  the  electoral  commission  committee,  and  notwithstand 
ing  section  6  in  the  electoral  commission  act,  just  as  soon  as  the  decision 
was  rendered  declaring  Mr.  Hayes  President,  and  the  intimation  was  given 
out  in  any  way  by  anybody  that  there  was  a  purpose  by  any  person  to  in 
augurate  a  movement  before  the  courts  to  test  the  validity  of  his  title,  the 
Republicans,  with  remarkable  unanimity,  raised  the  cry,  "  You  are  going  to 
revolutionize  this  country  !  Another  revolution  ! ' 

They  had  refused  to  look  into  the  facts  in  the  electoral  commission  ; 
they  had  pronounced  that  ever-memorable  decision  which  declares  that  not 
only  individuals  but  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  were  bound  to  be 
lieve  as  true  what  everybody  knew  was  a  perjury  ;  were  bound  to  accept  as 
genuine  what  everybody  knew  was  a  forgery,  were  bound  to  declare  and 
carry  out  as  Constitutional  and  right  what  everybody  knew  was  an  un 
mitigated  fraud  :  and  just  as  soon  as  that  decision  was  procured  by  a  refusal 
to  look  into  the  facts,  and  some  gentlemen  desired  that  the  facts  should  be 
looked  into  and  investigated  by  a  judicial  tribunal  in  a  judicial  manner  and 
by  a  judicial  proceeding,  the  gentlemen  on  the  other  side  raised  the  cry  of 
"  revolution."  Is  it  revolution  to  go  before  the  courts  ?  Why,  sir,  suppose 
these  proceedings  had  been  inaugurated  either  in  the  name  of  a  defeated 
candidate  or  in  the  name  of  a  disappointed  State,  a  sovereign  State,  who  was 
a  party  to  that  wrong,  a  party  damaged  by  that  wrong — suppose  these  pro 
ceedings  had  been  inaugurated  by  the  State  of  Maryland  or  in  any  other 
way,  if  the  courts  had  not  jurisdiction  to  pass  upon  it  the  courts  would  have 
decided  so.  And  the  court  that  it  was  desired  to  go  before  was  not  a 
Democratic  court  ;  the  court  proposed  to  test  the  question  before  was  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  a  court  which  has  upon  it  seven  Repub 
lican  judges  and  only  two  Democrats  ;  and  because  some  Democrats  in  this 
country  believed  that  the  courts  did  have  jurisdiction  to  test  this  question, 
and  that  the  question  ought  to  be  brought  before  them  so  that  it  might  be 
tested,  and  because  they  were  encouraged  so  to  believe  by  the  very  section  6 
of  the  electoral  commission  bill,  and  by  the  report  of  the  committee  which 
reported  that  bill,  and  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  they  were  willing  to 
select  a  Republican  court  before  which  to  test  the  question,  yet  in  the  face 
of  all  these  facts  the  air  has  been  absolutely  full  with  the  miserable  partisan 
cry  that  the  Democratic  party  were  going  into  revolution.  And  at  this  late 
day  a  distinguished  senator  from  Ne\v  England  gets  up  and  reiterates  be 
fore  this  body  that  the  Democratic  party,  or  a  large  proportion  of  it,  intended 
a  revolutionary  purpose.  Certainly  lie  can  point  to  no  record,  he  has 
pointed  to  none.  It  would  seem  that  one  party  had  been  so  accustomed  to 
disregard  proper  judicial  proceedings  that  they  regard  any  party  proposing 
a  judicial  investigation  as  guilty  of  a  revolutionary  purpose. 

That  is  the  point  I  make.  I  say  that  that  circular  issued  by  the 
secretary  was  false,  utterly  false.  I  say  that  the  Democratic  party  had  not 
announced,  as  that  circular  says,  any  revolutionary  purpose  of  the  expulsion 
of  the  President.  I  say  that  no  man  can  produce  a  proceeding  of  the  Demo 
cratic  party  in  convention,  in  Legislature,  or  in  the  Cotigress  of  the  United 
States  to  justify  the  charge  that  they  intended  revolution.  The  truth  is,  to 
tell  the  candid  fact,  I  always  believed  that  the  gentleman  raised  the  cry  of 
revolution  largely  to  prevent  the  investigation,  because  they  feared  the  con 
sequences  if  one  should  be  inaugurated. 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,   AND  WHITINGS.  589 

Now,  the  senator  says  if  there  is  no  danger  in  the  air,  why  has  the  House 
of  Representatives  deemed  it  necessary  to  pass  a  resolution  disclaiming  any 
revolutionary  purpose  ?  Why  did  the  distinguished  gentleman  from  New 
York,  who  introduced  the  resolution  of  inquiry  in  order  to  ascertain  what 
the  facts  were  which  had  never  before  been  ascertained,  announce  in  his 
very  resolution  that  there  was  no  revolutionary  purpose  and  that  every 
charge  of  that  sort  was  false?  It  was  because  of  the  cry  raised  by 
gentlemen  on  the  other  side  ;  because  of  the  cry  raised  by  the  Republican 
party. 

The  senator  from  Maine  says  the  circular  issued  by  the  secretary  had  not 
then  appeared.  Well,  I  will  guarantee  now  that  if  you  will  take  the  trouble 
you  may  look  back  at  those  times  and  you  will  find  scarcely  a  Republican 
paper  in  the  United  States,  you  will  find  scarcely  a  Republican  politician  in 
the  United  States,  I  am  sure  you  will  not  find  a  Republican  office-holder  in 
the  United  States  who  was  not  imblushingly  crying  "revolution,"  "revolu 
tion,"  against  the  Democratic  party  all  over  the  country  ;  and  the  cry  of 
"revolution  "  was  having  its  effect ;  it  was  deceiving  a  great  many  people  ; 
and  therefore  it  was  that  the  Democratic  party  in  the  House  felt  it  neces 
sary,  or  proper  at  least,  to  put  on  record  the  solemn  official  denial  of  this 
foul  slander  upon  their  purposes. 

Mr.  President,  I  did  not  rise  to  discuss  this  question  or  any  other.  This 
is  a  very  elaborate  debate  to  have  grown  out  of  the  simple  proposition  to 
elect  a  few  officers  of  the  Senate.  As  I  am  on  my  feet,  I  wish  to  say  one 
word  in  reply  to  what  the  senator  from  New  York  said.  That  senator  al 
luded  to  the  fact  that  when  he  came  here  in  July,  1861,  a  large  number  of 
these  seats  were  vacant.  That  is  a  fact  we  all  know.  We  had  heard  of  that 
before.  He  alluded  to  the  fact  that  they  are  filled  now.  I  am  gratified 
to  say  that  we  know  that  to  be  true.  Mr.  President,  the  saddest  day  in 
American  history,  in  my  judgment,  was  the  one  to  which  the  senator  from 
New  York  alluded,  when  the  South,  actuated  by  as  high  and  patriotic  a  pur 
pose  as  ever  actuated  any  people  since  the  sun  has  been  pursuing  his  course, 
left  these  halls  and  attempted  to  secede  from  the  Union.  I  grant  that. 
They  did  not  desire  war  ;  and  I  know  they  did  what  they  believed  was  their 
right.  They  thought  to  make  no  war,  they  thought  to  engender  no  strife  ; 
they  sought  to  end  it  ;  but  they  were  mistaken,  and  the  whole  world  knows 
the  history  that  followed.  It  was  a  sad  day  when  the  Southern  States  with 
their  gifted  representatives  left  these  halls  and  left  the  government  in  the 
undisputed  control  of  the  Republican  party  ;  and  every  hour  and  every  day 
from  that  time  to  this,  as  a  consequence  of  that  unfortunate  act,  the  country 
has  been  rocking  in  the  throes  of  revolution. 

Sir,  I  am  not  here  to  parcel  out  the  blame  on  this  subject  upon  this  sec 
tion  or  that  section,  this  party  or  that  party.  It  was  a  grand  mistake,  a 
great  mistake,  and  honestly  made,  unquestionably  ;  terrible  consequences 
have  followed  ;  consequences  which  did  not  disappoint  me.  But  we  have 
passed  through  that  ordeal.  We  have  had  a  reign  of  blood.  The  Republi 
can  party  because  of  that  very  act  has  had  eighteen  years  of  domination  in 
this  country.  What  are  the  fruits  of  that  domination  ?  History  will  record 
them  ;  history  has  recorded  them.  I  wish  to  say  to  the  gentleman  that  as 
the  first  fact"  to  which  he  alluded,  contrary  to  the  intentions  of  those  who 
acted  in  it,  inaugurated  a  war,  long  and  sad,  the  second  fact  to  which  he  al 
luded,  the  returnof  the  Soutli  here  with  her  proper,  her  fit  representatives,  ends 
the  revolution  which  their  departure  began.  If  that  departure  brought  war 


590  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

upon  the  country,  this  return  assures  the  country  of  peace  and  prosperity 
once  more. 

The  senator  may  regret,  the  gentlemen  on  the  other  side  may  regret,  the 
end  of  this  eighteen  years'  lease  of  power.  It  is  a  thing  to  be  regretted 
very  much  by  those  gentlemen.  Perhaps  they  would  like  to  see  another  se 
cession  if  it  would  give  them  eighteen  years  of  undisputed  possession  of  this 
great  government.  But,  gentlemen,  in  all  kindness  and  candor  let  me  tell 
you  your  day  is  ended  and  your  chances  will  not  return.  You  did  not  com 
plain  of  the  presence  of  the  South  here  when  that  presence  was  by  men  who 
had  no  interest  with  us.  These,  with  one  lingering  exception,  have  all  gone, 
and  the  places  which  knew  them  but  yesterday  will  know  them  no  more  for 
ever.  The  carpet-bag  riot  ends  with  the  departure  of  the  Republican  party 
from  power. 

Why  are  we  to  be  constantly  reminded  of  that  act  ?  Why  should  gen 
tlemen  on  all  occasions,  in  season  and  out  of  season,  arraign  the  South  for 
what  they  choose  to  call  rebellion  ?  Call  it  rebellion.  History  will  judge 
that  question  and  we  should  prefer  the  judgment  of  history  to  the  judgment 
of  the  gentlemen  on  the  other  side  ;  much  prefer  it.  What  is  the  purpose, 
unless  "out  of  the  fullness  of  the  heart  the  mouth  speaketh"?  It  is  an  un 
pleasant  thing  to  say  ;  I  am  sure  it  is  not  meant  in  unkindness  ;  it  will  go 
like  a  dart  to  man}'-  gentlemen  in  this  hearing  ;  yet  I  tell  them  that  what 
the  senator  from  New  York  says  is  true — these  seats  are  filled,  and  filled  by 
Southern  representative  men,  and  these  seats  will  remain  filled  by  Rep 
resentative  Southern  men.  That  is  all.  Let  the  past,  then,  go.  We  are 
opposed  to  revolutionary  purposes  ;  we  are  opposed  to  revolutionary  pro 
ceedings  ;  we  have  not  made  anything  by  revolution.  The  Republican  party 
made  eighteen  years  of  power  by  revolution  and  they  are  always  talking 
about  revolution. 

I  hope,  Mr.  President,  that  the  time  has  come  when  these  perpetual  sec 
tional  allusions  will  be  abandoned.  They  do  not  tend  to  harmony.  We  are 
acquainted  with  the  past  history  of  this  country  quite  as  well  as  the  gentlemen  ; 
we  have  been  the  chief  sufferers  in  that  past  history.  As  for  their  criticism 
upon  our  future  conduct,  we  can  bear  that  criticism,  because  however  unkind 
and  un amiable  it  may  be,  it  shall  be  our  high  pleasure  to  demonstrate  in  the 
future  that  there  is  not  one  word  of  truth  in  it.  When  your  prophesy  that  we 
intend  revolution,  that  we  intend  anything  but  the  peace  and  good  and  pros 
perity  of  this  whole  country,  it  may  be  that  you  desire  to  find  some  evidence 
of  the  truth  of  your  charges,  but  it  is  our  purpose  to  show  to  the  country 
that  we  are  not  only  here,  but  that  we  are  worthy  to  be  here  as  were  our 
fathers  before  us  who  did  so  much  to  make  this  country  so  great  and  glorious. 

Mr.  Blaine. — I  will  detain  the  Senate  for  a  moment  to  say  a  word  in  re 
gard  to  the  original  point  of  difference  between  myself  and  the  senator  from 
Connecticut.  I  hold  in  my  hand  the  decision  of  the  Speaker  of  the  House 
when  the  Potter  resolution  was  introduced.  A  point  of  order  being  made 
that  it  was  not  a  question  of  privilege,  the  Speaker  ruled  that  it  was,  giving 
his  views  in  an  elaborate  decision  from  which  I  will  read  only  a  few  lines  : 

A  higher  privilege  than  the  one  here  involved  and  broadly  and  directly  presented  as 
to  the  rightful  occupancy  of  the  chief  executive  chair  of  the  government ,  and  the  connection 
of  high  government  officials  with  the  frauds  alleged,  the  Chair  is  unable  to  conceive. 

This  debate  began  with  the  assertion  of  the  senator  from  Connecticut 
that  there  had  been  no  design  whatever  on  the  part  of  the  Democratic 
party  of  opening  that  question. 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND    WRITINGS.  591 

Mr.  Eaton. — Not  so  ;  I  beg  pardon  ;  no  revolutionary  design. 

Mr.  Blaine. — Ah,  a  revolutionary  design  !  It  has  got  down  to  a  question 
of  words. 

Mr.  Eaton. — Not  so  :  just  take  what  I  say. 

Mr.  JPfatfU.- -That  is  the  same  point  taken  by  the  senator  from  Georgia 
(Mr.  Hill).  You  were  going  to  do  all  you  could  to  put  one  President  out 
and  another  candidate  in,  only  you  object  to  its  being  called  revolutionary. 
The  senator  from  Georgia  objects  to  the  late  war  being  called  a  rebellion 
though  the  world  looked  upon  it  as  a  rebellion. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  made  no  such  objection.  I  told  the  gentleman  he  could 
call  it  what  he  pleased. 

Mr.  Blaine. — I  think  the  Senate  understood  quite  well  what  the  honor 
able  senator  meant.  I  take  his  words  at  their  meaning,  and  altogether  their 

C7  '  ^J 

more  pointed  meaning  came  from  the  way  they  were  put.  If  3^011  mean 
merely  to  make  a  verbal  criticism  that  you  intended  by  a  new  law  and  a 
new  investigation  and  an  extra  mode  of  getting  this  question  before  the 
courts,  not  in  pursuance  of  laws  which  existed  at  the  time  the  electoral  com 
mission  acted,  and  that  you  intended  by  that  extraordinary  course,  never 
dreamed  of  at  the  time,  to  oust  the  President  of  the  United  States,  do  not 
be  sensitive  at  all  if  I  call  it  revolutionary.  It  was  clearly  revolutionary, 
and  nothing  else. 

Mr.  Hill. — Does  the  senator  say  that  proceedings  in  the  courts  to  test 
the  question  were  not  dreamed  of  at  the  time,  when  that  very  provision  is 
in  the  electoral  commission  act  itself  and  repeated  in  the  report  of  the 
committee  ? 

Mr.  Blaine. — I  presume  they  were  dreamed  of  under  the  laws  as  they 
then  stood,  but  otherwise  not. 

Mr.  Deuces. — "If  any  such  right  exists." 

Mr.  Blaine. — "  If  any  such  right  exists  "  was  inserted  in  the  bill  for  the 
electoral  commission. 

Mr.  Hill. — Did  anybody  ever  propose  to  test  the  validity  of  the  election 
of  1876  or  the  title  of  Mr.  Hayes,  under  that  election,  by  any  subsequent  law  ? 

Mr.  Blaine. — What  did  the  Potter  committee  mean,  then  ?  Why,  if 
you  meant  to  resort  only  to  judicial  remedy,  did  you  not  go  to  the  courts? 
You  did  not  do  any  such  thing.  You  initiated  a  party  proceeding  in  the 
political  department  of  the  government,  and  the  whole  Potter  resolution, 
from  its  preamble  to  its  concluding  word,  does  not  mention  the  court  as  the 
means  by  which  a  result  was  to  be  reached. 

Mr.  Hill— Simply  because  everybody  who  is  a  lawyer  ought  to  know 
that  the  committee  proceeded  to  get  the  evidence  that  could  be  used  in  the 
inauguration  of  proceeding  in  the  courts.  That  was  to  determine  it,  so  far 
as  some  portion  of  the  Democratic  party  was  concerned  ;  but  I  say  the 
larger  portion  of  the  Democratic  party  never  had  any  such  purpose  even  in 
the  Potter  resolution.  They  simply  wanted  to  get  the  facts. 

Mr.  Blame.-  -Then  that  is  a  new  start. 

Mr.  Hill.- -To  put  the  facts  on  the  record  of  each  House,  and  all  the  gen 
tlemen  who  intended  any  proceedings  to  be  based  upon  that  committee  in 
tended  lawful  proceedings  before  the  courts  under  the  laws  of  the  land  ; 
and  that  is  all  we  say  ;  that  we  say  was  not  revolutionary. 

Mr.  Blaine.— That  is  a  new  proceeding,  that  a  judicial  remedy  was  to 
be  sought,  and  that  as  the  propelling  force  of  the  whole  movement  a  parti 
san  committee  was  to  be  inaugurated  with  extraordinary  power  to  send  for 


592  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

persons  and  papers  in  order  to  work  up  a  case.     That  is  the  judicial  remedy 
that  the  honorable  senator  from  Georgia  now  presents  ! 

Mr.  Hill. — Does  the  senator  from  Maine  say  that  an  investigation 
ordered  by  either  House  of  Congress  to  ascertain  facts  is  itself  a  revolution 
ary  proceeding  ? 

Mr.  Blaine. — I  say  this,  that  an  investigation  ordered  by  a  partisan  vote 
is  not  the  way  the  law  contemplates  the  initiation  of  a  judicial  proceeding. 
Does  the  senator  think  it  is  ?  If  a  judicial  remedy  was  reserved  in  the 
electoral  commission  bill  it  was  reserved  through  judicial  processes  ;  it  was 
not  reserved  through  scouring  investigations  of  committees  ruled  over  by 
partisan  votes  gathering  every  possible  rumor  and  every  possible  falsehood 
without  the  slightest  regard  to  any  law  of  evidence  or  any  protection  of 
witnesses.  Does  the  senator  say  that  that  was  the  proceeding  the  electoral 
commission  act  contemplated  ?  Does  he  say  that  as  a  lawyer  ?  He  is  fond 
of  putting  himself  forward  as  a  lawyer. 

Mr.  Hill. — The  senator  from  Georgia  says  no  such  thing. 

Mr.  Blaine. — I  should  like  to  know  what  the  senator  does  say. 

Mr.  Hill. — The  senator  from  Georgia  is  incapable  of  saying  what  the 
language  of  the  senator  from  Maine  seem  to  desire  him  to  say  ;  but  the  sen 
ator  from  Georgia  says  this  :  that  by  the  provisions  of  the  electoral  com 
mission  act  itself  the  right  to  proceed  in  the  courts  was  reserved  to  either 
party  disappointed  by  the  result  of  that  proceeding.  Very  well,  that  was 
the  right.  In  what  method  that  right  should  be  asserted  was  another  ques 
tion,  but  it  could  not  be  asserted  without  evidence. 

Mr.  Blaine. — Does  the  honorable  senator  mean 

Mr.  Hill. — Let  me  get  through.  Now,  then,  one  method  of  getting  the 
evidence  was  that  suggested  by  that  portion  of  the  Democracy  who  were  in 
favor  of  proceeding.  I  repeat  again  that  was  not  the  purpose  of  the  great 
majority,  but  it  was  designed  by  some  in  ordering  this  investigation,  I  dare 
say,  as  the  Maryland  memorial  shows,  as  the  report  on  that  memorial  shows, 
it  was  designated  by  those  who  believe  the  courts  had  jurisdiction  to  seek  to 
get  the  evidence.  Very  well.  It  was  designed  by  the  great  majority,  how 
ever,  to  get  the  evidence  because  it  was  desired  to  put  the  facts  on  record 
officially.  But  here  is  the  point  I  wish  to  make  :  the  method  of  getting  the 
evidence  is  not  settled  by  the  law  ;  any  method  to  ascertain  the  evidence  in 
a  legal  way  is  proper,  and  there  are  various  ways  of  ascertaining  facts. 

Now,  then,  the  senator  having  charged  that  the  purpose  was  revolution 
ary  and  now  having  located  the  revolutionary  purpose  on  the  committee, 
and  the  manner  of  getting  the  evidence  by  the  Potter  committee,  I  put  the 
question  again,  but  the  senator  does  not  answer.  Does  he  say  that  the  ap 
pointment  of  a  committee  by  either  House  of  Congress,  clothed  with  legal 
authority  to  make  legal  investigation,  is  a  revolutionary  proceeding? 

Mr.  Blaine. — One  moment.  I  now  meet  the  senator  by  quoting  the  de 
cision  of  the  Speaker  of  the  House,  a  very  competent  authority,  who  states 
that  the  resolution  offered  by  Mr.  Potter  "involved  the  rightful  occupancy 
of  the  Presidential  chair."  The  senator  will  pardon  me  for  asking  him  the 
same  question.  Does  the  senator  hold  that  evidence  obtained  by  the  Potter 
committee  was  obtained  to  be  legally  used  in  a  judicial  proceeding  before 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — No,  the  senator  from  Georgia  says  no  such  thing. 

Mr.  Blaine. — Well,  then,  what  was  the  motive  ?  How  could  the  senator 
then  connect — I  want  him  here  now  to  tell  me  how  he  connects  the  mission 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  593 

of  the  Potter  committee  with  any  possible  proceeding  that  was  reserved  in 
the  electoral  commission  bill  to  be  taken  judicially  ?  The  movement  being 
entirely  outside  of  anything  that  was  reserved  in  the  electoral  commission 
bill,  it  was,  in  my  judgment,  grossly  and  absolutely  revolutionary  from 
beginning  to  end. 

Mr.  Hill.—Now,  Mr.  President,  I  want  to  make  a  bargain  with  the  senator 
from  Maine,  by  the  permission  of  that  senator.  I  have  asked  him  a  question 
twice,  which  he  has  not  answered. 

Mr.  Blaine. — I  will  try  to  answer— 

Mr.  Hill. — Let  me  get  through.  Instead  of  answering  my  question, 
which  was  a  very  plain  one,  the  senator  refuses  to  answer  it  and  asks  me  a 
question.  Now,  as  my  question  is  first  in  order,  if  the  senator  will  make 
a  manly,  frank  answer  to  my  question  I  will  answer  his.  My  question  is 
this  :  You  are  charging  a  revolutionary  purpose  upon  the  Democratic  party 
here.  That  is  the  issue.  You  say  that  revolutionary  purpose  was  mani 
fested  by  the  appointment  of  the  Potter  committee.  Now,  I  ask  the  ques 
tion  :  Does  the  senator  hold  that  the  appointment  of  a  committee  by  either 
House  of  Congress  to  make  an  investigation  under  their  authority  is  a  revo 
lutionary  movement  ?  If  he  will  answer  that  question  squarely,  I  will 
answer  his. 

Mr.  Blame. — I  certainly  answered  it  once.  I  say  that  the  resolution 
appointing  the  Potter  committee,  as  construed  by  the  Speaker  of  the  House 
of  Representatives,  did  aim  at  a  revolutionary  process. 

Mr.  Hill. — You  do  not  answer  the  question.  Do  you  say  that  an  investi 
gation  by  the  authority  of  either  House  is  a  revolutionary  movement  ? 

Mr.  Blaine. — What  does  the  senator  want  me  to  answer  ?  I  certainly 
say  that  the  investigation  as  ordered  by  the  House  and  as  construed  by  the 
Speaker  of  the  House  did  aim  at  a  revolutionary  process. 

Mr.  Hill. — Is  the  appointment  of  a  committee  by  either  House  to  make 
an  investigation  a  revolutionary  movement  ? 

Mr.  Blaine. — Oh,  well,  the  senator  must  not  be  childish,  if  he  will  pardon 
the  phrase. 

Mr.  Hill. — And  if  so,  did  the  senator  from  Maine  mean  revolution  when 
he  moved  the  appointment  of  the  Teller  committee  ? 

Mr.  Blaine. — No,  he  meant  to  find  out  those  who  were  trying  revolution 
in  the  South  against  peace  and  law  and  order. 

Mr.  Hill. — And  we  meant  to  find  out  the  facts  in  regard  to  those  who 
stole  the  Presidency. 


SPEECH  DELIVERED  IN  THE  SENATE  OF  THE  UNITED 

STATES,  MAY  10,  1879. 


"Who  saves  his  country,  saves  himself,  saves  all  things,  and  all  things  saved  do  bless 
him  !  Who  lets  his  country  die,  lets  all  things  die,  dies  himself  ignobly,  and  all  things 
dying  curse  him  ! " — Notes  on  the  Situation. 


In  the  opinion  of  the  writer,  this  is  the  best  speech  ever  made  by  Mr.  Hill.  In  its 
construction  of  the  Constitution  and  its  interpretation  of  the  relative  rights  of  the  national 
government  and  the  States,  it  will  stand  with  Webster's  famous  reply  to  Hayne.  It  is 
also  a  thorough  vindication  of  the  solidity  of  the  South,  and  presents  the  patriotic  and 
philosophical  reasons  for  the  existence  of  such  condition.  In  writing  about  this  speech, 
a  prominent  journalist  of  the  South  says 

"Senator  Hill's  speech  is  masterly  and  complete.  It  vindicates  the  South  from  the 
evil  denunciations  that  come  against  her  from  such  men  as  Elaine,  Conkling,  Edmunds, 
and  Chandler  ;  it  vindicates  the  objects  and  laudable  purposes  of  the  South  ;  it  vindicates 
our  great  Southern  sentiment  and  manhood,  which  have  been  too  often  assailed  by  our 
enemies.  In  painting  the  dire  purposes  of  those  who  seek  to  perpetuate  sectional  hate, 
he  colors  with  the  dark  shades  of  a  Rembrandt  and  cuts  with  the  incision  of  a  Damas 
cus  blade.  The  speech  is  replete  with  logic  and  truth,  and  the  stalwarts  will  exhaust 
their  ranks  before  they  find  a  foeman  worthy  of  Mr.  Hill's  steel." 

A  prominent  Northern  writer  adds  this  testimony  to  the  power  of  the  speech  : 

"  I  have  heard  many  speeches,  and  must  say  that  this  of  the  great  rebel,  for  clear 
statement,  fine  language,  strong  declamation,  well-sustained  argument,  and  for  research 
and  candor,  is  the  best  I  have  ever  heard  in  the  Senate,  on  the  hustings,  or  on  the 
platform." 


THE  UNION  AND  ITS  ENEMIES. 


If  he  is  a  traitor  who  would  divide  the  States,  how  is  he  less  a  traitor  who  would 

destroy  the  States  ?  " 


In  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  May  10,  1879,  the  legislative,  execu 
tive,  and  judicial  appropriation  bill  being  under  consideration,  Mr.  Hill, 
said  : 

Mr.  President:  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  my  friend,  the  senator  from 
Kentucky,  and  the  Committee  on  Appropriations  for  yielding  to  me  at  this 
'  time.  I  would  not  speak  to-day  at  all  but  for  the  fact  that  I  am  compelled 
to  leave  the  city  and  perhaps,  possibly  at  least,  not  to  return  until  this  bill 
shall  have  been  disposed  of.  There  are  some  observations  which  I  desire  to 
submit  ;  and  as  this  is  the  only  opportunity  to  do  so,  I  will  avail  myself  of 
the  kindness  of  the  committee,  in  suspending  the  reading  of  this  bill,  to  pro 
ceed  now  with  what  I  have  to  say. 

MOTIVES    OF   THE    OPPOSITION   IN   THIS    DISCUSSION. 

m 

Mr.  President,  it  is  known  to  the  Senate  and  the  country  that  the  discus 
sion  of  the  questions  involved  in  this  and  the  kindred  bill  began  in  the  last 

594 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  595 

days  of  the  Forty-fifth  Congress.  The  result  of  the  discussion  then  neces 
sitated  the  calling  of  an  extra  session  of  Congress,  and  since  the  assembling 
of  this  session  the  discussion  has  been  almost  continuous  in  the  two  Houses 
of  Congress.  I  have  taken  no  part  in  it  hitherto,  because  in  my  judgment 
there  was  nothing  in  the  legislation  pending  that  justified  discussion  ;  noth 
ing  in  the  substance  or  form  of  the  legislation  which  in  my  judgment  could 
even  excuse  the  elaborate  discussion  which  has  been  had  ;  and  I  suppose  if 
we  were  to  apply  the  test,  nine-tenths  of  the  arguments  which  have  been 
made  and  placed  upon  the  record  have  no  application  whatever  to  the  imme 
diate  subjects  involved  in  either  of  the  bills. 

I  have  watched  the  discussion  with  very  intense,  I  might  say  with  anx 
ious  interest  for  the  purpose  of  discovering,  if  I  could,  the  true  reason,  the 
active  inspiring  motive  of  this  discussion.  Why  has  it  been  thrust  upon 
the  country  ?  The  legislation  proposed  is  simply  nothing  more  nor  less  than 
the  repeal  of  a  very  small  portion  of  legislation  which  was  enacted  during  and 
since  the  war,  legislation  which  had  no  place  upon  our  statute-book  for  the 
first  seventy-five  years  of  our  history  ;  and  why  has  such  an  earnest,  such  a 
heated,  I  had  almost  said  such  an  ill-tempered  discussion  been  thrust  upon 
the  country  on  the  occasion  of  repealing  a  few  statutes  of  the  kind  alluded 
to? 

I  have  no  desire  to  do  any  one  injustice  I  have  watched  this  discussion 
solely  for  the  purpose  of  arriving  if  I  could  at  the  real  motive  which  lies  at 
the  bottom  of  it.  I  am  thoroughly  satisfied  that  the  motive  is  very  plain 
and  unmistakable.  A  great  party  in  this  country  have  entered  upon  a  well- 
considered,  or  I  ought  to  say  ill-considered,  but  determined  purpose  of  re 
opening  the  sectional  agitations  which  have  so  long  divided  this  country  for 
the  purpose  of  consolidating  one  section  of  the  country  against  the  other, 
solely  for  the  benefit  of  that  particular  party,  and  without  reference  to  the 
good,  as  I  think,  of  the  country. 

Now,  sir,  what  is  the  result  ?  The  country  now  beholds  the  extraordi 
nary  spectacle  of  an  extra  session  of  Congress,  of  weeks  and  months  of  agi 
tated  discussion,  the  whole  purpose  of  which  discussion,  at  least  on  one  side 
of  this  House,  seems  to  be  to  convince  one  section  of  the  country  that  the 
people  of  the  other  are  not  to  be  trusted  in  their  fidelity  and  patriotism. 
Suppose  they  succeeded  in  establishing  that  proposition  ;  if  it  be  true  they 
have  established  a  proposition  which  demonstrates  that  the  government  is 
on  the  eve  of  failure  ;  if  it  be  false,  why  should  they  seek  to  impress  upon 
the  country  a  condition  of  things  affecting  the  integrity  of  the  Union  itself, 
which  is  not  true  ? 

I  shall  not  go  through  the  many  arguments  and  speeches  that  have  been 
made  on  this  floor  which  seem  to  be  inspired  by  nothing  on  earth  but  hatred 
to  one  section  of  this  country  and  the  people  thereof.  I  cannot  afford  to  do 
that.  Speech  after  speech  has  been  made  which  could  have  no  other  pur 
pose,  which  has  no  other  meaning.  Do  senators  expect  to  benefit  the  coun 
try  by  such  a  course  of  proceeding  ?  Do  they  think  they  promote  the  good 
of  this  country,  of  any  section  of  it,  when  they  labor  so  industriously  to 
prove  to  one  portion  of  the  people  that  another  portion  is  not  to  be  trusted  < 
Are  they  not  citizens  of  the  same  government ! 

Now,  as  an  illustration  of  what  I  say,  pardon  me  if  I  select  the  two  most 
distinguished  gentlemen  of  the  Republican  party,  gentlemen  who  above  all 
others  have  distinguished  themselves  for  their  ability  in  the  discussion  of 
this  question,  who  I  suppose,  from  their  position  and  character,  in  every  re- 


596  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

spect  command,  perhaps  more  than  any  others,  the  confidence  of  the  party  to 
which  they  belong.  The  distinguished  senator  from  New  York  (Mr.  Conkling), 
in  the  very  effective  speech  which  he  made  on  the  24th  of  April,  reminded  us 
that  "  one  of  Rome's  famous  legends  stands  in  these  words  :  *  Let  what  each 
man  thinks  of  the  Republic  be  written  on  his  brow,'  '  and  the  senator  wrote 
on  the  forefront  of  his  speech,  delivered  on  that  important  occasion,  a  most 
remarkable  declaration,  which  he  must  excuse  me  for  saying  illustrates  the 
animus  of  the  speech.  He  commences  in  this  way  : 

During  the  last  fiscal  year  the  amount  of  national  taxes  paid  into  the  treasury  was 
$234,831,461.77.  Of  this  sum  one  hundred  and  thirty  millions  and  a  fraction  was 
collected  under  tariff  laws  as  duties  on  imported  merchandise,  and  one  hundred  and 
four  millions  and  a  fraction  as  tax  on  American  productions.  Of  this  total  of  $235,- 
000,000,  in  round  numbers,  twenty- seven  States  which  adhered  to  the  Union  during  the 
recent  war  paid  $221,204,268.88.  The  residue  came  from  eleven  States.  I  will  read 
their  names  :  Alabama,  Arkansas,  Florida,  Georgia,  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  North  Caro 
lina,  South  Carolina,  Tennessee,  Texas,  Virginia.  These  eleven  States  paid  $13,627,- 
192.89.  Of  this  sum  more  than  six  millions  and  a  half  came  from  the  tobacco  of  Vir 
ginia.  Deducting  the  amount  of  the  tobacco  tax  in  Virginia,  the  eleven  States  enumer 
ated  paid  $7,125,462.60  of  the  revenues  and  supplies  of  the  Republic. 

What  does  the  senator  here  say,  what  does  he  write  upon  the  forefront 
of  his  magnificent  oration  ?  It  is  that  all  the  customs  revenues  of  the  coun 
try  are  paid  by  the  State  at  whose  port  the  revenue  is  collected.  If  his  ar 
gument  be  true,  New  York  pays  over  $90,000,000  of  the  customs  revenue, 
because  the  port  of  New  York  is  a  great  port  for  the  whole  country ;  and  he 
credits  the  twenty-seven  States  with  the  payment  of  all  the  customs  reve 
nues  collected  in  that  port  and  Boston  and  other  Northern  ports.  He  should 
credit  it  to  the  city  of  New  York.  It  is  all  paid  at  the  city  of  New  York. 
The  senator  might  have  enlarged  his  argument  ;  he  might  have  selected 
from  the  Western  States  a  group  of  eleven  States  that  pay  perhaps  less 
customs  revenue  than  the  eleven  Southern  States.  I  doubt  whether  the 
great  State  of  my  friend  from  Ohio  pays  much  on  the  senator's  method 
of  computation.  Certainly,  those  great  interior  States  that  have  no  ports, 
according  to  him,  pay  no  customs  revenue.  How  much  would  Ohio  pay 
under  that  rule  ?  How  much  wTould  Indiana  pay  ?  How  much  would 
Minnesota  pay-?  The  senator  might  have  gone  further.  If  New  York  is 
to  be  credited  with  all  the  revenues  that  are  collected  upon  importations 
at  New  York,  New  York  ought  also  to  be  credited  with  all  the  products 
that  are  exported  from  the  port  of  New  York,  and  the  distinguished  sena 
tor  by  figures  could  have  proven  that  New  York  was  the  largest  cotton- 
growing  State  in  the  world  ! 

Why  should  so  distinguished  a  senator,  so  able  a  senator,  find  it  necessary 
to  commence  his  speech  with  an  argument  of  that  kind  ?  What  had  it  to  do 
with  the  question  ?  The  question  pending  in  the  bill  which  he  discussed  was 
whether  it  was  wise  and  proper  to  use  the  army  to  keep  the  peace  at  the 
polls,  and  the  senator  commences  his  argument  upon  that  question  by  giving 
a  statement  of  the  revenues  collected  for  the  support  of  the  government, 
and  puts  the  statement  in  such  a  form  as  to  show  that  all  the  revenues  are 
paid  by  twenty-seven  States,  of  which  New  York  pays  half.  What  had  it 
to  do  with  the  question  ?  Nothing.  Then,  if  the  senator  found  it  necessary 
to  make  such  a  statement,  why  did  he  hazard  his  reputation  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  make  a  statement,  the  incorrectness  of  which  could  not  fail  to  be  seen 
by  any  one  who  understood  the  facts  of  the  case?  And  then  he  put  it  in  the 
strong  form  of  figures,  and  he  had  the  benefit  of  the  old  aphorism  that 


HTS  LIVE,   SPEECHES,   AND   WRITINGS.  597 

figures  will  not  lie.  The  senator's  phraseology  is  very  curious,  too.  I  say 
nothing  of  his  refusal  to  permit  a  correction  to  be  incorporated  in  his 
speech,  which  I  attempted.  He  goes  on  ;  he  says  : 

The  laws  exacting  these  few  millions  from  eleven  States,  and  these  hundreds  of 
millions  from  twenty-seven  States,  originated,  as  the  Constitution  requires  all  bills 
for  raising  revenue  to  originate,  in  the  House  of  Representatives. 

Where  is  the  law  that  exacts  these  few  millions  from  eleven  States, 
these  hundreds  of  millions  from  twenty-seven  States?  Is  there  such  a 
law  known  ?  Is  there  any  revenue  law  of  this  country  which  is  not  uniform  ? 
Is  there  any  law  of  this  country  which  could  justify  that  distinguished  sena 
tor  in  saying  that  eleven  States  pay  so  few  millions  of  revenue  and  twenty- 
seven  States  pay  so  many  hundred  millions  of  revenue,  and,  to  use  his 
emphatic  words,  that  this  revenue  in  this  disproportion  is  exacted  by  the 
laws  of  the  country?  I  do  the  senator  no  injustice  when  I  say  that  the  pur 
pose  of  the  statement  is  indicated  by  the  application  which  is  made  of  it : 

This  vast  revenue  is  raised  and  to  be  raised  for  three  uses.     It  is  supplied  in  time  of 
severe  depression  and  distress  to  pay  debt  inflicted  by  rebellion- 
Why  was  it  necessary  to  say  that  ? 

to  pay  pensions  to  widows,  orphans,  and  cripples  made  by  rebellion  :  and  to  maintain  the 
government  and  enforce  the  laws  preserved  at  inestimable  cost  of  life  and  treasure. 

Why  should  the  senator  make  a  statement  in  figures  that  is  not  correct, 
and  speak  of  the  exactions  of  a  law  that  does  not  exist  in  relation  to  revenue, 
and  then  seek  to  arouse,  as  doubtless  his  method  of  stating  facts  does  arouse, 
in  so  many  minds  at  the  North,  a  prejudice  against  these  eleven  States  that 
have  been  so  wicked  as  to  make  it  necessary  for  such  enormous  taxes  to  be 
collected,  and  who,  under  the  laws,  are  required  to  pay  so  few  of  the  taxes  ? 
Everybody  knows  that  each  section  of  the  country  pays  according  to  its 
consumption  of  the  importations  into  the  United  States.  It  is  hardly  neces 
sary  to  say  that  the  money  collected  by  the  government  at  the  port  of  New 
York  is  not  paid  by  the  city  or  people  of  New  York  or  by  the  State  of  New 
York,  but  is  paid  by  the  people  of  the  country  all  over  the  country,,  who  buy 
and  consume  the  goods  imported.  All  the  point  I  make  on  this  is  to  ask  the 
country  what  could  have  been  the  motive  of  so  distinguished  a  senator  for 
making  such  a  statement  which  had  no  relevancy  to  the  subject  under  dis 
cussion — what  could  be  the  purpose  except  to  use  his  great  powers,  aided  by 
a  singular  computation  of  figures,  to  impress  his  section  of  the  country  with 
feelings  of  antipathy  and  dislike  to  the  Southern  people  ? 

But,  sir,  we  had  a  more  remarkable  exhibition  than  that  yesterday.  I 
pass  for  the  moment  from  the  honorable  senator  from  New  York  to  the  distin 
guished  senator  from  Vermont  (Mr.  Edmunds),  for  if  these  great  men  say 
these  things  what  shall  we  not  expect  of  the  smaller  men,  the  legions  of 
them?  The  senator  from  Vermont  yesterday,  who  may,  perhaps,  be  called 
with  fitness  the  legal  adviser  of  the  Republican  party,  who  seems  to  feel 
under  special  obligations  on  all  occasions  to  interpret  the  law  for  that  party, 
with  all  his  distinguished  ability,  absolutely  came  into  the  Senate  and  had 
read  from  the  secretary's  desk  a" large  number  of  clauses  of  the  Constitution 
on  the  subject  of  the  powers  of  the  Federal  government,  and  then  had  all 

titheadmin- 
r89  read,  the 
being  careful  to 


598  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

notify  the  country  in  whose  administration  these  various  acts  were  passed, 
beginning  with  the  sacred  administration  of  Washington — and  then  qualified 
all  that  with  extensive  quotations  from  that  great  work  written  by  Hamilton 
and  Madison  and  Jay,  known  as  the  Federalist.  For  what  purpose  ?  Why 
all  that  ?  Would  any  man  believe  it  ?  For  the  purpose  of  taking  the 
position  and  seeking  to  enforce  upon  the  country  the  idea  that  the  little  bill 
prohibiting  the  use  of  troops  at  the  polls  had  the  effect  to  change  and 
modify,  if  not  to  repeal,  all  this  legislation  to  which  I  have  alluded ;  that 
that  bill  was  in  conflict  with  the  clauses  of  the  Constitution  which  he  read  ; 
that  it  changed  the  legislation  of  the  country  from  the  days  of  Washington 
to  the  days  of  Grant,  when  the  senator  must  know,  when  every  legal  mind 
of  this  country  must  know,  that  the  bill  which  was  pending  before  the 
Senate  yesterday  did  not  affect  in  the  slightest  degree,  or  repeal,  a  single 
provision  of  a  single  statute  to  which  he  referred  previous  to  1865  ;  not 
one  ;  I  affirm  it  with  confidence,  not  one.  When  the  bill  shall  become  a 
law  (if  it  shall  become  a  law),  the  acts  of  1789  and  of  1792  and  of  1795  and 
of  1807,  and  all  those  other  acts,  will  remain  perfect  and  complete,  just 
as  they  always  were  before  the  passage  of  the  act  of  1865.  They  will 
not  be  repealed,  they  will  not  be  changed,  they  will  not  be  modified  in  one 
single  particular. 

That  is  not  the  worst.  I  have  the  senator's  speech  before  me,  and 
it  is  a  labored  effort  to  impress  upon  the  country  what  the  senator  would 
not  say  in  precise  language  himself,  but  to  impress  upon  the  country  the 
idea  that  Washington  and  Jefferson  and  Jackson,  and  all  the  distinguished 
Presidents  of  this  country  and  the  Congresses  of  their  day,  in  passing  these 
laws,  had  the  purpose  in  view  of  enabling  the  President  to  employ  the  army 
to  preserve  the  peace  at  the  polls,  and  that  bypassing  this  bill  and  declaring 
now  that  the  army  and  navy  shall  not  be  brought  to  the  polls  during  the 
elections,  we  are  coming  in  conflict  with  those  statutes  that  come  down  to  us 
from  the  days  of  Washington  ;  and  yet  every  senator  knows  that  there 
is  not  a  word  of  that  correct,  as  I  have  stated. 

Why,  sir,  the  act  of  1795,  and  the  other  acts  alluded  to  by  the  distin 
guished  senator  from  Vermont  were  not  intended  to  give  the  President 
power  to  use  the  army  to  keep  the  peace  at  the  polls  or  to  interfere  with  the 
elections,  and  that  senator  knew  that  it  was  impossible  that  that  legislation 
could  have  had  such  a  purpose.  Why  do  I  say  that  he  knew  it  ?  Because 
during  all  those  years  of  our  republic  there  was  no  law  enacted  by  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States  giving  to  the  Federal  government  control  of 
elections  in  the  States.  The  president  could  not  send  the  army  and  navy  to 
enforce  a  State  law  ;  and  every  law  during  the  administration  of  Washing 
ton  and  Jefferson  and  Madison,  and  so  on  down,  regulating  the  time,  place 
and  manner  of  holding  elections  even  for  members  of  Congress  was  a  State 
law  ;  and  even  if  the  power  had  been  conferred  by  the  Constitution  upon 
Congress  to  enact  laws  to  regulate  these  elections,  that  power  had  not  been 
exercised.  Now,  why  should  a  distinguished  senator  like  the  senator  from 
Vermont  get  up  in  the  face  of  this  countiy  and  make  an  elaborate  argument 
to  prove  that  the  purpose  of  this  legislation  is  in  conflict  with  the  legislation 
of  1789  and  1792  and  1795  and  1807,  when  he  knew  that  at  the  time  of  the 
enactment  of  those  laws  the  Federal  government  made  no  pretension  to 
regulate  elections,  had  no  law  to  enforce  on  the  subject  of  elections,  and  left 
the  regulation  and  conduct  of  elections  exclusively  to  the  States  ?  And  if 
we  do  by  legislation  what  this  bill  proposes,  that  is,  direct  that  from  this 


BIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  599 

time  forward  the  army  and  navy  shall  not  be  used  to  interfere  with  elections, 
do  we  not  re-enact  what  was  the  practice,  what  was  the  custom,  and  what 
was  the  law  before  the  war? 

But  there  is  another  proposition,  and  it  is  all  over  the  argument  of  the 
distinguished  senator  from  Vermont,  the  argument  on  the  assumption  that 
when  we  take  away  from  the  President  the  power  to  use  the  military  at 
elections  we  take  away  all  power  from  the  President,  and  he  makes  an  argu 
ment  to  prove  that  we  not  only  take  it  away  practically  for  elections,  but 
we  take  it  away  for  all  purposes.  He  gave  several  instances  to  prove'that 
a  criminal  of  any  character  against  the  laws  of  the  United  States  has  only  to 
make  election  day  a  house  of  refuge,  and  for  that  day  at  least  he  cannot  be 
disturbed  by  the  army.  He  assumes,  and  his  whole  argument  goes  upon  the 
assumption,  that  if  the  army  cannot  be  used  the  Federal  government  is 
powerless.  And  the  country  is  to  be  impressed  with  the  idea  that  we  who 
favor  this  bill,  we  who  desire  to  prevent  the  use  of  the  army  at  elections, 
really  intend  to  destroy  the  power  of  the  Federal  government  even  to 
enforce  any  law  that  may  exist  on  the  statute-book  in  any  matter. 

Mr.  President,  the  speech  of  the  senator  from  Vermont  ought  to  be 
studied  by  every  statesman  in  this  Union,  for  it  shadows,  as  that  dis 
tinguished  senator  only  knows  how  to  shadow,  the  great  distinction  that 
lies  at  the  bottom  of  all  the  differences  between  the  two  parties  that  now 
contend  for  the  mastery  in  this  government.  This  whole  argument  goes 
upon  the  idea  that  there  is  no  protection  for  the  citizens  of  this  country  save 
by  the  milita^  arm.  This  whole  argument  of  the  honorable  senator  from 
Vermont  is  replete  with  the  idea  that  when  you  withdraw  the  army  or  fail 
to  furnish  the  military  arm  for  the  protection  of  the  citizen,  he  is  without 
protection  ;  when  you  fail  to  give  the  President  the  army  and  the  navy  to 
enforce  the  laws,  the  President  is  without  power  to  enforce  the  laws. 

Well,  sir,  if  we  have  arrived  at  that  condition  of  things,  our  condition 
is  indeed  lamentable.  We  have  been  taught  from  our  youth  to  believe  that 
this  was  a  country  of  self-government,  that  the  people  are  able  to  protect 
themselves,  that  freemen  did  not  need  a  standing  army  and  a  navy  to  pro 
tect  themselves — protect  themselves  from  themselves.  It  has  not  been 
customary  to  teach  our  people  that  they  must  look  to  the  arms  of  military 
power  through  a  federal  centralism  for  the  protection  and  preservation  of 
their  rights  ;  and  yet  I  challenge  any  gentleman  to  give  this  speech  a  criti 
cal  reading,  and  it  goes  altogether  on  the  assumption  that  if  military  pro 
tection  is  withdrawn  there  is  no  protection  worth  having  remaining,  and  the 
practical  result  of  the  senator's  argument  is  to  show  that  by  passing  this 
bill,  which  simply  declares  that  the  army  and  the  navy  shall  not  be  used  at 
the  polls,  we  repeal  all  the  acts  which  authorize  the  enforcement  of  the  laws 
previously  passed  and  leave  the  President  powerless  to  enforce  the  laws,  and 
the  citizens  without  protection. 

I  heard  a  similar  argument  from  that  distinguished  senator  on  another 
memorable  occasion.  I  noticed  it  then,  and  I  call  the  attention  of  the 
country  to  it  now.  I  heard  it  on  one  of  those  bills,  during  the  last  Congress 
before  us,  making  appropriations  for  the  army,  in  which  there  was  a  clause 
prohibiting  the  army  from  being  used  as  a  posse  comitatus  to  execute  the 
laws.  If  senators  will  turn  to  the  short  speech  made  by  the  distinguished 
senator  on  that  occasion  they  will  find  that  he  said  broadly  that  if  that 
clause  of  the  appropriation  bill  became  a  law,  and  a  mob  should  be  organized 
in  the  city  of  Washington  to  rob  the  Treasury,  there  would  be  no  power  to 


600  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

protect  the  Treasury  from  that  mob,  impressing  the  country  with  the  idea 
that  its  defense,  that  its  safety,  that  its  protection  rests  in  the  arm  of  the 
military  power.  Can  it  be  true  ?  If  a  mob  should  organize  in  the  city  of 
Washington  for  the  purpose  of  capturing  the  Treasury  and  robbing  it,  is  it 
true  that  because  there  is  no  army  here,  because  the  army  cannot  be  used  as 
a  posse  comitatus,  therefore  the  mob  has  only  to  go  and  take  possession  of 
the  Treasury  ?  In  a  city  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  inhabitants  is 
there  no  power  to  protect  the  Treasury  from  a  mob  save  through  an  army  ? 
Sir,  that  idea  is  at  war  with  every  feature  of  our  government,  and  certainty 
at  war  with  all  its  fundamental  principles.  Our  government  rests  upon  the 
idea  that  we  are  capable  of  self-government,  that  the  people  are  patriotic, 
and  the  defense  and  protection  of  the  property  and  liberties  of  the  country 
rest  in  that  belief — the  people  and  the  authority  of  the  courts,  which  is  the 
same  thing,  because  they  come  from  the  body  of  the  people.  It  rests  upon 
the  idea  that  we  do  not  need  a  standing  army  to  protect  the  American 
people  from  outrages  by  the  American  people  as  a  body.  Of  course  there 
are  exceptions,  as  in  all  countries.  The  people  must  be  protected  from  mobs, 
but  the  people  can  be  protected  from  mobs  without  the  use  of  the  army. 

What  would  be  the  result  of  this  style  of  argument  ?  Gentlemen 
strangely  have  come  out  here  now  and,  in  opposition  to  the  bill  passed  yester 
day,  they  have  taken  the  distinct  position  that  it  is  necessary  to  keep  upon 
your  statute-book  the  right  to  use  the  army  and  navy  for  the  purpose  of 
keeping  the  peace  at  the  polls.  Well,  sir,  it  is  idle,  it  is  worse  than  idle,  to 
give  the  President  of  the  United  States  authority  to  use  your  army  for  any 
purpose  and  not  furnish  him  an  army  to  use.  You  say  the  President  must 
have  the  right  to  use  the  army  to  control  the  elections.  That  is  what  you 
say  by  your  opposition  to  this  bill,  for  that  is  the  only  idea  that  the  bill 
negatives.  If  it  is  necessary  to  have  the  right  to  use  the  army,  the  right  is 
worthless  unless  you  furnish  an  army  to  use.  Make  the  calculation.  Let 
the  citizens  of  this  country  make  the  calculation  and  see  what  destiny  is  in 
wait  for  them  when  the  proposition  is  once  established  that  an  army  must  be 
supplied  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  the  peace  at  the  polls.  How  many 
troops  will  it  take  ?  What  sized  army  must  you  have  ?  You  must  have  an 
army  in  every  State,  in  every  county,  in  every  town  ;  for  if  one  portion  of 
the  country  is  entitled  to  protection,  and  that  protection  can  only  be 
extended  by  the  army,  every  other  portion  of  the  country  is  entitled  to 
protection  ;  every  other  portion  of  the  country  must  have  an  army ;  and 
America,  free  America,  will  present  to  the  world  the  singular  spectacle  of 
standing  more  in  need  of  an  army  than  any  other  country  on  the  globe  ; 
and  we  must  have  a  larger  standing  army  than  Germany  or  Russia. 

Sir,  does  not  every  man  see  in  the  very  idea  that  the  people  of  this 
country  on  that  day  when  they  are  sovereigns  come  to  exercise  the  power 
of  a  sovereign,  that  they  must  have  an  army  to  control  them,  an  army  to 
protect  them,  an  army  to  regulate  them,  an  army  to  keep  the  peace  among 
themselves  in  the  exercise  of  this  great  power,  that  even  by  that  very  idea 
they  must  admit  that  free  self-government  is  a  failure  ?  It  is  the  last  idea 
that  an  American  ought  to  admit.  Of  all  ideas  possible  in  this  day  and  age 
of  degeneracy,  I  should  have  supposed  the  very  last  idea  an  American  states 
man  would  have  admitted  as  at  all  applicable  to  the  condition  of  things  in 
this  country,  would  be  that  we  needed  military  interference  on  the  days  of 
elections  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  the  people  at  the  polls. 

Whenever  the  American   Congress  shall  in  solemn  form  tell  the  world 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  601 

that  an  army  is  needed  to  protect  American  freemen  when  American  freemen 
go  to  the  polls,  they  have  admitted  that  the  American  popular  system  of 
government  is  at  an  end. 

I  must  say  that  I  am  loth  to  believe  and  I  do  not  believe  that  the  distin 
guished  gentleman  who  made  the  argument  of  this  kind  on  yesterday,  and 
which  necessarily  leads  to  this  result,  any  more  believes  the  statement  he 
was  making  than  did  the  senator  from  the  State  of  New  York  believe  the 
statement  of  figures  he  made  was  correct.  Neither  of  them  had  any  pur 
pose  to  make  an  incorrect  statement,  but  both  of  them  were  after  the  great 
purpose  of  this  whole  movement — to  excite  one  section  of  this  country 
against  the  other  and  to  avail  themselves  of  any  occasion  for  that  purpose. 
I  have  been  watching  during  the  progress  of  this  discussion  not  only  the 
character  of  the  speeches  that  have  been  made,  which  have  convinced  my 
mind  thoroughly  of  the  whole  purpose  of  it,  but  simultaneously  the  extra 
ordinary  movements  that  are  going  on  through  the  country.  Take  the 
Republican  newspapers  of  the  day,  and  it  seems  to  me  that  they  are  fuller 
of  abuse,  misrepresentation,  and  vituperation  of  the  section  of  the  country 
from  which  I  have  come  than  thev  ever  were  before.  I  know,  from  direct 

*/ 

communication  to  myself,  that  various  gentlemen  who  have  been  living  for 
a  few  years  in  the  South  are  going  through  the  North,  some  of  them  as 
lecturers,  some  of  them  in  the  garb  of  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  and  their 
whole  lectures  are  simply  replete  with  the  most  extravagant  and  false  state 
ments  of  wrongs  and  injuries  in  the  South. 

Designing  persons  are  circulating  letters  and  documents  among  the  poor 
colored  people,  telling  them  that  in  Kansas  they  can  have  forty  acres  and  a 
mule  and  money  free  of  cost,  and  the  government,  the  great  good  govern 
ment  that  freed  them  will  take  care  of  them.  For  what  purpose  is  tins  sec 
ond  signal  movement  among  the  poor  negroes  of  the  South,  the  effect  of 
which  is  to  dissatisfy  them  with  their  condition  ?  That  they  may,  as  many 
of  them  have  been,  be  deceived  and  undertake  to  emigrate  to  this  heavenly 
region,  the  new  Canaan  of  the  negro — the  colored  man.  Why  is  that  done  ? 
Not  for  the  purpose  of  benefiting  the  poor  colored  man,  oh,  no  ;  but  for 
the  double  purpose  of  making  it  an  occasion  to  vituperate  the  Southern  peo 
ple  before  the  Northern  people,  charging  their  own  duplicity  to  be  the  effect 
of  cruelty  and  wrong  by  the  very  men  whose  advantage  it  is  to  be  kind  to 
their  laborers  and  to  keep  them  among  them  in  contentment.  There  is  the 
political  purpose.  Thus  they  get  thousands  of  poor  creatures  away  from 
home,  naked  and  hungry,  and  then  the  appeal  comes  to  the  philanthropy  of 
Northern  people  and  the  plethora  of  the  Treasury  to  come  and  take  care  of 
them  ;  and  the  agents  who  circulate  the  falsehoods  and  create  the  dissatisfac 
tion  and  produce  the  mischief  come  in  of  course  as  dispensers  of  the  alms. 
It  is  a  sad  fact  that  these  sectional  passions  are  yet  used  by  statesmen,  by 
politicians,  by  bad  men  and  by  thousands  of  small  men  in  a  hundred  shapes 
and  forms;  these  sectional  passions  that  keep  the  people  of  the  North  and 
the  people  of  the  South  distrustful  of  each  other  and  which  are  made  com 
merce  of  by  these  people  for  their  own  selfish  ends  without  any  regard  to 
consequences. 

We  are  to  be  told  that  the  military  arm  is  essential  to  the  protection  of 
the  country,  but  that  under  no  circumstances  can  the  North  trust  one-third  of 
the  people  of  this  Union.     No  man  can  read  these  remarkable  declarat 
of  the  leading  men  of  that  great  party  and  not  feel  that  the  American  Rubi 
con  is  in  sight  and  Cassar  is  ready  to  cross  over. 


602  SENATOR  B.   H.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

REPUBLICAN  LEADERS  COERCING  THE  PRESIDENT. 

But,  sir,  I  should  not  have  perhaps  said  one  word,  notwithstanding  my 
convictions,  of  the  purposes  of  the  discussion  here,  the  style  of  discussion, 
the  manner  of  the  discussion,  its  perfect  consonance  with  what  is  going  on 
outside,  notwithstanding  the  conviction  on  my  part  that  there  is  this  day  a 
concerted  movement  in  this  country  permeating  the  whole  Republican  party, 
high  and  low,  for  the  purpose  of  consolidating  one  section  in  this  country 
against  the  other,  for  no  purpose  but  that  of  dominion,  right  or  wrong — I 
perhaps  should  have  said  nothing  in  view  of  all  this  but  for  the  fact  that  in 
the  present  case  the  immediate  legislation  and  the  purpose  manifested  in 
opposing  that  legislation  would  amount  to  nothing  unless  they  could  control 
the  President  of  the  United  States.  If  the  President  should  oppose  the 
bill  passed  by  the  majority  of  Congress,  of  course  that  was  an  end  to  the 
contest  here,  and  distinguished  gentlemen  who  had  made  such  tremendous 
clamor  against  the  bill  would  be  like  Othello — their  occupation  would  be 
gone.  I  do  not  wish  to  do  any  one  injustice,  but  it  cannot  be  disguised  be 
fore  the  country  that  a  persistent,  earnest,  arbitrary,  I  almost  said  dictatorial 
purpose  has  been  manifested  by  that  party  to  get  control  of  the  President 
and  influence  him  to  veto  the  bill. 

I  have  never  believed  it  would  be  done.  I  do  not  believe  the  President 
will  lend  himself  to  the  scheme,  and  I  have  not  believed  it.  The  present 
Chief  Magistrate  of  this  country  distinguished  his  administration  in  a  man 
ner  worthy  of  his  best  predecessors  when  he  first  took  charge  of  it  by  sig 
nalizing  the  beginning  of  that  administration  by  the  removal  of  the  troops 
from  the  polls  of  the  States,  and  from  interference  with  the  States.  I  can 
not  believe  that  a  President  who  thus  signalized  his  administration  in  the 
beginning  would  be  guilty  of  the  enormous  inconsistency  of  now  insisting, 
against  the  will  of  a  majority  of  Congress,  that  he  should  have  the  power 
to  use  troops,  not  only  to  control  the  States,  but  to  control  all  the  elections 
in  the  country.  It  would  be  too  manifestly  inconsistent.  The  President 
has  sent  in  one  veto.  I  confess  that  it  surprised  me  in  one  respect,  and  it 
did  not  in  another.  It  showed  the  power  of  the  gentlemen  on  the  other  side, 
that  they  had  accomplished  their  end  that  far  ;  but  the  bill  which  we  sent 
him  before,  though  Constitutional,  though  usual,  contained  what  is  called 
general  legislation  attached  to  an  appropriation  bill,  and  in  its  peculiar 
phraseology  gave  the  President  some  pretext  for  vetoing  it,  and  he  did  veto 
it.  We  desire  to  remove  every  reasonable  objection.  So  far  from  desiring 
to  coerce  the  President,  there  has  been  a  general  purpose  to  accommodate 
this  legislation  to  the  President,  so  as  to  accomplish  the  main  end  in  perfect 
harmony  between  the  executive  and  the  legislative  branches  of  the  govern 
ment.  Therefore,  much  to  the  consternation  of  the  gentlemen  on  the  other 
side  it  seems,  we  have  brought  forward  the  single  naked  proposition  that 
all  laws  authorizing  the  use  of  the  army  and  navy  at  the  polls  shall  be  re 
pealed.  That  makes  the  issue  direct  and  simple.  The  country,  I  think,  had 
a  right  to  expect  from  the  character  of  the  discussion  when  it  opened,  espe 
cially  during  the  Forty-fifth  Congress  and  the  early  days  of  the  Forty-sixth 
Congress,  that  when  this  proposition  was  stripped  of  its  connection  with  the 
appropriation  bills  and  presented  to  our  friends  on  the  other  side  in  a  simple, 
naked  issue  as  to  whether  we  should  use  the  army  and  the  navy  at  the  polls, 
they  would  rise  above  all  their  prejudices  and  purposes  and  vote  for  the  bill. 
But  to  a  man  in  the  other  House  they  have  opposed  it,  and  to  a  man  in  this 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  603 

body  they  have  opposed  it,  and  the  country  waits  with  anxiety  to  know  how 
it  will  be  treated  by  him  who  now  to  such  a  great  extent  holds,  the  peace  of 
this  country  in  his  hands. 

Sir,  I  would  not  say  one  word  of  disparagement  to  that  high  Chief 
Magistrate  in  this  critical  hour.  I  feel  and  feel  keenly  the  heavy  responsi 
bilities  that  rest  upon  him.  Will  he  remember  now  those  grand  words 
which  he  uttered  in  his  inaugural,  "He  best  serves  his  party  who  best  serves 
his  country  ? '  Will  he  rise  above  the  clamor,  the  dictation,  and  the  demands 
of  a  struggling  party,  seeking  to  regain  life  by  reviving  sectional  agitation, 
and  serve  his  country  like  a  patriot  ?  Will  he  do  that  ?  If  he  shall  do  so 
he  will  for  the  second  time  at  least  in  his  administration  show  himself 
worthy  of  the  high  position  which  he  holds.  If,  on  the  contrary,  the  Presi 
dent  will  do  what  is  so  contrary  to  the  record  of  his  own  administration, 
what  is  so  contrary  to  all  the  fundamental  principles  of  our  free  popular 
government,  what  is  contrary  to  the  correct  understanding  of  his  own 
message,  and  if  he  shall  insist  upon  the  bald,  naked,  fearless,  terrible  propo 
sition  that  we  shall  have  upon  the  statute-books  that  it  shall  be  right  and 
lawful  to  use  the  army  on  the  great  day  of  days  for  an  American — election 
day — that  he  will  keep  a  law  upon  the  statute-book  against  the  will  of  a 
majority  of  both  Houses  of  Congress,  and  that  he  will  use  his  veto  for  such 
party  ends,  then  the  time  will  have  come  when  the  voters  of  this  country 
will  be  face  to  face  with  a  very  grave  issue,  which  I  doubt  not  the  democ 
racy  will  be  able  to  meet  with  moderation  and  wisdom. 

WHO    MADE    AND    WHO     DEFEATED     APPROPRIATIONS — THE    VETO    POWER,    ITS 

OBJECT    AND    ITS    ABUSE. 

Mr.  President,  upon  this  subject  of  the  veto  power  I  wish  to  submit  a 
few  observations  to  the  Senate,  and  I  take  for  the  basis  of  my  observation  a 
portion  of  the  speech  made  by  the  distinguished  senator  from  New  York 
(Mr.  Conkling).  That  senator  said  : 

It 
The  revenue — 

can  be  devoted  to  its  uses  in  only  one  mode.  Once  in  the  Treasury,  it  must  remain  there 
useless  until  appropriated  by  act  of  Congress.  The  Constitution  so  ordains.  To  collect 
it  and  then  defeat  or  prevent  its  object  or  use  would  be  recreant  and  abominable  op 
pression. 

The  Constitution  leaves  no  discretion  to  Congress  whether  needful  appropriations 
>lmll  be  made.  Discretion  to  ascertain  and  determine  amounts  needful  is  committed  to 
Congress,  but  the  appropriation  of  whatever  is  needful  after  the  amount  has  been  ascer- 
t;iined  is  commanded  positively  and  absolutely.  When,  for  example,  the  Constitution 
declares  that  the  President  and  the  judges  at  stated  periods  shall  receive  compensation 
fixed  by  law,  the  duty  to  make  the  appropriations  is  plain  and  peremptory  ;  to  refuse  to 
make  them  is  disobedience  of  the  Constitution  and  treasonable.  So,  when  it  is  declared 
that  Congress  shall  have  power  to  provide  money  to  pay  debts  and  for  the  common  de 
fense  and  for  the  general  welfare,  the  plain  meaning  is  that  Congress  shall  do  these 
things,  and  a  refusal  to  do  them  is  revolutionary  and  subversive  of  the  Constitution.  A 
refusal  less  flagrant  would  be  impeachable  in  the  case  of  every  officer  and  department  of 
the  government  within  reach  of  impeachment.  Were  the  President  to  refuse  to  do  any 
act  enjoined  on  him  by  the  Constitution  he  would  be  impeachable,  and  ought  to  be  con 
victed  and  removed  from  office  as  a  convict. 

Mr.  President,  I  have  read  that  clause  so  strongly  and  forcibly  put  by 
the  senator  from  New  York,  to  say  to  him,  to  the  Senate,  and  the  country,  that 
I  indorse  every  word  of  it.  I  believe  the  senator  has  not  stated  the  truth 


604  SENATOR  B.   H.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

too  strongly.  There  is  no  clause  in  the  Constitution  which  says  in  so  many 
words  that  Congress  shall  vote  appropriations  ;  but  the  preservation  of  the 
government  itself  requires  that  appropriations  shall  be  voted.  The  taxes 
are  paid  into  the  Treasury  for  the  purposes  of  supporting  the  government, 
and  the  Congress  which  wilfully  refuses  to  appropriate  money  to  support 
the  government,  in  my  judgment  is  guilty  of  revolutionary  conduct  which 
cannot  be  excused. 

I  suppose  I  have  stated  that  with  sufficient  strength  for  the  senator  from 
New  York.  Now,  what  are  the  facts  ?  Mark  what  I  state  :  that  the  refusal 
to  vote  the  appropriations  to  support  the  government  is  unconstitutional, 
that  we  are  bound  by  the  very  terms  of  our  oath  to  take  care  of  this  gov 
ernment,  to  support  it,  to  maintain  it,  and  to  that  end  to  make  the  necessary 
appropriations.  What  are  the  facts?  Take  the  Forty-fifth  Congress. 
Every  Democrat  in  the  House  voted  for  appropriations ;  every  Democrat 
in  the  Senate  voted  for  appropriations,  and  every  Republican  in  the  House 
and  Senate  voted  against  appropriations.  Who  violated  the  Constitution  ? 
Did  the  Democrats  who  voted  to  make  the  appropriations,  violate  the  Con 
stitution?  Did  the  Republicans  who  voted  not  to  make  the  appropriations, 
support  the  Constitution  ?  The  senator  says  it  is  a  Constitutional  duty  to 
make  appropriations.  I  admit  it.  Why  was  it  that  appropriations  were 
not  voted  by  the  Forty-fifth  Congress  to  support  the  army  and  to  carry  on 
the  government?  It  was  because  every  Republican  in  this  body  rallied  and 
defeated  the  bill  making  appropriations  for  that  purpose.  There  is  the 
record.  Let  us  get  the  facts  right,  and  I  will  attend  to  the  excuses  after 
ward.  The  unconstitutional  act  of  voting  against  appropriations  was  done 
by  the  Republican  party.  The  Constitutional  duty  of  voting  for  appropria 
tions  was  performed  by  every  Democrat  in  both  Honses.  How,  then,  can 
it  be  charged  over  the  country  that  the  Democratic  party  is  responsible  for 
the  failure  of  the  appropriations  ? 

Not  only  was  that  true  in  the  Forty-fifth  Congress,  but  it  is  true  of  the 
Forty-sixth.  This  Congress  was  called  together,  and  every  Democrat  in 
both  Houses  voted  for  a  bill  appropriating  money  to  support  the  army,  all 
that  the  departments  demand  and  need.  Every  Republican  in  both  Houses 
voted  against  it.  If  it  is  unconstitutional  to  refuse  appropriations,  who  has 
refused  appropriations  ?  But  the  senator  is  right  again.  If  it  is  a  Consti 
tutional  duty  on  the  part  of  representatives  and  senators  to  vote  for  appro 
priations,  it  is  equally  a  Constitutional  duty  on  the  part  of  the  Executive  to 
approve  the  appropriation  bill,  because  under  the  forms  of  the  Constitution 
every  bill  has  to  go  to  him  for  approval  or  disapproval.  The  appropria 
tions  cannot  be  made  by  a  majority  of  Congress  without  the  concurrence  of 
the  President,  and,  therefore,  it  is  just  as  unconstitutional  for  the  President 
to  defeat  an  appropriation  as  for  Congress  to  do  so. 

The  President  has  done  it  in  this  case,  but  they  say  there  are  excuses 
for  it.  The  first  question  I  wish  to  put  to  the  senator  is  this  :  What  excuse 
can  justify  a  man  in  doing  an  unconstitutional  act  ?  The  senator  says  it  is 
unconstitutional  to  vote  against  appropriations.  What  excuse  can  justify  a 
man  in  voting  against  an  appropriation?  AVhat  excuse  can  justify  the 
President  therefore  in  vetoing  an  appropriation  bill  ?  I  think  it  must  be 
conceded  on  all  hands  that  no  man  can  be  justified  in  doing  an  unconstitu 
tional  thing  for  any  reason  less  than  the  preservation  of  the  Constitution 
itself. 

Now,  what  are  the  excuses  offered  in  this  case  ?     The  excuse  is  the  gen- 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  605 

eral  legislation  that  was  attached  to  the  appropriation  bill.  What  was  the 
form  of  that  legislation  ?  First,  it  is  admitted  to  be  usual  and  Constitu 
tional.  The  senator  from  New  York  himself  admits  that.  The  senator 
from  New  York  goes  further  and  says  that  so  far  as  the  mere  form  is  con 
cerned  any  bill  which  Congress  has  the  power  to  pass  can  be  attached  to  an 
appropriation  bill,  and  unless  the  President  can  find  cause  on  its  merits  it  is 
difficult  to  see  how  the  veto  of  such  a  bill  could  be  sustained  ;  and  the  sena 
tor  is  right.  The  form  was  usual  and  Constitutional.  So  the  President  can 
not  be  justified  in  vetoing  the  bill  nor  can  the  gentlemen  on  the  other  side 
be  justified  in  voting  against  the  bill  because  of  the  form,  if  the  form  of  the 
bill  is  usual  and  Constitutional.  Mark  you,  they  say  to  vote  against  the 
bill  is  unconstitutional.  To  refuse  an  appropriation  (and  every  man  by  his 
vote  against  an  appropriation  does  refuse  it)  is  unconstitutional.  Then  you 
cannot  plead  that  you  do  not  like  the  form  for  the  purpose  of  justifying  the 
unconstitutional  act. 

Then  take  the  substance  of  the  bill.  What  is  it  ?  It  is  nothing  in  the 
world  but  to  repeal  certain  legislation.  That  is  Constitutional.  The  sena 
tor  from  New  York  would  admit  that  Congress  has  a  right  to  repeal  those 
acts  ;  that  it  is  Constitutional  to  repeal  the  acts  we  seek  to  repeal.  None 
of  these  acts  had  existence  on  the  statute-book  previous  to  1862.  One  was 
passed  in  1862,  one  in  1865,  and  one  in  1870-71.  These  are  the  acts  we 
propose  to  repeal,  and  all  admit  that  it  is  Constitutional  for  Congress  to 
repeal  those  laws.  So  you  cannot  justify  the  unconstitutional  act  of  voting 
against  appropriations  by  pleading  that  you  did  not  like  the  form  or  that 
you  did  not  like  the  substance  when  you  are  compelled  to  admit  that  both 
the  form  and  substance  are  Constitutional. 

But  another  reason  was  urged.  It  is  said  that  the  Democratic  party 
have  been  threatening  the  President.  Threatening  him  with  what? 
Threatening  him  with  coercion.  Coercion  how  ?  Why,  you  say  if  the 
President  vetoed  the  bill  we  said  we  would  not  vote  supplies.  In  the  first 
place,  I  deny  the  fact  that  there  was  any  such  threat  ;  but,  admit  it  to  be 
true,  what  is  the  character  of  the  threat?  It? is  a  threat  that  the  President 
can  defeat  by  doing  his  Constitutional  duty  of  approving  the  act,  because 
the  threat  which  they  allege  could  only  take  effect'after  the  President  had 
vetoed  the  bill.  Every  Democrat  voted  for  the  bill  ;  the  bill  went  to  the 
President,  and  the  President  had  the  power,  therefore,  of  avoiding  any 
threat  of  withholding  appropriations  by  simply  doing  his  Constitutional 
duty. 

Mr.  President,  view  this  thing  in  any  manner  you  please,  the  question 
comes  down  to  a  single  point.  Admitting  the  position  taken  by  the^ senator 
from  New  York  that  it  is  a  Constitutional  obligation  resting  upon  Congress 
to  make  the  appropriations  to  support  the  government,  and  that  it  is  the 
Constitutional  duty  of  the  President  therefore  to  approve  appropriation 
bills,  that  only  the  Republican  party  prevented  their  passage  in  the  Forty- 
fifth  Congress,  and  that  only  the  President  has  prevented  the  appropriation 
bill  from^becoming  a  law  in  the  Forty-sixth  Congress,  and  that  they  have 
done  it  upon  an  excuse  as  to  the  form  of  legislation  which  they  admit  to  be 
Constitutional,  as  to  the  substance  of  legislation  which  they  admit  to  be 
Constitutional,  the  threats  of  the  Democratic  party,  which  are  not  true  in 
fact,  are  futile  in  view  of  the  power  of  the  President  himself  to  prevent 
them  from  taking  effect. 

In  view  of  all  these  facts  we  are  brought  nakedly  to  the  simple  proposi- 


606  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

tion  that  the  Republican  party  have  refused  to  do  their  Constitutional  duty 
of  voting  for  appropriations,  and  have  pleaded  in  excuse  that  which  is  a 
Constitutional  right  in  Congress  to  do.  Congress  has  a  right  to  put  on 
riders,  as  they  are  called.  Congress  has  a  right  to  put  on  this  general  legis 
lation.  You  admit  that  it  is  Constitutional,  and  the  President  is  put  in  the 
awkward  dilemma  of  vetoing  a  bill  which  the  Constitution  requires  should 
become  a  law,  without  which  the  support  of  the  government  cannot  go  on, 
and  pleading  as  an  excuse  for  it  that  he  did  not  think  that  certain  portions 
of  the  bill  were  expedient. 

I  admit  that  if  Congress  should  so  far  forget  its  duty  as  to  attach  un 
constitutional  legislation  to  an  appropriation  bill,  then  we  put  the  President 
in  the  awkward  predicament  of  having  to  violate  the  Constitution  in  any 
event.  If  he  approves  the  bill  he  approves  an  unconstitutional  provision. 
If  he  refuses  to  approve  the  bill  he  refuses  to  perform  the  Constitutional 
duty  of  granting  appropriations.  Congress  cannot  be  justified  in  putting 
the  President  in  that  dilemma.  I  will  say  that  although  I  might  believe 
legislation  attached  to  an  appropriation  bill  to  be  perfectly  Constitutional, 
yet  if  the  President  would  say  that  he  believed  it  to  be  unconstitutional  I 
for  one  would  scorn  to  put  him  in  the  dilemma  of  either  failing  to  do  a 
Constitutional  duty  or  doing  an  unconstitutional  act.  I  would  not  require 
it  of  him  ;  but  when  the  legislation  of  which  complaint  is  made  is  Constitu 
tional  in  form,  Constitutional  in  substance,  Constitutional  in  every  respect, 
then  clearly  Congress  has  a  right  to  enact  it.  I  deny  to  any  man  the  right 
to  do  an  unconstitutional  thing  and  plead  a  difference  of  opinion  or  a  ques 
tion  of  expediency  as  an  excuse  for  doing  an  unconstitutional  thing.  The 
President  has  no  right,  the  gentlemen  on  the  other  side  have  no  right,  to 
refuse  appropriations  to  support  the  government  and  say  they  will  refuse , 
the  appropriations  because  they  do  not  want  Congress  to  do  what  Congress 
has  a  Constitutional  right  to  do.  If  the  veto  power  shall  be  used  in  this 
way,  there  is  an  end  of  this  government.  If  the  President  can  use  the  veto 
power  for  the  purpose  of  defeating  an  appropriation  necessary  to  support 
the  government  and  be  justified  in  doing  it  because  he  dislikes  a  portion  of 
the  bill  on  the  score  of  expediency,  then  the  President  can  use  the  power 
vested  in  him  by  the  Constitution  for  the  purpose  of  preserving  the  govern 
ment  to  destroy  the  government. 

If  this  is  to  be  the  rule  you  see  where  it  leads.  No  law,  however  odious, 
which  the  minority  in  Congress  shall  desire  to  retain  on  the  statute-book 
can  be  repealed  in  any  form  or  manner  if  they  and  the  President  concur  in 
that  desire.  If  that  were  so  the  people  cannot  change  the  law  by  changing 
their  representatives  in  Congress.  They  must  also  either  change  the  Presi 
dent  or  they  must  make  a  two-thirds  majority  in  both  branches  of  Con 
gress.  It  cannot  escape  the  attention  of  any  intelligent  man  that  the  whole 
purpose  is  to  use  the  veto  power  to  keep  upon  the  statute-book  laws  which 
are  intended  to  be  used  by  the  Republican  party  as  elements  of  force  to  con 
trol  the  future  elections  of  this  country  to  keep  themselves  in  power. 

I  will  not  believe  that  the  President  of  the  United  States  has  given  him 
self  to  such  an  extreme  extent  that  he  is  willing  to  stop  supplies  to  the 
government  rather  than  repeal  laws  which  he  or  his  party  may  deem  essen 
tial  to  enable  them  to  keep  in  power.  If  so,  the  veto  is  used  for  a  purpose 
at  war  with  every  sentiment  and  principle  which  induced  the  framers  to 
put  it  in  the  Constitution.  Everybody  knows  (and  I  will  not  take  time  to 
read  to  the  Senate  to  show  it)  that  this  qualified  veto  power  was  given  to 


HIS  LIFE,    SPEECHES,    AND   WRITINGS.  60V 

the  executive  in  a  general  form,  it  is  true,  but  for  the  express  purpose  of 
preventing  unconstitutional  and  inconsiderate  legislation.  You  cannot  call 
this  legislation,  as  I  have  shown,  unconstitutional.  You  cannot  show  it  to 
be  hasty,  because  the  favorite  defender  of  the  President,  the  senator  from 
New  York  (Mr.  Conkling),  himself  spoke  on  it  three  hours.  It  cannot 
therefore  be  said  to  be  inconsiderate  ;  it  cannot  be  said  to  be  hasty.  It 
was  debated  for  a  month  in  the  two  Houses. 

So  we  have  arrived  at  a  new  point  in  our  history.  If  the  veto  power 
can  be  used  for  such  a  purpose,  the  country  must  know  it.  If  this  negative 
upon  the  will  of  the  majority  of  the  people  can  be  used  not  to  protect  the 
Constitution,  not  to  protect  the  prerogatives  of  the  other  departments  of 
the  government,  not  to  protect  the  country  from  the  consequences  of  ill- 
advised  legislation,  but  if  this  great  negative  upon  the  will  of  the  people 
can  be  used  for  the  purpose  of  retaining  a  party  in  power,  if  it  can  be  used 
for  the  purpose  of  keeping  control  of  the  army  and  navy,  if  it  can  be  used 
for  the  purpose  of  employing  an  indefinite  number  of  Federal  deputy  mar 
shals  and  supervisors  of  election — if  it  can  be  used  for  those  great  purposes, 
we  have  arrived  at  a  new  era  in  our  history,  when  the  veto  power,  which 
was  expressly  conferred  to  preserve  the  government,  will  be  used  for  its 
destruction.  As  my  friend  (Mr.  Eaton)  reminds  me,  you  cannot  say  this 
legislation  was  hasty,  because  it  was  passed  last  session.  It  has  been  passed 
twice.  Perhaps  no  measure  before  Congress  ever  received  fuller  considera 
tion.  If  it  was  not  unconstitutional  and  was  fully  considered,  will  any 
sensible  man  come  down  to  the  real  truth  of  the  argument  and  tell  me  what 
excuse  can  be  rendered  for  the  veto  of  legislation  which  the  Constitution 

^j 

requires  the  President  to  approve  ? 

CONSPIRACY     TO     DESTROY    THE     STATES     AND     REVOLUTIONIZE     THE     GOVERN 
MENT. 

Mr.  President,  I  have  detained  the  Senate  longer  upon  this  branch  of 
the  question  than  I  had  any  thought  of  doing.  I  advance  to  a  more  signifi 
cant  proposition  ;  one  which  I  consider  still  more  important  than  any  that  has 
been  discussed.  You  cannot  believe  that  this  great  party,  led  by  such  in 
telligent  gentlemen,  is  simply  influenced,  and  influenced  alone,  by  a  desire 
to  control  an  election.  There  is  a  greater  significance.  I  will  not  say  the 
manifest  purpose,  but  I  will  say  the  logical  tendency  of  the  doctrines  which 
have  been  advanced,  and  which  are  in  perfect  consonance  with  the  history 
of  the  Republican  party,  Is  the  destruction  of  the  States  as  an  element  in  the 
character  of  this  Union.  Take  the  argument  of  the  senator  from  New 
York.  Let  me  read  what  he  said.  The  senator  from  New  York  said : 

In  the  city  of  New  York  all  the  thugs  and  shoulder-hitters  and  repeaters  ;  all  the  car 
riers  of  slung-shots,  dirks,  and  bludgeons  ;  all  the  fraternity  of  the*  bucket-shops,  the  rat- 
pits,  the  hells,  and  the  slums  ;  all  the  graduates  of  the  nurseries  of  modern  so-called 
democracy  ;  all  those  who  employ  and  incite  them,  from  King's  Bridge  to  the  Battery, 
are  to  be  told  in  advance  that  on  the  day  when  the  million  people  around  them  choose 
their  members  of  the  National  Legislature,  no  matter  what  God-daring  or  man-hurting 
enormities  they  may  commit,  no  matter  what  they  do,  nothing  they  can  do  will  meet 
with  the  slightest  resistance  from  any  national  soldier  or  armed  man  clothed  with  na 
tional  authority. 

Now,  does  the  senator  from  New  York  mean  to  say  (and  his  argument 
is  utterly  worthless  unless  he  does  mean  to  say  so)  that  protection  from 
thugs  and  shoulder-hitters  and  the  various  unnamable  bad  men  that  he 
enumerates  is  impossible  in  New  York  except  through  the  national  soldiery, 


608  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

except  through  the  arm  of  the  national  government?  Is  that  what  the 
honorable  senator  means?  Yet  that  is  what  he  says.  He  says  that  every 
one  of  these  terrible  characters  is  to  be  told  that  he  may  commit  any  enor 
mity  he  pleases  ;  he  cannot  be  interfered  with  by  any  national  soldiery.  That 
is  all  true  ;  but  does  it  therefore  follow  that  they  can  do  these  great  crimes  with 
impunity  ?  Has  New  York  no  power  to  protect  her  citizens  in  the  exercise  of 
the  right  of  suffrage  ?  Is  New  York  so  given  up  to  thugs  and  shoulder-hitters 
-I  cannot  remember  those  other  hard  names  ;  but  is  New  York  such  a  hell 
that  New  York  cannot  protect  her  own  people  ;  and  does  the  ambassador 
from  New  York,  in  his  high  place,  say  that  to  the  country  ?  If  New  York 
can  protect  her  people,  why  does  she  clamor  for  the  national  arm  ?  Is  New 
York  unable  to  protect  her  citizens  ?  Then  let  New  York  petition  this 
Congress  and  say  so,  and  we  will  help  the  poor,  feeble,  emasculated  State 
of  New  York  !  Is  New  York  able  to  protect  her  citizens  and  yet  unwilling 
to  protect  them  ?  Then  New  York  does  not  deserve  help  ;  then  New  York 
does  not  deserve  to  be  a  State.  One  or  the  other  must  be  true.  If  she  de 
mands  the  Federal  arm  ;  if  she  demands  the  army  and  the  navy  ;  if  she 
demands  that  the  soldiery  shall  protect  her  people,  it  must  be  because  she 
is  either  unable  to  protect  them  or  unwilling  to  protect  them. 

Mr.  Kernan. — She  is  neither. 

Mr.  Hill. — Ah,  my  friend,  you  are  right ;  she  is  neither.  She  is  able 
and  she  is  willing  to  protect  her  citizens  in  this  right.  But  let  the  argu 
ment  progress.  If  the  senator  is  right,  and  if  in  New  York  the  national 
soldier  must  protect  her  citizens  in  the  exercise  of  the  right  of  suffrage, 
must  we  not  do  the  same  thing  in  every  other  right  ?  If  New  York  cannot 
protect  her  people  in  one  right,  can  she  protect  them  in  any  other  right? 
If  New  York  must  have  the  national  arm  to  help  her  protect  her  people  in 
the  exercise  of  one  right,  I  repeat,  must  not  New  York  demand  the  national 
arm  to  help  her  protect  her  people  in  all  other  personal  rights,  and  what  is 
the  result  ?  The  argument  comes  just  to  this  :  that  the  State  of  New  York 
is  unable  to  protect  her  people  in  any  of  their  rights,  and  therefore  it  is 
necessary  for  New  York  to  have  the  protection  and  the  help  of  the  national 
government  in  the  protection  of  all.  If  New  York  cannot  protect  her  peo 
ple,  what  State  can  ?  If  New  York  with  her  five  millions  people,  the 
largest  State  in  this  Union,  the  wealthiest  State  in  this  Union,  having  the 
commercial  metropolis  of  this  great  country,  is  unable  to  protect  her  people 
from  thugs  and  shoulder-hitters  and  rat-pitters,  what  other  State  is  able  to 
protect  her  people  ?  Does  not  every  man  see  the  necessary  logical  result  of 
the  honorable  senator's  argument,  that  States  must  be  destroyed,  that  the 
government  must  absorb  to  itself  all  the  power  of  protecting  the  citizens  of 
this  country,  all  their  rights,  and  reduce  the  States  to  incompetent  prov 
inces  ?  That  is  the  goal  of  the  Republican  party.  Every  hour  of  their 
history  has  been  a  direct  march  to  the  destruction  of  the  States. 

THE     TRUE     THEORY     AND     NATURE     OF     OUR    GOVERNMENTS,    NATIONAL     AND 

STATE. 

Mr.  President,  if  the  Senate  will  bear  with  me  I  wish  to  give  my  views 
upon  a  question  growing  out  of  the  subject  I  am  now  considering.  I  want 
to  call  the  attention  of  the  people  of  this  country  to  the  real  danger  that  j 
threatens  them,  for  I  do  not  disguise  the  fact  that  they  are  in  danger.  The 
senator  from  New  York  says  they  are  alarmed  because  the  national  gov 
ernment  is  threatening  not  to  help  them  to  protect  their  citizens  in  the 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  609 

right  of  suffrage.  They  have  no  just  cause  of  alarm  in  that  respect  because 
they  can  protect  their  own  people  ;  but  there  is  cause  of  alarm.  There 
have  been  two  parties  in  this  country  from  the  beginning  which  have  been 
inimical  to  the  true  character  of  the  government  under  which  we  live. 
When  the  convention  met  that  framed  the  Constitution  there  were  two  an 
tagonistic  ideas  in  that  convention.  One  class  of  delegates  wanted  simply 
to  amend  the  Articles  of  Confederation  and  continue  purely  a  Federal  sys 
tem  of  government.  Another  party  wanted  to  destroy  the  federal  features 
altogether  and  institute  a  purely  national  government.  Neither  succeeded. 
I  was  somewhat  impressed,  and  I  confess  a  little  amused,  by  an  argument 
of  the  senator  from  Illinois  (Mr.  Logan),  or  rather  a  statement  he  made.  In 
the  speech  which  that  senator  made,  he  says : 

I  assume,  sir,  that  this  government  is  either  a  nation  per  se,  or  it  is  simply  a  voluntary 
aggregation  of  States  with  a  sovereign  autonomy,  each  entirely  competent  to  exercise  its 
sovereignty  by  a  withdrawal  from  the  federation  whenever  it  desires. 

There  is  doubtless  an  idea  in  those  words,  but  I  am  not  able  to  catch  it. 
He  says,  further  : 

It  cannot  have  the  aspect  of  both  a  sovereign  nation  and  a  collection  of  sovereign 
States.  A  paradox  of  insurmountable  character  is  involved  in  the  very  idea  of  such  a 
thing.  But,  however  we  may  argue  upon  this  matter,  the  strong  arm  of  the  American 
people,  with  gun  and  sword  in  hand,  has  settled  the  principle  that  the  American  Union 
is  a  nation,  sovereign  and  supreme. 

The  senator  says  :  "It  cannot  have  the  aspect  of  both  a  sovereign  nation 
and  a  collection  of  sovereign  States.  A  paradox  of  insurmountable  charac 
ter  is  involved  in  the  very  idea  of  such  a  thing."  It  is  a  remarkable  fact 
that  just  what  the  honorable  senator  from  Illinois  calls  an  insurmountable 
paradox  is  exactly  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  After  listening 
to  the  honorable  senator's  speech  for  two  hours,  without  meaning  anything 
offensive  to  him,  I  must  say  that  I  think  the  Constitution  is  to  him  an  in 
surmountable  paradox. 

Now,  the  Constitution  has  formed  just  that  character  of  government. 
It  is  partly  national  and  it  is  partly  federal.  It  is  both  in  part  and  neither 
altogether.  In  my  opinion  the  best  description  of  the  Constitution  ever 
written  by  anybody  was  that  written  by  Mr.  Madison  in  the  thirty-ninth 
number  of  the '  federalist,  and  I  watched  with  a  good  deal  of  curiosity  the 
senator  from  Vermont  yesterday  when  he  was  collating  quotations  to  prove 
that  Mr.  Madison  was  in  favor  of  a  strong  central  government,  to  see  if  he 
would  not  read  what  Mr.  Madison  had  definitely  explained  to  be  his  idea  of 
this  government.  Here  is  what  he  said,  and  I  call  the  attention  of  the  Sen 
ate  to  it ;  it  ought  to  be  read  from  every  house-top  in  this  country  : 

First.  In  order  to  ascertain  the  real  character  of  the  government,  it  may  be  considered 
in  relation  to  the  foundation  on  which  it  is  to  be  established  ;  to  the  sources  from  which 
its  ordinary  powers  are  to  be  drawn  ;  to  the  operation  of  those  powers  ;  to  the  extent  of 
them,  and  to  the  authority  by  which  future  changes  in  the  government  are  to  be  intro 
duced. 

On  examining  the  first  relation  it  appears,  on  one  hand,  that  the  Constitution  is  to  be 
founded  on  the  assent  and  ratification  of  the  people  of  America,  given  by  deputi 
elected  for  the  special  purpose  ;  but,  on  the  other,  that  this  assent  and  ratification  i 
given  by  the  people,  not  as  individuals  composing  one  entire  nation,  but  as  composing 
the  distinct  and  independent  States,  to  which  they  respectively  belong, 
assent  and  ratification  of  the  several  States,  derived  from  the  supreme  authority  in  t 
State— the  authority  of  the  people  themselves.     The  act,  therefore,  establishing  the 
StiUUioi)  wjll  not  be  a  national  but  a  Federal  act. 


610  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

Mark  that.     The  act  establishing  the  Constitution  is  not  a  national  but  a 
Federal  act.     He  goes  on  : 

That  it  will  be  a  Federal,  and  not  a  national  act,  as  these  terms  are  understood  by 
the  objectors,  the  act  of  the  people,  as  forming  so  many  independent  States,  not  as  form 
ing  one  aggregate  nation,  is  obvious  from  this  single  consideration  that  it  is  to  result 
neither  from  the  decision  of  a  majority  of  the  people  of  the  Union  nor  from  that  of  a 
majority  of  the  States.  It  must  result  from  the  unanimous  assent  of  the  several  States 
that  are  parties  to  it,  differing  no  otherwise  from  their  ordinary  assent  than  in  its  being 
expressed,  not  by  the  legislative  authority,  but  by  that  of  the  people  themselves.  Were 
the  people  regarded  in  this  transaction  as  forming  one  nation,  the  will  of  the  majority  of 
the  whole  people  of  the  United  States  would  bind  the  minority  in  the  same  manner  as 
the  majority  in  each  State  must  bind  the  minority  ;  and  the  will  of  the  majority  must  be 
determined  either  by  a  comparison  of  the  individual  votes,  or  by  considering  the  will  of 
the  majority  of  the  States  as  evidence  of  the  will  of  a  majority  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States.  Neither  of  these  rules  has  been  adopted. 

I  call  the  attention  of  gentlemen  to  that.     Neither  of  these  rules  has  been 
adopted : 

Each  State,  in  ratifying  the  Constitution,  is  considered  as  a  sovereign  body,  inde 
pendent  of  all  others,  and  only  to  be  bound  by  its  own  voluntary  act.  In  this  relation, 
then,  the  new  Constitution  will,  if  established,  be  a  federal  and  not  a  national  constitu 
tion.  The  next  relation  is  to  the  sources  from  which  the  ordinary  powers  of  govern 
ment  are  to  be  derived.  The  House  of  Representatives  will  derive  its  powers  from  the 
people  of  America  ;  and  the  people  will  be  represented  in  the  same  proportion  and  on 
the  same  principle  as  they  are  in  the  Legislature  of  a  particular  State.  So  far  the  gov 
ernment  is  national,  not  federal.  The  Senate,  on  the  other  hand,  will  derive  its  powers 
from  the  States,  as  political  and  coequal  societies,  and  these  will  be  represented  on  the 
principle  of  equality  in  the  Senate  as  they  are  now  in  the  existing  Congress.  So  far  the 
government  is  federal,  not  national.  The  executive  power  will  be  derived  from  a  very 
compound  source.  The  immediate  election  of  the  President  is  to  be  made  by  the  States 
in  their  political  characters.  The  votes  allotted  to  them  are  in  a  compound  ratio,  which 
considers  them  partly  as  distinct  and  coequal  societies,  partly  as  unequal  members  of  the 
same  society.  The  eventual  election  again,  is  to  be  made  by  that  branch  of  the  Legisla 
ture  which  consists  of  the  national  representatives  ;  but  in  this  particular  act  they  are  to 
be  thrown  into  the  form  of  individual  delegations  from  so  many  and  coequal  bodies- 
politic.  From  this  aspect  of  the  government  it  appears  to  be  of  a  mixed  character,  pre 
senting  at  least  as  many  federal  as  national  features. 

The  difference  between  a  federal  and  national  government,  as  it  relates  to  the  opera 
tion  of  the  government,  is  by  the  adversaries  of  the  plan  of  the  convention  supposed  to 
consist  in  this,  that  in  the  former  the  powers  operate  on  the  political  bodies  composing 
the  confederacy,  in  their  political  capacities  ;  in  the  latter,  on  the  individual  citizens  com 
posing  the  nation,  in  their  individual  capacities.  On  trying  the  Constitution  by  this  crite 
rion,  it  falls  under  the  national,  not  the  federal  character  ;  though  perhaps  not  so  com 
pletely  as  has  been  understood.  In  several  cases,  and  particularly  in  the  trial  of  contro 
versies  to  which  States  may  be  parties,  they  must  be  viewed  and  proceeded  against  in 
their  collective  and  political  capacities  only.  But  the  operation  of  the  government  on 
the  people,  in  their  individual  capacities,  in  its  ordinary  and  most  essential  proceedings, 
may,  on  the  whole,  designate  it  in  this  relation  a  national  government. 

But  if  the  government  be  national  with  regard  to  the  operation  of  its  powers,  it 
changes  its  aspect  again  when  we  contemplate  it  in  relation  to  the  extent  of  its  powers. 
The  idea  of  a  national  government  involves  in  it  not  only  an  authority  over  the  individ 
ual  citizens,  but  an  indefinite  supremacy  over  all  persons  and  things,  so  far  as  they  are 
objects  of  lawful  government.  Among  a  people  consolidated  into  one  nation  this  su 
premacy  is  completely  vested  in  the  national  Legislature.  Among  communities  united 
for  particular  purposes  it  is  vested  partly  in  the  general  and  partly  in  the  municipal 
legislatures.  In  the  former  case,  all  local  authorities  are  subordinate  to  the  supreme, 
and  may  be  controlled,  directed,  or  abolished  by  it  at  pleasure.  In  the  latter,  the  local 
or  municipal  authorities  form  distinct  and  independent  portions  of  the  supremacy,  no 
more  subject,  within  their  respective  spheres,  to  the  general  authority  than  the  general 
authority  is  subject  to  them  within  its  own  sphere.  In  this  relation,  then,  the  proposed 
government  cannot  be  deemed  a  national  one,  since  its  jurisdiction  extends  to  certain 
Objects  only  m$  leaves^  to  the  several  States,  a  residuary  arid 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND    WRITINGS.  611 

sovereignty  over  all  other  objects.  It  is  true  that  in  controversies  relating  to  the  bound 
ary  between  the  two  jurisdictions,  the  tribunal  which  is  ultimately  to  decide  is  to  be 
established  under  the  general  government,  But  this  does  not  change  the  principle  of 
the  case.  The  decision  is  to  be  impartially  made,  according  to  the  rules  of  the  ( 'oust it u- 
tion,  and  all  the  usual  and  most  effectual  precautions  are  taken  to  secure  this  impartial 
ity.  Some  such  tribunal  is  clearly  essential  to  prevent  an  appeal  to  the  sword  and  a 
dissolution  of  the  compact ;  and  that  it  ought  to  be  established  under  the  general  rather 
than  under  the  local  governments,  or,  to  speak  more  properly,  that  it  could  be  safely 
established  under  the  first  alone,  is  a  position  not  likely  to  be  combated 

If  we  try  the  Constitution  by  its  last  relation  to  the  authority  by  which  amendments 


ajonty 

of  every  national  society,  to  alter  or  abolish  its  established  government.  Were  it  wholly 
federal,  on  the  other  hand,  the  concurrence  of  each  State  in  the  Union  would  be  essential 
to  every  alteration  that  would  be  binding  on  all.  The  mode  provided  by  the  plan  of  the 
convention  is  not  founded  on  either  of  these  principles.  In  requiring  more  than  a  ma 
jority,  and  particularly  in  computing  the  proportion  by  States,  not  by  citizens,  it  departs 
from  the  national  and  advances  toward  the  federal  character.  In  rendering  the  concur 
rence  of  less  than  the  whole  number  of  States  sufficient,  it  loses  again  the  federal  and 
partakes  of  the  national  character. 

The  proposed  Constitution,  therefore,  even  when  tested  by  the  rules  laid  down  by  its 
antagonists,  is,  in  strictness,  neither  a  national  nor  a  federal  Constitution,  but  a  composi 
tion  of  both.  In  its  foundation  it  is  federal,  not  national  ;  in  the  sources  from  which 
the  ordinary  powers  of  the  government  are  drawn  it  is  partly  federal  and  partly  na 
tional  ;  in  the  operation  of  these  powers  it  is  national,  not  federal  ;  in  the  extent  of  them 
again  it  is  federal,  not  national  ;  and  finally  in  the  authoritative  mode  of  introducing 
amendments  it  is  neither  wholly  federal  nor  wholly  national. 

This  establishes  the  proposition  that  the  government  as  formed  under 
the  Constitution  is  both  national  and  federal.  For  instance,  in  its  structure 
it  is  federal  because  made  by  the  States,  each  State  acting  through  its  own 
people  as  a  separate  community.  In  the  powers  by  which  it  enacts  laws  it 
is  both  national  and  federal.  The  House  of  Representatives  is  a  national 
body,  because  the  House  of  Representatives  is  composed  of  members  chosen 
according  to  population.  The  Senate  is  a  federal  body.  Here  our  govern 
ment  is  confederate.  In  the  House,  New  York  is  equal  to  thirty-three 
Delawares,  and  there  we  have  a  national  government.  Here  New  York  is 
equal  to  one  Delaware,  because  New  York  and  Delaware  confederate  here 
as  equals. 

I  could  not  help  but  be  amused  the  other  day  when  I  said  this  was  a  con 
federate  Senate  ;  men  whose  hairs  had  grown  gray  thought  it  was  a  slip  of 
the  tongue  ;  they  knew  that  much  of  the  Constitution  of  the  country;  and  the 
papers  all  through  the  country  took  it  up  and  said  it  must  have  been  a 
/«j>sus.  Sir,  I  was  not  thinking  of  the  Confederate  States  of  America. 
According  to  Mr.  Madison,  and  as  I  say  the  best  description  of  the  govern 
ment  that  ever  was  written,  he  says  this  Senate  is  a  confederate  Senate,  be- 
<•  uise  the  States  confederate  here  as  equals  ;  he  says  the  House  is  national, 
and  I  admit  it ;  and  he  says,  and  correctly  says,  that  the  executive  depart 
ment  of  the  government  combines  in  itself  both  the  national  and  the  federal 
features.  The  executive  branch  of  the  government  is  peculiarly  what  the 
senator  from  Illinois  (Mr.  Logan)  would  call  "an  insurmountable  paradox," 
because  in  itself  it  is  both  federal  and  national.  The  electoral  college  which 
elects  the  President  is  composed  of  two  ambassadors  from  each  State  and  a 
number  of  other  members  equal  to  the  House  of  Representatives, 
ambassadors  who  represent  the  State  are  the  confederate  ambassadors  like 
the  senators  upon  this  floor  ;  the  members  who  go  into  the  electoral  college 
representing  the  Districts  a.re  Rational,  So  vou  s&  ^ere  in  the  House  of 


612  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

Representatives,  which  is  national,  New  York  is  thirty-three  times  as  great 
as  Delaware  ;  in  the  Senate,  which  is  exclusively  confederate,  New  York  is 
equal  only  to  Delaware.  In  the  electoral  college  New  York  is  about  twelve 
times  greater,  not  thirty-three  times,  because  there,  as  Mr.  Madison  says 
emphatically,  the  government  becomes  compound.  So  that  in  the  structure 
of  the  government  it  is  federal,  that  is  in  the  process  by  which  it  was  made 
it  is  federal ;  in  the  different  departments  of  the  government  as  made  we 
find  the  national  and  the  federal  features  commingled,  one  branch  of  the 
Legislature  national,  the  other  branch  of  the  Legislature  confederate,  the 
executive  both  national  and  confederate. 

Mr.  Blaine. — Does  Mr.  Madison  use  the  word  "confederate"  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — He  does,  a  great  many  times  ;  he  calls  it  a  confederacy  in 
many  places,  and  he  says  especially  that  the  Senate  is  federal. 

Mr.  Blaine.—"  Federal  ? ' 

Mr.  Hill. — What  is  the  difference  ?  I  should  like  to  know  the  difference. 
The  senator  from  Maine  is  a  distinguished  gentleman,  and  if  he  can  show 
the  difference  between  a  federal  Senate  and  a  confederate  Senate  he  will  have 
done  much  more  than  any  man  has  ever  done. 

Mr.  Blaine. — There  is  a  great  deal  of  difference,  if  the  senator  will  per 
mit  me  to  say  so 

Mr..  Hill. — I  do  not  wish  to  be  interrupted. 

Mr.  Blaine. — I  do  not  want  to  interrupt  the  senator. 

Mr.  Hill. — A  friend  reminds  me,  what  I  intended  to  mention,  that  when 
the  election  of  a  President  fails  before  the  people  and  goes  to  the  House  of 
Representatives,  that  House  of  Representatives,  which  in  its  organization  as 
a  legislative  body  is  national,  at  once  becomes  confederate  because  each 
State  has  one  vote,  and  New  York  is  no  greater  than  Delaware  in  the  elec 
tion  of  President  by  the  House  of  Representatives. 

Mr.  Madison  repeats  the  same  doctrine  precisely  in  a  great  letter  which 
he  wrote  in  1830,  in  which  he  was  proving  that  the  Virginia  resolutions  of 
1798  and  1799  did  not  authorize  the  doctrine  of  nullification,  and  proved  it 
correctly.  In  a  letter  dated  Montpelier,  August,  1830,  he  says  : 

In  order  to  understand  the  true  character  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  the 
error,  not  uncommon,  must  be  avoided  of  viewing  it  through  the  medium,  either  of  a 
consolidated  government  or  of  a  confederated  government,  while  it  is  neither  the  one  nor 
the  other,  but  a  mixture  of  both.  And  having  in  no  model  the  similitudes  and  analogies 
applicable  to  other  systems  of  government  it  must,  more  than  any  other,  be  its  own 
interpreter  according  to  its  text  and  the  facts  of  the  case. 

From  these  it  will  be  seen  that  the  characteristic  peculiarities  of  the  Constitution  are  : 
1,  the  mode  of  its  formation  ;  2,  the  division  of  the  supreme  powers  of  the  government 
between  the  States  in  their  united  capacity  and  the  States  in  their  individual  capacities. 

I.  It  was  formed,  not  by  the  governments  of  the  component  States,  as  the  Federal  ; 
Government  for  which  it  was  substituted  was  formed.  Nor  was  it  formed  by  a  majority 
of  the  people  of  the  United  States  as  a  single  community  in  the  manner  of  a  consolidated 
government.  It  was  formed  by  the  States,  that  is,  by  the  people  in  each  of  the  States, 
acting  in  their  highest  sovereign  capacity,  and  formed  consequently  by  the  same  authority 
which  formed  the  State  constitutions. 

While  the  government  is  federal  in  its  structure,  partly  federal  and  partly 
national  in  the  enactment  of  its  laws,  when  it  comes  to  the  operation  of  its 
laws,  it  is  national.  In  the  extent  of  its  powers  it  is  federal,  because,  as  Mr. 
Madison  justly  remarks,  you  cannot  say  that  a  nation  is  an  absolute  nation 
whose  powers  are  limited.  Then,  because  the  powers  of  the  Federal  govern 
ment  are  limited,  not  inherent,  are  delegated,  it  is  federal  in  that  respect ; 
but  in  the  operations  of  its  laws,  operating  as  they  do  upon  the  citizen,  it 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  613 

becomes  national.  This  government,  then,  in  the  powers  granted  to  it  is 
absolute — it  is  national.  Its  laws  operate  upon  the  citizen  just  as  the  laws 
of  England  and  France  do,  and  they  can  be  enforced.  It  must  enforce  its 
own  laws. 

Two  things  have  struck  me  as  a  wonderful  marvel.  The  claim  by  some, 
one  extreme  class  of  thinkers  or  theorists  in  this  country,  is  that  the  govern 
ment  is  altogether  federal.  How  any  man  can  say  that  the  government 
under  the  Constitution  is  altogether  federal,  in  the  face  of  the  fact  that  the 
very  object  of  forming  it  was  to  get  rid  of  a  government  altogether  federal, 
is  to  me  a  mystery  and  a  marvel.  On  the  other  hand,  how  any  man  can  say 
that  the  government  is  absolutely  national,  adopted  by  the  people  of  the 
United  States  as  a  unit,  as  one  people,  is  to  me  a  marvel,  since  the  people  of 
the  United  States  in  that  character  never  passed  upon  a  single  question. 
There  never  was  a  question  submitted  to  the  people  of  the  United  States,  as 
one  aggregate  people.  They  never  voted  on  any  question  as  one  aggregate 
people.  The  Constitution  was  adopted  by  the  people,  but  it  was  adopted 
by  the  people  of  each  State  acting  for  itself,  just  as  the  people  of  a  State 
adopted  their  own  State  constitution.  Therefore  it  is  federal  in  its  struc 
ture  ;  therefore  it  is  national  in  its  operation ;  therefore  it  is  national  and 
federal  in  its  Constitution  ;  therefore,  as  the  senator  from  Illinois  and  a 
great  many  like  him  say,  it  is  an  insurmountable  paradox.  A  friend  sug 
gests  that  in  adopting  amendments  we  act  by  States. 

Mr.  Madison  advances  the  same  doctrine  again.  Mr.  Madison  wrote  an 
admirable  letter  directed  to  that  great  man,  Daniel  Webster,  in  March,  1833, 
complimenting  Mr.  Webster  for  his  great  reply  to  Mr.  Calhoun,  when  Mr. 
Calhoun  contended  that  the  Federal  government  was  a  league,  as  Mr. 
Webster  understood  him,  a  mere  compact,  a  mere  league,  an  exclusively 
federal  government.  This  is  Mr.  Madison's  letter  : 

MONTPELIER,  March  15,  1833. 

My  Dear  Sir :  I  return  my  thanks  for  the  copy  of  your  late  very  powerful  speech  in 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States.  It  crushes  "  nullification,"  and  must  hasten  an  abandon 
ment  of  "  secession."  But  this  dodges  the  blow,  by  confounding  the  claim  to  secede  at 
will  with  the  right  of  seceding  from  intolerable  oppression.  The  former  answers  itself, 
being  a  violation  without  cause  of  a  faith  solemnly  pledged.  The  latter  is  another  name 
only  for  revolution,  about  which  there  is  no  theoretic  controversy.  Its  double  aspect, 
nevertheless,  with  the  countenance  received  from  certain  quarters,  is  giving  it  a  popular 
.currency  here,  which  may  influence  the  approaching  elections  both  for  Congress  and  for 
the  State  Legislature.  It  has  gained  some  advantage  also  by  mixing  itself  with  the  ques 
tion,  whether  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  was  formed  by  the  people  or  by  the 
States,  now  under  a  theoretic  discussion  by  animated  partisans. 

It  is  fortunate  when  disputed  theories  can  be  decided  by  undisputed  facts,  and  here 
the  undisputed  fact  is,  that  the  Constitution  was  made  by  the  people,  but  as  embodied 
into  the  several  States  who  were  parties  to  it,  and  therefore  made  by  the  States  in  their 
highest  authoritative  capacity.  They  might,  by  the  same  authority  and  by  the  same 
process,  have  converted  the  confederacy  into  a  mere  league  or  treaty,  or  continued  it 
with  enlarged  or  abridged  powers  ;  or  have  embodied  the  people  of  their  respective 
States  into  one  people,  nation,  or  sovereignty ;  or,  as  they  did,  by  a  mixed  form,  make 
them  one  people,  nation,  or  sovereignty  for  certain  purposes,  and  not  so  for  others. 

The  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  being  established  by  a  competent  authority. 


with  specified  powers,  leaving  others  to  the  parties  to  the  Constitution.     It  makes  the 

<n  \i*i  *  t*t*  i  i  'i  *i  ,  1  <*.,,,.*  1  t  -      ,  .i»       t  1»*.      iii><  >iil<>    *     t  tl*ii'i*^      'it       ll^ 


government,  like  other  governments,  to  operate  directly  on  the  people  ;  places  at 
Command  the  needful  physical  means  of  executing  its  powers  ;  and  finally  proclaims  i 
supremacy,  and  that  of  the  laws  made  in  pursuance  of  it,  over  the  constitutions  and 


614  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

laws  of  the  States  ;  the  powers  of  the  government  being  exercised,  as  in  other  elective 
and  responsible  governments,  under  the  control  of  its  constituents,  the  people  and  the 
Legislatures  of  the  States,  and  subject  to  the  revolutionary  rights  of  the  people  in 
extreme  cases. 

Such  is  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  de  jure  and  de  facto,  and  the  name, 
whatever  it  be,  that  may  be  given  to  it  can  make  it  nothing  more  or  less  than  what  it  is. 

Pardon  this  hasty  effusion,  which,  whether  precisely  according  or  not  with  your  ideas, 
presents,  I  am  aware,  none  that  will  be  new  to  you. 

With  great  esteem  and  cordial  salutations, 
Mr.  Webster.  JAMES  MADISON. 

Sir,  I  want  to  say  here  now — and  I  feel  it  a  privilege  that  I  can  say  it — 
I  believe  all  the  angry  discussions,  all  the  troubles  that  have  come  upon  this 
country  have  sprung  from  the  failure  of  the  people  to  comprehend  the  one 
great  fact,  that  the  goverment  under  which  we  live  has  no  model  ;  it  is 
partly  national  and  partly  federal ;  an  idea  which  was  to  the  Greeks  a  stum 
bling  block  and  to  the  Romans  foolishness,  and  to  the  Republican  party  an 
insurmountable  paradox  ;  but  to  the  patriots  of  this  country  it  is  the  power 
of  liberty  unto  the  salvation  of  the  people.  And  if  the  people  of  this  coun 
try  would  realize  that  fact,  all  these  crazy  wranglings  as  to  whether  we  live 
under  a  federal  or  national  government  would  cease  ;  they  would  understand 
that  we  live  under  both  ;  that  it  is  a  composite  government ;  that  it  was  in 
tended  by  its  framers  that  the  Union  shall  be  faithful  in  defense  of  the 
States,  that  the  States  shall  be  harmonious  in  support  of  the  Union,  and  that 
the  Union  and  the  States  shall  be  faithful  and  harmonious  in  the  support 
and  maintenance  of  the  rights  and  the  liberty  of  the  people. 

Sir,  Mr.  Webster  concurred  fully  with  Mr.  Madison  in  these  views.  Mr. 
Webster  said  in  his  speech  at  the  whig  convention  in  Richmond  : 

I  will  now  say,  however,  that  which  I  admit  to  be  very  presumptuous,  because  it  is 
said  notwithstanding  the  illustrious  authority  of  one  of  the  greatest  of  your  great  men 
— a  man  better  acquainted  with  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  than  any  other 
man — 

That  I  believe.  I  believe  Mr.  Madison  understood  the  Constitution  of 
this  country  better  than  any  man  who  ever  lived  in  it. 

A  man  who  saw  it  in  its  cradle,  who  held  it  in  his  arms,  as  one  may  say,  in  its  infancy ; 
who  presented  and  recommended  it  to  the  American  people,  and  who  saw  it  adopted 
very  much  under  the  force  of  his  own  reasoning  and  the  weight  of  his  own  reputation  ; 
who  lived  long  enough  to  see  it  prosperous,  to  enjoy  its  highest  honors,  and  who  at  last 
went  down  to  the  grave  beneath  ten  thousand  blessings,  for  which,  morning  and  evening, 
he  had  thanked  God  ;  I  mean  James  Madison.  Yet,  even  from  this  great  and  good  man, 
whom  I  hold  to  be  chief  among  the  just  interpreters  of  the  Constitution,  I  am  constrained, 
however  presumptuous  it  may  be  considered,  to  differ  in  relation  to  one  of  his  interpre 
tations  of  that  instrument.  I  refer  to  the  opinion  expressed  by  him,  that  the  power  of 
removal  from  office  does  exist  in  the  Constitution  as  an  independent  power  in  the  hands 
of  the  President,  without  the  consent  of  the  Senate.  I  wish  he  had  taken  a  different 
view  of  it. 

I  say  here,  if  there  are  any  two  men  in  this  country  I  have  ever  studied 
and  loved  and  honored,  they  are  Madison  and  Webster.  This  is  the  only 
instance  I.  have  found  where  Mr.  Webster  ever  differed  with  Mr.  Madison 
upon  any  interpretation  of  the  Constitution.  Mr.  Webster  denied  that  the 
power  of  removal  was  an  independent  power,  and  absolute  in  the  hands  of 
the  President.  Mr.  Madison  conceded  that  power.  That  is  the  only  differ 
ence  I  have  ever  been  able  to  find  between  the  two. 

Mr.  Webster  again  said,  speaking  of  Mr.  Madison  at  a  public  dinner  in 
New  York  : 

Having  been  afterward,  for  eight  years,  Secretary  of  State,  and  as  long  President,  Mr. 


LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND    WRITINGS.  615 


ing  and  recommending  it,  by  speaking  and  writing,  in  assisting  at  the  first  organization 
of  the  government  under  it,  and  in  a  long  administration  of  its  executive  powers  in 
these  various  ways  he  lias  lived  near  the  Constitution,  and  with  the  power  of  inbibiii<r  its 
true  spirit  and  inhaling  its  very  breath  from  its  first  pulsation  of  life.  Again,  therefore, 
I  ask,  If  he  cannot  tell  us  what  the  Constitution  is  and  what  it  means,  who  can'?  He  had 
retired  with  the  respect  and  regard  of  the  community,  and  might  naturally  be  supposed 
not  willing  to  interfere  again  in  matters  of  political  concern.  He  has,  nevertheless,  not 
withholden  his  opinions  on  the  vital  question  discussed  on  that  occasion  which  has  caused 
this  meeting.  He  has  stated  with  an  accuracy  almost  peculiar  to  himself,  and  so  stated, 
as,  in  my  opinion,  to  place  almost  beyond  further  controversy  the  true  doctrines  of  the 
Constitution.  He  has  stated  not  notions  too  loose  and  irregular  to  be  called  even  a  theory, 
not  ideas  struck  out  by  the  feeling  of  present  inconvenience  or  supposed  maladminis 
tration,  not  suggestions  of  expediency  or  evasions  of  fair  and  straightforward  construc 
tion,  but  elementary  principles,  clear  and  sound  distinctions,  and  indisputable  truths. 
I  am  sure,  gentlemen,  that  I  speak  your  sentiments  as  well  as  my  own  when  I  say  that 
for  making  public  so  clearly  and  distinctly  as  he  has  done  his  own  opinions  on  these 
vital  questions  of  Constitutional  law,  Mr.  Madison  has  founded  a  new  and  strong  claim 
on  the  gratitude  of  a  grateful  country.  You  will  think  with  me  that  at  his  advanced 
age  and  in  the  enjoyment  of  general  respect  and  approbation  for  a  long  career  of  public 
services,  it  was  an  act  of  distinguished  patriotism,  when  he  saw  notions  promulgated  and 
maintained  which  he  deemed  unsound  and  dangerous,  not  to  hesitate  to  come  forward 
and  to  place  the  weight  of  his  own  opinion  in  what  he  deemed  the  right  scale,  come  what 
might.  I  am  sure,  gentlemen,  it  cannot  be  doubted,  the  manifestation  is  clear,  that  the 
country  feels  deeply  the  force  of  this  new  obligation. 

In  his  letter  to  Mr.  Cooper,  Mr.  Webster,  referring  to  this  question, 
again  used  strange  but  strong  language,  which  looks  like  a  "  paradox  r  in 
itself.  He  says,  "  The  States  are  united,  confederated  "  ;  that  is,  they  are 
both  united  and  confederated.  Again  Mr.  Webster,  in  his  great  speech  in 
the  case  of  The  United  States  Bank  vs.  Primrose,  uses  as  strong  language  on 
this  subject  as  a  man  could  ask.  He  says  : 

Suppose  that  this  Constitution  had  said,  in  terms,  after  the  language  of  the  court 
below,  "All  national  sovereignty  shall  belong  to  the  United  States,  all  municipal  sove 
reignty  to  the  several  States."  I  will  say  that,  however  clear,  however  distinct  such  a 
definition  may  appear  to  those  who  use  it.  the  employment  of  it  in  the  Constitution  could 
only  have  lead  to  utter  confusion  and  uncertainty.  I  am  not  prepared  to  say  that  the 
States  have  no  national  sovereignty.  The  laws  of  some  of  the  States,  Maryland  and  Vir 
ginia,  for  instance,  provide  punishment  for  treason.  The  power  thus  exercised  is  cer 
tainly  not  municipal.  Virginia  has  a  law  of  alienage  ;  that  is,  a  power  exercised  against 
a  foreign  nation.  'Does  not  the  question  necessarily  arise,  when  a  power  is  exercised 
concerning  an  alien  enemy—"  enemy  to  whom  ?  "  The  law  of  escheat,  which  exists  in 


meration  declares  all  the  powers  that  are  granted  to  the  United  States,  and  all  the  rest  are 
reserved  to  the  States.  If  we  pursue  to  the  extreme  point  the  powers  granted  and  the 
powers  reserved,  the  powers  of  the  general  and  State  governments  will  be  found,  it  is  to 
be  feared,  impinging  and  in  conflict.  Our  hope  is  that  the  prudence  and  patriotism  of 
the  States  and  the  wisdom  of  this  government  will  prevent  that  catastrophe.  For  mysel 
he  advice  of  the  court  in  Deveaux's  case—  I  will  avoid  nice  metaphysical 


will  pursue  the 
subtilties  and  all  useless  theories. 


And  that  advice  I  (*ive  to  the  Republican  party  generally. 

Mr.  Edmunds.—  Would  my  friend  be  willing  to  take  the  advice,  as  well 
as  give  it  ? 

^Mr.  Hill—  I  have  always  taken  it,  my  friend,  in  all  my  political  career. 
This  is  the  first  speech  I  ever  made  of  this  character  on  the  subject  of  seces 
sion  and  consolidation. 


616  SENATOR  R  IL  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

Mr.  Edmunds. — This,  then,  is  the  first  case  of  sophistry. 

Mr.  Hill. — Ah  !  I  do  hope,  Mr.  President,  whatever  other  misfortune  may 
befall  me,  I  shall  not  imbibe  the  habit  of  sophistry  by  associating  with  the 
senator  from  Vermont  in  this  Chamber.  I  continue  the  quotation  from 
Mr.  Webster  : 

I  will  keep  my  feet  out  of  the  traps  of  general  definition,  I  will  keep  my  feet  out  of 
all  traps,  I  will  keep  to  things  as  they  are,  and  go  no  further  to  inquire  what  they  might 
be,  if  they  were  not  what  they  are.  The  States  of  this  Union,  as  States,  are  subject  to 
all  the  voluntary  and  customary  laws  of  nations. 

No  stronger  State-rights  doctrine  than  that  was  ever  uttered.  And  Mr. 
Webster,  in  that  very  great,  almost  unprecedented  speech  which  he  made  in 
reply  to  Mr.  Hayne,  the  second  speech  on  Foot's  resolution,  said  that  "  the 
States  are  unquestionably  sovereign,"  and  that  the  general  government  has 
no  power  "  beyond  the  actual  grant";  but  in  the  exercise  of  the  powers 
actually  granted  it  is  national,  and  that  is  right.  That  has  always  been  my 
belief.  Therefore  I  have  never  discussed  these  abstract  theories,  as  I  said 
to  the  senator  from  Vermont. 

Mr.  Webster  in  his  argument  with  Mr.  Calhoun  was  combating  the  theory 
that  under  the  Constitution  the  government  was  a  league  ;  and  when  he 
said  it  was  not  a  confederacy  he  of  course  was  combating  the  theory  of  a 
confederacy  in  the  sense  of  a  league.  Mr.  Webster  evidently,  in  combating 
that  particular  theory,  may  have  used  language  which  he  would  not  have 
used  if  he  had  not  been  combating  that  theory.  Therefore  in  his  speech  on 
that  occasion,  especially  the  great  speech  in  reply  to  Mr.  Calhoun,  which 
was  an  abler  argument  than  his  speech  in  reply  to  Hayne,  he  said  "  this 
government  is  not  a  confederacy,  a  league,  or  a  compact,"  and  yet  often 
afterward  in  other  places  he  did  speak  of  it  as  a  confederacy  and  a  Consti 
tutional  compact.  What  does  he  mean  ?  He  means  just  what  Mr.  Madison 
says  :  In  some  respects  the  Constitution  under  which  we  live  has  ordained  a 
government  which  is  national,  in  other  respects  federal.  It  is  both  federal 
and  national,  and  therein  is  its  glory.  One  great  trouble  with  book  theorists 
is  that  they  go  upon  examples.  They  cannot  find  any  precedent  in  history 
of  this  kind.  They  find  governments,  either  national  or  federal,  and  they 
say,  as  the  senator  from  Illinois  :  "  I  assume  that  it  is  either  altogether  na 
tional  or  altogether  federal."  That  is  the  substance  of  what  he  says.  That 
is  directly  in  the  teeth  of  the  truth.  It  is  partly  national*  and  it  is  partly 
federal ;  it  is  both  ;  and  it  is  neither. 

This  government  was  not  the  result  of  mere  human  wisdom.  No  human 
mind  could  have  conceived  this  government,  as  a  mere  intellectual  effort. 
What  produced  this  government  ?  In  the  first  place  the  framers  of  the 
Constitution  had  the  benefit  of  three  hundred  years  of  the  struggles  of  our 
forefathers  for  the  great  principles  of  liberty,  which  it  is  the  duty  of  all 
governments  to  preserve  and  protect.  Then  they  had  the  experience  of  a 
purely  federal  system  under  the  articles  of  confederation,  which  had  proved 
to  be  an  utter  failure.  Then  they  had  the  benefit  of  a  new  country,  differ 
ent  from  any  other  country,  whose  needs  were  different ;  and  though  at  that 
time  there  were  but  thirteen  States  skirting  the  Atlantic,  even  they  had  the 
prescience  to  see  that  this  country  would  extend  back  from  sea  to  sea  and  , 
have  fifty  States.  Therefore,  as  Mr.  Madison  says,  you  cannot  determine 
this  Constitution  by  any  model  ;  you  must  determine  it  by  itself  and  by  the 
facts  of  the  case.  Sir,  this  Constitution  of  government,  framed  in  1787,  is 
the  result  of  wisdom,  the  result  of  experience,  the  result  of  condition,  the 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  617 

result  of  necessity,  and  the  result  of  all  the  feelings  and  elements  that  can 
stimulate  the  intellect  and  prompt  the  desires  of  men  ;  and  the  result  is  that 
the  framers,  trusting  to  their  own  good  sense  applied  to  the  facts  of  their 
condition,  and  aided  by  the  experience  of  three  hundred  years  of  history, 
gave  to  the  world  a  Constitution  which  was  as  new  in  the  science  of  gov 
ernment  as  the  American  continent  was  new  to  the  geography  of  the  world 
when  Columbus  discovered  it.  When  you  hear  about  a  man  going  to  Rome 
or  to  Greece  or  to  Switzerland  or  anywhere  to  tind  models  by  which  to  un 
derstand  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  he  is  going "  in  dark  places 
to  gather  light. 

The  Constitution  is  its  own  interpreter  in  the  light  of  the  circumstances 
under  which  it  was  made.  It  is  the  noblest  government,  the  greatest  gov 
ernment  that  human  wisdom  ever  devised,  and  it  could  not  have  been 
framed  by  human  wisdom  alone.  The  human  intellect  never  existed  in  this 
world  that  could  from  its  own  evolutions  have  wrought  out  such  a  thing  as 
this  Constitution  of  the  United  States  ;  and  the  trouble  has  been,  that 
though  such  men  as  Madison  explained  it,  though  such  men  as  Webster  ex 
pounded  it,  yet  the  old  theory  that  divided  the  convention  has  continued  to 
divide  the  country.  We  had  one  class  of  men  who  insisted  that  the  Con 
stitution  and  the  government  was  nothing  but  a  league,  nothing  but  a  com 
pact,  nothing  but  a  confederacy.  It  was  made  by  compact,  but  it  resulted 
in  a  government  ;  a  government  capable  of  preserving  itself  ;  a  government 
capable  of  sustaining  itself  ;  a  government  capable  of  making,  capable  of  ex 
pounding,  and  capable  of  enforcing  its  own  laws  against  all  the  earth.  It 
is  a  government  such  as  Roman  never  dreamed  of,  such  as  Grecian  never 
conceived,  and  such  as  European  intellect  never  had  the  power  to  evolve. 
When  the  American  people,  either  for  the  purpose  of  dismembering  the 
States  or  of  destroying  them,  shall  destroy  this  unparalleled  government, 
this  government  without  a  model,  this  government  without  a  prototype,  they 
will  have  destroyed  a  government  which  seems  to  have  been  wisely  adapted 
to  the  peculiar  condition  of  the  time  and  to  all  their  future  wants,  and  they 
will  launch  out  on  a  sea  of  uncertainty,  the  result  of  which  no  man  can 
forecast. 

WHO    ARE    THE    KEAL    ENEMIES    OF    THE    REPUBLIC  ? 

Sir,  I  will  not  trace  the  history  of  these  two  extremes.  One  was  the 
Secessionist,  the  other  was  the  Consolidationist.  Both  are  disunion ists.  "he 
man  who  would  destroy  the  States  is  as  much  a  disunionist  as  the  man  who 
would  divide  the  States.  Ay,  I  put  the  query  to  the  American  mind  to-day- 
which  I  trust  they  will  ponder— if  he  is  a  traitor  who  would  divide  the 
States,  how  can  he  be  less  a  traitor  who  would  destroy  the  States  ? 

The  doctrine  of  secession— I  do  not  say  it  for  the  purpose  of  exciting 
sectional  acrimony,  but  for  the  simple  purpose  of  getting  the  facts  of 
tory— this  doctrine  of  secession  originated  in  New  England,  and  it  first  de 
veloped  itself   in   1790.     Those  twin  curses  of    the   South,  secession  and 
slavery,  were  both  transplanted  from  New  England. 

Mr.  Hoar. — To  a  more  congenial  home. 

Mr.  Hill.— Mr.  Jefferson,  in  his  works,  gives  a  very  interesting  accou 
of  the  first  threat  of  secession.     It  arose  on  the  occasion  of  a  defeat  in  < 
gress  of  a  bill  to  assume  the  debts  of  the  States  incurred  during  the  Revo 
tion. 

This  measure  (the  assumption  of  State  debts) — 


618  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

Said  Mr.  Jefferson — 

produced  the  most  bitter  and  angry  contest  ever  known  in  Congress  before  or  since  the 
union  of  the  States.  I  arrived  in  the  midst  of  it ;  but  a  stranger  to  the  ground,  a  stranger 
to  the  actors  in  it,  so  long  absent  as  to  have  lost  all  familiarity  with  the  subject,  and  as 
yet  unaware  of  its  object,  I  took  no  concern  in  it.  The  great  and  trying  question,  how 
ever,  was  lost  in  the  House  of  Representatives.  So  high  were  the  feuds  excited  on  this 
subject  that,  on  its  rejection,  business  was  suspended,  Congress  met  and  adjourned 
from  day  to  day  without  doing  anything,  the  parties  being  too  much  out  of  temper 
to  do  business  together.  The  Eastern  members  threatened  secession  and  dissolution. 
Hamilton  was  in  despair.  As  I  was  going  to  the  President's  one  day  I  met  him  in  the 
street.  He  walked  with  me  backward  and  forward  before  the  President's  door  for  half 
an  hour.  He  painted  pathetically  the  temper  into  which  the  Legislature  had  been 
wrought,  the  disgust  of  those  who  were  called  the  creditor  States  (the  Northern),  the 
danger  of  the  secession  of  their  members,  and  of  the  separation  of  the  States.  He 
observed  that  the  members  of  the  administration  ought  to  act  in  concert  ;  that  though  this 
question  was  not  of  my  department,  yet  a  common  duty  should  make  it  a  common  con 
cern  ;  that  the  President  was  the  center  in  which  all  administrative  questions  ultimately 
rested,  and  that  all  of  us  should  rally  round  him  and  support,  with  joint  efforts, 
measures  approved  by  him,  and  that  the  question  having  been  lost  by  a  small  majority 
only,  that  an  appeal  from  me  to  the  judgment  and  discretion  of  some  of  my  friends  might 
effect  a  change  in  the  vote,  and  the  machine  of  government,  now  suspended,  might  be 
again  set  in  motion. 

The  result  was  that  Mr.  Jefferson  gave  a  dinner  to  which  Mr.  Hamilton 
invited  some  friends  and  Mr.  Jefferson  invited  some.  On  the  same  day  that 
this  controversy  arose  about  the  assumption  of  State  debts  there  was  a  con 
troversy  also  as  to  the  locality  of  the  capital.  The  Northern  members 
wanted  it  fixed  on  the  Susquehanna  at  Delaware  ;  the  Southern  members 
wanted  it  fixed  on  the  Potomac  at  Georgetown.  Each  proposition  was  de 
feated  by  a  small  majority. 

Mr.  Jefferson  and  Mr.  Hamilton  got  together  and  persuaded  the  good 
Union  men  of  the  East  that  they  would  not  secede  provided  some  few 
Southern  men  would  vote  to  assume  the  State  debts  and  they  would  vote  to 
locate  the  capital  on  the  Potomac.  In  that  way  the  Union  was  saved  by 
a  bargain  of  two  men  on  each  side,  a  bargain  at  a  dinner.  I  state  that  simply 
as  a  fact. 

Several  times  again  secession  was  threatened.  It  was  threatened  accord-  * 
ing  to  my  reading  about  four  times  in  New  England  before  it  was  threatened 
anywhere  else  ;  and  it  took  a  very  dangerous  form  in  New  England.  New 
England  opposed  the  war  of  1812,  as  everybody  knows  ;  and  the  greatest 
men  of  New  England  assembled  in  convention  at  Hartford  and  adopted  the 
very  doctrines  which  were  taken  by  the  Secessionists  in  the  South  and  incor 
porated  in  their  ordinance  of  secession — the  very  same  doctrine.  This  doc 
trine  of  secession  never  acquired  a  great  stronghold  in  the  South  until  the 
opposite  doctrine  took  stronghold  in  the  North.  The  opposite  doctrine  to 
secession,  that  of  consolidation,  never  had  as  many  advocates  known  and 
avowed  as  had  the  doctrine  of  secession  ;  yet  there  were  some.  The  most 
absolute  expressions  of  consolidation  that  I  have  been  enabled  to  find  were  by 
Patrick  Henry,  of  Virginia,  and  Mr.  Lincoln.  Patrick  Henry  was  opposed 
to  the  adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution  because  he  insisted  that  it 
established  an  absolute  consolidated  government,  which  would  destroy  the 
States ;  and  as  a  States-rights  man  he  opposed  the  adoption  of  the  Constitu 
tion.  But  when  it  was  adopted,  he  insisted  that  the  fear  he  had  expressed 
was  true,  that  it  was  the  true  theory  of  the  Constitution  ;  and,  therefore,  in 
the  great  fight  over  the  alien  and  sedition  laws,  Patrick  Henry  approved 
those  laws,  and  stated  in  an  argument  he  made  that  the  States  bore  the  same 


LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  CIS 

relation  to  the  general  government  that  the  counties  in  the  States  bore  to 
the  States.  And  Mr.  Lincoln,  I  noticed,  on  his  way  to  the  capital  after  his 
election,  suggested  that  same  idea. 

Those  two  expressions  I  have  not  seen  repeated  by  anybody  else  ;  but 
they  embodied  in  a  few  words  the  most  absolute  expression  of  consolidation 
ana  entire  nationalism  I  have  ever  met  anywhere.  But  this  doctrine  of  consol 
idation  did  not  do  much  mischief  previously  to  1860,  though  it  had  its  advo 
cates  ;  yet,  when  the  collision  came,  the  doctrines  then  held  by  those  who 
went  to  war  with  secession  were  as  absolutely  national  in  their  character  and 
just  as  inconsistent  with  the  character  of  our  government  as  was  secession 
itself. 

Here  is  the  truth,  Mr.  President :  The  whole  war  was  the  result  of 
crimination  between  two  extreme  ideas.  I  deny  that  the  Union,  as  inter 
preted  by  Madison  and  expounded  by  Webster,  was  any  party  to  the  late 
war  except  as  a  victim,  a  threatened  victim,  and  a  very  dangerously  threat 
ened  one.  It  is  true  that  the  war  was  the  result  of  a  collision  of  ideas  and 
interests  between  the  extreme  nationalists  and  the  extreme  federalists. 
They  brought  about  the  war  ;  but  the  slavery  question  entering  into  it  sec- 
tionalized  it,  and  therefore  the  North  became  consolidated  on  one  side,  and 
the  South,  or  a  portion  of  the  States  of  the  South,  consolidated  on  the  other. 
After  the  war  arose  the  Union  became  involved,  and  therefore  it  is  that 
those  who  fought  on  the  side  of  the  Federal  government  fought  for  the 
Union  and  are  entitled  to  all  the  benefits  that  result  from  that  relation,  and 
no  man  will  always  give  them  to  them  more  cheerfully  than  myself.  The 
war  being  the  result  of  this  collision  of  extremes,  the  consolidationists,  the 
centralizationists,  the  monarchists  (for  that  is  what  they  mean)  had  the  ad 
vantage  in  that  they  had  possession  of  the  Union,  possession  of  its  power, 
possession  of  its  army,  and  possession  of  its  navy — an  advantage  which  they 
acquired  by  secession  folly.  The  collision  coming  on  in  this  form,  secession 
was  crushed  out  in  the  conflict,  utterly  crushed  out.  I  want  the  country  to 
understand  that.  It  was  utterly  crushed  out.  There  is  no  longer  any  danger 
to  this  country  by  reason  of  secession.  It  has  no  advocate  in  the  South.  It 
is  a  heresy  which  has  had  its  day,  wrought  its  wrongs,  and  gone  to  its  grave  ; 
for  which  there  is  no  resurrection,  unless  it  gets  that  resurrection  in  the 
home  of  its  birth,  New  England. 

But,  sir,  that  other  extreme  enemy  of  the  Constitution  and  government 
and  Union,  as  expounded  by  Madison  and  Webster,  was  not  crushed  out  by 
the  war.  It  was  the  cardinal  principle  of  the  Republican  party.  All  good 
Union  men  at  the  North,  by  reason  of  the  condition  of  things,  being  com 
pelled  to  go  in  the  Federal  army,  as  others  in  the  South  of  a  like  character 
who  had  no  sympathy  with  secession  were  compelled  to  go  into  secession,  it 
was  by  the  aid  of  the  Democracy  of  the  North,  of  the  conservative  men  of  the 
North,  who  did  not  agree  to  absolute  nationalism,  who  did  not  agree  to  the 
doctrine  of  consolidation,  who  did  not  agree  to  the  absolute  theory  of  a 
national  government  in  the  Federal  head—it  was  by  the  aid  of  these 
Democrats  and  conservative  men  that  the  Federal  armies  were  enabled  to 
triumph  and  crush  out  secession.  A  united  North  overpowered  a  divided 
South. 

But  the  men  who  happened  to  be  the  party  in  power,  and  who  are  the 
representatives  of  this  extreme  idea  of  consolidation,  took  all  the  credit 
themselves  ;  and  one  of  the  dangers  now  arising  to  this  country  is  from  the 
fact  that  the  party  which  represents  this  central,  absolutely  national  idea,- 


620  SENATOR  B.  H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

this  consolidation  idea,  this  monarchizing  idea, — that  party  claims  the  credit 
of  having  saved  the  Union.  It  gives  no  credit  to  its  allies  whatever. 
What  would  you  have  done  without  the  Democrats  in  the  war  ?  And  yet  it 
was  amusing  to  hear  the  distinguished  senator  from  New  York  the  other 
day,  in  his  own  way,  describing  the  Democratic  party  as  consisting  of  a 
Northern  tail  and  a  Southern  head.  What  would  you  have  done  without 
that  tail  in  the  war  ?  If  the  conservative  Union  men  North  and  South  could 
have  left  the  war  to  be  fought  out  by  the  advocates  of  secession  on  the  one 
hand  and  the  advocates  of  consolidation  on  the  other,  there  would  have  been 
some  other  party  in  control  of  this  country  for  the  last  eighteen  years. 

But,  as  I  say,  the  respective  sections  became  involved  without  regard  to 
the  individual  opinions  of  their  people.  This  national  party,  this  party  of 
absolutism  is  not  only  the  party  in  power  by  reason  of  its  representation 
that  it  saved  the  Union  and  taking  all  the  credit  of  saving  the  Union,  but 
it  claims  all  the  credit  of  having  suppressed  the  rebellion,  and  demands 
that  it  shall  be  esteemed  as  the  Secessionists  shall  be  hated. 

THE  STATES  TO  BE  CRUSHED  OUT. 

These  two  sources  of  strength  to  the  Republican  party  are  now  endan 
gering  the  States.  Why,  sir,  every  step  of  the  Republican  party  is  to  the 
destruction  of  the  States.  Take  the  very  measures  now  under  consideration. 
What  are  they?  In  1862,  for  purposes  which  every  man  can  explain,  a  test 
oath  was  prescribed  for  jurors.  In  1865  a  clause  was  put  in  an  army  bill 
authorizing  the  use  of  troops  to  keep  the  peace  at  the  polls.  Neither  of 
these  statutes  was  ever  known  on  our  statute-book  before  ;  they  did  not  exist 
in  the  early  days  of  the  Republic  ;  they  never  existed  until  they  were  en 
acted  during  the  war.  In  1870  and  1871  your  election  laws  were  passed. 
They  never  existed  before.  Up  to  that  time  all  parties  had  agreed  that  the 
States  were  both  able  and  willing  to  take  care  of  the  elections  and  protect 
their  citizens.  Now  I  put  it  to  every  intelligent  man,  what  stronger  indica 
tion  of  a  desire  to  grasp  power,  what  stronger  indication  of  a  purpose  to 
crush  out  the  States  than  the  attempt  to  drive  intelligence  and  virtue  and 
property  from  the  jury-box  and  use  the  army  at  the  elections,  and  to  place 
in  the  Federal  government  power  by  supervisors  and  deputy  marshal*  to 
take  absolute  control  of  the  States  in  their  elections,  things  that  were  never 
done  before. 

If  either  one  of  the  laws  which  we  now  propose  to  repeal  had  been  pro 
posed  for  enaction  in  any  administration  of  this  government,  from  the  days 
of  Washington  to  1860,  it  would  have  ruined  the  man  that  made  the  prop 
osition.  No  man  could  have  stood  before  the  indignation  of  the  American 
people  who  would  have  proposed  to  place  upon  the  statute-book  a  law 
keeping  intelligence  and  virtue  from  the  jury-box,  a  law  surrounding  the 
polls  with  the  army  and  the  navy,  or  a  law  giving  to  the  Federal  govern 
ment  absolute  control  of  the  elections  and,  as  my  friend  from  Kentucky 
(Mr.  Beck)  suggests,  fixing  the  congressional  elections  to  come  off  on  the 
same  day  with  Presidential  elections  and  State  elections,  so  as  to  control 
all. 

I  have  given  this  subject  careful  consideration.  I  wish  to  do  no  man 
injustice  ;  but  with  a  full  sense  of  responsibility  to  my  country  I  affirm  to 
day  that  this  heated  contest  we  have  had  here  for  six  weeks  has  no  meaning, 
has  no  purpose,  and  can  have  no  result  but  the  absolute  control  of  the  States 
by  force,  through  the  Federal  government,  to  perpetuate  the  Republican 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  621 

party  in  power,  whether  the  people  will  it  or  not  ;•  and  if  the  President 
shall  use  the  veto  power,  conferred  upon  him  for  a  high  conservative  pur 
pose,  to  aid  these  party  schemes,  and  the  people  shall  not  rise  in  their 
indignation  and  drive  from  power  these  men  who  thus  abuse  power  and 
disregard  their  duty,  the  Union  will  be  destroyed  in  the  destruction  of  the 
States. 

THE  UNION  HAS  NOTHING  TO  FEAR  FROM  THE  SOUTH,  AND  WHY  ? 

But,  sir,  to  accomplish  their  purpose,  almost  every  speaker  of  the  Re 
publican  side  in  the  Senate  and  in  the  other  House  is  persistently  seeking  to 
impress  the  country  with  the  idea  that  the  dangers  to  the  country  come  from 
the  Confederates  in  this  presence.  The  senator  from  New  York  said  : 

Twenty-seven  States  adhered  to  the  Union  in  the  dark  hour.  Those  States  send  to 
Congress  two  hundred  and  sixty-nine  senators  and  representatives.  Of  these  two  hun 
dred  and  sixty-nine  senators  and  representatives,  fifty-four,  and  only  fifty-four,  were 
soldiers  in  the  armies  of  the  Union.  The  eleven  States  which  were  disloyal  send  ninety- 
three  senators  and  representatives  to  Congress.  Of  these,  eighty-five  were  soldiers  in  the 
armies  of  the  rebellion,  and  at  least  three  more  held  high  civil  station  in  the  rebellion, 
making  in  all  eighty-eight  out  of  ninety-three. 

Let  me  state  the  same  fact,  dividing  the  Houses.  There  are  but  four  senators  here 
who  fought  in  the  Union  Army.  They  all  sit  here  now;  and  there  are  but  four.  Twenty 
senators  sit  here  who  fought  in  the  army  of  rebellion,  and  three  more  senators  sit  here 
who  held  high  civil  command  in  the  Confederacy. 

In  the  House,  there  are  fifty  Union  soldiers  from  twenty-seven  States,  and  sixty-five 
Confederate  soldiers  from  eleven  States. 

Who,  I  ask  you,  senators,  tried  by  this  record,  is  keeping  up  party  divisions  on  the 
issues  and  hatred  of  the  war  ? 

The  South  is  solid.  Throughout  all  its  borders  it  has  no  seat  here,  save  two.  in  which 
a  Republican  sits.  The  Senator  from  Mississippi  (Mr.  Bruce)  and  the  senator  from  Lou 
isiana  (Mr.  Kellogg)  are  still  spared  ;  and  whisper  says  that  an  enterprise  is  afoot  to 
deprive  one  of  these  senators  of  his  seat.  The  South  is  emphatically  solid.  Can  you 
wonder  if  the  North  soon  becomes  solid  too  ?  Do  you  not  see  that  the  doings  witnessed 
now  in  Congress  fill  the  North  with  alarm  and  distrust  of  the  patriotism  and  good  faith  of 
men  from  the  South  ?  Forty-two  Democrats  have  seats  on  this  floor  ;  forty-three  if  you 
add  the  honorable  senator  from  Illinois  (Mr.  Davis).  He  does  not  belong  to  the  Democra 
tic  party,  although  I  must  say,  after  reading  his  speech  the  other  day,  that  a  Democrat 
who  asks  anything  more  of  him  is  an  insatiate  monster.  If  we  count  the  senator  from 
Illinois  there  are  forty-three  Democrats  in  this  Chamber.  Twenty-three  is  a  clear  ma 
jority  of  all,  and  twenty-three  happens  to  be  exactly  the  number  of  senators  from  the 
South  who  were  leaders  in  the  late  rebellion. 

Do  you  anticipate  my  object  in  stating  these  numbers  ?  For  fear  you  do  not,  let  me 
explain.  Forty-two  senators  rule  the  Senate  ;  twenty-three  senators  rule  the  caucus.  A 
majority  rules  the  Senate  ;  a  caucus  rules  the  majority  ;  and  the  twenty-three  Southern 
senators  rule  the  caucus.  The  same  thing,  in  the  same  way,  governed  by  the  same  ele 
ments,  is  true  in  the  House. 

This  present  assault  upon  the  purity  and  fairness  of  elections,  upon  the  Constitution, 
upon  the  executive  department,  and  upon  the  rights  of  the  people  ;  not  the  rights  of 
king  ;  not  on  such  rights  as  we  heard  the  distinguished  presiding  officer,  who  I  am  glad 
now  to  discover  in  his  seat,  dilate  upon  of  a  morning  some  weeks  ago ;  not  the  divine 
right  of  kings  but  the  inborn  rights  of  the  people— the  present  assault  upon  them  couk 
never  have  been  inaugurated  without  the  action  of  the  twenty-three  Southern  senators 
here  and  the  Southern  representatives  there  [pointing  to  the  House]. 

The  people  of  the  North  know  this  and  see  it.     They  see  the  lead  and  control  of 
Democratic  party  again,  where  it  was  before  the  war,  in  the  hands  of  the  Booth. 

And  he  says  that  alarms  the  North.     Mr.  President,  I  shall  meet  that 
question  as  I  endeavor  to  meet  all  others,  frankly.     These  charges  are  all 
made  against  the  Southern  representatives  in  this  House,  and  the  other,  upoi 
the  assumption  that  they  are  enemies  of  the  government ;    that  the  people 
they  represent  are  enemies  of  the  government ;  and  therefore  when  the 


622  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

government  passes  into  their  control  the  government  is  in  danger.  Well, 
sir,  if  the  assumption  be  true,  the  conclusion  is  inevitable.  If  the  Southern 
people  are  the  enemies  of  this  Union,  and  if  the  members  of  this  House  and 
the  other,  from  the  Southern  States,  are  the  enemies  of  the  Union,  we  have 
no  right  here,  we  have  no  business  here  ;  if  we  are  honorable  men  we  will 
not  remain  here. 

I  grant  you  that  the  people  of  the  North  ought  to  have  solid  arguments 
on  this  subject.  I  grant  what  the  senator  from  New  York  intimated,  that 
gush  will  not  do  ;  simply  talking  about  shaking  hands  and  locking  arms 
does  not  amount  to  much.  That  will  do  for  children  and  Sunday-school 
teachers.  Statesmen  want  facts ;  statesmen  want  arguments  ;  statesmen 
want  reasons  why  the  Southern  people  are  not  the  enemies  of  the  govern 
ment,  and  therefore  ought  to  be  friends  and  can  be  safely  trusted.  I  pro 
pose  to  give  some  of  those  reasons. 

The  laws  that  are  now  proposed  to  be  repealed  have  been  made  the 
occasion  for  all  kinds  of  intimations,  from  the  leaders  of  the  Republican 
party,  that  the  South  is  not  worthy  to  be  trusted.  How  on  earth  can  a 
proposition  to  repeal  a  law,  which  was  unknown  to  the  country  for  the  first 
seventy -five  years  of  the  existence  of  the  government,  be  an  evidence  of  dis 
loyalty  ?  How  is  it  any  evidence  that  we  are  not  to  be  trusted  because  we 
want  intelligence  and  virtue  in  the  jury-box  ?  How  is  it  an  evidence  that 
we  are  not  to  be  trusted  because  we  want  the  absence  of  the  army  from  the 
polls  when  the  army  was  never  known  at  the  polls  in  the  days  of  our 
fathers  ?  How  is  it  that  we  are  to  be  declared  disloyal  because  we  are  in 
favor  of  taking  away  from  the  Federal  government  the  control  of  the  elec 
tions  through  the  deputy  marshals  and  the  supervisors?  United  States 
deputy  marshals  and  supervisors  in  elections  were  never  known  to  the 
history  of  this  country  for  the  first  eighty  years  of  its  government. 

Are  we  disloyal  because  we  want  what  Washington  had,  what  Jefferson 
had,  what  Madison  had,  what  Jackson  had  ?  The  President  in  his  mes 
sage  says  that  he  invites  us  back  to  the  good  old  habits  and  customs  of  the 
country,  and  he  says  that  the  habit  of  tacking  legislation  to  appropriation 
bills  was  unknown  in  the  first  forty  years  of  the  government  and  invites  us 
back  to  those  good  old  days.  I  mean  to  accept  his  invitation.  I  say  to  the 
President,  "  Come  sir,  let  us  go  back  to  the  good  old  days  when,  for  not 
forty  but  seventy-five  years,  troops  were  not  known  at  the  polls  ;  let  us  go 
back  to  the  good  old  days  when,  for  not  forty  but  for  eighty  years,  super 
visors  and  deputy  marshals  in  control  of  the  elections  were  unknown  to  the 
Federal  statute  book.  Now,  come,  let  us  go  back."  Why  not?  That  is 
what  we  are  trying  to  do. 

Here  let  me  notice  another  quotation  of  the  senator  from  Vermont.  I 
was  amused  yesterday  when  he  used  the  argument  of  Mr.  Madison  on  the 
subject  of  electing  members  of  Congress  as  a  true  exposition  of  the  clause 
of  the  Constitution.  I  accept  it,  I  believe  Mr.  Madison  was  right,  and 
what  did  Mr.  Madison  say  ?  Those  words  ought  to  be  remembered.  Mr. 
Madison  said  that  the  control  of  elections  for  members  of  Congress  had  to 
be  given  either  wholly  to  the  national  government  or  wholly  to  the  State 
governments,  or  primarily  to  the  State  governments  and  ultimately  to  the 
national  government.  He  goes  on  to  explain,  and  other  writers  explain 
the  same  condition  of  things  in  this  way,  that  as  long  as  the  States  are 
willing  to  exercise  the  power  of  controlling  the  elections  they  ought  to  be 
t9  4o  it  j  it  is  proper  ancj  right  that  they  sliould?  but  the 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  623 

might  come  when  the  States  might  not  be  willing  to  elect  their  representa 
tives  to  Congress,  and  then  the  power  should  be  in  the  Federal  government 
to  do  it  as  the  ultimate  authority. 

Mr.  Edmunds. — I  wish  my  honorable  friend  would  read  any  passage  of 
Mr.  Madison — I  do  not  desire  to  interrupt  the  course  of  the  senator's  re 
marks — but  he  is  quoting  Mr.  Madison,  and  I  have  not  been  able  to  read  in 
anything  Mr.  Madison  said  any  question  as  to  the  willingness  of  a  State  to 
ele"ct,  as  being  the  test  of  the  exertion  of  the  national  authority. 

Mr.  If  ill. — Mr.  Madison  said  if  any  bad  influences  should  prevail,  or 
something  of  that  kind 

Mr.  Edmunds. — That  is  what  is  the  trouble  now. 

Mr.  Hill. — Did  he  mean  the  bad  influences  in  New  York  that  the  sena 
tor  from  New  York  talked  about  ?  Did  he  mean  thugs,  and  shoulder-hitters, 
and  rat-pitters  ?  That  is  a  pretty  bad  state  of  things.  That  is  not  what  Mr. 
Madison  meant  ?  No,  no.  If  Mr.  Madison  meant  that  because  there  were 
bad  men  in  a  State,  therefore  that  was  the  ground  on  which  the  government 
should  exercise  this  ultimate  power,  it  would  have  been  exercised  from  the 
beginning,  because  we  have  had  bad  men  from  the  beginning.  There  may 
be  more  in  New  York  than  anywhere  else  ;  according  to  their  senator  it 
seems  there  are  ;  but  there- are  a  good  many  elsewhere  ;  there  is  no  doubt 
about  that.  Mr.  Madison  meant  just  what  I  have  said,  because  he  explained 
it  in  another  clause  where  he  said  that  every  government  ought  to  have  the 
power  of  its  own  preservation;  and  I  grant  it  that  right.  Every  govern 
ment  ought  to  have  it.  Therefore,  when  the  State  should  fail  in  the  duty  it 
would  be  proper  for  the  national  government  to  take  control  of  the  elec 
tions. 

Sir,  are  the  States  of  this  Union  any  less  able  or  less  willing  to  protect 
their  citizens  in  exercising  the  right  of  suffrage  now  than  they  were  in  the 
days  of  Washington,  than  they  were  in  the  days  of  Madison,  than  they  were 
in  the  days  of  Jefferson  or  Jackson  ?  Are  they  not  able  now  ?  If  they  are 
as  willing  now,  the  contingency  upon  which  Mr.  Madison  placed  the  exer 
cise  of  that  ultimate  authority  has  not  transpired,  and,  therefore,  according 
to  Mr.  Madison,  it  being  a  question  of  Constitutional  power,  looking  upon 
it  in  the  meaning  of  the  Constitution,  the  true  intent  and  purpose  of  it  in 
the  light  of  wisdom  and  expediency,  we  ought  to  leave  this  question  to  the 
States,  where  it  was  left  until  1870. 

But  I  want  to  give  the  reasons  why  the  South  is  trustworthy,  and  I  want 
to  call  the  attention  of  the  country  to  them.  First,  the  Southern  men 
went  to  war  for  what  they  believed  was  their  self-preservation.  They  de 
fended  their  convictions  bravely.  They  have  surrendered  ;  they  have  aban 
doned  their  convictions  ;  they  have  abandoned  secession,  both  as  a  doctrine 
and  a  remedy  ;  and  a  people  who  were  brave  enough  to  defend  their  con 
victions  with  their  blood  are  honorable  enough  to  keep  their  pledges. 
When  the  senator  from  New  York  points  out  that  eighty-five  out  of  the 
ninety-three  Southern  senators  and  representatives— I  will  not  quarrel  with 
the  figures— went  to  the  battle-field  and  shed  their  blood  for  their  convic 
tions,  "he  stated  a  strong  reason  why  they  are  trustworthy  ;  when  he  shows 
that  twenty  Southern  senators  on  this  floor  were  willing  to  defend  their  con 
victions  with  their  lives,  and  only  four  on  that  side  of  the  Chamber,  he 
shows  a  large  proportion  of  Republicans  who  were  very  anxious  to  get  up 
war,  and  very  few  who  were  willing  to  fight  in  the  war. 

But*  sir,  there  is  another  reason  why  the  South  ought  to  be  trusted, 


624  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

say  here  that  the  South  did  not  secede  from  hostility  to  the  Union  nor  from 
hostility  to  the  Constitution.  That  is  your  assumption.  You  are  always 
talking  about  the  Southern  people  as  enemies  of  the  Union.  Not  a  word  of 
it  is  true.  As  I  said,  the  South  was  driven  into  secession  by  the  opposite 
extreme  at  the  North,  who  were  as  inimical  to  the  Constitution  as  the  Se 
cessionists  themselves.  That  is  the  truth,  and  every  intelligent  man  and 
every  honest  man  admits  it.  The  aggravations  of  the  slavery  questions  got 
possession  of  their  respective  sections  and  carried  them  into  war,  but  do  you 
suppose  every  Southern  man  who  stood  by  his  section  in  a  sectional  war  was 
hostile  to  the  Union  ?  Not  a  word  of  it. 

The  Senate  will  pardon  me  if  I  refer  to  a  little  personal  history  in  this 
connection,  because  I  am  a  representative  man ;  but  before  doing  it  I  want 
to  call  the  attention  of  the  senator  from  New  York  to  another  count  of  fig 
ures.  He  counted  up  the  number  of  Confederates  from  the  South,  as  he 
calls  them,  in  this  house  and  in  the  other,  and  he  says  they  have  control  of 
legislation,  and  then  he  notifies  the  North  that  they  ought  to  be  alarmed, 
because  the  legislation  of  this  Union  is  under  the  lead  of  the  same  men  who 
were  here  before  the  war.  Now,  I  want  to  say  to  the  senator  from  New 
York  that  I  have  been  making  a  count  too,  and,  strange  as  he  may  think  it, 
while  I  have  not  been  able  to  make  the  count  with  perfect  accuracy,  it  is 
more  accurate  than  his  on  another  subject — much  more.  Of  the  eleven  sen 
ators  and  representatives  from  Georgia,  in  the  present  House  and  Senate, 
nine,  certainly  eight,  were  opposed  to  secession. 

Mr.  Conkling. — When  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — When  it  occurred,  and  up  to  the  time  it  was  an  accomplished 
fact.  As  for  going  with  our  States  after  secession  was  an  accomplished 
fact,  we  shall  not  apologize  to  any  mortal  man.  We  stood  up  for  our  own 
section  ;  but  up  to  that  dark  hour  four  out  of  five  of  the  men  w^ho  repre 
sent  Georgia  to-day  faced  secession  and  fought  it  in  more  dangerous  places 
than  did  you  who  now  libel  them  ;  and  from  the  best  count  I  have  been 
able  to  make,  out  of  the  ninety-three  Southern  senators  and  representatives 
in  this  Congress  about  seventy-five  were  opposed  to  secession;  four-fifths  of 
the  whole  number.  I  do  not  make  this  statement  for  the  purpose  of  saying 
that  those  who  were  in  favor  of  secession  are  less  to  be  trusted.  By  no 
means.  They  were  brave  and  honest  men  who  fought  for  their  convictions 
and  their  section,  and  they  have  given  their  pledge  and  their  word  of  honor, 
and  the  people  are  willing  to  trust  them.  But  I  refer  to  this  for  the  pur 
pose  of  showing  a  fact.  It  shows  how  sound  the  people  are.  The  people 
of  the  South  are  not  enemies  of  the  Union  in  that  they  are  willing  to  be 
represented  by  men  here  who  were  always  true  to  the  Union  in  the  hour  of 
doubt.  They  do  not  repudiate  the  Union  sentiment  that  prevailed  before 
the  war  nor  allow  it  to  be  a  reason  why  they  should  not  be  their  representa 
tives  now. 

But,  sir,  I  want  to  give  a  little  personal  history,  because  I  give  it  as  a 
representative  man  and  it  is  directly  upon  this  question.  South  Carolina 
seceded,  I  believe,  on  the  20th  of  December,  1860.  A  convention  was  called 
by  the  people  of  Georgia  to  take  into  consideration  the  course  that  Georgia 
should  pursue.  That  convention  was  called  to  meet  on  the  16th  of  Janu 
ary,  1861.  The  people  of  the  County  of  Troup,  in  which  I  then  lived,  as-  ( 
sembled  en  masse  and  requested  me  to  represent  them  as  a  delegate  in  that 
convention.  They  made  that  nomination  on  the  25th  of  December,  1860, 
and  appointed  a  committee  to  notify  me  of  that  nomination.  I  accepted, 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  625 

and,  as  was  my  duty,  avowed  to  them  the  principle  on  which  I  should  act 
as  a  member  of  that  convention  if  chosen  ;  and  here  is  what  I  said  in  a  let 
ter  then  written  and  published : 

I  will  consent  to  the  dissolution  of  the  Union  as  I  would  consent  to  the  death  of  my 
father,  never  from  choice,  only  from  necessity,  and  then  in  sorrow  and  sadness  of  heart 
for,  after  all.  the  Union  Is  not  the  author  of  our  grievance.  Bad,  extreme  men  in  both' 
sections  of  the  Union  abuse  and  insult  each  other,  and  all  take  revenge  by  fighting  the 
Union  which  never  harmed  or  insulted  any.  Perhaps  it  has  blessed  ail  above  their  mer 
its.  For  myself,  I  will  never  ask  from  any  government  more  real  liberty  and  true  hap 
piness  than  I  have  enjoyed  as  a  citizen  of  this  great  American  Union.  May  they  who 
destroy  this  government  in  a  frolic  have  wisdom  to  furnish  our  children  a  better. 

And  upon  these  sentiments,  written  and  published  at  that  day,  the 
people  of  that  county  sent  me  as  their  delegate  to  that  convention  without 
opposition.  The  convention  assembled  the  16th  of  January,  1861.  On  the 
18th  of  January  a  debate  took  place  on  a  resolution  asserting  the  right  and 
duty  of  the  State  to  secede.  I  had  the  honor  of  making  the  last  speech  on 
that  occasion  against  the  resolution.  The  resolution,  however,  was  adopted 
just  at  nightfall.  A  committee  was  appointed  to  report  an  ordinance  to 
carry  the  resolution  into  effect.  The  ordinance  of  secession,  therefore,  ac 
tually  passed  on  the  19th  of  January,  1861,  though  the  resolution  declaring 
it  the  duty  to  secede  was  passed  on  the  18th.  On  the  night  of  the  19th,  I 
wrote  a  letter  to  a  friend,  which  was  then  published,  and  a  copy  of  it  I  now 
have  in  my  hand.  That  was  the  night  of  the  day  of  Georgia's  secession. 

MILLEDGEVILLE,  January  19,  1861. 

Dear  Sir :  The  deed  is  done.  Georgia  this  day  left  the  Union.  Cannon  have  been 
firing  and  bells  ringing.  At  this  moment  people  are  filling  the  streets  shouting  vocifer 
ously.  A  large  torchlight  procession  is  moving  from  house  to  house  and  calling  out 
speakers.  The  resolution  declaratory  passed  on  yesterday,  and  similar  scenes  were  en 
acted  last  night.  The  crowd  called  loudly  for  me,  but  my  room  was  dark,  my  heart  was 
sad,  and  my  tongue  was  silent.  Whoever  may  be  in  fault  is  not  now  the  question. 
Whether  by  the  North  or  by  the  South,  or  by  both,  the  fact  remains ;  our  Union  has 
fallen.  The  most  favored  sons  of  freedom  have  written  a  page  in  history  which  despots 
will  read  to  listening  subjects  for  centuries  to  come  to  prove  that  the  people  are  not 
capable  of  self-government.  How  can  I  think  thus  and  feel  otherwise  than  badly  ? 

Do  not  understand  me  as  intimating  a  belief  that  we  cannot  form  a  new  union  on 
the  basis  of  the  old  Constitution.  We  can  do  it  and  we  will.  This  point  we  have  se 
cured  as  far  as  Georgia  can  secure  it,  and  her  will  on  that  subject  will  be  the  pleasure 
of  her  sister  seceders.  But  can  we  form  one  with  more  inspiring  hopes  of  perpetual  life 
than  did  Washington  and  his  comrades  ?  Despots  will  say  no  ;  and  therefore  if  the  first 
Union  lived  only  seventy-five  years,  how  long  will  this  live,  and  the  next,  and  still  the 
next,  until  anarchy  comes  ?  It  will  take  an  hundred  years  of  successful,  peaceful,  free 
government  to  answer  the  logic  of  this  argument  against  Constitutional  liberty. 

Sir,  in  1868  I  had  a  correspondence  with  that  great  man,  Horace 
Greeley.  In  my  judgment  he  did  more  to  build  up  the  Republican  party 
than  any  other  man  in  America.  He  was  a  great  and  good  man;  honest  in 
his  convictions  and  fearless  in  asserting  them.  The  charge  had  been  made 
that  the  South  had  sought  war,  that  the  Southern  people  were  not  to  be 
trusted.  The  correspondence  is  published  in  the  Tribune  of  that  day. 
beg  the  indulgence  of  the  Senate  while  I  read  an  extract  from  that  corre 
spondence.  The  letter  is  dated  New  York,  October  2,  1868.  I  will  read 
the  extract.  Gentlemen  can  see  the  letter  by  looking  at  the  New  York 
Tribune  of  October  2,  1868.  It  is  to  Mr.  Greeley  : 

Sir,  let  the  deep  sincerity  of  my  convictions  crave  your  indulgence  for  a  few  addi 
tional  sentences.     I  am  entitled  to  an  audience  from  your  readers,  and 
assistance.     I  allude  to  the  incident  following  in  no  spirit  of  reproach,  but  in  entire 


626  SENATOR  B.   H.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

kindness,  and  only  to  illustrate  my  point  and  my  motive,  I  have  seen  the  explanation 
of  the  Tribune,  and  recognize  its  force  viewed  from  the  standpoint  of  the  Tribune,  but 
our  people  did  not  then  so  understand  it.  On  the  passage  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill, 
nearly  all  the  old  Whig  leaders  of  the  South  joined  the  Democracy.  This  left  the  Whigs 
or  Americans  in  a  decided  minority.  It  was  then  I  felt  it  to  be  my  duty  to  change  the 
purpose  of  my  life  and  enter  politics. 

It  was  my  lot  to  engage  with  all  my  humble  powers,  from  1855  to  1861,  in  a  vain 
effort  to  arrest  the  tide  of  secession  that  was  sweeping  the  South,  as  I  thought,  into  revo 
lution.  Late  in  the  winter  of  1860,  more  earnest  than  ever  before,  I  warned  our  people 
that  war,  on  the  most  unequal  terms,  must  follow  secession.  On  one  of  these  occasions 
a  distinguished  secession  gentleman  replied  to  my  war  warnings  by  reading  extracts 
from  prominent  Northern  Republicans, 

I  call  your  attention  to  that  — 

and  with  special  emphasis  from  the  columns  of  the  Tribune,  to  the  effect  that  if  the 
people  of  the  South  desired  to  secede  they  had  a  right  to  do  so,  and  would  be  allowed  to 
do  so  in  peace.  He  then  alluded  to  me  as  one  born  and  raised  in  the  South,  and  yet  was 
endeavoring  to  frighten  our  people  from  their  rights  by  threats  of  war,  while  Northern 
Free-soilers,  who  had  been  esteemed  the  enemies  of  the  South,  were  conceding  our  rights 
and  assuring  its  peaceful  exercise.  Now,  my  good  sir,  what  could  I  have  rejoined  ? 
Here  are  the  very  words  I  did  rejoin  : 

"I  care  not  what  Mr.  Greeley  and  Mr.  Wade,  or  any  other  Republican,  or  all  Re 
publicans  together,  have  said  or  may  say  to  the  contrary.  More  to  be  relied  on  than  all 
these,  I  plant  myself  on  the  inflexible  laws  of  human  nature,  and  the  unvarying  teach 
ings  of  human  experience,  and  warn  you  this  day  that  no  government  half  as  great  as 
this  Union  can  be  dismembered  and  in  passion  except  through  blood.  You  had  as  well 
expect  the  fierce  lightning  to  rend  the  air  and  wake  no  thunder  in  its  track  as  to  expect 
peace  to  follow  the  throes  of  dissolving  government.  I  pass  by  the  puerile  taunts  at  my 
devotion  to  the  best  interests  of  the  people  among  whom  I  was  born  and  reared,  and 
trust  my  vindication  to  the  realities  of  the  future,  which  I  deprecate  and  would  avert, 
and  again  tell  you  that  dissolve  this  Union  and  war  will  come.  I  do  not  say  it  ought  to 
come.  I  cannot  tell  when,  nor  how,  nor  between  whom  it  will  come  ;  but  it  will  come, 
and  it  will  be  to  you  a  most  unequal,  tierce,  vindictive,  and  desolating  war. 

I  have  reason  to  know  that  those  words  impressed  Mr.  Greeley.  How 
could  a  Northern  Free-soiler  stand  up  aud  charge  infidelity  to  the  Union 
when  that  Northern  Free-soiler,  as  many  of  them  did,  had  told  the  South 
ern  people  that  it  was  their  real  desire  that  the  South  should  secede  and 
they  could  do  so  in  peace.  But  there  were  men  all  over  the  South  who 
stood  up  in  that  mad  hour  and  warned  their  people  what  would  result,  that 
these  free-soil  teachings  must  not  be  listened  to. 

UNDER   WHAT    CIRCUMSTANCES    SECESSION    WAS    ACCOMPLISHED. 

Sir,  I  am  reading  these  things  to  show  the  sentiment  in  the  South.  The 
Southern  people  did  not  secede  from  hostility  to  the  Union,  nor  hostility  to 
the  Constitution,  nor  from  any  desire  to  be  rid  of  the  system  of  govern 
ment  under  which  they  had  lived. 

The  highest  evidence  is  what  is  given  you  in  the  very  act  of  secession, 
when  they  pledged  themselves  to  form  a  new  union  upon  the  model  of  the 
old.  The  very  night  when  I  was  writing  that  letter  and  the  serenading 
bands  were  in  the  streets  I  wrote  to  my  friends,  "  We  will  be  able  to  effect 
a  new  union  upon  the  model  of  the  old,"  and  we  did  form  a  Constitution 
which  varied  not  one  whit  in  principle  from  the  one  under  which  we  had 

1  •  ~l  F  .   F 

lived. 

No,j3ir;  the  South  seceded  because  there  was  a  war  made  upon  what 
she  believed  to  be  her  Constitutional  rights  by  the  extreme  men  of  the 
North.  Those  extreme  men  of  the  North  were  gaining  absolute  power  in 
the  Federal  Government  as  the  machinery  by  which  to  destroy  Southern 
property.  Then  the  Northern  people  said,  a  large  number  of  the  leaders 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  627 

of  the  Republican  party  said,  that  if  secession  was  desired  to  be  accom 
plished  it  should  be  accomplished  in  peace.  Mr.  Greeley  said  that  they 
wanted  no  Union  pinned  together  by  bayonets.  Here  is  the  condition  in 
which  the  South  was  placed  :  they  believed  the  Northern  extremists  would 
use  the  machinery  of  the  government  to  their  injury ;  the  people  of  the 
South  believed  that  they  would  protect  their  property  by  formino-  a  new 
union  in  the  South  precisely  upon  the  basis  of  the  old.  They  believed  they 
could  do  it  in  peace ;  and  I  say  here  there  were  thousands  upon  thousands, 
yea,  hundreds  of  thousands  of  the  best  men  of  the  South  who  believed  that 
the  only  way  to  avoid  a  war  was  to  secede.  They  believed  the  Northern 
conscience  wanted  to  get  rid  of  the  responsibility  for  slavery ;  they  be 
lieved  they  had  a  right  to  protect  their  slave  property,  and  they  thought 
they  would  accommodate  the  Northern  conscience  by  leaving  the  Union 
and  preserving  that  property.  They  believed  they  could  do  it  in  peace  and 
if  they  had  believed  that  a  war  would  result  they  never  would  have  se 
ceded. 

WHO   WERE   FOB   PEACE   AND   WHO   FOR  WAR. 

Mr.  President,  how  was  it  at  the  North  ?  How  was  it  with  many  who 
are  now  clamoring  in  this  country  that  the  Southern  people  will  not  do  to 
be  trusted?  I  shall  never  forget  an  instance.  Notwithstanding  those  sen 
timents  which  I  have  read  to  the  Senate,  the  convention  at  Milledgeville 
selected  me  as  one  of  the  delegates  to  the  Provisional  Congress  at  Mqnt- 
gomery,  which  met,  I  believe,  on  the  4th  of  February,  1861.  Up  to  that 
very  hour  those  of  us  who  believed  that  the  interest  of  the  South  was  in 
the  Union  looked  to  the  North  anxiously  to  avert  war.  We  believed  in  our 
hearts  that  if  war  could  be  averted  for  a  few  months  the  Union  could  be 
restored  on  terms  honorable  to  all  parties.  Virginia  had  not  gone  out. 
Virginia  Lad  a  glorious  record  in  this  country.  It  was  the  eloquent  voice 
of  her  Patrick  Henry  which  aroused  the  colonies  to  resistance  to  tyranny. 
It  was  her  Jefferson  who  framed  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  It  was 
her  Madison  who  was  the  father  of  the  Constitution  under  which  we  live. 
It  was  her  Washington  who  conducted  our  armies  to  victory  in  the  great 
struggle  for  liberty.  It  was  Virginia  that  first  made  the  call  for  the  con 
vention  that  framed  the  Constitution.  No  man  can  ever  know  with  what 
gladness  and  hope  I  saw  glorious  old  Virginia  issue  a  request  to  the  States 
of  this  Union  in  that  dark  hour  to  meet  in  conference  and  see  if  the  peace 
could  not  be  preserved  and  the  differences  adjusted  between  the  sections. 

I  am  not  ashamed  to  say  here,  and  I  said  there,  a  member  of  the  Pro 
visional  Congress  of  the  Confederate  States  as  I  was,  that  my  heart  was  with 
that  proposition,  and  I  prayed  God  that  it  might  have  success.  Seven 


every  movement  giving  hope 
These  very  men  who  are  now  dinning  the  weary  air  with  charges  of  infidel 
upon  the  Southern   people,   who  are  absolutely   defiling  themselves  with 
calumnies  upon  everything  Southern,  went  to  work  to  defeat  the  purpose  of 
Virginia  and  to  defeat  the  peaceful  purposes  of  that  movement, 
never  forget  the  feelings  I  had  when  I  read  letters  from  leading  citizens  in 
Washington,  leading  and  controlling  members  of  the    Republican  party, 
written  to  the  governors  of  their  States  asking  them  not  to  send  delegates 
to  that  convention,  and  preventing  its  success.     Here  is  one  of  the  letters  ; 


628  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

WASHINGTON,  February  11,  1861. 

My  Dear  Governor  :  Governor  Bingham  and  myself  telegraphed  to  you  on  Saturday 
at  the  request  of  Massachusetts  and  New  York  to  send  delegates  to  the  peace  or  compro 
mise  congress.  They  admit  that  we  were  right  and  they  were  wrong  ;  that  no  Republi 
can  State  should  have  sent  delegates ;  but  they  are  here  and  cannot  get  away.  Ohio, 
Indiana,  and  Rhode  Island  are  caving  in,  and  there  is  danger  of  Illinois — 

"Caving  in  "how?  Becoming  willing  to  compromise  to  preserve  the 
peace.  He  called  that  "  caving  in  " — 

and  now  they  beg  us,  for  God's  sake,  to  come  to  their  rescue  and  save  the  Republican 
party  from  rupture.  I  hope  you  will  send  stiff-backed  men  or  none.  The  whole  thing 
was  gotten  up  against  my  judgment — 

That  is,  the  whole  conference,  the  peace  conference — 

The  whole  thing  was  gotten  up  against  my  judgment,  arid  will  end  in  thin  smoke. 
Still  I  hope,  as  a  matter  of  courtesy  to  some  of  our  erring  brethren,  that  you  will  send 
the  delegates. 

Truly,  your  friend, 

Z.  CHANDLER. 
His  Excellency  Austin  Blair. 

He  adds  a  postscript : 

P.  S.  Some  of  the  manufacturing  States  think  that  a  fight  would  be  awful.  Without 
a  little  blood-letting  this  Union  will  not,  in  my  estimation,  be  worth  a  rush. 

Sir,  I  was  standing  at  the  door  of  my  hotel  in  Montgomery  when  that 
letter  was  put  in  my  hands.  I  was  looking  to  see  the  prospects  from  this 
peace  conference.  I  do  not  wish  to  do  anybody  injustice.  I  do  not  know 
the  gentleman  who  wrote  that  letter.  It  is  only  one  of  many,  and  it  showed 
a  purpose  on  the  part  of  the  Republican  part}7"  to  defeat  all  efforts  at  peace, 
a  peaceful  adjustment.  I  said  to  a  friend  standing  by  me,  u  This  is  terrible  ; 
it  is  sad.  If  the  leading  Republicans  seek  to  defeat  the  purpose  of  Virginia 
in  this  peace  convention,  it  will  fail ;  but,  if  war  shall  come,  I  predict  now 
that  those  men  who  are  so  anxious  to  let  blood  for  the  Union  will  never  let 
any  of  their  own  blood  ;  they  are  anxious  to  let  other  people's  blood." 
That  is  what  I  said  then.  I  do  not  know  whether  it  came  true  or  not.  Did 
"  Z.  Chandler  "  let  any  of  his  blood  ?  I  said  more.  I  said,  "  I  will  venture 
that  these  men  at  the  North,  who  are  so  clamorous  to  defeat  this  peace 
movement,  will  not  only  not  go  into  the  war,  but  they  will  seek  easy  places 
and  make  money  during  the  whole  time  it  lasts."  I  do  not  know  whether 
any  of  them  did  it  or  not.  I  will  not  say  they  did.  I  am  merely  stating  a 
fact  of  history. 

Now,  the  senator  from  New  York  tells  me  that  of  all  the  loyal  men  on 
his  side  of  the  house  who  were  clamoring  at  the  rebels  as  unworthy  of  being 
trusted,  men  who  in  the  terrible  war  of  secession  were  battling  for  the  Union, 
only  four  of  the  whole  number  now  on  this  floor  were  willing  to  save  the 
Union  by  shedding  their  own  blood.  Sir,  will  the  people  look  at  these 
things?  You  could  not  have  pronounced  a  higher  eulogy  upon  the  Con 
federates  in  this  Congress  than  when  you  showed  that  eighty-five  out  of 
ninety-three  were  willing  to  give  their  blood  for  what  they  believed  to  be 
right. 

Sir,  that  peace  conference  was  broken  up.  I  put  it  to  the  Northern 
people,  who  claim  that  they  were  looking  to  the  preservation  of  the  Union, 
looking  to  the  preservation  of  their  rights,  who  is  most  to  be  trusted,  those 
men  at  the  South  who  were  doing  all  they  could  to  avert  war,  or  those  men 
a,t  the  North  who  were  doing  all  they  could  to  bring  it  on?  and  then  refusing 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  629 

to  take  any  part  in  it  ?  [  know  that  the  Republican  party  claim  that  they 
alone  saved  the  Union.  It  is  a  claim  of  which  history  willjud^e,  and  it  will 
make  the  claim  not  good.  If  there  had  been  no  Republican  party  the  Union 
never  would  have  been  endangered.  If  there  had  been  no  Republican  party 
there  would  have  been  no  secession,  no  war,  no  reconstruction,  no  returning 
boards,  and  no  electoral  commission.  It  will  always  be  an  impeachment  of 
the  statesmanship  of  Americans  that  they  were  not  wise  enough  and  deliber 
ate  enough  to  dispose  of  the  question  of  slavery  without  shedding  each 
other's  blood.  If  the  South  had  respected  as  she  ought  the  conscience  of  the 
North  on  this  subject,  and  if  the  North  had  respected  as  she  ought  the 
property  of  the  South,  and  there  had  been  no  obstruction  from  the  leaders 
of  the  Republican  party,  there  might  have  been  a  peaceful  settlement  of  the 
whole  controversy.  Then  a  million  of  glorious,  brave  spirits,  that  are  now 
sleeping  in  their  graves,  might  be  living,  and  millions  more  that  are  widows 
and  orphans  might  have  husbands  and  fathers,  and  millions  more  who  are 
traveling  through  the  country  houseless  and  naked  and  hungry  might  have 
raiment  and  shelter  and  plenty. 

THE    REPUBLICAN   THREAT    OF   WAR. 

Yet  the  senator  from  Maine  finds  in  the  passage  of  the  bill  that  passed 
yesterday  a  stronger  assertion  of  the  States-right  power  than  has  ever  taken 
place  before.  What  a  declaration  was  that ! 

I  shall  not  debate  this  bill — 
Said  the  senator  from  Maine — 

It  were  useless.  It  has  been  exhaustively  debated.  The  whole  measure  is  a  removal  of 
the  Federal  Government  from  its  proper  domain  and  the  installation  of  the  States  into 
degrees  of  power  that  were  not  dreamed  of  by  Calhoun  and  were  not  asserted  by  Breck- 
enridge. 

Is  it  possible  a  bill  which  simply  says  that  the  army  and  navy  shall  not 
be  placed  at  the  polls  is  a  stronger  assertion  of  secession  or  the  doctrine  of 
States  rights  than  was  ever  made  by  Calhoun  or  Breckenridge  ?  What  is 
the  purpose  of  such  language  as  that  but  to  alarm  and  awe.  A  bill  which 
proposes  to  put  the  people  of  this  country  just  where  they  were  for  seventy- 
five  years,  a  bill  which  proposes  to  put  the  people  of  this  country  just  where 
they  were  under  Washington,  just  where  they  were  under  Jefferson,  just 
where  they  were  under  Adams,  just  where  they  were  from  1790  to  1865,  is  a 
bill  to  endanger  this  Union  more  than  the  war  of  secession,  according  to 
the  interpretation  of  the  senator  from  Maine  !  That  is  not  all.  The  Sena 
tor  from  Maine  became  perfectly  dynamitic  : 

Pass  this  bill.  Pass  it  as  the  triumph  of  the  reactionary  party  against  the  spirit  of 
the  Union.  Pass  it  in  defiance  of  all  the  lessons  and  all  the  teachings  that  have  come  from 
a  bloody  and  abortive  rebellion.  Pass  it,  and  mark  it  as  the  high  tide  of  that  reaction 
which,  were  it  to  rise  higher,  could  lead  only  to  another  and  more  formidable  rebel 
lion  against  the  legitimate  authority  of  the  Union.  [Applause  on  the  floor  and  in  the 
galleries.] 

Who  is  talking  about  war  now  ?  Who  was  talking  about  war  when 
Virginia  was  talking  about  peace  ?  Sir,  I  will  not  do  injustice  to  the  Amer 
ican  character,  by  collating,  as  I  could  do,  the  number  of  sentiments  that 
have  been  uttered  upon  this  floor  and  in  the  other  house  during  the  last  six 
weeks,  intimating  that  the  people  of  the  North  would  have  another  war, 
another  war  that  is  to  cut  deeper  than  the  first  and  cut  beyond  the  wound. 
Whom  will  you  have  the  war  with  ?  A  war  because  we  want  intelligence, 


630  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

virtue,  and  property  represented  in  the  jury-box  !  A  war  because  we  want 
to  keep  the  army  from  the  polls  !  A  war  because  we  want  to  say  to  the 
States,  "  You  are  able  and  willing  to  control  your  elections  as  you  have 
done  for  seventy -five  years  of  the  government  and  we  will  trust  you  to  do  it 
again  ! r  A  war  for  that  !  A  war  because  we  stand  here  as  a  bulwark  of 
defense  for  the  Constitution  of  the  country  against  disunionists,  who  would 
destroy  the  Union  by  destroying  the  States!  A  war  because  we  will  not 
consent  to  manacle  the  States  of  this  Union,  because  we  will  not  centralize 
power  in  this  government ! 

Sir,  I  hope  the  people  of  America  will  not  commit  another  mistake.  I 
always  said  it  was  a  fearful  mistake  that  the  people  of  the  North  who  did 
not  agree  with  the  Republican  party,  and  the  people  of  the  South  who  did 
not  agree  to  secession,  could  not  have  managed  to  preserve  this  Union  and 
let  the  others  alone  go  to  battle.  If  war  must  come,  with  whom  shall  it  come  ? 
As  I  said  to  my  own  people  on  one  occasion,  and  I  repeat  it  here,  if  war 
shall  come — God  forbid  that  it  shall  ever  come — I  give  them  notice  now 
that  the  men  they  call  rebels,  that  the  men  they  say  are  not  trustworthy, 
we  of  the  South  to  a  man  will  go  to  battle  under  the  Stars  and  Stripes, 
under  the  flag  of  our  country.  Do  not  imagine  that  the  destroyers  of  the 
States  and  the  advocates  of  monarchy  shall  ever  again  bear  the  flag  of  our 
country  If  you  .must  have  a  war,  we  shall  maintain  our  rights  in  the 
Union  ;  but  I  pray  God  that  the  people  will  take  charge  of  this  question  and 
see  where  the  danger  lies. 

WHOM  THE  PEOPLE  OF  THE  NORTH  SHOULD  FEAR. 

You  say  the  Northern  people  are  alarmed.  I  assure  you  they  have  no 
right  to  be  alarmed  with  us  of  the  South.  I  assure  you  they  have  no 
right  to  be  alarmed  at  Southern  representatives  on  this  floor  and  in  the  other 
House  ;  but  I  tell  you  the  Northern  people  have  a  right  to  be  alarmed  by  such 
threats  as  have  been  made  here.  They  have  a  right  to  be  alarmed  by  men 
who  say  or  intimate  that  if  they  cannot  control  the  government,  if  they  can 
not  surround  the  polls  of  freemen  with  armed  men,  if  they  cannot  take  con 
trol  of  the  elections  in  the  States  by  Federal  supervisors,  they  will  come  to 
another  war  and  cut  deeper  than  the  core.  They  are  the  men  for  the  North 
to  be  alarmed  at,  not  we. 

But,  as  I  said  in  this  letter  to  Mr.  Greeley,  the  Constitution  could  not  be 
destroyed  without  war  any  more  than  the  Union  could  be  dissolved  without 
war,  and  the  States  can  no  more  be  destroyed  without  war  than  they  can  be 
divided  without  war.  I  said  that  the  danger  to  the  country  was  imminent, 
and  I  so  confessed  it  to  him  ;  that  I  feared  that  the  course  of  the  extreme 
men  who  had  remained  untouched  by  the  war,  secession  being  utterly 
crushed  out,  consolidation  being  not  only  alive  but  insolent  by  reason  of  its 
apparent  success — I  believed  another  war  would  come  ;  but  I  believe  Prov 
idence  has  averted  that;  I  believe  the  very  condition  of  things  which  seems 
to  alarm  the  country  is  going  to  save  this  country  and  preserve  its  peace. 
I  believe  that  the  Democratic  majority  in  the  House  and  the  Democratic 
majority  in  the  Senate  are  going  to  be  able  to  take  care  of  this  country,  pre 
serve  its  peace,  promote  its  glories,  and  increase  its  prosperity. 

We  appeal  to  the  people.  We  are  going  to  the  people  in  favor  of  the 
Constitution  of  Madison,  the  Constitution  of  Webster.  We  are  going  to  the 
people  in  favor  of  their  own  freedom  at  the  polls,  in  favor  of  their  own  in 
telligence  in  the  jury-box,  in  favor  of  the  independence  of  the  States  in  the 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  631 

management  of  their  elections,  as  had  always  been  the  case  heretofore.     The 
people  will  answer,  in  my  judgment,  North  as  well  as  South. 

The  course  the  gentlemen  are  pursuing,  so  far  from  bringing  the  day 
which  they  expect — of  the  reversal  of  a  majority  of  this  body — wi?l,  as  I  be 
lieve,  increase  it.  Men  who  have  lost  by  revolution,  men  who  have  lost  all 
by  revolution,  are  the  ones  who  are  not  going  to  force  another  revolution. 
Men  who  owe  all  they  have  to  revolution,  who  owe  wealth  and  position  and 
power  to  revolution,  who  owe  the  highest  honors  of  the  republic  to  revolu 
tion,  are  the  men  who  may  be  fairly  expected  to  want  revolution  again. 
They  are  the  ones  for  the  people  to  fear. 

THE    REPUBLICAN    CLAIM    TO    SOUTHERN    GRATITUDE. 

But  the  senator  from  New  York  and  the  senator  from  Maine,  as  various 
other  gentlemen  have  done  before,  take  occasion  to  remind  us  that  they 
were  exceedingly  gracious  to  us  after  the  war.  The  senator  from  New 
York  tells  us  that  after  Reconstruction  was  completed,  none  of  our  property 
was  confiscated,  and  none  of  us  were  disfranchised,  and  none  of  us  were  im 
prisoned.  That  is  a  fact,  after  Reconstruction  was  completed.  He  takes 
credit  for  turning  us  loose  after  he  had  completed  Reconstruction  and  re 
organized  the  States  upon  his  idea.  I  do  not  put  the  comparison  as  ap 
plicable  to  the  senator  from  New  York,  but  it  is  just  as  true  of  the  robber 
who  claims  credit  for  kindness  to  the  traveler  because  he  had  done  him  no 
harm  after  he  had  robbed  him  and  let  him  go,  because  since  the  time  he  had 
let  him  go  he  had  done  him  no  harm  at  all. 

Sir,  the  senators  are  mistaken  if  they  do  not  think  we  understand  to 
what  we  owe  our  redemption.  It  is  not  to  the  Republican  party.  The 
Republican  party  set  aside  our  State  governments.  The  senator  from 
Maine  the  other  day  said  there  had  been  only  fourteen  thousand  citizens 
disfranchised  in  the  South.  The  senator  confounded  disabilities  under  the 
Fourteenth  Amendment  with  disfranchisement.  There  were  at  least  two 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  citizens  disfranchised  in  the  South. 

Mr.  Blaine. — I  said  by  .the  action  of  the  Federal  government. 

Mr.  Hill. — Certainly,  by  the  action  of  the  Federal  government  ;  by  the 
Reconstruction  acts  of  Congress.  By  the  Reconstruction  acts  you  came 
down  there  and  took  possession  of  our  States,  set  aside  our  State  govern 
ments,  declared  we  had  no  legal  State  governments,  and  you  created  a  con 
stituency  and  created  new  governments  and  disfranchised  two  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  of  the  very  best  men,  the  most  intelligent — the  property- 
holding  men  in  the  whole  South — at  a  time  when  our  governments  were  de 
stroyed,  when  our  industrial  system  was  destroyed,  and  you  put  us  in  the 
hands  of  our  slaves,  under  the  lead  of  strangers,  men  who  came  for  no  pur 
pose  but  to  get  power  over  us  and  build  governments  for  us,  and  we  had  to 
stand  by  and  witness  the  process,  threatened  with  confiscation  and  exile  if 
we  dared  resist.  And  there  were  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  id  that 
condition. 

Do  gentlemen  say  that  we  owe  anything  to  them  ?  Did  not  my  friend 
from  Kentucky  quote  from  the  senator  from  Maine,  in  1868,  a  statement 
that  there  was  nothing  more  to  be  feared  from  the  South  ?  You  thought 
you  had  destroyed  us.  You  created  new  constituencies  and  created  govern 
ments  to  suit  them  ;  you  had  the  power.  You  thought  we  were  powerless 
forever,  and  then,  like  the  wicked  Delilah,  you  said  : 

Samson,  the  Philistines  be  upon  you. 


632  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

And  they  were.  And  after  that  you  left,  and  left  us,  as  you  thought, 
bound  with  your  cords  and  whips.  It  was  then  that  the  Samson  of  State 
sovereignty  stretched  himself  and  burst  them  all. 

Mr.  Hoar. — And  pulled  down  the  temple  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — Well  I  should  think  if  the  senator  would  go  through  the 
South  he  would  find  his  carpet-bag  temples  in  that  country  just  now  in  the 
returning  boards.  There  is  nothing  so  sacred  to  him  as  a  returning  board. 
That  is  all  that  was  left. 

It  was  through  this  very  agency  of  the  autonomy  and  sovereignty  of  the 
States  that  we  were  able  to  recover  ourselves,  not  by  violence,  not  by  intimi 
dation  as  you  falsely  charge,  but  by  the  very  autonomy  of  the  States  which 
you  thought  you  had  manacled,  which  you  thought  you  had  destroyed.  It 
is  to  this  very  autonomy  of  the  States  that  we  owe  our  presence  here  to-day. 

WHY   THE    SOUTH    IS    "  SOLID,"    AND   FOR   WHAT. 

Oh,  but  you  say  the  South  is  solid.  That  is  true.  And  you  intimate  to 
the  North  that  we  are  solid  against  the  Union.  That  is  not  true.  There  is 
not  a  word  of  truth  in  it.  We  are  solid.  Solid  how  ?  Solid  against  whom? 
Solid  against  the  Republican  party.  Why  should  we  not  be  ?  Do  you 
wonder?  The  past  is  enough  to  make  us  solid.  But  let  that  go.  I  would 
remember  nothing  in  the  spirit  of  revenge.  Do  you  think,  senators,  that 
such  speeches  as  you  have  been  making  here  during  the  last  four  weeks  have  no 
tendency  to  make  the  South  solid  against  your  party  !  Do  you  think  that 
such  speeches  as  you  have  been  making  in  the  House  have  no  such  tendency  ? 
Do  you  think  that  it  is  perfectly  legitimate  and  proper  for  you  to  calumniate 
and  slander  and  misrepresent  and  abuse  us  in  every  form  in  which  language  will 
authorize  you  to  do  it,  and  that  we  are  going  to  love  you  for  it  ?  You  may 
not  know  it,  but  we  are  men.  You  pick  up  every  vagabond  in  the  South 
who  caiv  bt  induced  by  any  motive  to  testify  against  us,  and  you  believe  him, 
you  praise  him.  In  your  papers  you  scatter  it  through  all  your  country. 
You  make  it  appear  that  we  are  rebellious.  I  do  not  care  how  vile  a  char 
acter  he  is,  I  do  not  care  how  covered  with  crime  he  is,  if  he  testifies  to 
barbarities  and  cruelties  against  the  best  class  of  Southern  people  you  be 
lieve  him,  you  profess  to  believe  him  ;  you  parade  that  testimony  on  this 
floor  ;  you  parade  it  on  the  floor  of  the  other  House  ;  you  parade  it  before 
the  Northern  people  ;  and  I  do  not  care  how  manly,  how  intelligent,  how 
earnest  a  man  may  be  that  testifies  justly  for  the  Southern  people  and  gives 
them  credit  for  honor  and  honesty,  you  discredit  him  as  unworthy  of  belief. 

That  alone  would  be  sufficient  to  make  the  South  solid  ;  but  the  South  is 
solid  against  the  Republican  party  for  another  reason.  We  regard  the  Re 
publican  party  as  only  a  sectional  party.  It  was  sectional  in  its  origin.  I 
will  not  say  anything  about  the  questions  which  then  divided  us,  but  it  was 
a  sectional  party  ;  it  had  no  organization  save  in  some  of  the  States.  It 
has  been  sectional  in  its  history  ;  it  has  been  sectional  in  its  doctrines  ;  it 
has  been  sectional  in  its  purposes ;  it  has  been  sectional  in  its  triumphs  ;  it 
is  sectional  now.  You  never  have  had  any  organization  in  the  South  except 
that  which  you  forced  and  bought — and  that  could  not  last — and  you  never 
will. 

Now,  we  have  tried  sectionalism  and  we  have  abandoned  it,  and  there 
fore  we  cannot  consistently  affiliate  with  the  Republican  party.  We  are 
for  national  parties  now.  We  come  back  to  the  grand  old  party  of  the 
North  that  never  went  off  after  secession  ;  that  never  went  after  the  Baals 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WHITINGS.  633 

or  consolidation.  If  there  are  any  men  on  this  earth  for  whom  I  have  a 
higher  regard  than  others,  they  are  the  Democrats  of  the  North.  I  know 
those  of  us  at  the  South  who  were  for  the  Union  went  through  a  trying 
ordeal,  and  none  can  ever  know  how  trying  it  was  except  those  who  passed 
through  it ;  but  it  seems  to  me  the  Northern  Democrats,  who  were  so  ma 
ligned  and  abused  by  the  Republicans,  went  through  a  greater,  for  when  the 
crisis  came  they  that  had  no  sympathy  with  the  objects  or  purposes  of  the 
Republican  party  shouldered  their  arms  and  marched  side  by  side  with  the 
Republicans  of  the  North  to  put  down  their  real  friends  in  'the  South,  and 
they  did  it.  And  yet,  notwithstanding  their  fidelity  to  the  Union,  notwith 
standing  so  many  hundreds  of  thousands  of  Democrats  periled  their  all  in 
the  war,  you  abuse,  you  malign  them,  you  give  them  no  credit  for  it.  And 
why  do  we  affiliate  with  them  ?  Because  when  we  grounded  our  arms  they 
met  us  as  brethren  and  not  as  enemies. 

Then,  again,  we  never  can  affiliate  with  the  Republican  party  for  a 
higher  reason,  a  greater  reason  than  the  one  I  have  given.  The  Republican 
party  to-day  is  the  representative,  and  the  only  representative  on  this  con 
tinent,  of  the  consolidation  theory  of  our  government, — the  theory,  not  of  a 
mixed  union,  federal  and  national, — the  theory  of  an  absolute  nationalism  ;  a 
theory  which  in  its  doctrines  is  seeking,  at  this  very  hour,  to  destroy  the 
States  of  this  Union.  While  we  have  abandoned  secession,  while  we  have 
agreed  never  to  divide  the  States,  we  have  never  agreed  to  destroy  the 
States  ;  we  will  not  agree  to  do  it. 

And,  then,  gentlemen,  because  of  your  conduct,  your  calumnies,  your 
slanders — what  we  know  to  be  slanders — the  South  is  solid  against  you. 
Every  day  things  are  repeated  upon  this  floor  against  ten  millions  of  people 
which  no  gentleman  would  dare  repeat  against  one  man.  You  charge  a 
whole  people  with  being  false,  untrustworthy,  untrue,  without  evidence, 
against  the  fact,  and  yet  you  alarm  the  North  by  crying  of  a  solid  South. 
You  seek  to  destroy  the  States  when,  so  far  from  yielding  our  devotion  to 
the  States,  we  owe  all  that  is  left  of  us  to  the  States  and  to  that  very  princi 
ple  of  the  government  which  recognizes  the  States  as  a  part  of  our  system. 

Sir,  if  the  South  were  solid  from  any  motives  of  hostility  to  the  Union, 
from  any  motives  of  hostility  to  the  Constitution,  from  any  motives  of  hos 
tility  to'the  Northern  people,  the  South  would  be  exceedingly  reprehensible. 
We  were  made  solid  in  defense  of  our  own  preservation  ;  we  are  now  solid 
in  defense  of  our  own  honor  and  self-respect.  We  will  be  kept  solid  in 
defense  of  the  Constitution  of  our  fathers  as  interpreted  by  Madison  and 
expounded  by  Webster.  We  would  be  glad,  if  it  could  be,  to  see  two 
national  parties  in  this  country — national  in  organization,  national  in  princi 
ples,  national  in  hopes,  and  consistent  with  the  true  interpretation  of  the 
Constitution  ;  but  the  Northern  man  who,  after  having  made  the  South 
solid  by  calumny,  by  wrongs  piled  mountain  high  extending  through  years 
that  Northern  man  who  takes  advantage  of  the  wrongs  he  has  inflicted  upon 
the  South,  and  thereby  made  them  solid,  who  now  undertakes  for  that  very 
reason  to  make  the  North  solid  too,— having  a  solid  North  against  a  solid 
South,— is  a  disunionist  in  fact,  for  whenever  we  shall  have  a  solid  North 
and  a  solid  South  in  this  country  the  Union  cannot  last. 

WHO    SAVED    THE    UNION — CONCLUSION. 

No,  my  good  Northern  Democratic  brethren,  you  saved  the  country  at 
last  ;   you  saved  the  Union  in  the  hour  of  its  peril ;    not  the  Republican 


634 


SENATOR  B.   II.   HILL,   OP  GEORGIA. 


party.  You  who  had  showed  devotion  to  your  flag  saved  the  Union,  and 
now  it  is  for  you  to  go  before  your  people  and  tell  them  that  the  solid 
North  must  never  become  a  fact  against  the  solid  South.  If  so,  the  dis 
union  will  be  accomplished.  It  is  you  that  we  look  to.  You  saved  the 
Union  and  you  will  save  the  States.  We  could  not  help  you  save  the 
Union,  but  we  are  here  with  all  the  power  that  God  has  given  us  to  help 
you  preserve  and  save  the  States  of  this  country  against  the  only  remaining 
enemy  of  either  the  States  or  the  Union. 

Mr.  President,  I  know  I  have  detained  the  Senate  long.  I  was  born  a 
slaveholder.  That  was  a  decree  of  my  country's  laws,  not  my  own.  I 
never  bought  a  slave  save  at  his  own  request  ;  and  of  that  I  am  not  ashamed. 
I  was  never  unkind  to  a  slave,  and  all  I  ever  owned  will  bear  cheerful  testi 
mony  to  that  fact.  I  would  never  deprive  a  human  being — of  any  race,  or 
color,  or  condition — of  his  right  to  the  equal  protection  of  the  laws  ;  and  no 
colored  man  who  knows  me  believes  I  would.  Of  all  forms  of  cowardice, 
that  is  the  meanest  which  would  oppress  the  helpless,  or  wrong  the  defense 
less  ;  but  I  had  the  courage  to  face  secession  in  its  maddest  hour  and  say  I 
would  not  give  the  American  Union  for  African  slavery,  and  that  if  slavery 
dared  strike  the  Union,  slavery  would  perish.  Slavery  did  perish,  and  now 
in  this  high  council  of  the  greatest  of  nations,  I  face  the  leaders  of  State 
destruction  and  declare  that  this  ark  of  our  political  covenant,  this  Con 
stitutional  casket  of  our  confederate  nation,  encasing  as  it  does  more  of 
human  liberty  and  human  security  and  human  hope  than  any  government 
ever  formed  by  man,  I  would  not  break  for  the  whole  African  race.  And 
cursed,  thrice  cursed  forever  be  the  man  who  would  !  Sir,  in  disunion 
through  the  disintegration  of  the  States,  I  have  never  been  able  to  see  any 
thing  but  anarchy  with  its  endless  horrors.  In  disunion  through  the  de- 

O  «/  O 

struction  of  the  States  I  have  never  been  able  to  see  anything  but  rigid, 
hopeless  despotism,  with  all  its  endless  oppression.  In  disunion  by  any 
means,  in  any  form,  for  any  cause,  I  have  never  been  able  to  see  anything 
but  blood,  and  waste,  and  ruin  to  all  races  and  colors  and  conditions  of  men. 
But  in  the  preservation  of  our  Union  of  States,  this  confederate  nation,  I 
have  never  been  able  to  see  anything  but  a  grandeur  and  a  glory  such  as  no 
people  ever  enjoyed.  I  pray  God  that  every*  arm  that  shall  be  raised  to 
destroy  that  Union  may  be  withered  before  it  can  strike  the  blow. 


SPEECH  DELIVERED  IK  THE  SENATE  OF  THE  UNITED 
STATES,  MAY  11  AND  12,  1880.— CAN  THE  SENATE  DIS 
FRANCHISE  A  STATE. 


This  speech  was  made  in  support  of  the  resolution  from  the  Committee  on  Privileges 
and  Elections,  declaring  that  William  Pitt  Kellogg  was  not  entitled  to  his  seat  as  a  senator 
from  the  State  of  Louisiana.  The  argument  is  the  most  elaborate  ever  made  by  Mr.  Hill 
in  the  Senate.  For  severe  logic,  terrific  invective,  and  lofty  flights  of  eloquence  it  is  not 


surpassed  by  any  he  ever  made.  An  able  writer  says  of  this  speech  :  "  The  finest  speech 
I  ever  heard  was  Hill  on  the  Louisiana  contested  election  and  Kellogg.  As  a  forensic 
argument  it  was  absolutely  conclusive ;  as  an  invective,  it  was  as  severe  as  Grattan  or 
Brougham." 


•*o* 


"  The  people  will,  I  trust,  rise  up  on  this  auspicious  year  and  declare  that  a  party 
which  has  seized  and  held  power  by  fraud  against  the  popular  will  shall  never  again  be 
trusted  with  power  by  the  popular  will.  They  will  cast  out  the  thieves  who  divide  the 
public  offices  as  their  own  legitimate  spoil." 


Is  THE  CONSTITUTION  OR  A  RESOLUTION  OF  THE  SENATE  THE  SUPREME 

LAW?     OK  is  FRAUD  SUPREME  OVER  ALL? 


Tuesday,  May  11,  1880. 

On  the  resolutions  reported  by  the  Committee  on  Privileges  and  Elec 
tions,  relative  to  the  seat  of  William  Pitt  Kellogg  as  Senator  from  Louisi 
ana,  Mr.  Hill  said  : 

Mr.  President:  During  the  delivery  of  my  remarks  to-day  I  request 
that  I  be  not  interrupted.  Interruptions  will  only  break  the  thread  of  the 
argument,  and  perhaps  unnecessarily  prolong  it ;  and  I  feel  satisfied  that 
the  view  I  shall  take  of  the  case  will  be  such  that  when  am  discussing 
one  proposition  Senators  will  tind  that  the  questions  which  may  occur  to 
them  on  another  proposition  will  be  reached  before  I  am  through.  At  the 
conclusion  of  my  remarks  I  will  answer  any  questions  which  any  Senator 
may  desire  answered.  I  propose  to-day  to  discuss  chiefly  the  legal  views 
involved  in  this  case,  going  into  the  facts  only  to  such  an  extent  as 
deem  them  necessary  to  elucidate  those  legal  views.  And  now,  sir,  without 
further  delay,  explanation,  or  apology,  I  proceed  directly  to  the  questions 
on  which  we  are  asked  to  vote. 

The  first  resolution  reported  from  the  committee  is  in  these  word* 

Resolved,   That,  according  to  the  evidence  now  known  to  the  Senate    William 
Kellogg  was  not  chosen  by  the  Legislature  of  Louisiana  to  the  seat  in  th 
term  beginning  the  4th  day  of  March,  1877,  and  is  not  entitled  to  s 

The  second  resolution  declares  : 

That  Henry  M.  Spofford  was  chosen  by  the  Legislature  of  Louisiana  to  the  seat  in 
the  Senate  for  the  term  beginning  on  the  4th  of  March,  1877,  and  that  he  be  admit 
to  the  same  on  taking  the  oath  prescribed  by  law. 

635 


636  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

If  the  first  resolution  be  correct,  a  little  reflection  will  satisfy  Senators 
that  the  second  follows  as  a  corollary,  because  it  is  conceded  on  all  hands 
that  there  was  a  Legislature  chosen  for  the  State  of  Louisiana  by  the  elec 
tion  of  1876.  I  shall  therefore  direct  my  inquiries  to  the  correctness  of  the 
first  resolution.  That  resolution  analyzed  contains  one  affirmation,  and 
from  that  affirmation  announces  a  conclusion.  The  affirmation  is  that 
William  P.  Kellogg  was  not  chosen  by  the  Legislature  of  Louisiana.  The 
conclusion  is  that,  therefore,  he  is  not  entitled  to  sit  in  this  body.  Is  the 
affirmation  true  ?  Was  he  chosen  by  the  Legislature  of  Louisiana  to  the 
seat  which  he  occupies  ?  That  is  the  question  upon  which  we  are  to  vote. 
Senators  will  notice  that  this  resolution  deals  in  no  vague  generalities.  It 
does  not  spread  a  drag-net  of  phraseology  by  saying  that  the  Senator  is 
lawfully  entitled  on  the  merits,  without  saying  what  those  merits  are,  or 
without  making  a  distinct  issue  upon  which  the  Senate  is  called  to  vote. 
It  alleges  a  Constitutional  fact  and  in  Constitutional  language.  It  affirms 
that  William  P.  Kellogg  was  not  chosen  by  the  Legislature  of  Louisiana  to 
the  seat. 

The  report  of  the  committee  alleges  two  reasons  why  that  proposition  is 
true.  First,  the  report  declares  that  the  body  of  persons  which  it  has  been 
alleged  elected  Kellogg  was  not  in  fact  the  Legislature  of  Louisiana,  and 
therefore  had  no  power,  no  authority,  to  choose  him  as  Senator.  The 
second  reason  is,  that,  conceding  for  the  argument  that  this  body  of  persons 
was  the  Legislature  of  Louisiana,  yet  that  under  the  evidence  there  was  no 
quorum  present  at  the  time  of  the  alleged  election  ;  and  secondly,  that  the 
members  were  controlled  in  their  votes  by  bribery  and  other  corrupt  prac 
tices,  and  therefore  did  not  choose  the  sitting  member  to  the  seat  he  oc 
cupies. 

I  beg  the  Senate  to  keep  these  propositions  distinct  and  separate.  The 
first  proposition  is  that  the  body  of  persons  was  not  the  Legislature  and 
could  not  elect,  and  is  a  question  of  power  and  authority.  The  second 
proposition  is  that  because  of  the  want  of  a  quorum  and  because  of  corrupt 
practices,  the  Legislature,  conceding  it  to  be  such,  did  not  choose  him  to  be 
Senator,  and  makes  a  question  of  will  and  compliance  with  the  statutes  reg 
ulating  elections.  They  are  very  distinct,  and  each  must  be  considered  sep 
arately  from  the  other,  for  they  rest  upon  very  different  grounds. 

The  first  proposition  then,  is,  was  the  body  of  persons  which  it  is  alleged 
elected  Kellogg  to  the  Senate  the  Legislature  of  Louisiana  at  the  time  of 
the  so-called  election? 

Mr.  President,  first  of  all  let  us  settle  the  fundamental  question,  what 
is  the  Legislature  of  a  State?  The  Legislature  of  a  State  is  that  body  of 
persons  who  are  invested  with  authority  to  make  laws  for  the  government 
of  that  State  ;  and  it  is  that  body  of  persons  whose  enactments  the  courts 
are  compelled  to  administer,  the  governor  is  compelled  to  execute,  and  the 
people  are  compelled  to  obey.  That  is  the  Legislature  of  a  State.  Who  in 
vests  this  body  of  persons  with  this  legislative  power,  with  this  power  to 
make  laws  —  laws  which  demand  the  obedience  of  courts,  of  governors,  and 
of  people  ?  Clearly,  that  investment  of  power  is  conferred  solely  by  the 
State,  by  the  people  of  the  State,  according  to  the  Constitution  and  laws  of 
that  State.  No  other  power  can  invest  any  body  of  persons  in  a  State  with 
authority  to  make  laws  for  that  State  and  for  its  internal  government. 
You  perceive  at  once  that  such  a  claim  in  another,  if  admitted,  would  strike 
at  the  very  foundation  of  popular  government.  Whatever  authority  a  Leg- 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  63} 

islature  of  a  State  has  to  make  laws,  it  derives  only  from  the  people  of  that 
State. 

This  being  true,  the  next  question  is  this  :  who  is  to  determine  what 
body  of  persons  it  is  in  a  State  that  is  invested  with  this  authority  to  make 
laws  for  the  government  of  that  people  ?  Why,  sir,  necessarily  that  deter- 
mination  can  come  only  from  those  who  have  the  authority  to  make  the  in 
vestment.  It  would  be  absurd  to  say  that  the  people  of  the  State  alone 
could  invest  a  body  of  persons  with  authority  to  make  laws  and  then  say 
that  some  other  body  could  determine  whether  that  body  of  persons  had 
been  in  fact  invested  with  that  authority.  It  is  impossible,  in  the  nature  of 
things,  that  one  power  should  alone  be  able  to  invest  this  body  of  persons 
with  authority  to  make  laws,  and  that  another  distinct,  separate,  or  different 
power  should  have  authority  to  determine  whether  that  investment  had 
been  made,  whether  that  authority  had  been  given.  Other  powers  may 
recognize  what  the  State  has  done,  but  the  State  alone  gives  the  authority, 
and  declares  to  whom  she  has  given  it. 

I  am  thus  particular  in  making  this  enunciation  because  the  notion  has 
got  abroad  of  late  years  that  in  some  contingency  or  other  there  are  other 
powers  or  authorities  which  can  enter  a  State  and  determine  what  is  and 
what  shall  be  the  Legislature  of  that  State,  and  the  report  of  the  committee 
concedes,  in  deference  to  this  general  loose  idea,  that  where  there  are  two 
rival  bodies  in  a  State,  each  claiming  to  be  the  Legislature  of  the  State,  the 
Senate  in  admitting  a  Senator  may  determine  which  of  those  rival  bodies  is 
the  Legislature  of  the  State. 

I  simply  wish  here  to  say  for  myself,  that  in  my  opinion  there  is  no 
possible  contingency  under  our  form  of  government  when  this  Senate  can 
have  authority  to  determine,  as  an  original  proposition,  for  itself  or  for  the 
State  or  for  anybody  else,  what  is  the  Legislature  of  a  State.  I  can  con 
ceive  of  a  contingency  under  that  article  of  the  Constitution  which  says  that 
the  United  States  shall  guarantee  a  republican  form  of  government  to  each 
State,  in  which  for  a  certain  purpose  Congress  itself  may  have  authority  to 
determine  what  is  the  legal  government  of  a  State  pro  hdc  vice,  and  I  can 
conceive  of  a  contingency  in  which  the  Executive,  in  executing  the  laws  of 
Congress  carrying  out  that  provision  of  the  Constitution,  may  find  it  neces 
sary  to  determine  what  is  the  Legislature  of  a  State  or  the  governor  of  a 
State  ;  but  the  President  and  Congress,  in  the  case  mentioned,  determine  it 
for  themselves  to  enable  them  to  execute  a  specific  power  in  the  Constitu 
tion,  and  do  not  determine  it  for  the  State. 

In  other  words,  the  power  conferred  by  the  Constitution  on  the  United 
States,  and  incidentally  upon  the  President,  in  carrying  out  the  laws  of  the 
United  States,  to  determine  for  a  certain  purpose  what  is  the  Legislature  of 
a  State,  is  only  conferred  for  the  purpose  of  invoking  the  physical  power  of 
the  General  Government  to  put  the  State  in  a  condition  to  enable  her  to  de 
cide  for  herself  what  is  her  Legislature  and  what  is  her  true  government. 
So  that  in  truth,  even  in  the  cases  mentioned,  the  final  and  authoritative  de 
termination  as  to  what  is  the  Legislature  of  a  State  must  be  by  the  State 
herself.  It  would  be  at  war  with  every  principle  on  which  pur  system  of 
government  rests  to  say  that  under  any  circumstances  any  outside  power  can 
enter  a  State  and  determine  for  that  State  the  body  of  persons  who  shall 
make  laws  for  the  internal  government  of  the  people  of  that  State. 

But  this  question  as  to  what  may  be  the  power  of  the  Senate  in  the  con 
tingency  mentioned,  where  the  State  has  not  determined  the  question,  is  not 


038  SENATOR  B.   II.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

material  for  discussion  in  this  case.  I  simply  announce  my  view  on  this 
subject,  because  I  wish  to  go  on  the  record  as  holding  that  opinion,  and  I 
have  not  the  slightest  doubt  of  its  correctness. 

If  a  State  has  not  determined  what  is  her  Legislature,  then  she  is  not  in 
a  condition  to  elect  a  Senator,  for  the  Legislature  is  the  constituency  of  the 
Senator,  and  until  there  be  a  Legislature  there  can  be  no  Senator  chosen. 
The  State  must  determine  what  is  her  Legislature.  The  Legislature  is  not 
created  for  the  purpose  of  electing  a  Senator — mark  that.  The  Legislature 
is  created  to  make  laws  for  the  State,  and  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  simply  deposits  with  that  Legislature,  thus  called  into  existence  by 
the  State,  the  power,  the  authority,  to  choose  a  Senator  ;  and  until  the  Legis 
lature  is  called  into  existence  there  can  be  no  authority  to  choose  a  Senator. 
If  domestic  violence  should  occur  in  a  State  by  which  the  State  is  rendered 
physically  unable  to  determine  that  question,  then  she  may  call  on  the 
General  Government  for  assistance  to  enable  her  to  determine  that  question 
by  the  suppression  of  the  domestic  violence,  and  the  President  and  the  Con 
gress  can  determine  what  is  the  government  of  the  State  for  the  purpose  of 
answering  the  call,  so  as  to  remove  the  obstruction,  and  then  leave  the  State, 
when  the  obstruction  is  removed,  to  determine  for  herself  what  is  her  Legis 
lature,  what  is  her  government. 

But,  Mr.  President,  as  I  said,  I  shall  not  stop  to  dwell  upon  that  question, 
because  the  next  proposition  I  presume  will  receive  the  unquestioning  assent 
of  every  gentleman  present.  That  proposition  is,  that  whether  this  Senate 
can  claim  the  right  to  determine  which  of  two  rival  bodies  in  a  State  is  the 
Legislature  of  that  State  or  not,  when  the  State  herself  has  not  determined 
that  question  ;  yet  when  the  State  has  determined  that  question,  when  the 
State  has  said,  "This  is  the  body  of  persons  that  I  have  invested  with 
authority  to  make  laws  for  the  government  of  my  people";  when  the  courts 
of  the  State  say,  "  This  is  the  body  whose  laws  we  will  administer  under 
our  oaths  ";  when  the  executive  officers  say,  "This  is  the  body  whose  laws  we 
will  execute";  when  the  people  say,  "This  is  the.  body  whose  laws  we 
will  obey,"  it  would  be  usurpation  of  the  most  reckless  character  for  any 
third  power  to  go  into  that  State  and  reverse  that  decision  of  the  State,  and 
compel  the  people  of  the  State,  the  courts  of  the  State,  and  the  governor  of 
the  State,  or  anybody  else,  to  say  that  another  body  is  the  Legislature  of 
that  State.  That  would  make  such  third  power  a  tyrant  and  the  State  a 
mere  subject  province. 

Now,  then,  the  question  is,  has  Louisiana  settled  this  question  for  her 
self  ?  Unquestionably  she  has.  In  March,  1877,  when  the  credentials  of 
Kellogg  were  first  presented  in  this  body  and  referred  to  a  committee,  there 
were  two  bodies  in  the  State  of  Louisiana,  each  claiming  to  be  the  Legisla 
ture,  one  supported  by  the  people,  the  other  supported  by  the  army  of  the 
United  States  and  the  metropolitan  police.  If  the  Senate  had  authority,  be 
cause  there  were  two  bodies,  to  determine  which  of  them  was  the  Legislature, 
it  did  not  determine  it  while  the  controversy  lasted  ;  it  took  no  step  for  the 
purpose  of  determining  it  ;  no  action  whatever  ;  and  before  the  Senate  had 
taken  any  action  in  the  matter  of  determining  that  question  the  State  settled 
it  for  herself,  and  that  settlement  has  remained  from  that  day  to  this.  There 
is  not  a  power  on  earth  that  questions  the  settlement. 

The  honorable  Senator  from  Massachusetts  (Mr.  Hoar)  made  the  singular 
statement  yesterday  that  the  majority  of  this  committee,  or  somebody  on 
this  side  of  the  House.,  held  to  the  doctrine  that  a  revolution  in  the  spring  of 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  639 

1877  had  a  retroactive  effect,  to  make  that  unconstitutional  which  was  Con 
stitutional  in  January,  1877.  That  idea,  like  a  great  many  others  expressed 
by  the  Senator,  has  no  foundation  but  the  unsubstantial  basis  of  his  own 
vivid  imagination.  Nobody  on  this  side  has  said  any  such  foolish  thing. 
But  what  we  say  on  this  side  is  :  that  the  question  decided  by  Louisiana  was 
what  was  the  body  of  persons  chosen  as  her  Legislature  by  the  election  of 
1876,  and  which,  therefore,  was  the  legal  Legislature  in  January,  1877,  and 
from  the  beginning  of  its  term ;  for  the  Legislature  which  was  chosen  (in 
1876  was  not  chosen  for  the  month  of  January,  nor  for  the  month  of  Feb 
ruary,  nor  for  the  month  of  March  ;  it  was  chosen  for  a  term,  and  that  term 
was  fixed  by  the  Constitution  of  Louisiana  then  to  be  two  years.  So  that 
whichever  body  was  chosen  by  the  people  in  the  election  of  1876  as  the 
Legislature,  was  chosen  as  the  Legislature  for  the  two  years  beginning  on  the 
1st  day  of  January,  1877.  That  is  the  question  the  people  of  Louisiana 
decided. 

Perhaps  I  ought  to  apologize  to  the  Senate  for  stopping  to  notice  this 
statement  of  the  Senator  from  Massachusetts.  He  speaks  of  the  revolution 
in  April,  1877,  by  which  the  legal  government  of  Louisiana  was  overthrown. 
A  revolution  !  What  was  the  revolution  ?  The  simple  withdrawal  of  force, 
the  simple  withdrawal  of  troops. 

The  governor  of  the  State  in  1877  had  called  upon  the  metropolitan 
police  force  and  the  Army  of  the  United  States  to  protect  what  he  called  the 
Packard  Legislature  in  the  State-house.  That  army  was  withdrawn  ;  that 
physical  force  was  withdrawn  in  April,  1877,  and  the  result  was  that  that 
which  had  no  existence  except  by  force  simply  dissolved  ;  it  fell.  Now,  I 
have  heard  of  revolutions  being  accomplished  by  force,  but  I  never  heard  of 
a  violent  revolution  being  accomplished  by  the  withdrawal  of  force.  The 
Senator  says  that  the  Packard  government  was  overthrown  by  the  revolution 
of  April,  l'877.  Did  any  man  ever  hear  of  a  government  being  overthrown 
by  the  withdrawal  of  force  ?  A  government  may  be  overthrown  by  the 
application  of  force,  usurpatory  or  otherwise,  but  it  remained  for  the  Senator 
from  Massachusetts,  who  made  the  brilliant  discovery  that  the  sun  rose  on 
Mont  Blanc,  to  discover  that  the  withdrawal  of  force  overthrew  a  legal 
government  ! 

The  very  fact  that  that  concern  dissolved  when  the  force  was  withdrawn 
ought  to  be  the  highest  evidence  to  a  man  accustomed  to  popular  govern 
ment  that  the  thing  had  no  basis  whatever.  How  can  that  be  the  Legisla 
ture  of  a  State  which  has  no  foundation  and  no  support  in  the  will  of  the  State 
herself,  nor  in  the  will  of  the  people  of  the  State  ?  How  can  that  be  the 
Legislature,  invested  with  power  to  make  laws  for  the  government  pi 
people  of  a  State,  which  has  nothing  to  keep  it  in  existence  but  a  military 
power,  and  the  moment  that  military  power  is  withdrawn  the  thing  dissolves 
into  thin  air  ?  Could  the  army,  by  whose  presence  alone  this  concern  ex 
isted,  invest  this  body  of  persons  with  authority  to  make  laws  for  the  peo 
ple  of  Louisiana? 

The  State  of  Louisiana  then  has  peaceably,  quietly,  unanimously,  legally, 
forever,— for  all  men  and  for  all  powers,— settled  which  of  these  two  bodies 
\\  as  her  Legislature.     She  has  settled  that  the  body  of  persons  who  pretend 
to  have  elected  Kellogg  had  no  authority  upon  earth  to  make  a  legal  enact 
ment,  and  they  made°no  legal  enactment.     She  tells  you  that  no  port 
the  judiciary,  not  even  a  justice  of  the  peace,  would  dare  admimst 
actment  adopted  by  this  mob  \  that  no  governor  would  enforce  a  law  < 


640  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

body  ;  and  there  is  no  man,  woman,  or  child,  black  or  white,  in  the  bounda 
ries  of  Louisiana  that  would  obey  one  of  its  enactments  or  that  could  be 
compelled  to  obey  one  of  its  enactments,  and  any  person  seeking  to  enforce 
obedience  to  an  enactment  of  this  body  of  conspirators  would  be  a  tres 
passer. 

But  the  State  has  not  only  decided  that  this  body  of  persons  was  not  her 
Legislature,  she  has  further  decided  that  another  body,  chosen  by  the  election 
of  1876,  was  and  is  her  Legislature.  Her  Legislature  from  what  date  ?  From 
that  election,  and  from  the  date  of  the  term  as  fixed  by  the  Constitution. 
It  seems  to  have  crept  into  the  minds  of  some  men  that  there  was  one  body 
which  was  a  legal  Legislature  for  one  month  and  another  body  which  was  a 
legal  Legislature  for  another  month  ;  an  idea  which  could  only  spring  from 
a  mind  which  has  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  power  in  this  country  to 
make  Legislatures  is  not  the  will  of  the  people  but  a  fraudulent  returning 
board  defeating  the  will  of  the  people.  They  chose,  as  I  say,  that  Legisla 
ture  for  the  term,  and  when  all  the  authorities  and  all  the  people  of  the 
State,  and  including  the  very  men  who  had  composed  the  so-called  Packard 
Legislature,  agreed  that  the  Nichols  Legislature  was  the  true  Legislature  of 
the  State  of  Louisiana,  chosen  in  1876,  they  determined  that  it  was  the  Legis 
lature  from  the  beginning  of  the  term  and  that  this  other  body  never  was 
the  Legislature. 

As  the  State  has  settled  this  question,  can  any  other  power  annul  it  ? 
Has  the  State  of  Louisiana  by  her  courts,  by  her  government,  by  all  her  peo 
ple,  by  one  united  voice,  determined  that  this  was  her  Legislature  that  elected 
Spofford,  and  that  it  was  not  her  Legislature  that  elected  Kellogg  ?  Pray  tell 
me  whence  you  derive  the  authority  to  review  that  judgment  ?  To  say  that 
you  differ  with  the  authorities  and  the  people,  and  to  place  in  some  other 
body  the  authority  to  reverse  that  decision  of  the  State,  is  simply  to  give 
that  other  power  an  authority  over  the  State  in  making  a  Legislature  for 
that  State,  and  would  simply  destroy  the  State  and  her  frame  of  govern 
ment  by  creating  a  power  superior  to  that  of  the  State  over  the  State's  own 
affairs. 

Mr.  President,  we  hear  of  precedents,  and  it  is  said  we  must  beware  of 
making  bad  precedents.  I  wish  to  say  one  thing  to-day,  and  if  I  say  noth 
ing  else  I  shall  feel  that  I  have  discharged  my  duty  to  the  country  at  this 
time.  There  can  be  no  greater  danger  to  this  country,  no  greater  danger  to 
the  institutions  of  this  country,  possible,  than  to  recognize  the  idea,  or  to  estab 
lish  the  theory  of  government,  that  the  Senate  or  any  other  power  can  de 
termine  for  the  State  what  is  her  Legislature.  Where  is  the  end  of  it  ? 
Do  you  hold  that  some  other  power  can  reverse  the  decision  of  the  State  ; 
can  disregard  the  decision  of  the  State  ;  can  decide  against  her  courts,  her 
governor,  and  her  people  as  to  what  is  their  Legislature,  and  that  such  other 
power  can  go  into  a  State  and  say  that  a  mob,  a  town  meeting,  a  company 
of  militia,  or  a  party  convention  shall  be  the  Legislature  of  a  State  ?  What 
will  protect  them  ?  Gentlemen  say  if  we  establish  the  doctrine  here  that 
one  Senate  can  reverse  the  action  of  another  Senate  on  this  question,  there 
is  no  stability  to  the  Senate.  Do  you  not  see  that  the  only  safety  for  the 
stability  of  the  Senate,  the  only  safety  for  the  right  of  the  State,  is  to 
insist  upon  it  that  the  State  herself  shall  determine  what  is  her  Legislature, 
and  that  the  Senate  has  no  right  to  reverse  the  action  and  the  decision  of 
the  State  on  that  question. 

The  moment  you  say  that  the  Senate  can  differ  with  the  State  and  deter- 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  641 

mine  for  her  as  t<5  what  is  her  Legislature,  and  that  a  Senator  elected  by 

what  the  State  calls  her  Legislature  may  be  rejected  by  the  Senate, and 

another  who  is  elected  by  a  mob  or  a  party  convention  may  be  admitted 
here,  and,  being  once  admitted,  can  never  be  removed, — you  place  the  State 
in  the  power  of  the  Senate.  I  warn  my  friends  to  take  care.  When  you 
say  that  the  Senate  can  enter  a  State  and  determine  against  the  will  of  the 
State  what  is  her  own  Legislature,  then  you  have  established  a  doctrine  by 
which  the  Senate  can  be  composed  of  Senators  who  do  not  represent  the 
States  but  who  represent  only  party  majorities  in  this  Senate.  The  only 
safety  for  your  State  is  to  hold  to  the  rights,  the  inalienable  rights,  the 
Constitutional  rights,  of  each  State  to  determine  for  herself  what  is  her 
Legislature,  and  that  the  Senator  elected  by  that  Legislature  is  the  only 
Senator  that  can  be  admitted  on  this  floor.  Then  you  are  safe.  Then 
power  and  passion  and  sectional  feeling  will  strike  against  you  in  vain.  I 
tremble  at  the  very  thought  that  any  one  on  this  floor  would  tolerate  the 
idea  that  the  Senate  or  any  other  power  may  reverse  the  decision  of  a  State 
as  to  what  is  her  Legislature,  and  make  the  partisan  will  and  judgment  of 
the  Senate  paramount  authority  to  determine  what  is  the  Legislature  of  a 
State,  and,  therefore,  who  shall  be  admitted  into  the  Senate. 

On  the  first  proposition,  was  this  body  of  persons  the  Legislature  of  the 
State,  I  think  every  man's  mouth  ought  to  be  closed.  It  does  seem  to 
me  that  we  should  heed  the  grand  words  uttered  by  Mr.  Webster  in  his 
argument  in  Luther  vs.  Bordin,  when  he  said  the  State  has  the  right  to 
decide  this  question,  and  when  the  State  has  decided  it  for  herself  she 
decides  it  for  all  the  world,  and  the  mouth  of  every  other  person  is  closed 
and  closed  forever.  We  have  progressed  so  far  in  some  directions — I  do 
not  know  that  I  ought  to  stop  to  say  in  what  direction — but  in  modern 
times  we  have  progressed  so  far  in  some  direction  that  to  quote  the  Consti 
tutional  views  of  Mr.  Webster  on  this  floor  is  to  incite  the  distinguished 
gentlemen  on  the  other  side  to  a  charge  of  rebellious  disposition. 

Mr.  Webster  said  that  when  the  State  decides  this  question  for  herself 
she  decides  it  for  all  the  world.  The  successor  of  Mr.  Webster  ( Mr.  Hoar ) 
has  put  it  in  writing  that  no  other  power  can  decide  this  question  for  the 
Senate  but  the  Senate.  There  is  a  vast  difference.  Mr.  Webster  says  that 
the  State  decides  it  for  all  the  world.  This  modern  Senator  from  Massachu 
setts  repudiates  the  decision  of  the  State  and  insists  that  the  Senate  decides 
it  for  itself,  and  no  other  power  can  decide  it  for  the  Senate.  There  is  a 
vast  progress  from  Mr.  Webster  to  the  honorable  Senator,  whether  up  or 
down  or  laterally,  the  world  must  determine  for  itself.  I  choose  to  bow  at 
the  shrine  of  that  grand  man,  Daniel  Webster.  But  suppose  the  Senate 
should  say,  "We  want  to  look  into  the  facts  and  decide  for  ourselves 
whether  the  decision  of  the  State  was  right;  whether  the  State  ought 
have  made  that  decision."  That  is  the  new  doctrine,  that  we  must  inquire 
not  whether  the  State  has  made  the  decision,  but  whether  the  State  ought  to 
have  made  it. 

I  say,  then,  that  under  the  facts  of  this  case  the  State  decided  it  correctly. 
The  State  could  not  have  made  any  other  decision,  and  no  man  in  this  body 
who  intends  to  be  governed  by  the  facts  of  the  case  can  decide  it  diperently 
even  as  an  original  question.  '    Can  any  man  say  that  this  body  of  persons, 
barricaded  in  their  halls  in  January,  1877,  was  a  Legislature  ?      You  rau 
abrogate  the  definition  of  a  Legislature.     Did  it  have  authority  to  mak 
laws  ?      It  had  no  authority  outside  of  its  barricaded  pen  ;  it  did  not  pret 


642  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

'  t 

to  have  any  authority  outside.  It  could  not  compel  a  man  to  pay  a  dollar  of 
taxes,  and  it  did  not.  It  did  nothing  ;  it  could  do  nothing.  The  evidence 
shows  that  it  was  nothing  in  the  world  but  a  body  of  conspirators,  gotten 
together  by  this  fraudulent  action  of  the  returning  board  expressly  to  defeat 
the  will  of  the  State,  and  not  to  carry  out  the  will  of  the  State. 

A  portion  of  the  members  elected  by  the  people,  less  than  a  quorum  of 
each  house,  being  at  the  very  furthest,  on  the  very  best  view  of  the  case 
for  the  other  side,  only  sixteen  Senators,  lacking  three  of  a  quorum;  and 
only  fifty-two  members  of  the  house,  lacking  nine  of  a  quorum,  were  there; 
and  they  excluded  by  force  the  Democratic  members  who  were  elected  and 
certified  to  be  elected.  They  seized  the  State-house  and  surrounded  it  with 
troops  by  order  of  Kellogg  himself,  closed  up  the  doors,  and  would  let 
nobody  come  in  there  without  a  ticket  from  them.  It  was  a  body  of  con 
spirators — ignorant,  reckless,  covered  with  every  crime  by  their  own  confes 
sion  in  this  evidence,  caring  nothing  for  the  State,  governing  nobody  in  the 
State,  having  the  respect  of  nobody  in  the  State,  held  together  by  force, 
controlled  by  bribery  and  corruption,  and  having  no  purpose  in  view  but  to 
elect  the  chief  of  their  own  band  of  conspirators  to  a  seat  in  the  Senate  ;  and 
you  say  that  that  body  had  authority  to  make  laws  for  Louisiana.  As 
an  original  proposition  you  cannot  come  to  any  conclusion  except  that  the 
people  of  Louisiana  decided  right,  and  it  is  a  most  shameful  mockery  for 
this  Senate  to  pretend  to  believe  that  this  self-barricaded  den  of  self-con 
fessed  villains  was  invested  with  authority  to  make  laws  for  the  people  of 
Louisiana.  No  man  in  this  Senate  does  believe  it. 

Mr.  President,  I  have  established  two  propositions  :  first,  that  by  the 
decision  of  Louisiana,  and  by  the  decision  of  everybody  in  Louisiana,  includ 
ing  the  conspirators  themselves,  the  body  of  persons  that  elected  Kellogg 
was  not  the  Legislature  of  Louisiana  in  January,  1877  ;  but  the  body  which 
elected  Spofford  was  the  Legislature  chosen  by  the  people  in  the  election  of 
1876.  Then  I  have  shown,  secondly,  that  under  the  facts  of  this  case  the 
State  could  not  have  decided  otherwise,  and  you  cannot  decide  otherwise. 
The  decision  is  right  and  just  under  the  facts.  Therefore  the  proposition 
is  established  as  a  proposition  of  fact  that  the  body  which  elected  Kellogg 
was  not  the  Legislature  of  the  State  at  the  time  of  the  election.  So  the  af 
firmation  in  the  first  resolution  is  true  ;  true  by  authority  and  true  in  law, 
true  by  evidence  and  true  in  fact. 

We  advance,  then,  to  the  conclusion  of  the  resolution,  which  is  that  Kel 
logg  not  being  chosen  by  the  Legislature  of  Louisiana  to  the  seat  he  occu 
pies,  he  is  "  not  entitled  to  sit  in  the  same."  Is  this  conclusion  correct  ? 
My  friend  from  Connecticut  (Mr.  Eaton)  reminds  me  that  this  Packard 
Legislature,  as  it  is  called,  never,  in  fact,  made  a  law.  Certainly  not. 
How  could  they  ?  How  could  they  do  that  which  they  could  not  do  ?  Make 
a  law,  indeed  !  Make  a  law  that  the  very  rats  that  burrowed  with  them 
would  not  obey  !  Make  a  law  that  not  a  child  in  New  Orleans  or  Louisiana 
would  respect  or  could  be  made  to  obey  !  They  made  no  law. 

Now,  then,  is  the  conclusion  correct  that  he  (Kellogg)  is  not  entitled  to 
a  seat  in  this  body  ?  I  advance  to  the  discussion  of  this  question  with  abso 
lute  pain.  I  know  the  extent  to  which  absurdity  can  go,  but  I  confess  that 
I  never  expected  to  hear  it  said  anywhere  in  this  broad  land,  and  above  all 
other  things  I  never  expected  to  hear  it  said  in  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  that  a  man  who  was  not  chosen  by  the  Legislature  of  a  State  could 
acquire  a  title  to  a  seat  in  this  body.  The  Constitution  says  : 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  64:3 

The  Senate  of  the  United  States  shall  be  composed  of  two  Senators  from  each  State 
chosen  by  the  Legislature  thereof. 

When  you  say  that  this  man  was  not  chosen  by  the  Legislature  of  the 
State,  have  I  to  reason  with  you  to  convince  you  that,  not  being  chosen  by 
the  Legislature  of  the  State,  he  cannot  possibly  acquire  a  title  to  a  seat  in 
this  body  ?  But  that  is  the  whole  question.  Certainly  no  one  on  this  side 
of  this  Chamber  will  say  the  body  of  men  who  it  is  said  elected  Kellogg 
was  the  Legislature  of  Louisiana,  and  yet  it  is  whispered  that  some  hesitate 
to  say  he  has  no  title  to  the  seat.  I  do  not  believe  that  there  is  a  man 
on  the  other  side  who  will  get  up  and  say  that  in  point  of  fact  this  body 
was  the  Legislature  of  Louisiana.  There  may  be  some  who  may  persuade 
themselves  to  the  fanciful  idea  that  it  ought  to  have  been  ;  they  wish  it 
had  been  ;  if  they  could  have  had  their  way  it  would  have  been  ;  but  I  can 
not  believe  that  there  is  a  Senator  on  that  side  of  the  Chamber  who  will  get 
up  and  outrage  common  sense  and  the  facts  of  the  case  to  such  an  extent 
as  to  say  that  in  point  of  fact  the  body  which  elected  Kellogg  was  the  Leg 
islature  of  Louisiana.  Yet  it  is  contended  by  all  on  that  side  that  notwith 
standing  it  was  not  the  Legislature,  he  is  yet  entitled  to  the  seat. 

This  makes  it  necessary  to  discuss  as  a  question,  "  Can  a  man  acquire  a 
rightful  title  to  a  seat  in  this  JSenate  who  was  not  chosen  thereto  by  the 
Legislature  of  his  State  ?  "  I  discuss  it  protesting  that  nothing  can  make  it 
plainer  than  the  Constitution  makes  it. 

There  is  no  feature  of  our  Government  which  was  framed  writh  more 
care,  I  may  almost  say  with  so  much  care,  as  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States.  Under  the  confederation  we  had  but  one  body  for  our  Legislature. 

*.'  O 

The  Senate  was  created  by  the  Constitution.  It  was  founded  in  a  great 
principle.  Its  necessity  arose  not  only  from  the  experience  of  the  past, 
but  from  the  character  of  our  institutions.  When  our  fathers  met  in  con 
vention  in  1787  they  were  troubled  with  a  new  and  a  grand  idea,  and  that 
was  how  to  make  a  federal  nation — a  thing  that  no  people  had  ever  done. 
The  question  was  how  to  make  a  federal  government  which  would  have 
national  power  to  enforce  its  own  laws  upon  its  citizens,  and  at  the  same  time 
retain  its  federal  features  so  as  to  preserve  intact  the  independent  and  sep 
arate  character  of  the  States.  It  was  a  grand  and  new  thought  in  govern 
ment.  The  House  of  Representatives  was  organized  upon  the  national  idea  ; 
it  represents  population.  The  Senate  was  organized  upon  the  federal  idea ; 
it  represents  States.  We  have  what  no  country  or  people  ever  had  before. 
Nothing  can  become  a  law  without  having  the  assent  of  the  people  through 
their  Representatives,  and  the  assent  of  the  States  through  their  Representa 
tives  or  Senators. 

You  see  the  reason  why  the  choice  of  Senators  was  vested  in  the  Legis 
latures  of  the  States.  These  Legislatures  represented  the  sovereign  power 
of  the  States,  and  as  the  Senators  were  to  represent  the  States  the  power  to 
choose  Senators  was  lodged  in  that  branch  of  State  government  which  repre 
sented  the  sovereignty  of  the  State.  There  were  many  discussions  in  the 
convention  as  to  where  this  power  of  choosing  Senators  should  be  lodged. 
There  was  at  one  time  a  proposition  to  lodge  it  in  the  House  of  Representa 
tives.  There  was  another  proposition  to  lodge  it  in  districts.  ^  There  were 
several  other  propositions  suggested  ;  but  afteV  all  the  propositions  had  been 
fully  considered,  it  was  finalTy  determined  by  a  unanimous  vote  of  all  the 
States  present  to  vest  the  authority  to  elect  Senators  in  the  Legislatures  of 
the  States. 


644  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

The  next  idea  that  followed  was  natural,  was  a  mere  corollary  to  the 
first — that  the  States  should  be  equal  in  the  Senate.  This  proposition 
created  a  heated  discussion,  but  finally  it  was  agreed  to,  and  thus  in  this 
branch  of  the  government  Delaware  was  to  be  equal  to  New  York  and 
Rhode  Island  equal  to  Pennsylvania.  These  modern  schoolmen,  who  cast 
out  Webster  and  Madison  and  all  the  great  f  ramers  of  our  system,  mock  the 
idea  that  this  is  a  body  which  represents  States,  when  there  is  not  a  more 
distinct  feature  in  our  system  than  this  equality  of  the  States  in  this  Senate. 

But  that  was  not  all.  Having  lodged  the  power  of  choosing  Senators  in 
the  Legislature,  having  determined  that  the  representation  of  the  States 
should  be  equal,  that  each  State  should  have  two  Senators,  they  next  de 
termined  that  the  method  of  choosing  Senators  should  never  be  changed. 
Therefore  we  have  the  clause  : 

The  times,  places,  and  manner  of  holding  elections  for  Senators  and  Representatives 
shall  be  prescribed  in  each  State  by  the  Legislature  thereof  ;  but  the  Congress  may  at  any 
time  by  law  make  or  alter  such  regulations,  except  as  to  the  places  of  choosing  Senators. 

It  was  therefore  put  beyond  the  power  of  Congress  itself  to  change  the 
manner  of  choosing  Senators.  You  may  regulate  the  time  and  manner  of 
choosing  Senators,  but  you  cannot  change  the  place  ;  it  was  fixed  forever  in 
the  Constitution.  That  is  not  all.  There  is  a  grander  provision  yet,  and  it 
shows  how  this  idea  now  cast  out  by  these  modern  statesmen  absolutely 
dominated  the  convention  ;  for  having  provided  that  Senators  should  be 
chosen  by  the  Legislature  in  the  organic  government  of  the  State,  that  the 
States  should  be  equal  in  representation,  and  that  Congress  itself  should 
never  have  power  to  make  any  regulation  changing  the  place  of  choosing 
Senators,  they  did  not  rest  the  question  there,  but  they  added  the  most  re 
markable  feature  of  our  Constitution.  It  is  one  that  every  statesman  ought 
to  study,  and  one  that  he  cannot  study  too  much.  They  absolutely  provided 
that  no  State  without  her  consent  should  ever  be  deprived  of  her  equal  rep 
resentation  in  this  body,  even  by  amendment  to  the  Constitution.  They 
vested  in  the  States  the  right  to  have  an  equal  number  of  Senators  here, 
they  put  it  beyond  the  power  of  Congress  to  change  that  right,  and  then 
they  did  for  this  sacred  right  what  they  did  for  nothing  else,  for  it  is  the 
only  provision  of  the  kind  in  the  Constitution.  The  people,  the  sovereign 
people,  the  fountain  of  all  power,  solemnly  pledged  themselves  that  they 
never  would,  even  by  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution,  deprive  a  State  of 
her  equal  representation  on  this  floor  without  her  consent. 

If  there  be  any  power  in  this  land,  any  device  or  any  scheme,  which  can 
give  a  man  a  title  to  a  seat  on  this  floor  who  was  not  chosen  by  the  Legis 
lature  of  a  State,  that  power,  device,  or  scheme  is  greater  than  the  State,  be 
cause  it  substitutes  its  own  iudffment  as  paramount  to  that  of  the  State. 

rni  •  ^^  i  • 

1  hat  power  is  greater  than  Congress,  for  Congress  cannot  by  law  authorize 
any  other  body  than  a  Legislature  to  choose  a  Senator.  That  power  is 
greater  than  the  people,  because  the  people  have  covenanted  that  they  will 
never  deprive  a  State  of  her  equal  representation  in  this  body  even  by  the 
exercise  of  the  sovereign  power  itself.  The  sovereignty  of  the  people,  the 
sovereignty  of  all  the  people,  shackled  itself  in  deference  to  the  preservation 
of  the  equality  of  the  States.  Sovereignty  bound  itself  forever  to  respect 
that  feature  of  our  Constitution  which  it  seems  to  me  it  is  the  chief  pleasure 
of  some  of  the  modern  statesmen  to  deride  and  cast  out. 

Where,  then,  does  this  marvelous  power  which  is  invoked  to  disfranchise 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  645 

a  State  in  this  Senate  live  or  lurk  ?  I  have  shown  you  it  is  not  in  Congress  ; 
it  is  not  in  the  States  themselves  ;  it  is  not  in  the  people  of  all  the  States. 
Thirty-seven  States,  with  a  unanimous  vote,  cannot  deprive  the  little  State  of 
Delaware  of  her  equal  representation  in  this  body.  In  the  face  of  that 
grand  tribute  to  the  equality  and  sovereignty  of  the  States,  who  cares  for  the 
taunts  of  these  modern  Lilliputians  in  the  science  of  government  ?  Their 
argument  springs  from  the  cheek  and  not  from  the  brain,  and  is  made  for 
partisan  and  not  for  patriotic  purposes.  The  man  who  can  go  before  the 
American  people  and  mock  at  this  Constitutional  sovereignty  of  the  States 
mocks  at  what  our  fathers  made  the  grandest  feature  of  the  system,  and  the 
only  one  which  the  sovereign  people  bound  themselves  always  to  respect  and 
never  to  change. 

But  where,  I  repeat,  does  this  extraordinary  power  lie — this  power  that 
can  give  a  man  a  title  to  a  seat  in  this  body  who  was  not  chosen  thereto  by 
the  Legislature  of  his  State  ?  We  are  told  that  it  lies  in  the  Senate.  What 
a  paradox  is  this  !  It  lies  in  the  Senate  !  Think  of  it !  The  Senate,  which 
is  the  very  body  organized  for  the  purpose  of  preserving  this  right  of  the 
States,  organized  to  represent  the  equality  of  the  States,  has  power  to  de 
stroy  that  right  and  equality  !  But  to  disfranchise  the  States  is  to  destroy 
the  Senate  itself.  It  is  claimed,  too,  that  a  disfranchisement  of  the  State, 
once  inflicted  by  an  order  of  the  Senate,  however  false  or  mistaken,  can 
never  be  changed  even  by  the  Senate  itself  ;  that  if  the  Senate  once  seat  a 
man  who  was  not  chosen  by  the  Legislature  of  his  State  that  the  Senate  it 
self  can  never  review  or  change  it.  Thus  the  Senate  is  made  all-powerful  in 
disfranchising  a  State,  all-powerful  to  annul  the  Constitution,  all-powerful  to 
do  what  the  people  of  the  State  themselves  cannot  do  ;  but  the  Senate  is 
powerless  to  undo  its  own  wrong  !  It  is  omnipotent  over  the  people,  omnip 
otent  over  the  Constitution,  omnipotent  over  the  States,  but  is  utterly  im 
potent  to  correct  its  own  outrage  and  wrong ! 

By  what  sort  of  chemical  logic  is  it  that  such  a  gigantic  absurdity  is  re 
solved  into  such  self-destructivelnfallibility  ?  We  are  told  that  it  is  because 
the  Senate  is  a  court.  Ah  !  there  it  is  again  !  In  order  to  give  to  the  Sen 
ate  the  power  to  destroy  the  States  that  created  it  and  the  Constitution  that 
organized  it,  you  begin  with  a  reason  for  that  power  which  changes  the 
character  of  the  Senate  itself.  You  convert  it  from  a  political  body  into  a 
judicial  one.  An  absurd  conclusion  can  only  be  sustained  by  absurd  reasons. 

A  great  deal  has  been  said  on  the  question  as  to  whether  the  Senate  was 
a  court  in  dealing  with  the  admission  of  its  own  members.     Pardon  me  if 
say  that  any  discussion,  in  my  judgment,  on  that  point  is  fruitless.     If  you 
mean  to  say  that  the  Senate  is  a  court,  you  mean  to  say  a  very  absurd  filing. 
It  is  not  a  court  in  the  technical  meaning  of  that  word.     It  is  the  Senate, 
and  the  Constitution  makes  the  Senate  a  legislative  body--a  political  body. 
You  cannot  convert  it  into  a  court  except  in  the  case  provided  by  the 
stitution  itself.     That  is  a  very  clear  proposition.     But  on  the  other 
when  we  say  the  Senate  is  not  a  court,  we  do  not  mean  to  say  it  is  bound  by 
no  rules,  bound  by  no  considerations  of  right,  bound  by  no  sense  of  propriety. 

Of  course  the  Senate,— though  not  a  court,  though  a  legislative  body,- 
must  respect  common  sense,  is  bound  by  reason,  is  bound  by  propriety,  isboun 
by  wise  political  policy,  and  above  all  is  bound  by  the  Constitution,  thongl 
it  is  now  claimed  that  the  Senate  is  not  bound  by  the  Constitution,  and  t 
the  Senate  can  seat  a  man  here  who  the  Constitution  says  shall  not  sit 
A  decision  by  the  Senate,  though  it  is  not  a  court,  I  say  has  all  the  dignity, 


C4G  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

all  the  character,  and  all  the  solemnity  of  a  decision  by  a  court.  Because 
the  rule  of  res  adjudicata,  as  known  to  courts,  does  not  apply  to  the  Senate, 
it  does  not  follow  that  the  Senate  is  at  loose  ends.  The  Senate  is  not  a  body 
without  discretion  ;  it  is  expected  to  be  a  judicious  body  whether  judicial 
or  not,  though  I  confess  the  expectation  is  often  disappointed. 

This  judicial  character  is  sought  to  be  given  to  the  Senate  by  the  language 
of  the  Constitution,  which  says  that : 

Each  House  shall  be  the  judge  of  the  elections,  returns,  and  qualifications  of  its  own 
members. 

It  is  said  the  Senate  is  the  judge  ;  so  it  is.  One  gentleman,  the  other  day, 
in  his  perfect  simplicity,  with  an  expression  of  face  which  amused  me,  said, 
"The  senate  is  a  judge,  and  is  it  not  therefore  a  court ?v  That  does  not 
follow.  The  argument  made  by  gentlemen  who  have  preceded  me  on  this 
subject  relieves  me  of  the  necessity  of  pursuing  it  further. 

But  what  is  the  extent  of  this  power?  Mark  you,  I  am  discussing  now 
the  first  branch  of  the  argument,  whether  a  man  can  get  a  title  to  a  seat  in 
this  body  who  was  not  chosen  by  the  Legislature  of  the  State.  That  is  the 
proposition. 

The  point  I  make  is,  that  the  power  to  judge  of  the  elections,  returns,  and 
qualifications  of  members  of  this  body  does  not  include  the  power  to  say 
what  is  the  Legislature  of  a  State.  That  is  the  point. 

Every  question  propounded  on  the  other  side,  every  argument  made  here 
tofore,  has  been  upon  the  assumption  that  the  power  in  the  Senate  to  judge 
of  the  elections,  returns,  and  qualifications  of  its  own  members  includes  the 
power  to  judge  of  what  is  the  Legislature  of  a  State.  Some  loose  phrase 
ology  which  is  not  necessary  to  the  point,  a  mere  dictum,  a  mere  passing 
remark  of  Chief  Justice  Taney  in  Luther  vs.  Borden,  has  been  quoted  as 
authority  for  that  statement.  That  is  not  true.  This  is  true  :  the  Senate 

»/ 

in  admitting  a  Senator  determines  which  is  the  Legislature  that  is  recognized 
by  the  State.  We  do  not  enter  the  State" and  judge  what  is  the  Legislature 
of  the  State,  but  we  do  judge  whether  the  State  has  a  Legislature.  We 
recognize  the  body  that  the  State  determines,  and  we,  of  course,  adopt  the 
necessary  evidence  to  ascertain  what  body  the  State  has  determined  to  be 
her  Legislature,  and  when  we  ascertain  that  fact  we  go  no  further.  We 
have  no  right  to  inquire  whether  the  State  decided  wisely  or  unwisely. 
That  is  none  of  our  business.  We  ascertain  the  fact.  We  ascertain  what 
body  the  State  has  made  her  Legislature,  but  we  have  no  right  to  make  the 
Legislature  for  the  State. 

Then  what  is  the  extent  of  the  power  of  the  Senate  to  judge  of  the  elec 
tions,  returns,  and  qualifications  of  its  members?  Consider  a  moment  and 
you  will  see  exactly  what  its  extent  is.  It  is  to  judge  of  the  elections,  not 
of  the  members  of  the  Legislature,  but  of  its  own  members.  Now  look  at 
the  Constitution  : 

The  times,  places,  and  manner  of  holding  elections  for  Senators  and  Representatives 
shall  be  prescribed  in  each  State  by  the  Legislature  thereof  ;  but  the  Congress  may  at  any 
time  by  law  make  or  alter  such  regulations^  except  as  to  the  places  of  choosing  Senators. 

The  manner  of  electing  a  Senator  by  the  Legislature,  the  times  of  election, 
are  regulated  by  the  law  of  the  State  or  by  the  law  of  Congress.  When, 
therefore,  Congress  judges  of  the  elections  of  its  own  members,  what  is  that 
power?  To  judge  whether  the  Legislature  has  complied  with  the  law  regu 
lating  the  time  and  manner  of  electing  a  Senator ;  that  is  all. 


HI 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  647 

Mr.  Carpenter.— Does  not  that  make  the  State  the  judge  ? 

Mr.  Hill.-  -No,  sir  ;  the  Senate  can  judge  this  :  the  Senafe  can  say  whether 
the  State — that  is,  the  Legislature — has  observed  the  regulations  in  the 
election.  I  have  answered  that  proposition. 

Mr.  Carpenter.— Does  not  that  make  the  State  the  judge  of  who  is  entitled 
to  sit  in  this  body,  and  not  the  Senate  itself? 

Mr.  Hill. — I  thought  a  State  was  entitled  to  choose  her  own  Senators, 
having  the  Constitutional  qualifications. 

Mr.  Carpenter. — But  suppose  we  differ  with  a  State  as  to  what  is  the 
legislative  body  in  a  State,  we  cannot  decide  it  you  say. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  have  argued  that  extensively;  I  am  only  sorry  the  Senator 
was  not  here.  When  my  friend  gets  quiet  and  away  from  the  excitements 
of  the  Senate  Chamber,  and  this  argument  shall  be  printed,  I  commend  it 
to  his  most  considerate  attention,  for  I  respectfully  think  it  is  unanswerable. 
I  have  said  what  we  may  judge  in  that  direction.  We  may  judge  as  to  what 
body  the  State  had  determined  is  her  Legislature,  and  we  have  a  right  to 
judge  whether  that  body  which  is  the  Legislature  of  the  State  has  complied 
with  the  law  in  electing  the  Senator.  The  law  now  prescribes  that  a  Senator 
shall  be  voted  for  on  the  second  Tuesday  after  the  assembling  of  the  body, 
that  he  shall  be  chosen  viva  voce,  that  he  shall  be  voted  for  in  the  separate 
houses  on  Tuesday  and  in  joint  session  the  next  day,  and  that  there  shall  be 
at  least  one  ballot  each  day  until  there  is  an  election.  These  are  the  regu 
lations  fixing  the  manner  and  the  time  of  choosing  Senators.  Whether  that 
manner,  whether  that  time  has  been  complied  with  in  the  election  of  a  man  ; 
whether  those  members  voted  honestly  or  whether  they  were  bribed  ;  whether 
there  was  a  quorum  or  whether  there  was  not  a  quorum,  all  these  are  ques 
tions  that  the  Senate  may  determine  under  the  power  to  judge  of  the  election 
of  its  own  members.  You  cannot  go  further  and  say  that  the  Senate  may 
inquire  into  the  election  of  the  members  of  the  .Legislature,  because  the  Senate 
has  power  to  judge  of  the  election  of  its  own  members.  A  proposition  was 
made  in  the  convention  framing  the  Constitution  to  invest  the  election  of 
Senators  in  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States.  That  was  a 
proposition  once  that  had  considerable  favor.  Suppose  it  had  been  adopted, 
and  then  there  had  been  rules  prescribed  by  law  as  to  the  manner  of  electing 
a  Senator  by  the  House  of  Representatives,  would  that  have  given  the  Senate 
the  right  to  judge  whether  the  House  of  Representatives  had  been  elected 
by  the  people?  That  would  have  been  putting  the  very  existence  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  in  the  power  of  the  Senate — in  the  power  of  the 
body  which  the  House  was  electing.  And  when  you  give  the  Senate  the 
power  to  annul  the  decision  of  a  State  as  to  what  is  her  Legislature,  you 
give  the  Senate  the  power  ultimately  to  destroy  the  very  power  that  elects 
the  Senate,  and  thus  enable  the  Senate  to  elect  its  own  members  !  I  cannot 
argue  that  any  further.  Centralism  never  took  a  more  horrid,  a  more 
dangerous,  or  a  more  unreasonable  shape  than  this  claim  of  a  power  in  the 
Senate  to  disfranchise  a  State. 

Then  of  the  returns.  What  does  the  Constitution  mean  when  it  says 
that  the  Senate  shall  "judge  of  the  returns  of  its  own  members"  that  is,  the 
evidence  which  is  to  satisfy  the  Senate  that  the  Senator  was  elected  \  The 
law  now  prescribes  that  to  be  the  certificate  of  the  governor,  under  the 
great  seal  of  the  State.  That  makes  a  prima  facie  case.  That  is  what  the 
law  says  is  the  return.  The  Senate  judges  whether  that  is  the  great  seal, 
whether  the  certificate  is  by  the  governor.  I  say  you  judge  whether  that 


648  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

is  the  great  seal  ;  but  does  that  give  you  a  right  to  make  a  seal  for  the 
State  ?  You  judge  whether  that  is  the  seal  adopted  by  the  State.  The 
Senate  judges  whether  that  is  the  certificate  of  the  governor,  but  does  that 
give  the  Senate  the  right  to  say  who  is  or  shall  be  the  governor  of  a 
State  ?  No.  The  Senate  only  judges  who  the  State  has  made  her  governor. 
The  claim  now  set  up  that  this  Senate  has  power  to  determine  what  is  the 
Legislature  of  a  State,  because  the  Senate  can  judge  whether  the  Legisla 
ture  has  complied  with  the  law  in  electing  a  Senator,  would  place  the  whole 
State  government  in  the  power  of  this  Senate. 

Mr.  Carpenter. — Will  the  honorable  Senator  allow  me  to  interrupt  him 
for  a  moment  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — Perhaps  I  am  responsible  for  the  Senator's  interrupting ;  I 
will  listen  to  him. 

Mr.  Carpenter. — I  am  just  informed  that  the  Senator  has  closed  the  door 
against  interruption  ;  so  I  will  not  interrupt  him. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  did  not  wish  to  break  the  thread  of  my  argument. 

Mr.  Carpenter. — I  wish  simply  to  suggest  to  his  sense  of  propriety  that 
a  member  of  the  committee  who  comes  in  here  with  a  report  charging 
criminality  upon  a  sitting  member,  and  speaks  in  support  of  the  report, 
ought  not,  even  if  he  had  the  right,  to  shut  the  door  against  such  interrup 
tions  as  might  call  up  particular  points  or  correct  mistakes  of  fact,  or  any 
thing  of  that  kind. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  said,  or  intended  to  say,  that  I  did  not  wish  to  be  interrupted 
during  the  delivery  of  my  remarks,  because  it  broke  the  thread  of  the  argu 
ment  ;  but  I  did  also  say,  or  intended  to  say — perhaps  I  omitted  it — that 
when  I  conclude  my  argument  I  would  take  pleasure  in  answering  any  ques 
tion  that  Senators  may  propound.  The  impropriety  of  these  interruptions  is 
manifest  by  the  Senator's  own  interruption  to-day,  for  he  has  taken  occasion, 
under  pretense  of  an  interruption,  to  throw  in  some  statement  that  some  com 
mittee  has  made  charges  of  criminality  against  a  sitting  member.  We  do 
not  charge  him  with  anything.  The  witnesses  charge  him  ;  the  facts  charge 
him,  and  we  report  the  facts  as  the  witnesses  testify.  That  is  all. 

Mr.  Carpenter. — I  will  not  interrupt  you. 

Mr.  Hill. — That  shows  the  impropriety  of  it.  Why  should  I  stop  my 
argument  now  to  answer  a  statement  which  has  no  foundation,  or  a  question 
which  has  no  relevancy  ? 

The  third  proposition  relates  to  the  power  of  the  Senate  to  judge  of 
qualifications  of  its  own  members.  What  do  you  mean  by  the  qualifica 
tions  ?  The  Constitution  prescribes  the  qualifications  of  a  Senator.  He 
shall  be  thirty  years  old  ;  he  shall  have  been  nine  years  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  and  he  shall  be  an  inhabitant  of  the  State  for  which  he  is 
chosen.  You  are  a  judge  of  whether  he  is  thirty  years  old  ;  you  judge 
whether  he  has  been  nine  years  a  citizen,  and  you  Judge  whether  he  is  an 
inhabitant  of  the  State  for  which  he  is  chosen  ;  tliat  is  your  jurisdiction. 
These  judgments  were  necessary  ;  and  no  authority,  and  I  challenge  the  pro 
duction  of  one,  who  has  treated  of  this  clause  in  the  Constitution,  has  ever 
said  that  the  power  to  judge  of  elections,  returns,  and  qualifications  of  its 
own  members  included  the  power  to  go  behind  and  judge  of  the  legality  of 
a  Legislature  of  a  State  over  the  State  itself  and.  to  annul  the  decision  of  the 
State  on  that  question,  because  that  would  vest  in  the  Senate  the  power  to 
make  a  Legislature  for  a  State.  But  suppose  that  is  true.  Suppose  I  con 
cede  for  the  argument  that  this  power  to  judge  of  the  elections,  returns,  and 


JffIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  649 

qualifications  of  its  own  members  includes  the  power  to  judge  as  to  what  is 
the  Legislature  of  the  State,  then  it  is  a  limited  power.  That  cannot  give 
you  the  right  to  seat  a  member  on  this  floor  contrary  to  other  terms  of  the 
Constitution.  If  you  have  the  power  under  that  clause  to  judge  of  the  con 
stituency  that  elected  him  and  of  the  legality  of  that  constituency,  and  of 
the  righteousness  of  the  judgment  of  the  State  declaring  what  is  her  Legis 
lature,  you  must  exercise  that  power  within  the  Constitution.  The  Consti 
tution  itself  puts  a  qualification  and  a  limitation  upon  that  power  even  if  it 
exists,  for  the  Constitution  which  gives  you  that  power  says  that  the  Sena 
tor  you  admit  must  be  chosen  by  the  Legislature  of  the  State.  If  you  have 
the  right  to  judge  of  a  Legislature,  that  does  not  give  you  the  right  to  seat 
a  man  who  under  the  facts  was  not  chosen  by  the  Legislature  ;  it  does  not 
give  you  the  right  to  say  that  is  the  Legislature  which  is  not  the  Legisla 
ture.  The  cases  on  this  principle  are  abundant. 

I  lay  down  this  proposition  for  the  lawyers  of  the  Senate  :  A  decision 
by  a  court,  by  Congress,  or  by  the  Senate,  without  jurisdiction  or  against 
jurisdiction  or  beyond  jurisdiction,  is  void,  not  voidable.  I  wish  to  make 
this  distinction  because  much  has  been  said  in  this  debate,  and  heretofore, 
about  motions  for  new  trials,  writs  of  error,  bills  of  review,  etc.,  in  the 
courts.  There  is  no  necessity  for  a  motion  for  a  new  trial,  no  necessity  for 
a  writ  of  error,  and  no  necessity  for  a  bill  of  review  to  set  aside  a  void  judg 
ment.  A  judgment  which  is  void  as  against  jurisdiction  or  without  jurisdic 
tion  or  beyond  jurisdiction,  can  be  attacked  collaterally  anywhere  and 
everywhere,  and  is  treated  as  a  void  judgment  ;  indeed,  as  a  nullity.  It 
certainly  ought  not  to  be  necessary  to  read  law  upon  that  subject,  but  I  will 
read  some.  I  want  to  establish  that  proposition.  In  the  first  place,  I  read 
a  decision  which  shows  that  a  judgment  of  a  court,  rendered  without  juris 
diction,  is  void.  It  is  the  case  of  Elliott  and  others  vs.  Piersol  and  others, 
in  1  Peters.  I  read  from  the  decision  of  the  court,  on  page  340  : 

Where  a  court  has  jurisdiction  it  has  a  right  to  decide  every  question  which  occurs  in 
the  cause  ;  and  whether  its  decision  be  correct  or  otherwise,  its  judgment,  until  reversed, 
is  regarded  as  binding  in  every  other  court. 

That  is,  where  its  decision  is  within  its  jurisdiction  that  is  conceded. 
But  if  it  act  without  authority,  its  judgments  and  orders  are  regarded  as  nullities. 
Again,  I  read  from  2  Peters  : 

The  general  and  well-settled  rule  of  law  in  such  cases  is  that  when  the  proceedings 
are  collaterally  drawn  in  question  and  it  appears  upon  the  face  of  them  that  the  subject 
matter  was  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court,  they  are  voidable  only.  The  errors  and 
irregularities,  if  any  exist,  are  to  be  corrected  by  some  direct  proceeding,  cither  before 
the  same  court,  to  set  them  aside,  or  in  an  appellate  court.  If  there  is  a  total  want  of 
jurisdiction,  the  proceedings  are  void  and  a  mere  nullity,  and  confer  no  right  and  afford 
no  justification,  and  may  be  rejected  when  collaterally  drawn  in  question. 

I  now  read  from  13  Peters,  which  goes  further  ;  I  read  from  page  511  : 
Before  we  proceed  to  inquire  whether  the  land  in  question  falls  within  the  scope  of 
any  one  of  these  prohibitions,  it  is  necessary  to  examine  a  preliminary  objection  wh 
was  urged  at  the  bar,  which,  if  sustainable,  would  render  that  inquiry  wholly  i 
ing.     It  is  this  ;  that  the  acts  of  Congress  have  given  to  the  registers  and  recei 
land-offices  the  power  of  deciding  upon  claims  to  the  right  of  pre-emption  ; 
these  questions  they  act  judicially  ;  that  no  appeal  having  been  given  from  their  < 
it  follows  as  a  consequence  that  it  is  conclusive  and  irreversible. 

Now,  I  want  the  Senate  to  notice  this  .position,  because  it  advances  a 
step  on  the  other,  and  does  not  treat  it  as  a  case  where  the  court  was  wi 


650  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

out  jurisdiction  of  the  subject-matter,  because  here  the  court  did  have  juris 
diction  of  the  subject-matter  by  express  provision  of  Congress  ;  but  the  act 
of  Congress  which  gave  it  jurisdiction  qualified  that  jurisdiction,  and  they 
went  beyond  the  jurisdiction. 

This  proposition  is  true  in  relation  to  every  tribunal  acting  judicially,  while  acting 
within  the  sphere  of  their  jurisdiction,  where  no  appellate  tribunal  is  created  ;  and  even 
when  there  is  such  an  appellate  power  the  judgment  is  conclusive  when  it  only  conies 
collaterally  into  question,  so  long  as  it  is  unreversed.  But  directly  the  reverse  of  this  is 
true  in  relation  to  the  judgment  of  any  court  acting  beyond  the  pale  of  its  authority.  The 
principle  upon  this  subject  is  concisely  and  accurately  stated  by  this  court  in  the  case  of 
Elliott  et  al.  vs.  Piersol  et  al.,  1  Peters,  340,  in  these  words  :  "  Where  a  court  has  juris 
diction  it  has  a  right  to  decide  every  question  which  occurs  in  the  cause  ;  and  whether 
its  decision  be  corrector  otherwise,  its  judgment  until  reversed  is  regarded  as  binding  in 
every  other  court.  But  if  it  act  without  authority  its  judgments  and  orders  are  regarded 
as  nullities.  They  are  not  voidable,  but  simply  void  '  Now,  to  apply  this.  Even  as 
suming  that  the  decision  of  the  register  and  receiver,  in  the  absence  of  frauds,  would  be 
conclusive  as  to  the  facts  of  the  applicant  then  being  in  possession  and  his  cultivation 
during  the  preceding  year,  because  these  questions  are  directly  submitted  to  them ;  yet 
if  they  undertake  to  grant  pre-emptions  in  land  in  which  the  law  declares  they  shall  not 
be  granted,  then  they  are  acting  upon  a  subject-matter  clearly  not  within  their  jurisdic 
tion  ;  as  much  so  as  if  a  court,  whose  jurisdiction  was  declared  not  to  extend  beyond  a 
given  sum,  should  attempt  to  take  cognizance  of  a  case  beyond  that  sum. 

So,  Mr.  President,  a  decision  against  jurisdiction  is  void.  Now,  I  pro 
pose  to  read  from  9  Howard,  pages  348  and  350.  I  will  only  read  a  few 
remarks  of  the  court  to  show  that  it  is  always  admissible  to  inquire  whether 
a  judgment  was  rendered  without  jurisdiction,  beyond  jurisdiction,  or 
against  jurisdiction.  It  does  not  follow  that  a  court  which  has  jurisdiction 
of  the  subject-matter  can  yet  render  a  voidable  judgment  only  ;  it  may 
render  a  judgment  beyond  its  jurisdiction,  and  the  judgment  is  as  much 
void  if  rendered  beyond  and  against  its  jurisdiction  as  if  rendered  without 
jurisdiction.  Therefore  the  general  principle  is  laid  down  : 

'When  the  record  of  a  judgment  is  brought  before  the  court,  collaterally  or  otherwise, 
it  is  always  proper  to  inquire  whether  the  court  rendering  the  judgment  had  jurisdiction. 

Then  it  goes  on  to  describe  the  different  kinds  of  jurisdiction,  and  it 

says  : 

It  may  be  difficult  in  some  cases  to  draw  the  line  of  jurisdiction  so  as  to  determine 

whether  the  proceedings  of  a  court  are  void  or  only  erroneous Jurisdiction  is 

not  to  be  assumed  and  exercised  in  such  cases  upon  the  general  ground  that  the  subject- 
matter  of  the  suit  is  within  the  power  of  the  court.  This  would  dispense  with  the  forms 
of  the  law  prescribed  by  the  Legislature  for  the  security  of  absent  parties. 

So  it  goes  on  to  say  that  it  does  not  follow  because  a  court  may  have 
jurisdiction  of  the  general  subject-matter,  therefore  any  decision  rendered 
by  that  court  is  voidable  only  and  can  only  be  set  aside  by  a  proceeding  in 
court,  but  if  it  be  exercised  contrary  to  a  qualification  of  its  powers,  con 
trary  to  a  limitation  upon  its  powers,  then  the  decision  is  void. 

Now  apply  that  to  this  case.  Suppose  you  concede  that  this  Senate  has 
jurisdiction  of  the  general  subject  of  admitting  members  to  this  body — not 
only  jurisdiction  to  determine  the  regularity  of  the  election,  and  the  regu 
larity  of  the  return,  and  the  qualifications  of  the  Senator — the  express  juris 
diction  of  the  body  ;  but  suppose  you  enlarge  that  jurisdiction  and  say  it 
shall  include  the  right  to  judge  as  to  the  Legislature  of  a  State,  still  it  can 
not,  in  the  exercise  of  that  judgment,  seat  a  man  in  this  body  who  in  fact 
was  not  elected  by  the  Legislature.  Why  ?  Because  that  would  be  against 


1 


LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  651 

its  jurisdiction,  for  the  Constitution  says  that  the  Senate  shall  be  composed 
only  of  members  chosen  by  the  Legislature.  That  is  very  clear. 

But,  Mr.  President,  at  the  risk  of  detaining  the  Senate  too  long  on  this 
branch  of  the  question,  I  do  want  to  read  some  remarks  made  by  the  great 
Mansfield  of  American  jurisprudence,  Chief- Justice  Marshall.  The  language 
of  such  men  cannot  be  read  too  often,  though  I  apprehend  that  if  I  had 
used  this  language  as  my  own,  somebody  would  have  jumped  up  on  the 
other  side  and  said,  "You  are  preaching  the  doctrines  of  the  rebellion 
again."  I  have  no  doubt  if  Marshall  lived  in  this  day  these  new  lights 
would  pronounce  him  a  rebel.  I  read  from  1  Cranch  the  case  of  Marbury 
vs.  Madison. 

Mr.  Davis,  of  Illinois. — Marshall  was  a  greater  judge  than  Mansfield. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  think  so  ;  and  America  is  a  greater  country  than  England, 
and  therefore  the  American  Mansfield  is  greater  than  the  British  Mansfield  : 

The  powers  of  the  Legislature  are  defined  and  limited  ;  and  that  those  limits  may  not  be 
mistaken  or  forgotten,  the  Constitution  is  written.  To  what  purpose  are  powers  limited, 
and  to  what  purpose  is  that  limitation  committed  to  writing,  if  these  limits  may  at  any  time 
be  passed  by  those  intended  to  be  restrained  ?  The  distinction  between  a  government 
with  limited  and  unlimited  powers  is  abolished,  if  those  limits  do  not  confine  the  per 
sons  on  whom  they  are  imposed,  and  if  acts  prohibited  and  acts  allowed  are  of  equal  ob 
ligation.  It  is  a  proposition  too  plain  to  be  contested  that  the  Constitution  controls  any 
legislative  act  repugnant  to  it,  or  that  the  Legislature  may  alter  the  Constitution  by  an 
ordinary  act. 

Between  these  alternatives  there  is  no  middle  ground.  The  Constitution  is  either  a 
superior  paramount  law,  unchangeable  by  ordinary  means,  or  it  is  on  a  level  with  ordi 
nary  legislative  acts,  and,  like  other  acts,  is  alterable  when  the  Legislature  shall  please  to 
alter  it. 

If  the  former  part  of  the  alternative  be  true,  then  a  legislative  act  contrary  to  the  Con 
stitution  is  not  law  ;  if  the  latter  part  be  true,  then  written  constitutions  are  absurd  at 
tempts  on  the  part  of  the  people  to  limit  a  power  in  its  own  nature  illimitable. 

Certainly  all  those  who  have  framed  written  constitutions  contemplate  them  as  form 
ing  the  fundamental  and  paramount  law  of  the  nation,  and,  consequently,  the  theory  of 
every  such  government  must  be  that  an  act  of  the  Legislature  repugnant  to  the  Constitu 
tion  is  void. 

He  goes  on  to  enlarge  upon  that.     It  is  of  some  importance  that  these  ele 
mentary  principles   should  be  reviewed  ;  it  is  important  that  the  people 
should  learn  anew  the  very  fundamental  idea  of  our  Government,  and  that 
is  that  the  people  of  this  country  have  affixed  limitations  upon  the  powers 
of  the  Government,  and  that  any  act  of  any  department  of  Government  in  con 
flict  with  those  limitations  is  not  voidable,  but  void.     Therefore  an  act  of 
Congress,  though  passed  by  both  Houses  and  approved  by  the  President, 
contrary  to  the  Constitution  or  beyond  the  Constitution  or  without  the  lim 
its  of  the  Constitution,  is  void.     Whence  comes  it  that  we  are  told  that  a 
decision  of  this  Senate,  seating  a  man  in  this  body  who  was  not  chosen  by 
the  Legislature  of  a  State  is  not  void,  but  as  valid  as  the  Constitution  itsel 
Sir,  I  ask  Senators  to  think,  which  in  this  case  is  the  paramount  law. 
is  the  Constitution,  which  says  that  a  Senator  shall  be  chosen  by  the  Legis 
lature  of  a  State.     Here  is  the  fact  ;  here  is  the  decision  of  the     tate 
Louisiana  declaring  that  Kellogg  was  not  chosen  by  the  Legislature,    /hen 
why  do  you  hesitate  ?     You  hesitate  because  you  say  a  former  decision  < 
the' Senate  said  he  was  entitled  on  the  merits.     Then  you  set  up  that 
decision  as  above  the  Constitution.     Which  will  you  obey  ?  Senators,  1  pi 
the  question  to  you  :  Do  you  believe  that  the  body  which  elected 
was  the  Legislature  of  Louisiana  ?     Settle  that  first.     Suppose  you  ad 


652  SENATOR  B.   II.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

that  the  State  is  not  the  final  judge  of  that  fact ;  suppose  you  retain  the 
right  to  judge  yourself  what  is  the  fact,  do  you  believe  that  the  body  which 
elected  him  was  the  Legislature  of  Louisiana  ?  Will  the  Senate  believe,  what 
no  other  power  on  earth  believes,  that  that  body  was  a  Legislature  ?  If  it 
was  not  a  Legislature,  why  do  you  hesitate  to  turn  him  out  ?  Why  do  you 
hesitate  to  declare  the  seat  vacant  ?  Because  you  say  the  Senate  admitted 
him.  Then,  gentlemen,  you  take  the  position  that  the  decision  of  the 
Senate  is  above  the  Constitution.  If  the  decision  of  the  Senate,  admitting  a 
man  who  was  not  chosen  by  the  Legislature  of  a  State,  comes  in  conflict 
with  the  Constitution,  which  says  he  must  be  chosen  by  the  Legislature, 
which  will  you  obey  ?  Choose  ye  this  day  whom  ye  will  serve.  If  you  will 
serve  the  Constitution,  vacate  that  seat.  If  you  will  serve  the  Senate  over 
and  above  the  Constitution,  let  the  intruder  stay.  That  is  the  issue  j  that 
is  the  question  for  you  to  decide. 

Gentlemen  allege  that  it  is  very  painful  to  say  that  a  former  Senate  acted 
corruptly.  I  do  not  ask  you  to  say  that,  though  if  they  did  I  do  not  see 
why  you  should  not  say  it.  I  do  not  know  anything  that  has  made  the 
Senate  a  divine  institution.  I  am  afraid  it  is  a  very  fallible  concern,  but  it 
is  not  necessary  to  say  that.  In  the  first  place,  the  former  decision  of  the 
Senate  does  not  say  that  he  was  entitled  to  the  seat  because  he  was  elected 
by  the  Legislature  of  Louisiana.  It  avoids  that.  In  indulges  in  vague 
generalities.  It  says  he  is  entitled  on  the  merits  without  saying  what  the 
merits  are.  It  is  spread  out  without  regard  to  facts  in  order  to  cover  every 
possible  contingency. 

The  proper  thing  to  do  is  this,  not  to  charge  the  former  Senate  with  cor 
ruption,  but  simply  to  assume  that  the  former  Senate  did  not  have  the  facts 
before  it  that  we  have,  and  that  if  it  had  had  those  facts  it  would  not  have 
acted  as  it  did.  The  truth  is  it  did  not  have  the  facts  before  it.  That  is 
the  proper  ground  to  take.  But  are  you  going  to  hold  that  the  Senate  may 
be  deceived,  may  make  a  mistake,  may  act  without  facts,  and  then  when  the 
facts  come  to  light  is  bound  by  its  wrong  action,  bound  to  violate  the  Con 
stitution,  bound  to  supersede  the  Constitution,  bound  to  set  its  erroneous 
judgment  up  against  the  Constitution,  bound  to  say  it  will  adhere  to  its  own 
erroneous  judgment,  though  that  erroneous  judgment  it  now  appears  was 
against  the  Constitution  ? 

If,  therefore,  the  resolution  of  1877  intended  to  adjudicate  the  question 
as  to  what  was  the  Legislature  of  Louisiana,  its  judgment  is  void  and 
beyond  its  jurisdiction,  and  without  its  jurisdiction,  and  also  against  its  juris 
diction.  If  the  resolution  of  1877  did  not  intend  to  adjudicate  that  ques 
tion,  then  the  question  has  never  been  passed  upon  ;  and  therefore  in  neither 
case  is  it  res  adjudicata. 

It  results,  Mr.  President,  from  those  propositions  that  no  decision  has 
given  Kellogg  a  title  to  a  seat  in  the  Senate,  and  its  occupancy  is  only 
actual  and  not  rightful,  and  he  must  vacate  it  by  an  order  which  it  is  the 
duty  of  the  Senate  to  pass. 

Now,  I  want  to  put  one  proposition  to  the  Senate  before  I  leave  this 
branch  of  the  question.  Suppose  this  resolution  had  been  a  simple  affirma 
tion  of  the  proposition  that  Kellogg  was  riot  chosen  by  the  Legislature  of 
Louisiana  ;  suppose  it  had  just  said,  "  Resolved,  That  William  Pitt  Kellogg 
was  not  chosen  by  the  Legislature  of  Louisiana  to  a  seat  in  this  body,"  could 
he  occupy  it  ?  Suppose  you  put  that  resolution  on  your  minutes,  could  he 
sit  there  an  hour  ? 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  653 

Mr.  Carpenter. — It  would  be  a  mere  conclusion  of  law. 

Mr.  Hill.- -That  is  true.  I  knew  the  elegant  legal  mind  of  the  Senator 
from  Wisconsin  would  admit  that.  Then,  if  it  be  true  that  he  was  not 
elected  by  the  Legislature  of  Louisiana,  the  conclusion  that  he  cannot  sit  is 
one  of  law,  and  must  follow.  That  is  right.  And  yet,  sir,  the  whole  case 
rests  upon  tb^e  proposition  on  your  side  that  he  must  still  sit,  notwithstanding 
he  was  not  chosen  by  the  Legislature,  because  a  former  decision  of  the 
Senate  allowed  him  to  sit. 

Mr.  Carpenter.-  -The  Senator  must  certainly  allow  an  interruption  there. 

Mr.  Hill. — Yes,  I  think  I  ought  to. 

Mr.  Carpenter.— On  that  point  my  position  is  this  :  Of  course  the  Senate 
may  declare  now  that  he  was  not  elected  by  the  Legislature,  and  it  would 
be  a  conclusion  of  law  that  he  could  not  hold  his  seat.  But  I  say  that  he 
was  elected  by  the  Legislature,  because  the  Senate,  which  was  the  only  body 
under  the  Constitution  that  could  try  and  determine  that  question,  settled 
it,  and  it  is  res  adjudicata. 

Mr.  Hill. — And  you  say  if  the  Senate  settled  it  wrong  it  stays  settled  ? 

Mr.  Carpenter. — Just  exactly.  A  wrong  decision  is  as  much  res  adju 
dicata  as  a  right  one. 

Mr.  Hill. — Then  if  the  Senate  put  a  man  in  this  Chamber  who  was  not 
elected  by  the  Legislature  of  a  State  he  is  entitled  to  the  seat  ? 

Mr.  Carpenter. — Certainly. 

Mr.  Hill. — That  is  your  proposition,  that  he  is  entitled  to  a  seat  ? 

Mr.  Carpenter. — By  the  decision  of  the  Senate. 

Mr.  Hill. — Then  it  is  the  decision  of  the  Senate  which  gives  him  title, 
and  not  the  Legislature  of  the  State.  That  is  your  proposition  ? 

Mr.  Carpenter. — Let  me  state  it. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  think  it  needs  another  statement. 

Mr.  Carpenter.- -Take  this  case,  which  I  put  the  other  day  to  some  other 
Senator  :  The  Constitution  forbids  the  taking  of  any  house  for  anything  but 
a  public  use.  Now,  suppose  it  is  taken  by  act  of  Congress  for  some  use  that 
Congress  think  public.  I  say  it  is  not  a  public  use  ;  I  litigate  it.  The 
Supreme  Court  decides  that  it  is  a  public  use  ;  everybody,  we  will  say, 
knows  that  it  is  not  a  public  use  ;  the  Supreme  Court  decided  it  wrong. 

The  question  is  whether  the  decision  is  conclusive  upon  the  minds  of 
men  who  think  it  was  wrong.  In  other  words,  the  Senator  puts  the  matter 
of  res  adjudicata  upon  what  he  chooses  to  judge  afterward  was  the  correct 
ness  of  the  decision.  That  is  not  the  point  at  all.  Even  the  Supreme  Courts 
of  the  United  States  have  decided  that  they  cannot  reverse  one  of  their  own 
judgments  which  passed^by  a  divided  court  affirming  jurisdiction  when  it 
was  admitted  that  it  was  by  mistake,  jurisdiction  not  being  possessed. 

Mr.  Hill.—  Perhaps  I  ought  not  to  read  this  decision  of  Chief  Justice 
Marshall,  which  I  hold  in  my  hand,  against  the  judgment  of  the  distinguished 
Senator  from  Wisconsin.  Here  is  Chief  Justice  Marshall- 

Mr.  Carpenter. — You  cannot  read  him  against  me. 

Mr.  Hill.— I  cannot  ? 

Mr.  Carpenter. — No,  you  cannot. 

Mr.  Hill. — These  are  his  words  : 

It  is  declared  that  "  no  tax  or  duty  shall  be  laid  on  articles  exported  from  any  State.' 
Suppose  a  duty  on  the  export  of  cotton,  of  tobacco,  or  of  flour,  and  a  suit  instituted  to  re 
cover  it.     Ought  judgment  to  be  rendered  in  such  a  case  ?    Ought  the  judges  to  cl< 
their  eyes  on  the  Constitution  and  only  see  the  law? 


654  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

The  Constitution  declares  "  that  no  bill  of  attainder  or  ex  post  facto  law  shall  be 
passed." 

If,  however,  such  a  bill  should  be  passed,  and  a  person  should  be  prosecuted  under 
it,  must  the  court  condemn  to  death  those  victims  whom  the  Constitution  endeavors  to 
preserve? 

The  Constitution  says  that  a  Senator  shall  be  chosen  by  the  Legislature 
of  a  State.  Suppose  the  Senate  admits  a  man  not  chosen  by  tlfe  Legislature 
of  his  State,  is  that  void,  or  voidable  ? 

Mr.  Carpenter. — The  Senator  will  pardon  me  for  a  moment. 

The  Presiding  Officer  (Mr.  Vance  in  the  chair). — Does  the  Senator  from 
Georgia  yield  to  the  Senator  from  Wisconsin  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Carpenter. — The  very  decision  the  Senator  first  read  from  first 
Peters  settles  that  question,  that  where  a  court  has  jurisdiction  at  all  it  has 
jurisdiction  to  decide  every  question  necessary  to  the  decision  of  the  question 
that  it  must  settle. 

Mr.  Hill. — Certainly. 

Mr.  Carpenter. — The  Senator  concedes,  because  no  good  lawyer  can 
deny,  that  the  Senate  cannot  seat  a  man  until  he  is  elected  by  the  Legislature 
of  his  State.  If  they  had  jurisdiction,  therefore,  to  determine  which  of  these 
two  men  should  be  seated,  they  had  the  jurisdiction  to  determine  which  was 
elected  by  the  Legislature  of  that  State,  and  when  they  decided  which  was 
entitled  to  the  seat,  they  decided  and  settled  forever  that  Kellogg  was  elected 
by  the  Legislature  of  Louisiana. 

Mr.  Hill. — But  the  Supreme  Court  say  that  where  the  Legislature  of  a 
country  says  that  shall  be  law  which  the  Constitution  says  is  not  law  and 
shall  not  be  done,  the  law  is  void  ;  and  yet  I  suppose,  if  the  powers  of  this 
country,  with  the  army  and  navy  at  their  back,  choose  to  enforce  that  un 
constitutional  law  and  the  people  submit  to  it,  in  such  case  there  might  be  no 
remedy.  Chief  Justice  Marshall  SSLJS  it  is  void  and  the  Constitution  says 
that  a  man  shall  not  sit  in  this  body  if  he  is  not  elected  by  the  Legislature. 

Mr.  Carpenter. — The  Senate  in  seating  him  decided  that  he  was  so 
elected. 

Mr.  Hill. — Then  the  decision  contrary  to  the  fact  makes  the  lie  a  fact. 

Mr.  Carpenter. — Makes  the  judgment  conclusive. 

Mr.  Hill. — Ah,  a  wrong  judgment  conclusive  !  Then  if  a  man  is  elected 
by  a  mob,  and  the  Senate,  for  partisan  purposes,  seats  him,  that  makes  the 
mob  a  Legislature,  does  it  ?  If  a  man  is  sent  to  the  Senate  by  a  bar-room 
meeting  in  a  saloon,  can  the  Senate  admit  him?  If  it  do  admit  him  he  is. 
entitled,  is  he,  rightfully  ?  Nay,  more,  if  the  Senate  were  to  admit  to-mor 
row  the  Emperor  of  Brazil  into  this  body  as  a  member,  no  other  Senate 
could  turn  him  out?  The  Constitution  says  that  he  shall  have  been  nine 
years  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  ;  but  my  friend  says  that  when  the  Sen 
ate  admits  him  he  becomes  a  citizen  of  the  United  States.  The  Constitu 
tion  says  that  a  man  to  be  a  member  of  this  body  shall  be  thirty  years  old, 
and  that  he  shall  not  be  a  member  at  less  than  thirty  years  old.  The  Senate 
admits  a  member  who  is  not  thirty  years  old,  not  knowing  that  he  was  under 
age  ;  that  makes  him  thirty  years  old,  does  it  ?  We  do  not  have  to  go  to 
Rome  to  find  infallibility  in  the  Pope  ;  we  have  got  infallibility  in  the  Sen 
ate  !  The  Senate  by  simply  saying  the  Emperor  of  Brazil  may  have  a  seat 
in  this  body,  makes  him  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  for  nine  years  !  The 
Senate  by  simply  saying  that  a  boy  twenty  years  old  shall  have  a  seat  in 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND    WRITINGS.  t>55 

this  body,  makes  liira  that  moment  thirty  years  old  !  And  I  suppose  the 
magnificent  argument  of  my  friend  from  Wisconsin  will  be  now  used  by  the 
woman's  rights  people,  who  will  say  that  if  the  Senate  should  seat  a  woman 
here  she  immediately  becomes  a  man. 

Mr.  Carpenter. — In  point  of  law. 

Mr.  Hill.—  Ah  !  in  point  of  law,  a  man,  and  entitled  to  hold  a  seat  in 
this  Senate  rightfully?  What  an  absurdity!  When  a  giant  like  the 
Senator  from  Wisconsin  has  to  be  driven  into  such  an  absurdity  to  sustain 
his  position,  how  contemptible  the  position  itself  becomes  !  "  That  the 
Constitution  can  be  reversed,  that  a  State  can  be  disfranchised,  that  a  law  of 
nature  can  be  changed  because  the  Senate  says  so  !  Infallibility  !  Con 
gress  cannot  do  it.  If  Congress  makes  a  law  contrary  to  the  Constitution  it 
is  a  nullity  ;  if  the  courts  make  a  decision  contrary  to  the  Constitution  it 
is  void  ;  but  the  Senator  from  Wisconsin  comes  here  and  says  that  a  de 
cision  once  rendered  by  the  Senate,  contrary  to  the  Constitution,  to  the  facts, 
and  to  nature,  cannot  be  corrected  ;  the  body  is  infallible  ;  and  the  decision 
cannot  be  reversed  or  avoided  or  denied.  It  must  be  true  !  Suppose  a 
Senator  came  here  with  fabricated  papers  ;  suppose  nobody  elected  him  ; 
suppose  he  had  no  votes  from  anywhere  ;  suppose  that  there  was  a  forged 
certificate  of  a  governor,  certifying  that  he  was  elected  by  a  Legislature  and 
he  brought  it  here  and  delivered  it  to  the  Senate,  and  it  was  referred  to  a 
committee  and  the  committee  reported  that  he  was  lawfully  entitled  on  the 
merits  to  the  seat,  and  it  should  turn  out  afterward  that  he  never  got  a  vote 
in  his  life  ;  that  he  sat  down  in  the  back  room  of  a  beer  saloon  and  wrote  out 
the  certificate.  The  Senator  says  that  the  order  of  the  Senate  seating  him 
makes  the  Legislature  ;  that  makes  the  governor  ;  that  makes  a  return,  and 
that  makes  him  a  Senator  !  If  the  honorable  senator  should  say  that  it  gave 
him  an  actual  seat  I  could  understand  it.  If  th*e  honorable  Senator  should 
say  that  the  decision  rendered  by  the  Senate  in  1877  gave  the  sitting  mem 
ber  a  seat  de  facto,  an  actual  seat,  in  this  body,  I  could  understand  it.  But 
an  actual  seat  is  always  open  to  investigation  and  to  be  set  aside  for  a  rightful 
claimant.  But  when  the  Senator  goes  further  and  says  it  not  only  gave  him 
an  actual  seat,  but  gave  him  a  rightful  title,  he  utters  what  no  man  in  this 
country  ever  before  uttered  except  for  the  purposes  of  this  case,  and  what  I 
hope  no  man  will  ever  utter  again. 

Mr.  Carpenter. — To-morrow  I  shall  have  the  pleasure  of  doing  it,  I 
hope. 

Mr.  Hill. — Well,  whenever  the  Senator  can  satisfy  me  that  the  Constitu 
tion  is  not  the  supreme  law  of  the  land  I  will  give  it  up.  Whenever  the 
Senator  satisfies  me  that  a  man  can  be  made  thirty  years  old  simply  by  the 
decision  of  the  Senate  it  will  be  time  to  quit. 

Mr.  Carpenter. — I  believe  the  Senator  thought  some  years  ago  the  Con 
stitution  was  not  the  supreme  law. 

Mr.  ffill.—T\ia,t  is  a  fanciful  idea  again.  I  suspect  that  my  friend  has 
been  reading  novels  lately  or  has  been  losing  sleep  and  lie  is  not  in  a  normal 
condition.  His  mind  is  romancing.  I  never  held  that  the  Constitution  was 
not  the  supreme  law  of  the  land.  The  Senator's  memory  is  as  bad  as  his 
logic.  He  can  hare  it  as  he  pleases. 

I  put  it  to  you,  Senators,  1  put  it  to  you  on  this  side  of  the  House,  dp  you 
believe  Kellogg  was  elected  by  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  Louisiana  f: 
If  he  was  not  elected  by  the  Legislature  of  the  State,  can  he  have  a  rightful 
title  to  a  seat  in  this  body  ?  He  has  an  actual  seat,  a  de  facto  seat,  but  has 


656  SENATOR  B.   II.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

he  a  rightful  title  ?     If  so,  as  Chief  Justice  Marshall  says,  the  Constitution 
becomes  a  nullity. 

But  I  am  stopping  too  long  on  this  point.  I  want  to  proceed  now  to  the 
second  ground  of  the  report.  It  is  that  if  that  certain  body  of  men  called 
the  Packard  Legislature  was  the  Legislature,  Kellogg  was  not  chosen  by  it 
to  the  seat  he  occupies  ;  first,  because  there  was  no  quorum  when  he  was 
alleged  to  have  been  elected  ;  second,  because  the  election  was  the  result  of 
force,  bribery,  and  other  corrupt  practices.  The  Senate  clearly  has  jurisdic 
tion  to  determine  these  questions.  I  admit  it. 

Now,  let  us  get  the  facts.  Is  it  true  that  there  was  no  quorum  ?  If  the 
members  not  elected  and  fraudulently  certified  are  not  admitted,  the  failure 
to  have  a  quorum  at  any  time  is  absolutely  shown  and  is  conceded  by  all 
parties.  It  is  conceded  by  the  other  side  that  there  never  was  a  quorum  of 
elected  members  ;  but  even  counting  as  members  those  who  were  fraud 
ulently  certified,  admitting  now  the  infallibility  of  the  returning-board  certifi 
cates,  admitting  that  the  returning-board  certificate  was  as  infallible  as  the 
Senator  from  Wisconsin  would  make  a  decision  of  this  Senate,  that  it  could 
change  facts — admitting  all  that,  still  there  was  no  quorum  of  even  certified 
members  at  the  time  this  man  was  elected. 

By  examining  the  journal,  which  is  in  the  evidence,  we  find  that  on 
Tuesday,  the  9th,  the  day  fixed  by  law,  there  was  no  quorum  whatever  of 
either  the  Senate  or  the  House,  and  therefore  no  voting  was  had  on  that  day 
in  either  House.  There  were  only  forty-four  members  of  the  House,  when 
a  quorum  was  sixty-one  under  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  Louisiana.  On 
the  next  day,  Wednesday,  the  10th,  when  they  went  into  joint  session,  it  is 
conceded  there  were  but  seventeen  members  of  the  Senate  present,  when 
nineteen  were  necessary  to  make  a  quorum.  Two  of  these  senators,  Kelso 
and  Baker,  were  seated  without  certificates.  They  were  not  elected,  and 
they  did  not  have  the  certificates  even  of  the  returning  board.  Even  the 
returning  board  could  not  say  they  were  entitled  to  seats,  and  yet  these 
Avere  two  senators  in  that  body  just  brought  in  and  sworn  without  right, 
without  election,  without  certificates,  without  anything  ;  and  there  was  no 
quorum  when  they  were  admitted.  When  Kelso  and  Baker  were  admitted 
there  was  no  quorum,  as  you  will  see  by  looking  at  the  journal.  In  the  case 
of  one  of  them,  the  last  one,  even  Stevens  did  not  make  a  quorum.  They 
brought  in  a  man  by  force  from  the  Nicholls  Legislature  by  the  name  of 
Stevens,  and  held  him  there  without  voting,  he  protesting  ;  held  him  by 
force  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  quorum  until  they  could  seat  one  of  these 
men.  That  body  called  itself  a  Senate,  but  no  quorum  voted. 

Now,  as  to  the  House  :  the  House  lacked  five  of  a  quorum  on  Wednes 
day.  It  is  true  the  journal  says  there  were  sixty-six  present,  but  the  ser- 
geant-at-arms  came  before  this  committee  and  swore  that  Avhen  the  House 
met  on  Wednesday  it  lacked  ten  of  a  quorum  ;  that  he  was  sent  out  to 
bring  in  the  members  ;  that  he  could  only  get  five.  He  testified  that  mem 
bers  were  represented  as  present  and  put  on  the  journals  as  present  who 
were  not  present  ;  that  a  man  by  the  name  of  Thomas,  that  he  saw, in  his 
bed  that  morning  sick  with  small-pox,  and  knows  he  was  not  there,  is  put  on 
the  journal  as  present  and  was  personated  by  a  man  named  Watson.  Se- 
veignes  swears  himself  that  he  was  not  there,  though  put  on  the  journal. 
The  House  lacked  five  of  a  quorum  ;  the  Senate  lacked  four  of  a  quorum, 
even  counting  all  the  certified  members,  even  giving  authenticity  to  all  the 
false  certificates  ;  and  they  made  up  a  pretended  quorum  by  personation, 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  657 

and  by  putting  members'  names  on  the  journal  who  were  not  in  their  seats 
I  will  not  stop  to  read  this  testimony.  You  will  find  it  in  the  record  The 
sergeant-at-arms  swore  what  I  have  said  to  you,  a  man  by  the  name  of  Mur 
ray,  and  he  is  borne  out  by  all  the  circumstances  of  corroboration  for  the 
journals  show  that  there  were  only  forty-four  members  of  the  House' present 
on  the  day  before.  So  it  is  established  by  the  journals  and  by  the  evidence 
explanatory  of  the  journals  that  there  was  no  quorum  in  either  House  on  the 
day  of  the  joint  convention,  that  the  journals  were  falsely  made  up  :  and  the 
clerks  and  others  who  swore  there  was  a  quorum  are  proven  to  have  told 
falsehoods. 

Then,  again,  was  bribery  practiced  ?  The  truth  is  that  the  evidence  of 
bribery  in  this  record  is  simply  overwhelming.  I  am  not  goino-  fully  into 
it.  What  do  you  call  this  ?  Here  is  a  question  propounded  to&one  witness 
named  Baugnon  : 

Question.—  Do  you  know  of  your  own  knowledge  of  any  member  of  the  Legislature 
receiving  money  m  consideration  for  his  vote  for  Senator  Kellogg  ? 
Answer. — Yes,  sir. 

• 

Q.— Did  you  see  any  one  paid  ? 

A. — Yes,  sir. 

Q.—  Now,  who  did  you  see  pay  it  or  who  did  you  see  it  paid  to  ? 

A.—  To  Senator  Twitchell. 

Q. — Who  paid  him  ? 

A. — Governor  Kellogg. 

They  tell  you  that  witness  is  not  to  be  believed,  and  yet  I  say  to  you, 
Senators,  that  testimony  was  not  brought  out  by  the  memorialist.  As  the 
record  shows,  it  was  brought  out  by  the  sitting*  member  himself.  He  was 
told  to  his  own  face,  in  answer  to  the  question  of  Senator  Cameron,  and 
then  in  answer  to  the  question  of  himself,  that  the  witness  did  see  the  sitting 
member  himself  pay  money  to  Twitchell  to  vote  for  him  for  Senator.  He 
was  a  witness  introduced  by  the  memorialist,  but  the  memorialist  did  not 
know  what  he  would  testify  to,  and  simply  proved  by  him  general  rumor 
and  turned  him  over.  The  sitting  member  then  regarded  him  as  a  com 
petent  witness,  and  put  the  question  to  him,  and  he  answered  as  I  have  read. 

Here  is  the  testimony  of  Garrett  : 

Question. — Did  you  see  Kellogg  give  Milton  Jones  money  ? 

He  had  testified  that  this  man  Kellogg  had  given  Milton  Jones  money 
just  before  the  vote  was  taken  to  vote  for  him  for  Senator. 

Question. — Did  you  see  Kellogg  give  Milton  Jones  money  ? 

Answer. — I  saw  him  take  an  envelope  out  of  his  pocket  and  cipher  something  on  the 
back  of  the  envelope,  and  say  to  him  not  to  leave  until  he  had  voted  for  him  ;  that  unless 
he  got  the  entire  vote  his  seat  would  be  worthless.  Then,  as  he  started  to  move,  I  saw 
Jones  make  a  movement  like  putting  something  in  his  pocket.  They  were  both  there 
with  their  backs  to  me  standing  by  the  washstand.  Then  we  came  in,  and  I  spoke  to  him 
as  he  went  into  the  hall,  and  I  said  how  much  did  he  get  out  of  Senator  Kellogg  ?  He 
had  the  money  in  his  vest  pocket,  and  he  said  he  got  some  ;  that  he  made  him  come  down. 

Here  is  affidavit  upon  affidavit,  piled  up  by  the  members  themselves, 
that  they  received  money  for  their  votes.  Here  is  the  testimony  of  Murray 
testifying  to  the  bribery  of  three  men  at  one  time.  Here  is  the  testimony 
of  Murray  testifying  to  a  great  number  that  he  saw  coming  out  of  Souer's 
room,  who  was  the  fiscal  agent,  and  it  was  understood  that  they  got  $200 
apiece  for  voting  for  Kellogg.  Sir,  the  question,  when  you  look  at  all  this 


658  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

evidence,  is  not  who  was  bribed,  but  who  was  not  bribed.  One  witness 
testifies  that  it  was  stated  by  one  of  the  prominent  men  that  he  did  not  be 
lieve  Kellogg  got  twenty  votes  that  were  not  bought. 

Now  you  have  the  direct  and  positive  evidence  of  the  bribery  of  over  a 
score  of  members.  They  swore  to  it  positively,  they  swore  to  it  directly, 
they  swore  to  it  without  an  inducement.  It  is  not  disputed  by  even  the 
minority  report  that  this  proof  exists.  No  man  can  deny  that ;  it  is  in  the 
record. 

If,  therefore,  you  believe  the  witnesses,  if  you  believe  the  testimony 
brought  out  by  the  sitting  member  himself,  the  question  is  settled,  the  facts 
are  established,  there  is  no  doubt  of  bribery ;  there  can  be  no  cavil  what- 

•/        9 

ever.  You  are  compelled  to  believe  these  witnesses.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
go  into  that.  I  can  prove  by  every  rule  of  evidence  that  you  must  believe 
this  testimony.  No  honest  jury  could  escape  it.  True,  these  witnesses 
were  the  officers  and  members  of  that  Packard  Legislature,  and  the  minor 
ity  of  the  committee  say  you  can  find  just  such  people  in  the  slums  of  any 
city.  I  will  not  allow  the  slums  of  any  city  to  be  slandered  in  such  style. 
I  do  not  believe  the  slums  of  any  city  in  the  world  ever  had  such  material 
as  composed  that  Legislature.  They  could  not  furnish  it.  No  man  can 
read  this  record  of  infamy  and  perjury  and  conspiracy,  this  record  of  every 
crime  openly  and  exultingly  committed  in  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  without 
feeling  ashamed  of  his  kind.  Think  of  it,  that  a  man  is  to  hold  a  seat  in 
this  body  by  proving  that  the  members  who  voted  for  him  are  not  entitled 
to  be  believed  on  their  oath  !  Who  that  is  worthy  to  be  believed  would 
have  such  a  constituency  !  Think  of  it  !  We  bring  you  witness  after  wit 
ness  of  the  very  men  that  are  claimed  to  have  sent  him  here,  who  tell  you 
they  received  bribes ;  we  bring  the  officers  who  had  them  in  charge,  who 
tell  you  they  saw  bribes  paid,  and  he  tells  you  that  you  must  not  believe  it 
because  the  members  that  gave  him  his  commission,  the  members  who,  he 
says,  composed  the  Legislature  of  Louisiana,  are  such  men  as  can  be  picked 
up  in  the  slums  of  any  city  and  are  unworthy  of  belief ! 

Mr.  McMillan. — Will  the  Senator  allow  me  to  ask  him  a  single  ques 
tion? 

Mr.  Hill. — Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  McMillan. — Were  not  these  persons  received  into  the  Nicholls  Leg 
islature,  and  did  they  not  compose  part  of  the  Legislature  that  elected  Mr. 
Spofford  ? 

Mr.  Sill. — A  portion  of  them  were,  but  Judge  Spofford  never  claimed 
a  seat  here  by  virtue  of  an  election  by  their  votes  in  that  Legislature. 
There  was  a  quorum  of  good  men  without  them.  The  Nicholls  Legislature 
had  a  great  many  excellent  men,  worthy  men,  who  would  be  an  ornament 
to  any  society  in  the  Union.  They  were  too  decent  to  be  members  of  the 
'  Packard  Legislature.  They  were  not  admitted  because  they  were  too  de 
cent  and  honorable.  And  when  this  gang  of  infamous  usurpers  and  con 
spirators  against  the  dignity,  the  sovereignty,  the  decency  of  Louisiana 
were  deprived  of  their  army  support  and  disbanded,  the  men  who  were  sent 
there  under  false  certificates  went  home  or  into  the  custom-house  ;  and 
those  who  were  elected  went  into  the  legal  Legislature,  and  now  the  honor 
able  Senator  from  Minnesota  wants  to  destroy  the  character  and  the  i 
decency  of  the  Nicholls  Legislature  because  a  portion  of  the  Packard  Leg 
islature  went  into  it. 

This  is  the  gravest  charge  I  have  ever  heard  against  the  Nicholls  Legis- 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  659 

lature,  that  a  portion  of  these  people  went  into  it ;  and  yet  the  Packard 
Legislature,  composed  almost  exclusively  of  those  indecent  people,  of  those 
confessed  perjurers,  the  gentleman  holds  up  as  an  infallible  Legislature,  one 
clothed  with  power  to  make  laws  for  the  people  of  Louisiana  which* this 
Senate  is  bound  to  respect !  Sir,  water  never  rises  above  its  level,  nor  yet 
above  its  fountain  ;  and  the  Senate  when  it  recognizes  that  body  will  be  no 
better  than  that  body  itself. 

That  is  not  all.  These  people  that  swore  these  things,  where  are  they 
to-day,  where  are  they  now  ?  Go  up  here  to  the  Treasury  building  and  you 
will  find  some  of  them  there  occupying  positions  of  trust.  Go  to  the  New 
Orleans  custom-house --and  I  have  got  the  list  containing  thirty -nine  of 
them  in  office  there  under  the  government.  The  man  who  swore,  as  the 
Senator  from  Missouri  (Mr.  Vest)  quoted  to  you,  that  it  was  according  to 
the  Scriptures  to  lie,  and  said  that  it  was  the  privilege  of  a  free  American 
citizen  to  lie  when  he  pleased,  has  got  an  office  in  the  custom-house.  This 
very  man  Seveignes,  who  testified  before  the  committee  that  he  went  vol 
untarily  and  of  his  own  accord,  without  suggestion,  without  inducement, 
without  request,  and  wrote  out  his  own  affidavit,  in  which  he  swore  that  he 
was  not  present  on  the  day  of  election — he  was  a  member  of  the  Packard 
Legislature — that  man  who  came  before  the  committee  and  confessed  his 
perjury  and  said  it  was  right  to  lie  for  the  benefit  of  his  party,  that  man 
was  promoted  in  the  custom-house  from  a  six-hundred-dollar  office  to  a 
thousand-dollar  office,  and  there  he  remains. 

These  men  were  worthy  to  be  legislators  for  that  State,  we  are  told, 
worthy  men  to  be  the  office-holders  of  this  government,  but  unworthy  to  be 
believed  when  they  testified  against  their  chief  conspirator.  What  will  the 
Senate  believe  ?  What  will  the  country  believe  ?  Now,  while  I  speak,  the 
very  men  that  this  minority  report  denounces  as  being  composed  of  ma 
terial  which  may  be  found  in  the  slums  of  cities  can  be  found  in  your 
Treasury  building,  can  be  found  in  your  custom-house,  can  be  found  filling 
the  offices  of  the  government,  put  there,  as  I  shall  show  before  I  am  done, ' 
as  direct  rewards  for  perjury. 

But,  Mr.  President,  I  am  not  going  to  rest  this  case  upon  this.  There  is 
evidence  here  that  if  no  other  man  on  earth  believes,  the  sitting  member  has 
to  believe,  for  it  comes  from  himself.  It  is  perfectly  astounding  what  a 
flood  of  light  the  cjpher  telegrams  throw  on  this  transaction.  During  the 
testimony  of  one  Barney  Williams  in  New  Orleans,  he  said  that  while  here 
in  Washington  acting  as  a  spy  and  detective  for  the  sitting  member,  being 
in  the  sitting  member's  room,  the  sitting  member  read  to  him  a  lot  of  tele 
grams  which  he  was  receiving  from  New  Orleans  in  relation^ to  these  wit 
nesses  that  were  then  coming  on,  the  witnesses  for  Spofford.  The  committee 
subpoenaed  the  manager  of  the  telegraph  company  to  bring  in  all  the  tele 
grams  to  and  from  these  parties  during  the  months  of  May  and  June.  The 
result  was  that  after  hard  struggling  we  obtained  possession,  in  all,  of 
seventy-one  telegrams — all  but  one  or  two  in  cipher.  With  the  aid  of  an 
expert  I  am  able  to  decipher  almost  every  telegram,  and  I  am  going  to  call 
the  attention  of  the  Senate  to  some  of  them,  in  connection  with  the  charge* 
of  bribery  and  corruption  in  this  case.  The  telegrams  furnish  the  strongest 
corroborations  of  the  witnesses  on  this  subject  of  bribery,  and  when  read 
the  light  of  the  evidence  given  by  the  witnesses  establish  the  charge  beyond 
doubt. 


660  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

Wednesday,  May  12,  1880. 

Mr.  President:  I  shall  now  read  a  portion  of  the  telegrams  alluded  to 
on  yesterday.  I  am  going  into  the  evidence  only  so  far  as  is  necessary  to 
make  clear  the  legal  questions  which  I  propose  to  discuss  before  the  Senate. 

These  telegrams  show  beyond  all  controversy  that  the  sitting  member 
himself  regarded  that  his  title  to  his  seat  in  this  body  depended  upon  the 
successful  suppression  of  the  evidence  of  bribery.  From  the  time  the  Sen 
ate  proposed  to  order  an  investigation  of  this  case  until  the  examination 
was  closed  in  this  city  in  June,  1879,  the  sitting  member  and  several  of  his 
friends  in  this  city  were  in  constant  communication  by  telegraph  with 
Badger,  the  collector  of  customs,  and  with  Souer  and  others  in  New 
Orleans,  upon  the  express  business  of  seeing  to  it  that  the  members  of  the 
Packard  Legislature  were  not  allowed  to  confess  that  they  were  bribed. 
The  necessity  for  this  arose  from  the  fact  that  the  members  had  commenced 
making  confessions  under  oath.  They  had  learned  that  indictments  for  re 
ceiving  bribes,  while  they  were  members  of  that  Legislature,  would  not  lie, 
because  prosecutions  were  barred  by  the  statute  of  limitation,  arid  they 
would  therefore  be  safe,  and  having  no  moral  shame,  they  were  perfectly 
willing  to  confess  and  did,  many  of  them,  begin  to  confess  that  they  re 
ceived  bribes  for  their  votes  for  the  sitting  member.  They  had  to  be 
stopped. 

I  will  call  the  attention  of  the  Senate  first  to  the  frequent  declarations 
on  the  part  of  the  sitting  member  in  the  cipher  telegrams,  that  his  safety  in 
his  seat  depended  upon  the  fidelity  of  those  members  of  the  Legislature  to 
him. 

The  first  telegram  we  have  was  sent  from  Washington  City  directed  to 
General  Badger,  collector  of  customs,  New  Orleans,  and  dated  May  2,  in 
which  he  says  :  • 

Tell  Violet  send  all  good  bales  improper  approaches.     Can  star  here  if  grape  sound. 
Confident.     Terrier  ditto. 

The  translation  of  this  is  : 

Tell  Souer  to  send  all  good  affidavits  of  improper  approaches.     Can  succeed  here  if 
members  of  the  Legislature  are  faithful  or  sound.     Confident.     Kellogg  ditto. 

In  these  telegrams  the  sitting  member  has  two  names.  He  passes  by  the 
name  of  Terrier  and  also  by  the  name  of  Amity.  He  frequently  speaks  of 
himself  in  the  third  person.  See  that  expression,  "  Can  succeed  here  if 
members  of  the  Legislature  are  sound.  Confident.  Kellogg  ditto."  The 
very  next  day,  May  3,  another  telegram  is  sent  to  Souer,  the  appraiser  of 
customs.  In  this  telegram,  of  May  3,  occur  these  words : 

If  grapes  are  kept  moon,  Terrier  be  moon. 

The  translation  is,  "  If  members  of  the  Legislature  are  kept  safe,  Kellogg 
will  be  safe."  That  is  a  literal  translation.  On  May  8  he  telegraphs 
Badger  again,  in  which  occur  these  words  : 

If  grapes  Pin  Amity  Moon. 

That  is,  "  If  the  members-  of  the  Legislature  are  fixed,  Kellogg  is  safe." 
"  Pin  "  means  "  fixed,"  "  moon"  means  "  safe."  Then,  again,  he  telegraphs 
to  Badger,  on  May  10  : 

» 

Friends  here  expect  Rose  to  bend  every  energy  making  grapes.     Pin  and  moon. 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  661 

The  translation  is,  "  Friends  here  expect  Marks  to  bend  every  energy  to 
make  the  members  of  the  Legislature  fixed  and  safe."  Marks  was  the  inter 
nal-revenue  officer. 

I  will  remark  here  that  these  telegrams  are  very  badly  printed.  This 
telegram  was  not  printed  correctly,  because  there  is  a  period  after  "  grapes," 
which  should  not  be  there.  I  have  compared  them  with  the  originals  and 
state  them  correctly.  May  12,  he  telegraphs  : 

If  grapes  are  pin  moon  Terrier. 

"  If  the  members  are  fixed  Kellogg  is  safe."  On  the  20th  he  says,  in  a" 
telegram  to  Souer  : 

Rainbow  here  if  Moon  grapes. 

That  is,  "  All  safe  here,  or  all  right  here,  if  the  members  of  the  Legisla 
ture  are  safe."  So  again,  May  27,  he  telegraphs  Badger,  collector  of  cus 
toms  : 

Moon  here  if  rainbow  there. 

That  is,  "  I  am  safe  here  if  all  is  right  there."  I  say  to  the  Senate  that 
in  these  telegrams  occur  the  same  idea  under  different  expressions  time 
after  time  :  "  My  seat  here  is  safe  if  you  keep  the  members  of  the  Legislature 
right.  Everything  depends  on  them." 

He  gives  you  the  reasons  for  that,  but  before  going  to  the  reasons  for  it 
I  want  to  call  your  attention  to  one  remarkable  fact.  There  was  one  wit 
ness  that  he  was  especially  anxious  to  have  fixed.  That  was  Murray,  who 
was  the  sergeant-at-arms  of  the  house.  Murray  wras  a  very  important  wit 
ness  in  this  case,  and  it  is  showTn  here  that  before  he  wras  summoned  he  was 
regarded  by  the  sitting  member  as  a  most  important  Witness.  There  seemed 
to  be  more  trouble  about  Murray  than  the  others  because  he  was  more  diffi 
cult  to  pin,  to  fix.  Murray  is  the  witness  who  rejected  all  efforts  at  corrup 
tion,  as  the  record  shows.  He  was  offered  a  large  sum  to  sustain  Kellogg 
by  his  testimony.  Refusing  to  accept  any  sum  to  testify  falsely,  as  testified 
to  both  by  himself  and  Williams,  he  was  then  offered  money  to  leave 
the  country  and  go  to  Canada  and  remain  there  until  the  investigation 
closed  and  he  should  receive  a  telegram,  "  the  Union  forever,"  which  would 
mean  that  he  could  safely  return.  You  will  see  it  all  in  the  testimony  of 
Murray  and  Williams. 

Now,  let  us  see  from  these  telegrams  how  anxious  the  sitting  member 
was  to  fix  Murray  even  before  the  investigation  was  ordered  and  through 
the  investigation.  In  the  telegram  of  May  3,  directed  to  L.  J.  Souer,  the 
appraiser  of  customs,  he  says  : 

Hope  Rose  Violet  keep  boat  Pin. 

Here  is  the  translation  : 

Hope  Marks  and  Souer  will  keep  Murray  satisfied,  fixed. 

"  Boat  "  means  Murray  and  "  Pin  "  means  "fixed"  or  "satisfied."  Then 
he  adds  what  I  read  awhile  ago  : 

If  the  members  of  the  Legislature  are  kept  safe  Kellogg  will  be  safe. 

On  May  7  again  he  telegraphs  this  earnest  telegram,  directed  to  Badger, 
the  collector  of  customs  : 

Think  it  is  important  that  boat  be  moon.  See  to  this.  Confer  with  Violet  and  Oak 
immediately. 


662  SENATOR  B.   II.   HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

The  translation  is  : 

Think  it  is  important  that  Murray  be  kept  safe.     See  to  this.     Confer  with  Souer 
and  Lewis  immediately. 

Lewis  was  naval  officer  and  the  celebrated  witness  in  this  case  who  came 
on  here  in  charge  of  Spofford's  witnesses,  in  the  same  train  with  them,  and 
said  he  only  came  to  see  the  brigadiers  in  session.  Again  he  telegraphs,  on 
May  22,  to  General  Souer  : 

Hope  boat  Bottle  rainbow. 

That  is,  "  I  hope  Murray  has  been  bottled  all  right — shut  up."  He  adds, 
on  the  29th,  to  another  telegram  to  General  Souer  : 

Hope  boat  rainbow. 

"  Hope  Murray  is  all  right."  He  ends  the  telegram  on  June  3,  to  Gen 
eral  Badger,  in  this  way  : 

How  boat  is  look  ? 

"  How  is  Murray  looking  ?  '  Will  any  sane  man  tell  me  why  it  is  that 
the  sitting  member  and  his  immediate  friends  here  were  telegraphing  to 
the  collector  of  customs,  to  Souer  and  his  friends  in  New  Orleans,  no  less 
than  a  dozen  times,  that  the  safety  of  his  seat  depended  upon  the  members 
of  the  Legislature  keeping  silent  or  being  fixed  ?  He  telegraphed  no  less 
than  half  a  dozen  times  to  see  to  it  that  Murray  especially  was  kept  all  right  ; 
that  Murray  was  safe  ;  that  Murray  was  fixed.  Fixed  for  what  ?  The  other 
telegrams  disclose.  It  is  explained  by  the  telegram  I  read  a  moment  ago  : 

Friends  here  expect  Marks  to  bend  every  energy  to  make  the  members  of  the  Legis 
lature  fixed  and  safe,  satisfied  and  right. 

How  is  Marks  to  do  that  ?  By  appointments.  Appointments  for  what  ? 
It  is  not  left  to  conjecture.  Read  the  testimony  of  H.  T.  Brown,  testimony 
that  is  uncontradicted  and  unimpeached.  Brown  says  that  Marks  told  him 
that  while  this  fight  for  Kellogg's  seat  was  going  on  he,  Marks,  could  do 
nothing  for  his  own  friends,  that  "  he  was  compelled  to  appoint  a  lot  of  curs 
and  hounds  in  order  to  keep  them  from  squealing  on  Kellogg." 

How  were  these  members  to  be  kept  from  squealing  ?  Let  me  read  you 
some  on  that  point.  I  have  read  you  the  telegram  already  in  relation  to 
Marks  bending  every  energy  to  make  the  members  fixed  and  safe.  Here  is 
another  on  May  12,  showing  you  how  these  members  were  to  be  fixed,  in 
what  way  they  were  to  be  kept  satisfied.  This  is  to  General  Badger  : 

Murrell  approved.     Tell  Souer  to  send  list  of  good  safe  members.     Go  ahead  with 
nominations  ;  that  is  necessary.     Good  plan  to  make  Smith  examiner. 

.    I  will  not  read  the  ciphers  further,  but  will  read  only  the  translation  : 

'  Go  ahead  with  the  nominations  ;  that  is  necessary."    Necessary  for  what  ? 

The  very  telegram  before  explains  for  what.     To  keep  the  members  safe, 

shut  their  mouths,  bottle  up  Murray.     "  If  the  members  are  kept  safe, 

Kellogg  is  safe."     Here  it  is  again  : 

Washington,  May  13 — 
The  very  next  day — 

Appoint  Chapron.  Answer  Sherman's  letter  of  the  29th.  Telegraph  Kellogg  that 
fact.  Give  Waldon  also  some  place. 

One  fellow  who  was  a  little  unruly,  by  the  name  of  Camelia, — he  goes  by 
that  name  here, — was  considered  not  much  any  way  and  was  dismissed. 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  CC3 

One  of  the  telegrams  said  that  he  could  not  do  any  hurt,  and  they  dis 
missed  him. 

Here  is  a  remarkable  telegram,  and  it  confirms  everything  you  can  sus 
pect  as  to  the  object  of  these  appointments.  It  is  dated  May  19  and 
directed  to  General  Badger,  collector  of  customs  : 

Wakefleld.  Brown,  Fobb,  Springer,  Walden,  Joubert,  Fish,  Chapron,  Carville 
Adolph,  Seveignes,  approved. 

What  is  that  ?     Eleven  nominations  sent  by  Badger.     He  telegraphed 
*  Go  ahead  with  nominations,"  and  here  come  eleven  in  one  batch  that  were 
approved,  and  he  says  : 

Last  lot  goes  to-day;  all  nominations  received  approved. 

He  does  not  even  leave  us  in  doubt  as  to  the  important  question  in  the 
case  between  him  and  Spofford  upon  which  he  wants  to  suppress  this  testi 
mony.  Here  is  a  telegram,  of  May  28,  showing  that  he  understands  the 
issue  perfectly,  and  what  it  is  he  wants  suppressed,  because  he  shows  what 
Spofford  is  seeking  to  prove  : 

Spofford  or  Merrick — 
Spofford's  attorney — 

is  hunting  for  evidence  to  show  that  five  members  of  the  Legislature  were  bribed,  leaviDg 
less  than  a  quorum  of  those  not  bribed.     Watch. 

You  see  it  took  seventy-nine  members  of  the  joint  session  to  make  a 
quorum.  The  journal  pretends  that  eighty-three  were  present.  Now,  here 
is  a  telegram  to  General  Souer,  the  United  States  appraiser  at  the  custom 
house,  New  Orleans,  directed  to  him  in  his  official  capacity,  notifying  him 
that  the  memorialist  has  been  hunting  for  evidence  to  show  that  five  mem 
bers  of  the  Legislature  were  bribed,  leaving  less  than  a  quorum  of  those  not 
bribed.  "  Watch."  Do  not  let  those  five  be  found.  Here  it  is  again. 
May  31  he  telegraphs  General  Souer  : 

If  Spofford  fail  to  show  bribery  bad  mess  for  him. 

i 

"  If  Spofford  fails  to  show  bribery,  bad  mess  for  him,"  and  of  course  that 
bribery  must  not  be  shown,  and  that  it  may  not  be  shown,  "  keep  the  mem 
bers  of  the  Legislature  fixed."  Then  the  same  telegram  says  : 

Matters  going  in  favor  of  Kellogg.  Saulsbury,  or  chairman,  gives  Kellogg's  officer 
summons  for  eight  witnesses.  Spofford  also  limited  to  eight.  Press  all  favoring  Kellogg. 

Very  complimentary  to  the  press. 
Saulsbury  disgusted  with  Spofford.     If  Spofford  fail  on  bribery  he  is  beat. 

(The  word  "or"  there  is  "on."  I  have  compared  it  with  the  original 
telegram.  It  is  a  mystery  how  these  telegrams  are  so  badly  printed, 
have  had  to  go  to  the  originals  to  get  the  correct  words.)  Here  is  telegram 
after  telegram  urging  Badger,  Souer,  Marks,  and  others  to  "  keep  the  mem 
bers  of  the  Legislature  fixed."  They  had  committed  perjury  ;  many  of 
them  confessed  their  perjury  ;  nevertheless  they  must  be  appointed  to 
offices.  "  All  nominations  received  will  be  approved."  "  Hurry  up  nomina 
tions,"  or,  "  go  ahead  with  nominations  ;  that  is  necessary."  Ins  necessary 
to  keep  them  fixed,  to  keep  them  "  from  squealing  on  Kellogg." 

I  will  now  show  the  Senate  how  this  man  kept  watch  on  Spofford's  wit 
nesses.  On  the  7th  of  May  the  Senate  ordered  the  Committee  on  Privileges 


664  SENATOR  B.   H.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

and  Elections  to  take'  testimony.     Kellogg,  in  the  telegram  of  the   7th, 
notifies  Badger  of  that  fact : 

Resolution  to  take  testimony  passed;  every  Republican  voting  or  paired  against  it. 
Kellogg  made  a  speech.    Delighted  all  friends. 

Then  on  May  8  he  telegraphs  : 

If  members  of  the  Legislature  are  fixed,  Kellogg  is  safe.     Perhaps  Spofford  will  try 
and  get  the  members  immediately.     Watch.     If  so,  send  Swazie  or  Lewis. 

Just  as  soon  as  the  resolution  to  take  testimony  passes  the  order  goes  to 
New  Orleans  to  watch.  To  watch  what?  To  watch  Spofford's  witnesses  ; 
to  watch  the  members  who  may  squeal  ;  and  if  you  find  that  Spofford  is 
going  to  summon  these  witnesses  immediately,  send  Swazie  or  Lewis  with 
them  ;  and  yet  Lewis  and  Swazie  both  came  before  the  committee  and  swore 
they  had  no  purpose  in  coming  with  these  witnesses  to  help  Kellogg.  May 
12,  four  days  afterward,  he  telegraphs  : 

It  is  reported  that  members  of  the  Legislature  are  coming.     If  true,  send  Lewis  or 
Swazie  or  some  others  immediately. 

Then  he  adds  that  same  expression  I  have  read : 
If  the  members  of  the  Legislature  are  fixed,  Kellogg  is  safe. 

"  Where  is  Phillips  ? "  he  adds.  Phillips  was  the  man  who  confessed 
afterward,  under  the  fire  of  cross-examination,  that  he  was  engaged  in  a 
conspiracy  to  put  up  a  job  on  Spofford,  which  miscarried.  Now  look  at  tel 
egram  No.  32.  You  see  that  the  first  telegram  is  that  Spofford  may  send 
for  the  members  immediately.  The  next  telegram  is  that  it  is  reported  that 
he  has  sent  for  the  members  immediately.  Now,  what  is  the  third  telegram, 
May  29  ? 

Spofford's  officer  left  with  blank  summons  issued  by  the  chairman,  an  unprecedented 
thing.  We  will  make  a  big  point  on  this.  Summons  returnable  Thursday.  Watch. 

How  often  that  word  "  watch '  comes  in.  Jupiter  is  the  cipher.  He 
knows  when  Spofford's  officer  goes.  He  knows  he  goes  with  blank  sum 
monses.  I  suppose  it  is  an  open  secret  that  Mr.  Spofford  wanted  summonses 
issued  blank,  to  keep  Kellogg  from  finding  out  who  his  witnesses  were, 
because  he  knew  these  very  efforts  would  be  made  to  get  control  of  them 
and  "  fix  "  them.  The  next  telegram,  which  is  the  very  same  day, — he  issues 
two  telegrams  on  that  subject  the  same  day, — is  as  follows  : 

Spofford's  man  left  this  morning  accompanying  Cato.  Watch  every  movement. 
Watch  closely  Swamp  and  Wheelwright  and  others.  Hope  Murray  is  all  right. 

You  see  how  his  anxiety  about  Murray  grew.  Now  look  at  telegram 
No.  36  : 

When  you  know  Spofford's  witnesses  sure  wire  Jack  what  witnesses  to  summon  for 
Kellogg.  Tell  Marks  to  have  Spofford's  witnesses  fixed  right  before  they  leave. 

What  can  be  more  significant  than  that?  Turn  to  telegram  No.  48, 
which  is  dated  June  10.  The  examination  had  been  progressing  several 
days  then.  It  commenced  on  the  5th.  After  examining  several  witnesses 
Mr.  Merrick  made  a  statement  to  the  committee  that  he  had  no  further  wit 
nesses  except  two,  that  he  was  expecting  with  a  messenger.  Kellogg  being 
there,  hears  this,  and  goes  out  and  telegraphs  to  Badger  : 

Merrick  stated  to  chairman  that  he  had  no  more  witnesses  until  the  Arrival  of  two 
who  were  coming  in  charge  of  a  messenger.  Who  are  they  ? 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  f,6.', 

You  see  how  alert  the  man  was.  From  the  time  he  suspected  that  Spof- 
ford  was  going  to  summon  witnesses  and  commence  the  investigation  of  the 
case  he  telegraphed  his  friends  in  New  Orleans  "  to  watch.  Keep  the  members 
straight,"  "  Keep  them  fixed."  "  Give  them  appointments  "  ;  and  he  keeps 
it  up  to  the  end  of  the  chapter.  Then  he  had  Lewis,  Swazie,  Williams, 
Walsh,  Randall,  and  Molere  and  others  to  meet  the  witnesses  at  the  depot, 


ready  to  take  charge  of  them  until  after  they  gave  their  testimony.  He 
wanted  to  know  by  telegram  who  were  coming,  so  that  he  could  meet  them 
and  have  them  in  charge  and  keep  them  fixed. 

Mr.  President,  I  now  want  to  call  the  attention  of  the  Senate  to  some 
telegrams  that  I  would  rather  not  have  read.  Of  course  the  telegrams  I 
have  read  show  you  that  the  sitting  member  and  the  whole  custom-house 
were  in  accord  and  they  were  using  all  their  power  to  keep  members  fixed 
by  appointing  them  to  office,  but  of  course  the  oificers  down  there  could  not 
do  much  without  the  approval  of  the  head  of  the  Treasury  Department,  be 
cause  if  the  nominations  \vSien  sent  here  from  the  custom-house  were  not 
approved  the  whole  scheme  would  fall.  I  call  your  attention,  then,  to  tele 
gram  3,  which  was  read  by  my  friend,  the  Senator  from  North  Carolina 
(Mr.  Vance). 

Please  appoint  Ash  and  Zebra  to  places  permanently.     Important.     Make  all  the  ap-v 
pointments  you  can  while  Sherman  is  absent.     Hawley  is  a  little  easier.     Sherman  is 
away  a  week. 

Make  all  the  appointments  you  can  while  Sherman  is  absent.  Hawley  is 
a  little  easier  ;  that  is,  Hawley  serves  him  better  than  Sherman.  Sherman 
struggled  with  his  virtue  and  his  virtue  fell  in  a  very  few  days.  He  says  in 
this  telegram,  "  Sherman  is  away  a  week."  Now  turn  to  telegram  16,  ten 
days  later,  and  you  will  see  things  are  getting  better  : 

Appoint  Chapron.     Answer  Sherman's  letter  of  the  29th.     Telegraph  Kellogg  the 
fact. 

That  is  the  13th  of  May.     Then  on  the  14th  he  telegraphs  Badger  : 
Please  appoint  tiger  for  Sherman. 

Why  Sherman  wanted  that  particular  appointment  down  at  New  Or 
leans  I  do  not  know.  On  the  17th  this  telegram  was  sent  to  Souer,  appraiser 
custom-house,  New  Orleans  : 

I  go  to  New  York  to-day.     Back  Monday.     Tell  Marks  he  is  all  safe  at  the  Depart 
ment  ;  not  to  worry,  he  is  all  right  here. 

Here  was  a  great  change  in  Sherman.  He  was  now  quite  as  easy  as 
Hawley,  and  Marks  was  encouraged  not  to  be  afraid  of  him  in  appointing 
"  curs  and  hounds  to  keep  them  from  squealing  on  Kellogg." 

Now  I  read  telegram  No.  47,  by  which  you  will  see  Sherman  had'become 
perfectly  agreeable.  It  is  dated  June  9,  to  Badger  : 

Have  no  fear  about  Sherman.     He  is  all  right  in  everything  Marks  does. 

A  complete  submission.  At  first  he  hesitated,  then  lie  seemed  to  grow 
indifferent,  then  finally  "  he  is  all  right  in  everything  Marks  does."  lave 
no  fear  of  Sherman  !  " 

Sir,  what  is  to  be  said  when,  if  these  telegrams  are  true,  the  head 
Treasury  Department  of  the  government  is  allowing  the  patronage  of  hiso 
fice  to  be  used  for  the  purpose  of  controlling  a  contest  for  a  seat  in 
ate,  allowing  the  public  offices  of  the  country  to  be  given    to  witnes 


666  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

expressly  to  prevent  them  from  telling  the  truth,  in  order  that  he  might  keep 
a  man  from  getting  a  seat  in  the  Senate  who  was  entitled  to  it  and  give  it  to 
a  man  who  was  not  entitled  ;  for,  mark  you,  as  I  have  already  shown,  the 
sitting  member  shows  that  he  considered  his  whole  case  depended  on  sup 
pressing  this  evidence  about  bribery.  That  is  where  he  thought  his  case 
rested. 

This  telegram  concludes  with  the  following  significant  words  : 

Seveignes  has  just  testified  all  right. 

Well,  what  does  the  sitting  member  mean  by  testimony  that  is  "  all 
right  ?"  This  man  Seveignes  is  the  witness  alluded  to  by  the  Senator  from 
Missouri  (Mr.  Vest)  who  had  made  an  affidavit  and  swore  that  though  he 
was  a  member  of  the  Legislature  and  recorded  on  the  journal  as  present,  yet 
he  was  not  present  when  the  alleged  election  was  had  ;  and  he  came  before 
this  committee  and  swore  that  he  made  that  affidavit  deliberately  ;  that  he 
wrote  it  out  himself  without  inducement,  without  suggestion,  without  help, 
and  solely  for  the  purpose  of  swearing  to  a  lie  ;  that  he  believed  that  it  was 
right  and  legitimate  to  swear  a  lie  for  the  benefit  of  his  party  ;  and  that  is 
what  the  sitting  member  telegraphed  at  once  to  Badger  was  testimony  that 
was  all  right,  that  was  good  testimony,  safe  for  him  !  This  man  Seveignes 
was  promptly  promoted  to  a  higher  office  in  the  custom-house. 

I  will  read  only  one  more  of  these  telegrams.  Here  is  a  remarkable  one. 
I  am  not  going  to  stop  to  discuss  the  testimony  of  Barney  Williams,  but  I 
can  take  these  telegrams  and  convince  any  honest  man  on  earth  that  Williams 
told  the  truth.  Williams  testified  that  he  came  here  under  authority  of 
Lewis  as  a  detective  for  Kello^sr  to  watch  the  movements  of  the  memorial- 

Cv  C7 

ists  ;  that  he  met  witnesses  on  their  arrival  at  the  depot  ;  that  after  mid 
night  on  the  morning  of  the  5th  of  June  he  took  five  of  these  witnesses  to 
Kellogg's  office  in  Willard's  Hotel  through  the  rear  way.  These  witnesses 
had  made  affidavits  in  New  Orleans  that  Kellogg  had  paid  them  for  their 
votes  in  the  senatorial  election. 

The  objection  they  had  tp  "  going  back  "  on  these  affidavits  was  that  they 
would  be  indicted  for  perjury.  Some  law  was  read  to  them  in  Kellogg's 
office  to  convince  them  that  thev  could  not  be  indicted  here.  Then,  when 

»/  ' 

they  got  over  that  difficulty,  the  fear  of  indictment,  they  entered  upon  a 
trade.  It  was  agreed  that  they  should  have  $500  apiece  and  should  be  put 
and  kept  in  the  custom-house  while  Kellogg  was  in  the  Senate.  Then  they 
all  agreed  to  go  back  on  Spofford  and  "  give  it  to  the  rebel."  He  wanted 
corroborating  witnesses,  and  on  that  very  day  the  following  telegram  was 
sent  to  Badger,  and  which  was  received  by  Badger  on  the  next  day,  6th  : 

Kellogg  says  if  you  can  fix  Foundry,  Leopard,  Templar,  Screw,  and  Eagle,  let  Souer 
send  them,  on  as  corroborating  witnesses  and  the  money  will  be  ready  at  the  hotel. 

Mr.  President,  there  are  a  great  many  other  telegrams  here,  but  I  have 
read  enough  to  accomplish  my  purpose.  No  intelligent  man,  no  honest  man 
can  read  the  testimony  given  by  these  witnesses,  and  then  read  these  tele 
grams,  and  not  be  thoroughly  convinced  that  the  whole  power  of  the  gov 
ernment  in  the  Treasury  Department  was  used  to  enable  this  man  to  sup 
press  testimony  of  bribery  and  corruption  in  order  that  he  might  hold  a  seat 
in  this  body.  It  is  impossible  by  any  rule  of  evidence  to  weigh  this  testi 
mony  and  arrive  at  any  other  conclusion.  It  is  perfectly  irrefutable  and 
overwhelming.  I  am  not  going  into  it  further,  for  I  have  already  taken  up 
more  time  with  these  telegrams  than  I  intended. 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,  AND  WAITINGS.  667 

What  is  my  purpose  ?  I  have  shown  you  by  the  testimony  that,  even 
counting  all  the  persons  certified  by  the  returning  board  as  members,  yet 
there  was  no  quorum  present  at  this  pretended  election  of  Kellogg. 

They  lacked  seven  of  a  quorum  on  the  very  day  this  man  pretended  to 
be  elected,  although  they  make  the  journals  say  that  there  were  five  more 
than  a  quorum,  showing  that  they  made  up  false  journals. 

Then  the  evidence  places  the  charge  of  bribery  of  a  large  number  of  the 
members  beyond  all  doubt.  I  am  not  going  to  stop  to  read  the  affidavits  of 
the  members  themselves.  Here  is  affidavit  after  affidavit  of  various  mem 
bers  swearing  that  they  received  bribes  for  their  votes.  If  there  was  no 
quorum  of  that  body,  conceding  it  to  be  a  Legislature,  and  if  the  members 
were  bribed,  do  you  still  say  that  this  man  is  entitled  to  the  seat?  If  you 
do,  you  are  defeating  the  Constitution  and  keeping  a  man  here  who  was  not 
in  fact  chosen  by  the  Legislature.  If  the  body  was  not  a  Legislature,  it 
had  no  power  to  elect.  If  it  was  a  Legislature  and  had  no  quorum  or  was 
controlled  by  bribery,  it  did  not  elect.  In  either  case,  to  keep  this  man  is  to 
seat  a  man  here  who  was  not  chosen  by  the  Legislature  of  a  State. 

But  again  it  is  pleaded  that  the  Senate  had  passed  upon  these  questions. 
Mr.  President,  I  am  going  to  meet  that  question  on  a  legal  proposition  that 
I  challenge  any  lawyer  to  controvert.  I  say  in  point  of  fact,  as  the  records 
will  show  when  the  case  was  before  the  Senate  before,  there  was  no  such 
evidence  of  the  want  of  a  quorum,  and  there  was  no  evidence  of  bribery  ; 
there  was  not  even  a  charge  of  bribery,  for  the  bribery  has  been  discovered 
since  and  was  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  Senate  first  by  the  memorial 
of  Spofford  when  he  asked  that  tho  case  be  reopened  and  reviewed. 
Now,  I  lay  down  the  proposition  that  the  judgment  of  the  Senate  before 
rendered,  while  presumptively  it  covers  all  the  questions  that  could  have 
been  made,  yet  conclusively  covers  only  the  questions  that  were  and 
that  the  questions  now  before  us  were  not  made,  were  not  passed  upon, 
and  are  not  determined  by  the  former  judgment.  That  is  a  very  important 
legal  proposition,  and  I  shall  proceed  to  establish  it.  I  will  read  first  some 
good  old  English  law,  for  I  confess  I  never  feel  otherwise  than  a  sense  of 
pleasure  when  I  can  get  back  to  the  old  English  authorities  in  the  days  of 
Mansfield,  Kenyon,  and  Holt.  This  question  wfts  made  before  Lord  Mans 
field  in  the  case  of  Ravee  vs.  Farmer.  Lord  Mansfield  decided  it  without 
rendering  a  written  opinion.  It  is  reported  in  4  Term  Reports.  It  came 
up  again  and  was  decided  in  the  case  of  Seddon  vs.  Tutop  (6  Term  Reports, 
607),  Lord  Kenyon  being  the  chief  justice  : 

Assumrjsit  for  goods  sold  and  delivered.     Plea  a  former  recovery  of  £71  10s.  for  the 
damages  the  plaintiffs  had  sustained  as  well  by  means  of  not  performing  the  same  identi 
cal  promises,  etc.,  as  for  their  costs,  etc.     Replication  that  the  promises  and  undertaking: 
in  this  action  were  not  the  same  identical  promises  for  the  non-performance  whereof 
said  sum  of  money  was  so  recovered  by  the  said  judgment ;   on  which  issue  was  taker 
At  the  trial  at  Guildhall  before  Lord  Kenyon  it  appeared  that  in  the  former  act 
which  the  defendant  suffered  judgment  to  go  by  default,  there  was  a  count  on  a  promis 
sory  note  for  £51  and  counts  for  goods  sold  and  delivered,  there  being  at  that  time  * 
due  for  goods  ;  but  on  executing  the  writ  of  inquiry,  the  plaintiffs  only  being  prepared 
with  proof  of  the  note,  they  took  a  verdict  for  that,  which  with  the  costs  amounted 
£71  10s.     Afterward,  on  an  application  to  the  defendant  for  the  £25  7s.,  he  refused  to 
pay,  on  which  the  present  action  was  brought.     It  was  objected  on  behalf  of 
ant  that  as  the  plaintiffs  might  have  recovered  this  sum  in  the  former  action  they  < 
not  to  be  permitted  to  bring  this,  a  second  action,  for  the  same  demand, 
was  taken  for  the  plaintiffs  with  liberty  to  the  defendant  to  move  to  enter  i 
case  this  court  should  be  of  opinion  that  the  plaintiffs  were  not  entitled 
rule  for  that  purpose  having  been  accordingly  obtained. 


668  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

The  case  came  on  before  the  full  court.  Erskine  argued  it.  In  pro 
nouncing  the  decision,  Lord  Kenyon  said  : 

In  this  case  it  is  clearly  shown  that  this  demand  was  not  inquired  into  in  the  former 
action. 

That  is,  there  was  no  evidence  introduced  upon  it,  though  it  was  in  the 
pleadings  and  could  have  been  proven  and  could  have  been  recovered  on ; 
and  he  holds  that  the  second  action  was  right  and  that  the  former  recovery 
was  no  bar.  He  adds  : 

And  I  am  glad  that  we  are  borne  out  by  the  form  of  the  issue  to  decide  with  the 
justice  of  the  case. 

Justice  Grose  says  : 

The  recovery  in  the  former  action  is  only  prima  facie  evidence  that  this  demand  has 
been  inquired  into,  but  it  is  not  conclusive.  In  the  case  of  Hitchin  vs.  Campbell,  where 
the  defendants  pleaded  a  former  recovery  upon  the  same  identical  promises  for  which 
that  action  was  brought,  though  it  was  argued  by  very  eminent  counsel,  it  was  not  con 
tended  that  because  the  same  sum  demanded  in  that  action  might  have  been  recovered  in 
the  former  one  therefore  the  plaintiff  could  not  recover  it  in  that  action  ;  the  only  inquiry 
there  was,  whether  the  same  cause  of  action  had  been  litigated  and  considered  in  the 
former  action. 

That  case  of  Seddon  -vs.  Tutop  has  been  a  leading  authority  on  that 
question  from  that  day  to  this.  The  same  decision  was  made  by  Chief 
Justice  Shaw,  of  Massachusetts.  I  could  give  you  a  hundred  English 
opinions  on  the  subject  as  well  as  American.  In  the  case  of  John  D.  Bridge 
et  al.  vs.  William  Gray  et  al..  found  in  14  Pickerino-'s  Massachusetts  Re- 

*'  -C5 

ports,  Chief  Justice  Shaw  said  : 

On  the  issue  joined  upon  the  plea  in  bar  of  a  former  recovery,  the  defendant  relied 
upon  a  judgment  in  a  former  suit,  upon  a  writ  containing,  among  others,  counts  for 
goods  sold  and  delivered,  and  which  might  have  embraced  the  goods  sued  for  in  the 
present  action  ;  but  there  was  no  specific  enumeration  or  description  of  goods  contained 
in  these  counts,  nor  any  account  annexed  to  the  writ  or  other  specification  filed  by  which 
it  could  be  shown  that  the  goods  in  question  in  this  suit  were  embraced  in  that.  The 
defendant  relied  upon  that  judgment  as  a  bar,  and  as  conclusive  evidence  that  the  claim 
for  goods  sold  now  made  in  this  suit  must  have  been  considered  in  the  former.  But  the 
plaintiff  offered  evidence  aliunde^io  show,  in  point  of  fact,  that  no  claim  was  made  in 
that  action  for  the  goods  now  sued  for.  We  think  that  this  evidence  was  rightly 
admitted.  The  modern  mode  of  declaring  in  most  general  use  is  to  insert  several  general 
counts  ;  and  when,  in  such  case,  the  general"  issue  is  pleaded,  a  vast  variety  of  different 
claims  may  be  put  in  issue  and  tried  ;  so  various,  indeed,  that  in  most  cases  it  is  found 
necessary  to  call  in  the  assistance  of  the  court  previously  to  the  trial  to  require  the  plain 
tiff  to  give  in  a  bill  of  particulars,  or  specification,  of  the  claims  which  he  means  to  give 
in  evidence,  in  order  to  apprise  the  defendant  of  the  actual  claims  relied  on  which  the 
declaration  does  not  do  to  enable  ^him  to  go  to  trial  wTith  any  safety.  When  such  a  judg 
ment  is  pleaded  in  bar  it  seems  *to  be  liberal  enough,  and  going  as  far  in  support  of  a 
judgment  as  experience  will  warrant,  to  consider  it  as  prima  facie,  evidence  of  a  prior  ad 
judication  of  every  demand  which  might  have  been  drawn  into  controversy  under  it, 
Jeavrng  it,  like  other  prima  facie  evidence,  to  be  encountered  and  controlled  by  any  other 
competent  evidence  tending  to  show  that  any  particular  demand  was  not  offered  or  con 
sidered.  And  so  we  think  the  rule  is  now  settled  by  authorities. 

You  will  find  a  similar  decision  in  5  Massachusetts,  339.  You  will  find 
that  Mr.  Greenleaf  has  laid  down  the  same  principle  in  his  work  on  evidence, 
section  532.  The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  has  made  the  most 
striking  decision  on  this  subject  that  I  have  been  able  to  find.  It  is  found 
in  24  Howard,  page  344.  I  will  state  briefly  the  facts  without  reading  it, 
so  that  you  can  see  the  point,  for  it  is  a  very  striking  case  and  covers  this 
case  completely.  Sickles  &  Co.  had  a  patent  for  what  they  called  a  cut- 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITWG&  660 

off  ;  that  is,  a  contrivance  for  saving  fuel  on  steamboats.  The  Washington, 
Alexandria,  and  Georgetown  Steam  Packet  Company  made  a  contract*with 
Sickles  &  Co.  for  the  use  of  this  cut-off.  The  agreement  was  that  this 
packet  company  was  to  take  the  invention  and  apply  it  to  its  steamboat*, 
and  if  it  turned  out  that  it  was  efficient  and  made  a  saving  in  fuel  they 
were  to  pay  Sickles  three-fourths  of  the  net  amount  saved  by  the  invention. 
Sickles  &  Co.  brought  suit  against  the  packet  company  for  the  recovery  of 
their  proportion  of  alleged  savings  after  a  certain  lapse  of  time.  After  con 
siderable  litigation  they  recovered  a  large  sum,  $16,000.  The  packet  com 
pany  continued  to  use  the  cut-off.  Subsequently  Sickles  &  Co.  brought 
another  suit  for  their  proportion  of  further  savings.  Now,  mark  how  the 
point  comes  up. 

The  steam-packet  company  came  in  and  pleaded  that  the  contract  was 
void  from  the  first  and  the  machine  inefficient,  and  that  they  were  not 
bound  to  pay  anything  under  it.  Sickles  &  Co.  replied  :  "  That  question 
has  been  adjudicated  ;  we  sued  you  on  the  same  contract  once  before  ;  you 
litigated  it,  and  the  judgment  was  in  favor  of  the  plaintiff,  and  we  recov 
ered  a  sum  of  money  which  you  paid.  Now,  that  former  suit  adjudicated 
the  validity  of  this  contract,  because  if  this  contract  had  been  void  for  any 
cause  from  the  beginning,  you  had  the  opportunity  of  pleading  it  in  the 
former  action  ;  you  did  not  do  it.  and  therefore  you  are  concluded.  It  is 

•'     «/  *• 

the  identical  contract  once  sued  on,  once  passed  on,  and  a  judgment  recov 
ered  under  it."  The  packet  company  rejoined  that  on  the  former  hearing 
this  point  was  not  made,  and  was  therefore  not  passed  upon,  and  was  not 
covered  by  the  former  judgment,  and  offered  parole  evidence  to  support  this 
rejoinder.  The  court  below  sustained  the  reply  in  bar,  and  held  that  the 
point  was  res  adjudicata.  The  case  came  to  the  Supreme  Court  and  the  de 
cision  was  unanimous,  and  was  pronounced  by  that  great  lawyer,  Judge 
Campbell.  In  the  opinion  he  says  : 

In  the  case  before  the  court  the  verdict  was  rendered   upon  two  special  counts,  and 
the  general  count  in  assumpsit,  but  the  verdict  in  the  subsequent  stage  of  the  proceed 
ings  was  applied   by  the  court  only  to  the  first  count.     The  record  produced  by  the 
plaintiffs  showed  that  the  first  suit  was  brought  apparently  upon  the  same  contract  as 
the  second,  and  that  the  existence  and  validity  of  that  contract  might  have  been  litigated. 
But  the  verdict  misrht  have  been  rendered  upon  the  entire  declaration,  and   without 
special  reference  to  "the  first  count.     It  was  competent  to  the  defendants  to  show  the  s 
of  facts  that  existed  at  the  trial,  with  a  view  to  ascertain  what  was  the  matter  decided 
upon  by  the  verdict  of  the  jury.     It  may  have  been  that  there  was  no  contest  in  reference 
to  the  fairness  of  the  experiment,  or  to  its  sufficiency  to  ascertain  the  premium  to  be  pa 
for  the  use  of  the  machine  at  the  first  trial,  or  it  may  have  been  that  the  plamti 
doned  their  special  counts  and  recovered  their  verdict  upon  the  general  counts, 
judgment  rendered  in  that  suit,  while  it  remains  in  force,  and  for  the  purpose  of  mr 
taining  its  validity,  is  conclusive  of  all  the  facts  properly  pleaded  by  the  plan 
when  it  is  presented  as  testimony  in  another  suit,  the  inquiry  is  competent  whel 
same  issue  has  been  tried  and  settled  by  it. 

That  is,  that  though  the  record  as  produced  shows  on  its  f ace  prima  facie 
that  this  issue  was  covered  by  the  former  suit,  yet  it  is  ovljpnma  facie, 

+J  i  •    1  ~,«4-*-i4-4r»rf"»T 


—  •**  •    v       i   i  >   •   v       AJ\_/    »   \_/  I   \^  V4        "-^   Y        L  I*  v>        1^*  ^^P^  J.  AAV^  »jw«  —    - 

and  was  heard  ao-ain  on  the  merits  and  came  a  second  time  to  1 
Court,  and  is  reported  in  5  Wallace,  page  580,  and  the  deci 
nounced  was  reaffirmed.  ^ 

Now,  apply  this  doctrine  to  this  case,  and  the  questions  ar 


670  SENATOR  B.   H.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

pose  you  admit  for  the  sake  of  the  argument  that  on  the  former  hearing  of  this 
case  the  Senate  might  have  considered  not  only  the  regularity  of  the  elec 
tion,  but  also  it  might  have  considered  the  question  of  bribery  ;  it  might 
have  considered  the  question  of  the  want  of  a  quorum  ;  it  might  have  con 
sidered  the  question  of  no  Legislature.  Say  the  court,  That  is  the  prima 
facie  state  of  the  case,  that  is  the  presumption,  but  it  is  open  to  show  that 
in  point  of  fact  that  was  not  done  ;  and  if  it  was  not  done,  and  no  evidence 
was"  submitted  on  the  questions  now  made,  then  the  questions  now  made  are 
not  covered  by  the  former  judgment  and  cannot  be  res  adjudicata  •  and  this 
is  the  language  of  the  highest  courts  both  in  England  and  America. 

In  this  case  I  challenge  any  gentleman  in  the  Senate  to  show  me  that  in 
the  trial  of  1877  there  was  any  evidence  of  bribery.  This  evidence  that  I 
have  been  reading  you  was  none  of  it  here.  The  truth  is  the  fact  of  bribery 
was  discovered  afterward  ;  it  never  was  brought  to  the  attention  of  the 
Senate  until  Judge  Spofford,  as  I  have  said,  filed  his  memorial  to  reopen  and 
review  the  case.  Now,  how  can  you  say,  Senators,  that  the  questions  and 
issues  now  presented  were  covered  by  the  former  adjudication  when  the 
evidence  is  conclusive  that  they  were  not  even  made  ?  '  They  were  not  in 
the  record  and  no  evidence  was  submitted  upon  them.  Then  the  former 
judgment  should  have  no  force  with  the  Senate,  even  allowing  the  Senate 
to  be  a  court. 

Mr.  Carpenter. — Will  the  Senator  allow  me  to  ask  him  a  question  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — Certainly. 

Mr.  Carpenter. — Do  I  understand  the  Senator  to  claim  that  if  it  can  be 
shown  that  Mr.  Kellogg  was  elected  by  bribery,  that  would  authorize  the 
Senate  to  say  he  was  not  elected  ?  It  would  undoubtedly  authorize  his 
expulsion  ;  but  could  the  Senate  say  he  was  not  elected  because  he  was 
elected  by  bribery  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — I  certainly  would  say  so,  because  bribery  would  make  the 
election  void.  That  has  been  decided  over  and  over  again. 

Mr.  Carpenter. — I  do  not  understand  whether  the  Senator  says  so  or  not. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  say  so  ;  yes.  I  say  bribery  avoids  the  election  ;  that  is, 
provided  the  bribery  controlled  the  result.  There  is  a  controversy  as  to 
whether  the  bribery  of  one  member,  or  two  members,  or  a  less  number  of 
members  than  a  sufficiency  to  control  the  result  would  avoid  the  election  ; 
but  a  bribery  that  does  control  the  result  avoids  the  election  certainly.  But 
the  Senator's  question  will  do  him  no  good,  for  not  only  is  bribery  in  this 
new  issue,  but  no  quorum  is  in  this  new  issue,  and  no  quorum  is  clearly 
shown,  and  the  Senator  will  not  pretend  that  when  there  was  no  quorum 
present  a  man  can  be  expelled  for  that. 

But  I  put  the  case  and  I  challenge  any  lawyer  to  answer  it  :  Suppose  on 
the  first  trial  a  man's  credentials  are  presented  and  a  contestant  comes  in 
and  says  that  man  ought  not  to  be  seated  because  he  was  not  elected  by  a 
quorum,  because  he  was  elected  by  bribery,  because  he  was  not  elected  viva 
voce,  or  for  any  reason  he  was  not  elected  in  the  manner  prescribed  by  law. 
Well,  upon  that  issue  the  credentials  are  referred  to  a  committee.  The 
committee  investigate  the  question,  the  whole  question  relating  to  the  regu 
larity  of  the  election,  and  the  committee  finds  that  there  was  no  bribery, 
there  was  a  quorum,  there  was  a  regular  election,  and  report  a  resolution 
that  the  contestee  is  entitled  to  his  seat  on  the  merits.  Now,  what  did  the 
word  "  merits  v  cover  ?  You  find  he  is  entitled  to  the  seat  on  the  merits, 
What  merits  ?  The  merits  of  the  issue  made. 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  671 

You  could  not  say  he  was  entitled  to  the  seat  on  the  merits  of  an  issue 
not  made.  You  find  that  he  is  entitled  to  the  seat  on  the  merits  of  the  issue 
made  and  all  the  issues  made  ;  but  suppose  after  that  it  should  turn  out 
that  the  man  was  but  twenty  years  old  ;  suppose,  while  the  election  was 
without  bribery  and  by  a  quorum,  and  in  all  respects  regular,  still  he  was 
disqualified,  and  that  fact  was  not  known  at  the  first  hearing  ;  suppose  that 
he  was  not  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  ;  do  you  not  see  that  the  new 
issue  is  not  covered  by  the  old  trial  ?  Do  you  not  perceive  that  it  is  there 
fore  not  included  in  the  judgment,  and  do  you  not  see  that  therefore  it  is 
not  res  adjudicata  f  Even  before  a  court  it  would  be  absurd  to  say  it  was. 

Now,  coming  to  the  question,  what  was  decided  before  ;  let  us  get  that 
before  the  Senate.  What  was  the  question  decided  in  1877?  I  am  not 
going  to  leave  it  doubtful.  That  is  one  of  the  most  important  points  in  this 
case  ;  and  if  gentlemen  vote  to  keep  this  man  here  they  shall  do  it  with 
their  eyes  open. 

Mr.  Hoar. — Mr.  President 

The  Presiding  Officer. — (Mr.  Harris  in  the  chair).  Does  the  Senator 
from  Georgia  yield  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Hoar. — Before  the  Senator  from  Georgia  passes  to  his  new  point, 
will  he  allow  me  to  interrupt  him  and  ask  whether  I  understood  him  to  state 
that  the  question  of  there  being  a  quorum  present  of  the  Legislature  that 
elected  Kellogg  was  not  raised  in  the  old  case  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Hoar. — Mr.  Wadleigh's  report  in  the  old  case  occupies  a  page  or 
two  in  detailing  all  those  facts  which  have  been  gone  over  again  and  find 
ing  the  facts  about  the  quorum  ;  Mr.  Spofford's  brief  discussed  it ;  the  ques 
tion  of  the  absence  of  the  man  who  was  brought  in  against  his  will,  Steven 
— all  those  things  were  gone  into,  on  the  old  trial. 

Mr.  Hill. — That  was  gone  into  on  a  different  view  altogether,  and  for  a 
different  purpose.  The  present  issue  was  not  then  made,  and  the  present 
evidence  was  not  even  known.  It  was  not  known  then  that  the  journal  was 
false.  It  was  not  known  that  absent  members  were  personated.  The  pro 
ceedings  alluded  to  by  the  Senator  do  not  even  refer  to  the  issue  or  the  evi 
dence  now  before  us.  When  was  it  shown  before  that  Thomas  was  sick  in 
bed  with  small-pox  ?  When  was  it  shown  on  the  former  trial  that  Seveignes 
was  not  there  ?  When  was  it  shown  on  the  former  trial  that  Murray,  the 
sergeant-at-arms,  was  sent  out  to  get  ten  members  to  make  a  quorum  and 
only  got  five  ?  None  of  that  was  in  the  old  case  ;  that  is  all  of  it  new  testi 
mony,  and  the  Senator  cannot  deny  it  ;  it  is  a  new  feature  altogether. 

It  is  very  important  U-get  before  the  Senate  and  the  country  the  real 
question  in  issue  and  what  was  decided  before.  I  ask  every  man  in  the  Sen 
ate  who  has  any  doubt  on  his  mind  to  listen  to  me  now  a  few  moments. 

On  the  22d  day  of  October,  1877,  the  committee  met,  when,  after  in 
formal  discussion,  Mr.  Hill  offered  the  following  resolution  : 

The  controversies  heretofore  existing  in  the  State  of  Louisiana  as  to  which  of  the  two 
rival  bodies  was  the  Legislature  of  that  State,  and  as  to  which  of  two  rival  claimant 
the  governor  of  said  State,  having  been  settled  by  the  State  itsel 
ment  of  the  Senate. 

Resolved,  That  the  Senate  do  recognize  and  accept  said  settlement  as 

That  was  our  position  before  the  committee  and  that  was  the  position  of 
this  side  of  the  Chamber  before  the  Senate.  The  Senator  from  Massachu- 


672  SENATOR  B.   II.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

setts  read  the  motion  made  by  the  Senator  from  Ohio  (Mr.  Thurman)  when 
he  moved  to  seat  Spofford  without  taking  testimony,  and  that  motion  was 
supported  by  the  Senator  from  Delaware  (Mr.  Bayard).  Why  ?  On  the 
very  ground  here  stated,  that  the  people  of  Louisiana  had  settled  this  ques 
tion  ;  it  was  no  longer  in  doubt  as  to  what  was  the  Legislature  of  Louisiana. 
The  Packard  Legislature  had  dissolved,  gone  into  thin  air,  and  all  this  had 
occurred  before  this  Senate  or  its  committee  had  ever  considered  the  ques 
tion.  That  being  the  case,  we  all  on  this  side  said  there  was  no  necessity  to 
take  evidence.  That  was  voted  down  by  the  Senate.  The  question  was  re 
ferred  to  the  committee,  and  before  the  committee  I  offered  that  resolution 
which  made  exactly  the  same  question  that  the  Senator  from  Ohio  made 
here  in  this  body.  So  there  was  no  inconsistency  there.  That  was  the  posi 
tion  of  the  Democrats  on  the  committee. 

On  the  25th  of  October  Mr.  Hoar,  of  Massachusetts,  offered  the  follow 
ing  as  a  substitute  for  my  resolution.  You  will  see  the  issue  now  being 
made,  clearly  : 

Mr.  Hoar  offered  the  following  as  a  substitute  : 

"  Resolved,  That  it  becomes  necessary  in  determining  the  validity  of.  an  election  of 
Senator,  held  in  January,  1877,  to  inquire  who  were  the  lawful  Legislature  at  that  time, 
and  that  no  other  authority  is  competent  to  determine  that  question  for  the  Senate." 

Mark  you,  now,  there  was  no  dispute  that  the  State  had  determined 
which  was  her  Legislature,  but  this  resolution  of  the  Senator  from  Massa 
chusetts  declares  that  the  State  cannot  determine  that  question  ;  that  no 
authority  can  determine  it  for  the  Senate,  and  therefore  we  will  inquire  what 
was  the  true  Legislature  of  Louisiana.  You  see  how  the  two  parties  stood. 
We  insisted  on  taking  the  State's  decision.  It  had  been  settled  without  the 
interference  of  the  military  ;  it  had  been  settled  by  removing  the  military  ; 
it  had  been  settled  peaceably  ;  all  the  people  had  agreed  to  it  ;  all  the 
parties  had  agreed  to  it  ;  even  the  members  of  the  Packard  Legislature  had 
agreed  to  it  ;  even  Packard  had  agreed*  to  it.  He  came  here  and  got  a 
position  and  went  to  Liverpool  as  consul.  Everybody  had  agreed  to  it. 
We  proposed,  therefore,  to  take  that  settlement.  No,  said  the  Republicans 
of  the  committee,  we  will  not  do  that,  but  we  will  inquire  what  was  the  law 
ful  Legislature  of  that  State,  and  no  other  authority  is  competent  to  de 
termine  that  question  for  the  Senate.  Very  well,  what  then  ?  We  were 
voted  down. 

And  here  I  want  to  make  a  remark  on  this  subject  of  res  adjudicata.  In 
what  a  ridiculous  position  the  gentlemen  on  the  other  side  place  themselves! 
Here  it  is  conceded  by  this  substitute,  and  not  denied  but  known  as  a  fact, 
that  the  State  of  Louisiana  had  passed  upon  this  question  as  to  which  was 
the  lawful  Legislature.  That  decision  was  niado  in  April  and  long  before 
the  Senate  acted.  Now,  I  submit  to  every  lawyer,  if  you  deny  that  Louisi 
ana  was  the  only  authority  that  can  determine  that  question,  you  are  bound 
to  admit  that  Louisiana  was  competent  to  determine  it ;  you  are  bound  to 
admit  that  Louisiana  had  jurisdiction  of  the  question  as  to  what  was  her 
own  Legislature.  Louisiana  did  take  jurisdiction  of  that  question  ;  Louis 
iana  did  settle  it  before  the  Senate  touched  it.  Why  was  not  the  judgment 
of  Louisiana  res  adjudicata  f  In  my  opinion,  Louisiana  alone  had  jurisdic 
tion  to  determine,  as  an  original  question,  what  was  her  Legislature  ;  but 
whether  she  alone  had  it  .or  not,  everybody  admits  that  she  certainly  had 
concurrent  jurisdiction.  She  took  possession  of  the  question,  therefore, 
legally,  and  she  did  decide  it,  and  who  on  that  side  of  the  House  has  ever 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  673 

proposed  to  recognize  Louisiana's  judgment  as  res  adjudicata?    She  decided 


tell  me,  if  you  have  no  right  to  reverse  your  own  judgment  upon  the  ground 
of  res  adjudicata,  what  right  had  the  Senate  of  1877  to  reverse  the  judgment 
of  Louisiana,  which  was  a  decision  by  a  competent  jurisdiction  ?  Do  you 
not  see  the  absurdity  ?  If  the  doctrine  of  res  adjudicate  applies  in  this  case 
at  all,  this  decision  made  by  a  competent  authority  is  the  first  permanent 
judgment.  Louisiana  made  that  judgment  ;  she  made  it  long  before  the 
Senate  made  any  ;  and  I  challenge  anybody  to  answer  the  argument  ;  for  if 
there  is  no  right  in  Louisiana  to  bind  the  Senate  by  her  judgment,  how  is 
Louisiana  to  be  bound  by  the  Senate's  judgment  ? 

But  I  am  going  on.  This  substitute  offered  by  the  Senator  from  Massa 
chusetts  on  the  25th  of  October  in  committee  was  adopted  by  a  party  vote  ; 
five  voting  for  it,  three  against  it,  and  one  absent.  The  Democrats  on  that 
committee  were  then  brought  to  this  point  :  we  had  pleaded  the  judgment 
of  Louisiana  as  final  in  this  case  ;  we  had  been  overruled  in  that  ;  the  Senate 
and  the  committee  had  both  decided  that  they  would  not  be  bound  by  the 
judgment  of  Louisiana,  but  would  investigate  for  themselves  the  competency 
of  the  Legislature.  Then  Mr.  Merrimon  offered  this  resolution  : 

O 

Resolved,  That  the  committee  proceed  to  examine  and  ascertain  the  substantial  merits 
of  the  respective  claims  of  Hon.  W.  P.  Kellogg  and  Hon.  H.  M.  Spofford  to  a  seat  in  the 
Senate  as  a  Senator  from  the  State  of  Louisiana,  and  to  this  end  to  inquire  particularly 
which,  or  whether  either,  of  the  two  rival  bodies  claiming  to  be  the  Legislature  of  said 
State,  in  January  and  April  last,  was  the  true  and  lawful  Legislature  of  said  State. 

That  resolution  wras  adopted.  Then  Mr.  Saulsbury,  now  our  honored 
chairman,  made  the  point  distinctly.  He  brought  the  gentlemen  square  up 
to  the  question.  We  think,  said  he,  you  ought  to  take  the  judgment  of 
Louisiana.  You  will  not  do  it ;  you  say  you  have  a  right  to  inquire  for 
yourselves  whether  that  was  the  lawful  Legislature,  and  no  other  authority 
can  determine  that.  Then,  says  Mr.  Saulsbury,  we  will  go  into  the  merits  ; 
and  here  was  his  resolution  : 

Resolved,  That  in  order  to  ascertain  which  of  the  two  bodies  claiming  to  be  the  Legis 
lature  of  Louisiana,  respectively  represented  by  William  P.  Kellogg  and  Henry  M.  Spofford 
claiming  seats  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  it  is  necessary  and  proper  to  ascertain 
who  of  the  members  of  said  respective  Legislatures  were  elected  as  such  members  by  the 
votes  actually  cast  at  the  election  in  November,  1876,  and  that  the  respective  claimants  be 
requested  to  cause  the  original  returns  of  the  commissioners  of  election  and  the  tabulated 
statements  of  the  registrars  of  election,  or  certified  copies  of  the  same,  to  be  furnished  as 
speedily  as  possible  to  this  committee. 

That  was  voted  down.     Where  did  we  stand  then  ?     They  had  declared 
that  they  would  not  be  bound  by  the  judgment  of  Louisiana,  but  would  in 
quire  for  themselves  as  to  the  legality  of  her  Legislature.     Then,  said  Mr. 
Saulsbury,  "  We  will  go  into  the  question  and  determine  whether  the  men 
seated  by  the  returning  board  were  lawfully  seated,  whether  they  were 
really  elected."     No  ;  they  would  not  do  that.     What  do  you  mean,  then  ? 
I  will  not  charge  gentlemen  with  a  trick,  but  they  were  perpetrating  one  of 
the  shrewdest  and  boldest  pieces  of  management  ever  perpetrated 
country.     They  were  determined  to  go  into  the  inquiry  of  what  was 
Legislature  for  the  purpose  of  getting  rid  of  the  decision  of  the  S 
order  to  fall  back  upon  the  infallibility  of  the  returning  board, 
the  whole  of  it,     I  shall  not  make  this  charge  without  proving  it. 


674  SENATOR  B.  II.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

Now,  here  is  what  Mr.  Mitchell,  the  acting  chairman,  said.  I  want  you 
to  see  what  they  meant  by  saying  they  would  inquire  which  was  the  legal 
Legislature  : 

The  Acting  Chairman. — Suppose  we  were  compelled  to  decide  as  to  whether  or  not 
this  was  a  legal  Legislature  at  that  time.  In  determining  that  question,  can  we  do  more 
or  go  further  than  to  ascertain  from  the  record  that  the  forms  of  law  have  been  com 
plied  with  ?  For  instance,  take  it  for  granted  that  the  returning  board  is  a  valid  board, 
if  it  appears  to  us  from  the  records  of  that  board  that  a  majority  of  this  Legislature  was 
made  up  of  men  returned  by  that  board,  that  they  met  and  organized,  and  declared  the 
result  of  the  election  as  to  governor  and  lieutenant-governor,  elected  a  speaker,  etc.,  and 
then  proceeded  to  elect  a  senator,  does  that  determination  determine  the  question  as  to 
whether  that  was  the  Legislature  or  not,  or  do  we  go  back  of  that  ? 

And  they  decided  that  the  returning  board  settled  the  question.  Was 
such  a  thing  ever  heard  of  ?  Here  were  these  gentlemen  repudiating  the 
decision  of  the  State,  repudiating  what  all  the  authorities  of  the  State  said, 
and  repudiating  all  that  the  people  of  the  State  said,  insisting  that,  over  the 
will  of  the  State  and  over  the  authority  of  the  State,  they  should  go  them 
selves  into  the  question  of  determining  what  was  the  legal  Legislature,  and 
then  let  that  be  determined  absolutely  by  the  returning  board  !  Do  you 
not  see  the  adroit  effort  to  get  the  Senate  back  into  the  condition  of  the 
electoral  commission  ?  Nothing  would  the  Republicans  of  this  bod}^  agree 
to  except  the  returning  board.  The  State  decision  is  to  be  disregarded,  the 
facts  are  to  be  disregarded,  the  law  is  to  be  trampled  under  foot,  constitu 
tions  are  to  be  disregarded  and  violated,  but  the  decision  of  the  returning 
board  must  be  infallible  !  The  Senator  from  Massachusetts  announced  that 
much  yesterday  in  his  speech,  in  giving  the  reasons  why  they  declined  to 
allow  Spofford  to  take  testimony  in  1877.  It  is  remarkable  reasoning. 
Hear  this,  gentlemen  : 

Second.  The  evidence  offered,  so  far  as  the  points  to  which  it  related  were  not 
covered  by  the  admissions  or  by  the  abundant  testimony  already  in  the  case,  was  totally 
immaterial. 

Immaterial  for  what  ? 

The  committee  rested  their  decision  of  the  cause  upon  a  very  simple  principle.  It  was 
that  the  persons  who  had  the  certificates  of  the  officers  appointed  by  law  to  give  them 
were  entitled  to  take  their  seats  in  the  Legislature  of  Louisiana  and  to  hold  them  until  the 
legislative  bodies  respectively  acting  on  each  case  by  itself  adjudged  otherwise,  and  that 
the  Senate  could  not  go  behind  the  legislative  action  of  such  persons  so  holding  seats  to 
inquire  into  the  facts  connected  with  the  election  of  each  individual  member. 

Mark  you,  they  were  going  to  inquire,  but  they  would  take  no  evidence 
but  the  certificates  of  the  returning  board.  So  all  this  evidence  of  fraud  and 
all  this  evidence  of  corruption  and  all  this  evidence  of  bribery  and  all  this 
evidence  that  there  was  no  Legislature  was  ruled  out  as  immaterial! 

Mr.  President,  I  feel  it  my  duty  to  impress  this  fact  upon  the  Demo 
cratic  side  of  the  House.  We  all  know — it  is  history,  sad  history — that  a 
distinguished  commission  succeeded  in  1877  in  making  a  President  of  the 
United  States  who  was  not  chosen  by  the  people.  How  ?  By  insisting  that 
you  could  not  go  behind  the  certificates  of  the  returning  board  and  introduce 
evidence  aliunde  to  prove  that  those  certificates  were  given  in  fraud,  to  prove 
that  they  were  forged,  to  prove  that  they  were  procured  by  perjury  ;  and 
they  succeeded.  They  succeeded  upon  the  familiar  principle  that  the  two 
Houses  of  Congress  had  not  jurisdiction  of  the  elections,  returns,  and  quali 
fications  of  electors.  This  committee  in  1877  determined,  if  they  could,  to 
bring  the  Senate  to  exactly  that  position  on  the  senatorial  question,  and 


777,9  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  675 

therefore  they  disregarded  the  decision  of  the  State  ;  they  refused  to  examine 
into  the  frauds  charged  on  the  returning  boards ;  they  said  they  would  in 
quire  as  to  what  was  the  valid  Legislature,  but  they  would  only  take  the 
certificates  of  the  returning  board  as  the  sole  evidence  of  the  fact.  They 
had  made  the  returning  board  supreme  to  make  a  President,  and  now  they 
are  seeking  to  make  the  returning  board  supreme  to  make  a  Senator. 

They  got  that  vote  through  the  committee.  They  ruled  out  all  evidence 
upon  the  idea  and  the  theory  as  announced  correctly  by  the  Senator  from 
Massachusetts,  that  if  a  man  held  the  returning  board  certificate  it  was  con 
clusive.  You  could  not  go  behind  those  certificates  ;  you  must  take  them 
right  or  ^yrong.  Though  it  was  proved  that  the  returning  board  was 
covered  with  perjury,  and  that  bribery  and  corruption  were  oozing  from 
every  pore,  you  must  take  their  judgment,  you  must  take  their  action5;  it  is 
conclusive  ;  you  cannot  go  behind  it  ;  you  may  not  contradict  it ;  you  may 
trample  on  the  rights  of  the  people,  but  you  cannot  question  the  infalli 
bility  of  a  Louisiana  returning  board.  That  is  the  decision. 

Now,  having  procured  one  decision  by  the  Senate  upon  that  theory  that 
this  man  was  lawfully  entitled  on  the  merits  to  the  seat,  they  come  in  and 
say  the  power  of  the  Senate  to  judge  is  exhausted.  Though  the  issue  itself 
was  not  made ;  though  it  is  proved  now  that  there  was  no  Legislature  in 
fact;  though* you  prove  the  bribery  of  members  ;  though  you  prove  there 
was  no  quorum  present,  it  can  all  do  no  good,  because  the  Senate  has  said 
he  was  lawfullv  entitled  to  the  seat,  and  the  Senate  said  so  because  the  re- 

t/ 

turning  board  said  it.  There  was  not  a  particle  of  evidence  before  the  Sen 
ate  in  1877  except  what  they  took  from  the  returning  board.  They  refused 
to  allow  any  evidence  to  show  fraud  in  the  returning  board.  That  was  the 
very  proposition  we  wanted  to  go  into,  but  the  committee  refused  it. 

They  then  came  into  the  Senate  on  that  theory  and  got  a  decision 
of  the  Senate  in  1877,  and  now  they  come  and  plead  res  adjudicate?.  And 
we  are  told  that  Democrats  are  to  help  them.  This  iniquity  of  forcing  upon 
this  country,  of  forcing  upon  Louisiana,  a  Senator  returned  by  the  frauds 
of  a  returning  board,  never  elected  by  the  Legislature,  is  to  be  accomplished 
through  the  same  theory  that  the  returning  board  alone  of  all  bodies  in 
Louisiana  is  infallible,  and  that  you  must  take  its  decision  as  final. 

Well,  we  shall  see  how  much  help  they  get.  I  warn  you,  gentlemen  ;  I 
do  it  from  the  sincerity  of  my  heart ;  I  am  familiar  with  the  facts  of  this 
case  ;  I  have  watched' every  step  of  its  progress.  The  whole  argument  is 
the  argument  of  the  electoral  commission  applied  to  the  Senate.  I  affirm 
here  to-day  that  in  1877  there  was  no  evidence  before  the  committee  except 
that  which  was  before  the  electoral  commission,  and  if  you  hold  that  this 
man  is  irreversibly  entitled  to  the  seat  you  hold  it  because  by  the  manage 
ment  of  a  partisan  majority  you  are  brought  to  the  conclusion  that  governed 
the  electoral  commission.  If  you  do,  you  give  up  the  issue  of  fraud  in 
Louisiana  in  1876.  You  decide  that  the  electoral  commission  was  right. 
You  decide  that  the  Democratic  party  for  three  years  has  been  wrong  in 
charging  fraud  on  the  returning  board  of  Louisiana.  You  say  that  after  all 
they  committed  no  fraud.  You  make  the  returning  board  respectable,  and 
you  bring  the  electoral  commission  into  credit  and  yourselves  into  shame. 
There  is  no  escape  from  it— none  whatever.  It  may  succeed  ;  cannot 
tell  ;  but  not  because  it  is  riijht ;  not  because  it  is  law  ;  not  because  it  i 
Constitutional,  but  for  some  unknown  reason  that  dare  not  be  avowed.  1  on 
Cannot  foist  upon  the  Senate  a  Senator  from  Louisiana  on  the  principle  oi 


676  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

the  electoral  commission.  Every  man  who  so  votes  gives  up  the  whole 
question  of  fraud.  If  the  rule  of  the  Democratic  Senate  is  now  to  be  that 
there  was  no  fraud  in  Louisiana,  that  the  iniquities  of  the  returning  board 
were  all  right,  that  the  electoral  commission  was  all  right,  I  pray  you  as 
honest  men  go  upon  your  knees  to  Madison,  Wells,  and  Anderson,  and 
Casanave,  and  Kenner,  and  plead  for  forgiveness  at  their  hands. 

It  is  for  this  reason  I  have  taken  an  interest  in  this  case.  I  have  seen 
with  what  persistence  and  adroitness,  with  what  shrewdness,  with  what 
skill,  I  will  say  with  what  avidity,  they  have  been  laboring  to  get  the  Sen 
ate  on  the  senatorial  question  in  precisely  the  condition  of  the  electoral  com 
mission  on  the  electors  of  President  and  Vice-President  and  commit  the 
Democratic  Senate  to  holding  that  the  decision  of  the  electoral  commission 
was  right.  You  may  live  till  you  are  as  old  as  Methuselah,  you  may  have 
pretexts  and  excuses,  you  may  rise  a  thousand  times  and  deny  it  and  pro 
test  your  honesty  and  good  motives,  but  I  tell  you  that  is  the  point.  That 
is  the  condition  of  the  case  precisely.  That  is  the  reason  the  committee  re 
fused  to  take  testimony  in  1877.  They  said  it  was  immaterial,  because  the 
certificates  of  the  returning  board  had  settled  the  question.  They  would 
not  inquire  into  the  fraud.  No  testimony  aliunde  was  the  word.  "No 
testimony  aliunde  r  is  now  to  be  made  respectable,  and  by  a  Democratic 
Senate  ! 

Now,  there  is  a  very  singular  argument  made  here  which  I  will  only 
notice  briefl}''.  It  is  contended  by  the  Senator  from  Massachusetts  in  the 
speech  which  he  made  the  other  day  that  we  ought  not  to  complain  that  we 
were  cut  off  from  taking  testimony  in  1877.  Why?  Because  he  says  of 
those  five  points  we  did  not  take  testimony  on  more  than  one  of  them. 

Now,  I  will  explain  to  you  how  that  is.  In  1877  Mr.  Spofford  charged 
that  the  sitting  member  participated  personally  in  the  frauds  of  the  return 
ing  board,  that  he  was  a  personal  party  to  those  frauds,  and  that  he  man 
aged  it  in  this  way  :  that  he  had  a  side  door  to  the  room  of  the  returning 
board  by  which  he  entered  and  held  secret  consultations  with  the  returning 
board,  making  false  charges  and  false  protests,  and  thereby  getting  men  sent 
to  the  Legislature  who  were  not  elected.  It  is  said  that  this  evidence  does  not 
prove  that ;  that  we  have  not  proven  any  side  door.  I  admit  that  we  have 
not.  We  have  not  proven  any  side  door,  but  what  have  we  proven  ?  A 
much  worse  state  of  things.  We  have  not  proven  that  when  the  returning 
board  was  in  session  Kellogg  had  communication  with  them  through  a  side 
door,  but  we  have  proven  that  before  the  returning  board  met  he  had  clan 
destine  night  meetings  at  his  own  house  with  none  but  his  clerks  and  mem 
bers  of  the  returning  board,  and  at  his  own  house  at  night  this  whole 
scheme  of  defrauding  the  State  of  Louisiana  by  false  affidavits  was  hatched 
and  concocted.  Gentlemen  say,  "  Oh,  you  proved  the  frauds,  but  you  did 
not  prove  it  was  by  a  side  door  ! v  It  was  worse  than  a  side  door  ;  it  was 
the  whole  house  in  which  he  fixed  up  the  plan  for  the  returning  board  in 
advance.  The  Senator  from  Massachusetts  on  that  argument  would  hold,  I 
dare  say,  that  if  you  charged  a  man  with  stealing  one  horse  and  proved  he 
stole  a  hundred  you  would  not  thereby  sustain  the  charge  of  stealing  one. 

The  testimony,  I  admit,  is  tenfold  worse  than  even  Spofford  thought  it 
was  in  1877  or  thought  that  he  could  prove.  All  believed  it  was  there,  but 
the  trouble  was  to  prove  it.  In  1877  he  said  nothing  about  bribery,  be 
cause  he  did  not  know  about  it.  As  I  have  said,  the  evidence  was  dis 
covered  since.  If  we  had  been  permitted  to  take  testimony  in  1877,  under 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WHITINGS.  077 

the  charges  then  made,  would  not  all  the  testimony  now  in  be  admissible  ? 
Unquestionably.  So  the  question  is  not  what  we  thought  could  be  proven 
in  1877,  but  what  the  memorialist  has  proven  in  point  of  fact  now. 

Gentlemen  are  trying  to  alarm  somebody  over  here  by  saying,  "Oh, 
what  a  precedent  you  would  establish,  a  dangerous  precedent,  and  if  you 
can  reverse  the  decision  of  the  Senate  nobody  is  safe  in  his  seat."  Is  it 
possible  that  any  man  sitting  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  can  be  entrap 
ped  by  that  sort  of  an  argument  ?  To  vacate  the  seat  of  a  man  not  elected 
by  his  Legislature,  would  that  be  a  precedent  to  vacate  the  seat  of  a  man 
who  was  elected  by  the  Legislature  ?  To  vacate  the  seat  of  a  man  whose 
mob  has  been  dispersed  by  the  State  and  declared  not  a  Legislature,  is  that 
to  be  a  precedent  to  vacate  the  seat  of  a  man  whose  Legislature  is  recognized 
by  the  State  ?  Is  there  a  man  sitting  here  to-day,  other  than  the  sitting 
member  from  Louisiana,  who  holds  his  title  by  a  mob  ?  Is  there  a  man  sit 
ting  here  to-day  who  holds  his  title  by  a  body  that  the  State  has  declared 
was  not  the  Legislature?  If  so,  let  that  man  beware  !  I  tell  that  man  not 
to  seek  to  secure  his  own  seat  by  voting  in  Kellogg,  because  if  I  could  as- 
.  certain  that  such  was  the  fact  I  would  vote  to  exclude  a  Democrat  from  his 
seat  as  readily  as  I  would  a  Republican. 

I  am  not  making  a  partisan  fight ;  I  am  making  no  personal  fight.  I  do 
not  give  the  persons  in  this  case  the  slightest  consideration  ;  I  do  not  give 
the  political  parties  the  slightest  consideration.  I  say  that  the  State  of 
Louisiana  shall  not  be  disfranchised  if  I  can  help  it.  I  say  that  I  will  not  take 
an  oath  to  support  the  Constitution  and  sit  here  and  allow  a  man  to  have  a 
seat  who  was  not  chosen  by  his  Legislature  if  I  can  help  it.  Precedent !  Do 
you  not  know  that  men  who  are  going  to  do  wrong  do  not  want  precedents 
for  it?  I  declare  the  idea  of  being  afraid  to  give  the  Republicans  a  pre 
cedent  is  amusing.  The  children  on  the  street  ought  to  laugh  at  it.  When 
a  party  has  done  everything  without  precedent,  do  you  talk  about  their 
wanting  a  Democratic  precedent?  Do  your  own  duty  in  the  case  before 
you.  If  this  man  was  chosen  by  the  Legislature,  chosen  fairly,  chosen 
legally,  chosen  by  a  quorum,  chosen  without  bribery,  let  him  stay.  If  he 
was  not  chosen  by  his  Legislature,  I  charge  you  by  that  oath,  which  you  have 
taken  to  support  the  Constitution,  to  vacate  the  seat  and  let  a  man  chosen 
by  the  Legislature  take  it. 

But  it  is  said  the  remedy  is  by  expulsion.  What  a  mistake  is  that ! 
Whatever  might  be  the  remedy  in  a  case  where  the  decision  seating  a  mem 
ber  was  only  erroneous  and  voidable,  such  rule  could  not  apply  to  the  case 
before  us,  where  the  objection  to  the  member  goes  to  the  Constitutional 
right  to  hold  his  seat,  where  he  is  not  qualified  by  the  Constitution  ;  where, 


For  this  reason  he  sits  in  the  seat  just  precisely  in  law  as  if  he  never  had  been 
seated.     Talk  about  the  expulsion  of  a  man  who  holds  his  seat  by  a  void 
decision,  by  a  decision  which  is  a  nullity  !     Talk  about  putting  a  man  s  < 
stitutional  right  to  sit  in  this  body  in  the  hands  of  two-thirds  instead  of  a 
majority!     The  whole  doctrine  of  expulsion  applies  to  the  idea  that  when  the 
man  has  acquired  a  seat,  either  good  or  voidable,  and  forfeits  it  for  any  cause 
he  may  be  expelled  by  a  vote  of  two-thirds  ;  but  was  it  ever  said  that 
take  two-thirds  of  this  body  to  enforce  the  Constitution  ?     Was  : 
or  intended  to  be  said   that  it   should  take  two-thirds  of  this  body  to 


678  SENATOR  R  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

determine  whether  a  man  should  sit  here  who  was  not  elected  by  the 
Legislature  ? 

No,  gentlemen,  the  whole  question  in  the  case  is  this  :  was  Kellogg  chosen 
by  the  Legislature  of  Louisiana  ?  First,  was  the  body  a  Legislature  ?  If 
not,  then  he  was  not  chosen.  Second,  if  it  was,  there  was  no  quorum.  If 
there  was  a  quorum,  and  he  got  the  election  by  bribery,  would  he  be  entitled  ? 
The  Constitution  says  not,  and  you  have  got  to  find  in  this  country  a  power 
superior  to  the  Constitution  before  you  can  preserve  your  oath  and  say  yes. 

I  have  established  the  following  propositions:  first,  that  Kellogg  was 
not  chosen  by  the  Legislature  of  Louisiana,  because  the  body  was  not 
in  fact  the  Legislature.  That  is  established,  first,  by  the  decision  of  the 
State,  including  all  the  authority  of  the  State  and  all  the  source  of  authority, 
the  people.  A  gentleman  said  to  me  yesterday,  showing  a  strange  misap 
prehension  of  my  argument,  "  You  argued  that  the  Nicholls  Legislature  was 
the  Legislature  because  it  was  recognized  by  the  courts  and  the  governor, 
whereas  the  Legislature  itself  is  the  source  of  power  of  the  State  and  of 
higher  authority  than  either."  I  argued  no  such  thing.  I  argued  that  the 
Nicholls  Legislature  was  the  Legislature  because  it  was  recognized  by  the 
courts,  by  the  governor,  and  by  the  people  who  made  courts,  governor,  and 
Legislature,  and  that  decision  is  rendered  by  the  people  without  the  inter 
ference  of  the  military.  It  is  said  that  some  Democrats  have  held  that  the 
Packard  government  was  not  the  government  even  when  the  people  sub 
mitted  to  it.  That  is  because  it  was  put  upon  them  by  military  force.  It 
is  said  a  court  does  not  pass  upon  the  title  of  a  Legislature.  I  grant  that. 
One  department  of  government  cannot  say  whether  another  department  of 
government  has  a  title,  because  they  are  co-ordinate,  and  if  you  say  that 
one  should  pass  upon  the  title  of  the  other,  you  put  one  co-ordinate  depart 
ment  of  the  government  in  the  power  of  the  other.  That  is  not  the  question. 

The  question  is  this  :  what  department  of  the  government  do  the  other 
departments  of  the  government  recognize,  and  do  the  people  recognize  and 
freely  obey? 

So,  if  you  say  you  will  not  take  the  judgment  of  the  State,  the  judgment 
of  the  people,  as  well  as  the  judgment  of  the  authorities  of  the  State,  then 
the  facts  also  establish  that  the  Packard  body  was  not  the  Legislature  of 
the  State,  because  the  facts  prove  that  it  was  nothing  on  earth  but  a  mob  of 
conspirators  gotten  up  for  the  express  purpose  of  preventing  the  will  of  the 
State  from  having  force.  The  members  of  one  body  met  and  seized  the 
ktate-house  under  authority  of  the  governor.  They  barricaded  themselves 
in  it  and  excluded  members  of  the  other  party,  and  then  by  false  certificates 
of  a  returning  board  claimed  to  have  a  quorum,  and  made  themselves  the 
Legislature,  and  you  are  asked  to  say  whether  that  was  the  Legislature  of 
the  State  in  point  of  fact.  So  that,  if  you  take  the  judgment  of  the  State, 
the  question  is  settled  that  the  Packard  government  was  not  the  government ; 
if  you  reject  the  decision  of  the  State  and  take  the  facts  in  the  case  as 
apparent  on  the  record,  still  it  was  not  the  Legislature. 

Then  I  hold  it  is  established,  in  the  second  place,  that  if  it  was  a  Legis 
lature  it  did  not  elect  the  sitting  member,  because  there  was  no  quorum 
present  at  his  election,  and  because  a  number  of  members  there  were  con 
trolled  by  bribery  in  their  votes.  I  have  shown  you  that  the  Senate  is  bound 
now  to  determine  this  question,  because  the  facts  have  never  before  been 
passed  upon  by  the  Senate,  and  therefore  are  not  included  in  any  judgment 
rendered  by  the  Senate. 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WAITINGS.  679 

Mr.  President,  I  have  now  concluded  the  argument.  Before  leaving  the 
case  I  feel  it  my  duty  to  make  a  few  remarks  upon  the  general  subject 
There  is  one  feature  of  this  testimony  which  I  trust  the  American  people 
will  note.  When  the  war  closed,  the  Southern  States  and  people  were  in  a 
prostrate,  helpless,  and  unresisting  condition.  Their  governments  were 
gone,  their  pride  was  wounded,  their  property  was  destroyed,  arid  they  were 
confronted  with  the  most  startling  fact  that  ever  was  brought  to  the  face  of 
any  people.  Nearly  half  of  their  population  had  been  suddenly  released 
from  slavery,  without  education  and  without  experience  in  government,  and 
was  made  to  assume  new  relations  both  to  society  and  government.  It  was 
enough  to  appall  the  stoutest  heart  in  the  most  prosperous  times,  and  yet  the 
Southern  people  had  to  meet  that  state  of  things  at  a  time  when  of  all  others 
they  were  most  humiliated  and  prostrate. 

They  went  to  work  to  meet  it  bravely ;  but  soon  they  were  told  that 
they  had  no  power  to  reorganize  their  own  government,  and  that  the  central 
power  should  do  that.  They  never  resisted  it.  They  never  stopped  to 
inquire  whether  that  was  Constitutional  or  not,  for  they  were  not  in  a  con 
dition  to  question  the  power  of  the  Federal  Government,  and  they  did  not 
question  it. 

I  want  to  state  here,  and  I  hope  the  Republicans  will  hear  me,  that  the 
troubles  in  the  South  since  the  war  have  never  had  the  slightest  foundation 
in  any  disposition  on  the  part  of  the  Southern  people  to  question  or  resist 
the  authority  of  the  Federal  Government.  I  affirm,  on  the  contrary,  what 
I  said  as  far  back  as  1868,  and  I  have  repeated  it  often,  that  I  do  verily 
believe  that  if  this  Congress  had  taken  upon  itself  to  frame  constitutions  here 
for  each  of  the  Southern  States  the  Southern  people  would  have  accepted 
them  and  organized  their  governments  under  them,  trusting  to  time,  expe 
rience,  and  wisdom  to  cure  whatever  defects  they  might  possess.  There  was 
no  disposition  to  question  the  authority  of  the  Federal  Government.  There 
was  every  purpose  to  recognize  that  authority. 

Secondly,  I  want  to  say  that  the  troubles  in  the  South  since  the  war  have 
not  grown  out  of  natural  antagonism  between  the  two  races  ;  it  has  not  sprung 
from  any  disposition  on  the  part  of  the  Southern  whites  to  do  injustice  to 
the  blacks.  I  say  there  could  be  no  such  disposition,  because  the  colored 
race  is  essential  to  the  prosperity  of  the  Southern  people.  Left  to  them 
selves  in  their  new  condition,  both  races  would  have  desired  to  organize 
governments  best  calculated  to  secure  their  common  prosperity.  They 
might  have  made  mistakes,  but  they  soon  would  have  corrected  these 
mistakes. 

The  people  of  the  South  recognized  absolutely  and  without  question  the 
abandonment  of  secession  and  the  abolition  of  slavery,  and  forever.  None 
of  the  troubles,  I  repeat,  which  have  existed  in  the  South  since  the  war  have 
sprung  from  any  disposition  to  question  the  authority  of  the  Federal  Gov 
ernment  or  to  do  injustice  to  the  black  race.  Where,  then,  have  our  troubles 
come  from?  They  have  come  from  but  one  source.  I  affirm  it  here  to-day, 
and  the  whole  history  of  the  whole  South  will  prove  it.  The  Reconstruc 
tion  acts,  unwisely  and  unfortunately,  disfranchised  over  two  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  of  the  very  best  people  of  the  South  from  taking  part  in  the 
work  of  reconstruction.  They  included  in  that  disfranchisement  over  two 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  white  voters.  The  very  best  men  in  the  coun 
try,  all  of  those  who  had  been  trusted  with  office  before  the  war,  the  edi 
cated,  the  experienced,  the  men  of  property,  were  included  in  that 


C80  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

hundred  and  fifty  thousand.  At  that  most  critical  juncture,  when"  a  condi 
tion  of  things  had  to  be  met  that  no  people  in  the  world  had  ever  had  to 
face  before,  the  central  power  disfranchised  from  participation  in  govern 
ment  the  intelligence  and  experience  and  the  property  of  the  South.  That 
alone  would  not  have  disturbed  us  much,  for  I  believe  if  the  work  had  gone 
into  the  hands  of  even  the  colored  people  with  the  remnant  of  white  people 
left  enfranchised,  although  the  colored  people  were  enfranchised  indiscrim 
inately  without  regard  to  their  qualification,  we  would  have  got  along  in 
comparative  peace  and  quiet,  and  would  have  settled  all  our  troubles  ;  but 
the  enfranchisement  of  so  large  a  portion  of  our  first-class  citizens,  and  the 
indiscriminate  enfranchisement  of  the  colored  people,  opened  up  a  tempta 
tion  to  a  class  of  men  in  the  North  such  as  never  before  infested  society  and 
I  pray  God  may  never  infest  it  again — a  class  of  men  who  went  down  there 
to  take  advantage  of  the  situation  and  seek  to  use  the  colored  people  to  get 
the  offices  for  their  own  benefit. 

In  order  to  succeed  they  had  to  create  difficulties  and  dissensions  among 
the  races.  They  sought  to  segregate  the  black  race  from  the  white  race,  so 
as  to  get  control  of  the  black  race,  by  convincing  them  that  the  white  people 
of  the  South  were  their  enemies.  They  were  sustained  in  that  by  the 
Federal  Army ;  they  were  sustained  in  that  by  the  Federal  Administration. 
In  order  to  accomplish  their  purpose  they  went  to  work  to  dissatisfy  the 
colored  race  ;  they  went  to  work  to  get  up  divisions  and  strifes  between  the 
two  races  ;  they  went  to  work  to  get  up  charges  of  outrages  upon  the  colored 
race  by  the  white  people  ;  and  they  went  to  work  to  fill  the  North  with 
charges  of  disloyalty  and  a  spirit  of  rebellion. 

Sir,  when  the  history  of  that  terrible  period  shall  be  written,  the  people 
of  the  North  will  have  to  blush  in  the  face  of  the  fact  that  a  large  majority 
of  the  very  outrages  of  which  they  complained  and  which  have  so  excited 
them  were  incited  by  carpet-baggers  for  the  express  purpose  of  manufacturing 
charges  against  the  white  people  of  the  South  to  inflame  the  people  of  the 
North  and  to  keep  the  military  power  and  Federal  administration  in  their 
support.  To  accomplish  this  they  had  to  get  up  falsehoods  ;  and  here  is  a 
feature  developed  by  this  testimony.  The  poor  colored  people  were  actually 
taught  to  believe  that  any  crime  was  right  if  committed  in  support  of  the 
Republican  party.  They  were  taught  to  believe,  and  this  evidence  reveals 
it,  that  perjury  itself  was  a  virtue  and  lying  and  deception  in  every  form 
were  right  if  by  such  means  they  would  benefit  the  Republican  party.  The 
Senator  from  Missouri  (Mr.  Vest)  gave  you  some  remarkable  instances  of 
that.  Let  me  read  but  one  sentence,  which  the  Senator  from  Missouri  did 
not  read.  This  man  Watson,  who  personated  Thomas,  and  who  is  referred 
to  frequently  in  these  telegrams  as  one  of  the  men  who  had  to  be  fixed,  on 
being  examined  confessed  that  he  had  lied  ;  he  confessed  that  he  had  made 
a  false  affidavit ;  he  said  he  was  a  preacher,  and  that  he  believed  it  was 
according  to  the  Scripture  to  lie.  Then  he  was  asked  this  question  : 

Question. — Why  did  you  write  that  letter  to  Cavanac,  and  thus  pile  lie  upon  lie,  if 
that  was  the  fact? 

Answer.—  I  was  exercising  one  of  the  gifts  of  a  free  American  citizen. 
Q. — Which  is  to  lie  as  much  as  he  pleases? 
A. — Yes,  sir. 

jr 

This  poor  creature,  without  blushing,  sat  before  that  committee  and  abso 
lutely  said  that  he  piled  lie  upon  lie  in  the  exercise  of  the  right  of  a  free 
American  citizen,  which  was  to  lie  as  he  pleased  and  as  often  as  he  pleased. 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND   WRITINGS.  681 

That  is  not  the  only  instance.  You  will  find  that  witness  after  witness  cairn- 
before  the  committee  and  testified  that  way,  and  they  seemed  to  be  perfectly 
surprised  that  we  thought  strange  of  it.  Why  was  that  ?  They  had  been 
taught  it.  Will  the  people  of  the  North  now  wonder  that  affidavits  were 
piled  up  in  the  custom-house  to  prove  outrages  that  never  took  place,  to 
prove  assassinations  that  were  never  committed?  Sometimes  I  hear  able 
Senators,  distinguished  gentlemen,  who  I  know  would  not  do  so  if  they  knew 
the  facts,  stand  up  here  and  charge  the  best  people  of  the  South  with  all 
kinds  of  brutal  assassination  and  outrage,  upon  the  testimony  of  these  wit 
nesses,  who  have  been  taught  that  it  was  right  to  lie  for  their  party.  You 
can  go  into  that  country  and  gets  affidavits  by  the  thousand,  and  the  poor 
creatures  who  give  them  will  not  be  at  all  loath  to  give  them,  and  will  not 
have  any  idea  that  they  are  doing  wrong.  They  are  taught  so,  and  this 
evidence  shows  it. 

Mr.  President,  what  excuse  shall  we  now  give  if  we  keep  this  man  in  a 
seat  to  which  he  never  was  elected  by  a  Legislature,  for  the  voice  of 
Louisiana  and  the  voice  of  all  the  w^orld  says  it  was  not  her  Legislature  ! 
You  cannot  say  he  was  fairly  elected,  for  the  men  wrho  paid  the  bribes,  the 
men  who  received  the  bribes,  the  men  whose  duty  it  was  to  procure  a 
quorum,  come  before  you  and  swear  that  there  was  bribery,  overwhelming 
bribery,  and  there  was  no  quorum  on  the  day  of  the  election.  Will  you 
say,  as  the  Senator  from  Wisconsin  says,  that  whatever  the  Senate  shall 
resolve  is  true,  however  false. 

Mr.  Carpenter. — In  point  of  law. 

Mr.  Hill. — Will  you  declare  that  if  we  choose  to  say  that  any  one  is 
entitled  to  a  seat  here  he  shall  be  entitled  to  it?  Though  the  Constitution 
says  no  man  shall  be  a  Senator  unless  he  has  attained  the  age  of  thirty  years, 
the  Senator  from  Wisconsin  says  he  shall  be  a  rightful  Senator  though  not 
thirty  years  old.  Though  the  Constitution  says  no  man  shall  be  a  Senator 
who  has  not  been  nine  years  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  the  Senator  from 
Wisconsin  says  he  shall  be  a  Senator  and  have  a  rightful  title  to  a  seat  in 
this  body  if  the  Senate  says  so,  right  or  wrong. 

I  need  not  be  surprised  at  those  gentlemen  saying  those  absurd  things, 
but  I  will  be  surprised  if  they  find  reinforcement  among  Democrats, 
ought  not  to  be  surprised  at  anything  in  this  day,  but  really  when  a  Demo 
cratic  Senate  shall  reaffirm  deliberately  the  doctrine  of   1877  and  declare 
that  we  are  bound  to  believe  that  is  true  which  we  know  to  be  a  perjury 
that  we  are  bound   to  believe  that  is  genuine  which  we  know  to  be 
forgery  ;  that  we  are  bound  to  believe  that  is  right  which  we  know  to  be  a 
fraud— if  we  are  to  reaffirm  that  doctrine,  I  will  confess  that  even  in 
day  of  demoralization  I  shall  be  surprised. 

If  you  say  that  you  cannot  eject  an  intruder  from  this  body,  the 
child  that  ejects  the  worm  that  slimes  its  way  into  its  play-house  wi 
you.     No,  gentlemen,  if  this  wrong  is  to  be  continued,  I  repeat,  it  is  not 
be  done  upon  law  ;  it  is  not  to  be  done  upon  evidence  ;  it  is  not  to  be  d< 
according  to  the  principles  of  the  Constitution  ;  it  is  to  be  done  foi 
other  reason.     The  people  will  know  it  is,  not  because  of  the  law,  t 
dence,  or  the  Constitution,  but  in  plain  disregard  of  all. 
pered  all  over  the  country  that  there  is   some  secret,  unavowed 
and  nothing  illustrates  the   brazen  effrontery  of  the  parties  mterestec 
this  case  so  palpably  as  the  charge  they  have  made  against  membe 
this  side  of  the  Chamber,  of  bargains,  honorable  agreements,  and 


682  SENATOR  R   II.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

standings,  and  their  effrontery  does  not  stop  until  it  seeks  to  soil  the  char 
acter  of  the  most  sensitive  State  in  this  Union  on  questions  of  honor  in  the 
days  of  the  past.  While  I  have  never  been  a  disciple  of  that  peculiar  school 
of  politics  known  as  the  South  Carolina  school,  I  have  always  regarded 
that  State  as  the  proudest  in  the  Union.  The  charge  that  anybody  on 
this  side  is  to  be  influenced  by  any  other  than  proper  motives  is  false,  but 
when  applied  to  that  gallant  State  I  deny  it  with  scorn  and  indignation,  for 
I  tell  you  to-dav  that  that  sense  of  honor  which  distinguished  that  State  in 

•/  ** 

the  days  that  are  past  and  gone  is  still  instinct  with  life  above  the  ashes  of 
so  many  other  dead  hopes  and  ambitions,  and  it  will  continue  so.  What ! 
South  Carolina  purchase  her  redemption  from  carpet-bag  infamies  by  agree 
ing  to  continue  those  infamies  upon  Louisiana? 

If  that  were  possible,  no  pelican  bird  could  ever  afterward  fold  its 
weary  wings  in  the  shade  of  the  palmetto  without  finding  it  a  death-exhal 
ing  upas.  Away  with  all  these  charges  ;  they  are  not  true.  Meet  the 
question  upon  the  law,  upon  the  evidence,  upon  the  Constitution,  and  upon 
the  right.  To  do  right  can  never  be  a  precedent  for  wrong.  To  do  right 
can  never  be  a  reason  for  thinking  there  is  danger.  There  is  always  safety 
in  right ;  there  is  always  danger  in  wrong. 

Mr.  President,  I  have  looked  with  longing  anxiety  for  that  reaction  in 
the  public  sentiment  which  would  restore  a  healthy  Constitutional  adminis 
tration  of  this  Government,  when  the  tendency  to  usurpation,  to  centralism, 
and  to  subversion  should  be  arrested  ;  and  yet  I  confess  that  while  sitting 
here  during  the  present  session  of  Congress  I  have  heard  very  untoward 
sounds.  I  have  heard  one  honorable  Senator  on  the  other  side  of  this  floor 
gravely  argue  in  the  most  solemn  manner  that  a  military  court  had  the 
same  dignity  and  character  with  the  highest  court  of  this  country.  I  have 
heard  another  honorable  Senator,  distinguished  as  one  of  the  ablest  con 
stitutional  lawyers  of  his  party,  the  Senator  from  Wisconsin,  solemnly 
argue  that  a  military  court  had  power  not  only  to  dismiss  a  soldier  from 
the  military  service,  but  actually  to  disfranchise  a  citizen,  and  declare  that 
the  people  should  not  have  power  to  elect  that  citizen  to  office  !  Coming 
through  that  door  from  the  adjoining  Chamber  I  have  heard  it  declared 
that  a  State  officer,  that  a  State  judge,  can  be  dragged  before  the  Federal 
judiciary,  and  incarcerated  as  a  criminal  for  administering  the  laws  of  his 
State  according  to  his  own  conscience  and  judgment !  But  worse  than  all 
these,  far  worse  than  all  these,  is  the  proposition  now  made  that  the  Senate 
can  disfranchise  a  State  !  That  the  Senate  can  do  what  the  people  have 
solemnly  pledged  themselves  never  to  do,  deprive  a  State  of  her  equal  suf 
frage  in  the  Senate.  That  the  Senate  can  go  into  a  State  and  tell  her 
judges,  tell  her  governor,  tell  her  people,  "  this  body  of  men  whose  laws  you 
administer,  whose  laws  you  execute,  whose  laws  you  obey,  is  not  your  Leg 
islature,  but  this  other  body,  which  is  but  a  mob  of  conspirators,  self-barri 
caded  criminals,  that  no  court  respects,  that  no  officer  respects,  that  no 
citizen  respects — this  other  body  is  your  Legislature  and  shall  send  the  man 
to  represent  you  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States." 

Sir,  do  these  things  sound  the  retreat  of  Constitutional  government  and 
herald  the  approach  of  imperial  dynast}r  as  the  only  refuge  from  anarchy? 
Is  the  trumpet  that  proclaims  coming  monarchy  getting  louder  and  louder 
and  nearer  and  nearer?  Have  the  people  ears  and  hear  not  the  groans  of 
dying  liberty?  Have  the  people  eyes  and  see  not  despotism  stalking  with 
brazen  front  at  noonday  in  the  highest  places  of  the  nation? 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  883 

If  these  things  be  so,  why  shall  we  not  be  honest  and  tell  the  people  at 
once  to  end  this  mockery  of  free  government  under  written  constitutions 
peaceably,  before  fraud  and  force  shall  end  it  in  blood?  No,  sir,  the  people 
have  ears  and 'they  will  hear  ;  the  people  have  eyes  and  they  will  see.  Tin- 
people  still  love  liberty ;  the  people  still  have  faith  in  written  constitutions; 
and  the  people  will  rise  up,  I  trust,  in  this  auspicious  year,  and  declare  that 
a  party  which  has  seized  and  held  power  by  fraud  against  the  popular  will 
shall  never  afterward  be  trusted  with  power  by  that  popular  will.  They 
will  cast  out  the  thieves  who  divide  the  public  offices  as  their  own  legiti 
mate  plunder.  If  we  undertake  to  disfranchise  a  sovereign  State  of  this 
Union,  the  people  will,  as  they  ought,  drive  us  from  these  places  that  we  so 
dishonor  and  send  others  here  who  will  respect  the  popular  will,  who  will 
preserve  the  equality  of  the  States,  and  who  will  obey  the  Constitution  as 
the  supreme  law  over  all. 


SPEECH    DELIVERED    IN    THE     SENATE     OF    THE     UNITED 

STATES,  JUNE  11,  1880. 


THE  STATE  ALONE  CAN  GIVE  TITLE  TO  A  SEAT  IN  THE  SENATE. 


"  The  wisdom  won  in  fiery  air 
Of  siege  and  battle  scarce  availed 
To  serve  him  when  he  sought  to  wear 
The  civic  laurels.     There  he  failed." 


This  speech  was  made  in  the  United  States  Senate  in  the  Spofford-Kellogg  Contested 
Election  Case  from  Louisiana.  It  was  in  reply  to  the  arguments  made  in  behalf  of 
Kellogg,  and  was  especially  in  answer  to  the  speeches  of  Senators  Hampton  and  Butler  of 
South  Carolina.  Senator  Hill,  in  his  previous  speech  on  this  case,  had  referred  to  the 
rumors  and  newspaper  statements  that  the  South  Carolina  Senators  would  vote  for  Kel 
logg  in  pursuance  of  an  agreement  made  with  the  Republicans  when  the  seat  of  Senator 
Butler  was  contested.  He  had  eloquently  denounced  such  charges  as  false,  and  a  reflection 
not  only  on  the  Senators,  but  on  the  proud  State  they  represented.  For  some  reason  this 
had  given  offense  to  both  the  South  Carolina  Senators,  and  they  made  bitter  attacks  on 
Mr.  Hill.  This  speech  is  replete  with  sarcasm  and  eloquence  and  formed  the  capstone 
to  his  former  argument  on  the  same  subject. 

On  the  resolution  reported  by  the  Committee  on  Privileges  arid  Elec 
tions,  relating  to  the  seat  of  William  Pitt  Kellogg  as  Senator  from  Louisi 
ana,  Mr.  Hill  said  : 

Mr.  President:  On  the  llth  and  12th  of  May  I  had  the  honor  of  sub 
mitting  my  views  at  length  to  the  Senate  in  this  case.  Since  then  several 
gentlemen  have  addressed  the  Senate,  one  only,  I  believe,  making  or 
attempting  to  make  anything  of  a  legal  argument  purporting  even  to  reply 
to  what  I  then  said.  Other  gentlemen  have  seen  proper  to  allude  to  me 
personally,  without  attempting  to  assail  the  argument  which  I  submitted. 
I  promised  the  Senate  that  I  would  at  an  early  date,  when  I  could  get  the 
floor,  notice  some  of  the  points  that  had  been  made  in  this  connection.  I 
now  propose  to  do  so,  and  with  this,  I  trust,  be  rid  forever  of  this  case  as 
far  as  I  am  concerned. 

In  order  that  what  I  say  may  be  distinctly  understood,  I  desire  to  restate 
in  brief  form  three  propositions  which,  in  my  opinion,  cover  every  issue 
in  this  case. 

The  first  proposition  is  this  :  Each  State  establishes  her  own  Legislature  ; 
with  the  Legislature  thus  established  by  the  State  the  Constitution  deposits 
the  authority  of  choosing  Senators  ;  in  admitting  Senators  to  their  seats 
the  Senate  recognizes  the  bo<ly  choosing  them  as  being  the  Legislature 
established  by  the  States.  An  attempt  by  this  Senate  to  enlarge  the 
authority  to  ascertain  or  recognize  the  Legislature  established  by  the  State 
into  a  power  to  establish  a  Legislature  for  the  State,  is  a  plain  attempt  at 
usurpation  and  is  void.  The  body  pretending  to  elect  Kellogg  was  never 
established  by  the  State  of  Louisiana  to  be  her  Legislature,  and  therefore 

684 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND   W1UT1XGS.  685 

never  had  authority  to  choose  a  Senator.  Kellogg,  therefore,  never  had  a 
title  to  the  seat,  and  his  retention  by  the  Senate,  without  a  title,'  is  a  continu 
ing  violation  of  the  Constitution,  and  a  continuing  fraud  on  the  State  of 
Louisiana. 

The  second  proposition  is  this  :  If  it  be  assumed  that  this  Senate  can 
inquire  not  only  "  What  is  the  Legislature  established  by  the  State,"  but 
can  also  declare  that  a  body  not  so  established  is  nevertheless  the  lawful 
Legislature  of  such  State,  then  sucli  inquiry  can  only  be  complete  when  the 
Senate  has  ascertained  for  itself  the  legality  of  the  elections  of  the  members 
composing  such  body. 

In  1877,  the  Senate  first  resolved  to  reject  the  Legislature  established  by 
the  State,  and  to  inquire  for  itself  "  who  were  the  lawful  Legislature  of 
Louisiana,"  and  resolved  to  take  no  evidence  but  the  certificates  of  the 
returning  board,  and  refused  to  receive  any  evidence  to  show  that  these  cer 
tificates  were  forged  and  fraudulent  and  the  result  of  a  conspiracy  between 
Kellogg  and  the  returning  board  to  make  a  false  Legislature.  The  evidence 
showing  this  fraudulent  conspiracy  was  not  presented  or  considered  in  1877, 
and  is  now  for  the  first  time  before  the  Senate  to  be  considered  and  passed 
upon. 

The  third  proposition  is  this  :  In  1877  the  only  issue  considered  or  passed 
upon  was  the  legality  of  the  Packard  Legislature  as  evidenced  by  the  certifi 
cates  of  the  returning  board  only.  There  was  no  inquiry  into  the  regularity 
of  the  election  of  Senator,  assuming  that  body  to  be  the  Legislature.  The 
charges  now  made  are  that,  assuming  that  body  was  the  Legislature  there 
was  no  quorum  of  certified  members  present,  but  that  absent  members  were 
recorded  as  present  and  were  personated  by  others,  and  that  a  false  journal 
was  made  to  show  a  pretended  quorum,  and  that  those  who  were  present 
were  induced  to  vote  for  Kellogg  by  force,  bribery,  and  other  corrupt  prac 
tices. 

These  charges  have  never  before  been  made,  considered,  or  passed  upon, 
and  the  evidence  fully  sustaining  the  charges  has  never  before  been  taken. 

These  three  propositions  cover  exactly  the  points  in  this  case.  In  the 
first  I  say  that  there  can  be  no  final,  conclusive,  binding  decision,  because  it 
would  make  the  decision  of  this  Senate  superior  to  the  Constitution,  because 
if  a  man  is  not  chosen  by  the  Legislature,  as  the  Constitution  requires,  lie 
can  never  by  the  decision  of  this  Senate  acquire  a  legal  title  to  a  seat  in  this 
body,  and  until  he  has  a  legal  right  to  it  he  is  subject  to  be  ejected,  and 
ought  to  be  ejected  whenever  that  fact  is  known.  On  the  other  two 
grounds  I  say  that  the  evidence  now  submitted  was  never  submitted  before  ; 
was  not  known  ;  was  not  taken  ;  was  not  presented  on  the  trial  in  1877. 
Therefore  it  never  was  submitted  and  passed  upon,  and  did  not  enter  into  the 
judgment  then  rendered. 

Now,  Mr.  President,  I  desire  to  notice  first  of  all  the  statement  by 
Senator  from  Wisconsin  (Mr.  Carpenter).     I  shall  not  notice  all  his  points 
I  wish  to  notice  two  or  three  of  what  he  evidently  considered  his  strongest 
points,  for  the  purpose  of  showing  how  far  from  the  law  the  Senator  was, 

In  the  first  place,  the  Senator  read  from  the  opinion  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States  rendered  by  Chief  Justice  Taney,  in  the  case  of 
vs.  Borden.    I  read  this  portion  of  the  decision  taken  from  the  Senator  s  own 
speech,  and  I  call  the  attention  of  the  Senate  to  it,  for  the  difference  be 
txveen  this  decision  as  made  by  the  Court  and  then  as  stated 
ator  himself,  actually  punctuates   the  difference  between  mys 


686  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

Senator,  for  the  decision  rendered  by  the  Court  is  simply  the  position  taken 
by  myself. 

Chief  Justice  Taney  said  : 

Under  this  article  of  the  Constitution  it  rests  with  Congress  to  decide  what  govern 
ment  is  the  established  one  in  the  State.  For  as  the  United  States  guarantee  to  each  State 
a  republican  government,  Congress  must  necessarily  decide  what  government  is  estab 
lished  in  the  State  before  it  can  determine  whether  it  is  Republican  or  not.  And  when 
the  Senators  and  Representatives  of  a  State  are  admitted  into  the  councils  of  the  Union, 
the  authority  of  the  government  under  which  they  are  appointed,  as  well  as  its  republi 
can  character,  13  recognized  by  the  proper  Constitutional  authority. 

Note  that  language.  What  is  the  emphatic  word  in  that  sentence  ?  No 
man  can  escape  it.  "  Under  this  article  of  the  Constitution  it  rests  with 
Congress  to  decide  r>  what  ?  What  is  the  goverment  of  a  State  ?  No,  sir. 
To  set  up  a  government  in  a  State  ?  No,  sir.  To  overrule  the  decision  of 
the  State  as  to  what  is  her  government  ?  No,  sir.  What  does  the  court 
say  ? 

It  rests  with  Congress  to  decide  what  government  is  the  established  one  in  the  State. 

Established  by  whom  ?  Established  by  what  authority  ?  Not  by  Con 
gress.  The  power  of  Congress  is  to  ascertain  what  government  is  the  es 
tablished  one  in  a  State  ;  that  is,  what  government  is  established  by  the 
State.  So  it  says  : 

And  when  the  Senators  and  Representatives  of  a  State  are  admitted  into  the  councils  of 
the  Union,  the  authority  of  the  government  under  which  they  are  appointed,  as  well  as  its 
republican  character,  is  recognized  by  the  proper  Constitutional  authority. 

What  government  is  recognized  ?  The  power  of  the  Senate  is  to  recog 
nize,  not  to  create,  a  government ;  not  to  go  into  the  State  and  dispute  with 
the  State  as  to  what  is  her  government,  but  the  very  term  "recognized  "  is 
used.  The  Senate  recognizes  the  government  established  by  the  State. 

Now,  for  the  purpose  of  showing  the  difference  betiveen  the  Senator  and 
the  court,  and  therein  the  difference  between  the  Senator  and  myself  in  this 
case,  let  me  read  the  language  of  the  Senator  himself  when  he  undertakes  to 
repeat  this  decision  in  his  own  language.  Here  is  what  he  said  : 

He— 

Taney — 

says  that  the  power  of  determining  what  is  the  government  of  a  State  rests  with  Congress 
under  that  clause  of  the  Constitution  which  compels  us  to  guarantee  a  republican  govern 
ment  to  every  State. 

Taney  said  no  such  thing.  The  Senator  in  intending  to  quote  the  de 
cision  of  Taney  leaves  out  the  main  word  in  Taney's  decision.  Taney  never 
said  Congress  had  power  to  determine  what  is  the  government  of  a  State. 
Taney  said  that  Congress  had  power  to  decide  what  government  "  is  the 
established  one  in  a  State,"  bringing  in  another  power  to  establish  an  act  al 
ready  done.  Not  that  Congress  ascertains  what  government  it,  Congress, 
establishes,  but  what  government  is  the  established  one  in  a  State,  by  the 
authority,  of  course,  of  the  people  of  that  State. 

So  in  the  admission  of  Senators  this  Senate  has  no  authority  to  decide 
what  is  the  Legislature  of  a  State  in  the  sense  of  controverting  the  decision 
of  the  State  on  that  subject,  or  in  the  sense  of  establishing  a  Legislature, 
but  the  Senate  simply  recognizes  the  body  established  by  the  State  to  be 
her  legislature,  and  the  Senate  ha.s  no  other  power,  In  other  words,  the 


SIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WHITINGS.  687 

power  of  the  Senate  is  one  of  recognition  only  of  that  which  exists,  of  that 
which  is  established  by  another  power — the  State. 

Now,  sir,  I  ask,  is  there  a  member  on  either  side  of  this  Chamber  who 
will  risk  his  reputation  for  veracity,  I  will  not  say  risk  his  reputation  as  a 
lawyer,  I  will  not  say  risk  his  reputation  as  a  judge,  as  a  wise  man,— but  is 
there  any  man  on  either  side  of  this  Chamber  who  will  stand  up  before  the 
country  in  this  high  council  and  risk  his  reputation  for  veracity  by  say 
ing  that  the  Legislature  which  sent  the  sitting  member  was  ever  estab 
lished  as  the  Legislature  of  Louisiana?  Who  established  it?  When  was  it 
established  ?  By  what  authority  was  it  established  ?  There  is  not  a  mem 
ber  who  will  rise  and  assert  it.  Everybody  knows  the  fact  to  be  the  reverse. 

The  Packard  government,  as  it  is  called,  had  struggled  for  a  while  to  be 
established.  It  was  maintained  in  that  struggle  solely  by  the  military 
power.  It  never  succeeded  in  becoming  established,  and  the  moment  the 
military  power  was  withdrawn,  that  moment  the  government  fell,  and  this 
occurred  before  Kellogg's  admission  to  his  seat.  What  were  called  the 
Nicholls  and  Packard  Legislatures  were  both  struggling  to  be  established  at 
the  same  time.  They  continued  their  struggle  through  the  months  of  Janu 
ary,  February,  and  March — the  Packard  Legislature  sustained  by  the 
military,  the  Nicholls  Legislature  sustained  by  the  people.  When  the  mili 
tary  was  withdrawn  by  order  of  the  President,  that  moment  the  struggle 
ceased.  What  struggle  ceased?  The  struggle  to  be  established  as  the 
Legislature  of  the  State.  Ho\v  did  it  cease  ?  It  ceased  by  the  Packard 
government  failing  to  be  established  and  by  the  Nicholls  government  be 
coming  absolutely  established  beyond  dispute.  The  Packard  Legislature 
dissolved,  disbanded,  and  the  elected  portion  of  it  went  into  the  Nicholls 
Legislature,  and  that  became  the  undisputed,  established  Legislature  of  the 
State.  After  that  Legislature  was  thus  established,  Mr.  Spofford  was  elected 
Senator  to  this  body. 

There  can  be  no  controversy  as  to  the  facts  of  this  case.  The  only  Leg 
islature  which  in  the  language  of  Chief  Justice  Taney  was  ever  established 
in  Louisiana  from  the  1st  day  of  January,  1877,  was  what  was  known  as  the 
Nicholls  Legislature.  I  ask  no  better  authority  than  that  of  Chief  Justice 
Taney.  Strange  to  say  the  Senator  from  Wisconsin  (Mr.  Carpenter),  after 
quoting  that  decision  establishing  my  proposition  so  directly,  uses  this  very 
remarkable  language  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States. 

I  am  very  sorry  I  cannot  see  the  Senator  from  Georgia  in  his  seat,  because  I  should 
like  to  see  what  impression  that  language  would  make  upon  him  after  the  speech  he  made 
the  other  day. 

I  had  alluded  to  it  in  my  speech  and  said  that  the  language  of  Chief 
Justice  Taney  had  been  misinterpreted  and  did  not  mean  what  the  Senator 
now  says  it  meant.  The  Senator  himself  cannot  quote  that  language  of  Jhiei 
Justice  Taney  without  leaving  out  the  strongest  word  of  the  sentence,  be 
cause  to  have' incorporated  that  word  was  a  direct  overthrow  of  the  Senator  s 
argument,  and  to  leave  out  that  word  was  a  downright  misrepresentation  oi 
Chief  Justice  Taney's  decision. 

Another  remark  made  by  the  Senator  from  Wisconsin  j  feel  it  my 
to  notice.     He  said  : 

Mr.  Carpenter.— As  I  understood  the  Senator  from  Georgia,  the  first  premise  of  his 
speech  was  that  the  Senate  could  not  determine  which  of  two  rival  bodies  was 
lature  of  a  State  ;  that  the  State  had  the  power  to  determine  it ;  and 
State  changed  front  on  the  question  and  reversed  its  own  decision  as 


088  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

been  its  Legislature  before,  we  were  bound  to  follow  it  and  unseat  a  Senator  we  had 
seated  according  to  their  own  first  decision. 

I  should  not  care  to  notice  that,  if  nobody  had  made  that  statement  but 
the  Senator  from  Wisconsin.  But  other  Senators  have  fallen  into  the  same 
error.  The  senator  from  Ohio  (Mr.  Pendleton)  has  made  this  singular  state- 
ment,  and  coming  from  a  distinguished  lawyer,  professing  to  adhere  to  a 
strict  construction  of  the  Constitution,  it  did  startle  me  : 

It  has  been  urged  in  this  connection  with  much  force  that  the  rule  is  absolute,  unvary 
ing,  of  universal  application  ;  that  the  Senate  must  follow  the  decision  of  the  political 
powers  of  the  State  as  to  which  body  is  the  Legislature  of  the  State.  Doubtless,  sueh  de 
cision  is  of  persuasive  authority — 

Very  persuasive — 

but  I  cannot  agree  that  it  is  conclusive  upon  the  Senate.     That  decision  may  be  changed — 
That  is,  the  decision  of  the  State  may  be  changed — 

A  forcible  or  a  peaceable  revolution,  or  a  mere  change  of  public  opinion  in  its  fitful 
mood,  might  reverse  a  decision  once  made  ;  and  this  latter  decision  might  by  the  same 
means  be  again  reversed.  Can  it  be  gravely  contended  that  the  Senate  must  follow  all 
these  changes  and  seat,  unseat,  reseat,  and  again  unseat  a  man  elected  by  one  of  these 
alleged  Legislatures? 

But  the  honorable  Senator  from  South  Carolina,  the  Senator  who  sits  near 
me  (Mr.  Butler),  made  the  same  mistake.  He  said  : 

But  when  the  Legislature,  the  senatorial  constituency,  the  electoral  body  prescribed  in 
the  Constitution  to  appoint  a  United  States  Senator,  has  acted  and  sent  one  or  more  per 
sons  to  the  Senate  with  credentials  in  due  form  of  law,  and  when  the  Senate  has  taken 
jurisdiction  of  the  person  or  persons,  and,  after  investigation  of  the  merits  of  their  re 
spective  claims,  has  seated  one  of  them,  the  State  has  no  further  control  over  that  person 
as  a  Senator. 

•  ••*••• 

After  a  person  has  been  thus  seated  in  the  United  States  Senate,  the  State  cannot  six, 
twelve,  or  eighteen  months  afterward  say  to  the  Senate,  "  The  Legislature  which  sent  A 
B  to  you  as  my  Senator  was  not  my  lawful  Legislature,  and  A  B  is  not  my  representative 
in  your  body.  This  is  my  lawful  Legislature,  and  it  has  elected  C  D.  Seat  him  and 
turn  A  B  out." 

Each  of  these  Senators  has  drawn  an  inference  from  a  plain  Constitutional 
statement  for  which  inference  there  is  not  the  slightest  foundation  whatever, 
and  I  must  be  pardoned  for  saying  an  inference  which  ignores  the  whole 
character  and  system  of  the  Government  under  whicli  we  live.  What  !  Be 
cause  we  say  that  the  Senate  is  bound  to  recognize  the  Legislature  estab 
lished  by  the  State  authority,  it  follows  that  when  a  man  has  been  once 
seated,  who  was  elected  by  a  recognized  Legislature,  by  an  established  Leg 
islature,  as  often  as  another  Legislature  may  be  established  so  often  must 
there  be  a  denial  by  the  Senate  to  the  person  occupying  the  seat  !  The 
statement  is  remarkable.  The  Constitution  says  in  plain  language  that  a 
Senator  shall  be  chosen  for  six  years  ;  and  when  lie  is  once  chosen  by  a  legal 
body  he  is  chosen  for  the  Constitutional  term  of  six  years.  How,  then,  does 
it  follow,  because  the  State  should  determine  in  the  first  instance  what  is  her 
Legislature,  that  a  revolution  in  the  State  would  undo  what  the  State  has 
previously  legally  done  ?  That  is  the  error,  an  error  completely  answered  in 
my  reply  to  the  Senator  from  Massachusetts  (Mr.  Hoar).  WThen  what  the 
Senator  calls  a  Constitutional  Legislature,  "  the  senatorial  constituency," 
once  elects  a  man,  the  question  of  his  right  to  a  seat  for  six  years  is  at 
end.  If  it  were  possible  that  the  Legislature  should  change  a  thousand 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS. 

times  in  political  conviction,  that  would  not  change  that  which  was  done  by 
a  legal  Legislature,  while  that  legal  Legislature  had  existence. 

But  I  said  the  inference  drawn  by  the  Senator  from  Wisconsin,  by  the 
Senator  from  Ohio,  and  by  the  Senator  from  South  Carolina,  from  the 
premises  I  laid  down,  ignores  the  whole  character  of  this  government. 
They  talk  glibly,  as  though  a  State  could  change  her  Legislature  at  will. 
The  State  can  do  no  such  thing.  The  gentlemen  ignore  the  great  fact  that 
in  this  country  we  do*  not  live  under  a  pure  democracy  ;  we  live  under  a  Con 
stitutional  form  of  government,  and  when  a  Legislature  is  once  establishc>d 
in  a  State  legally,  and  by  the  authority  of  the  State  herself,  the  whole  peo 
ple  of  that  State  cannot  change  that  government  except  in  the  method 
pointed  out  by  the  Constitution  and  laws.  If,  therefore,  in  the  State  of  Louisi 
ana,  or  any  other  State,  the  people  establish  a  Legislature  under  their  Con 
stitution  and  laws,  they  cannot  destroy  that  Legislature  at  will  ;  they  can 
not  change  it  at  will  capriciously  every  six  months,  every  few  days,  as 
these  Senators  seem  to  think.  They  can  only  change  their  government  in 
the  method  pointed  out  by  their  Constitution. 

Mr.  Butler. — The  Senator  certainly  does  not  desire  to  misrepresent  me  ; 
but  he  does  misrepresent  me  when  he  says  I  claimed  any  such  power  or 
authority  for  a  State.  On  the  contrary,  I  stated  exactly  the  opposite.  Now, 
the  Senator  is  putting  me  in  the  position  of  claiming  that  a  State  can  change 
her  Legislature  when  she  pleases.  Just  exactly  the  contrary  is  what  I  insist 
upon. 

Mr.  Hill. — The  Senator  does  not  see  the  point. 

Mr.  Butler. — I  do  not  think  anybody  else  sees  the  point  made  by  the 
Senator. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  do  not  give  way  for  such  remarks.  I  say  this  :  the  Senator 
has  stated  that  if  my  position  be  true  the  inference  he  draws  follows,  which 
he  denies  to  be  correct.  He  denies  the  correctness  of  the  inference  and 
therefore  undertakes  to  deny  the  correctness  of  the  premise  that  I  laid 
down.  That  is  the  argument  the  Senator  from  Wisconsin,  the  Senator  from 
Ohio,  and  the  Senator  from  South  Carolina  each  made.  They  deduced  their 
own  inference  from  the  premise  stated  by  myself,  and  because  their  in 
ference  is  absurd  then  they  want  to  infer  that  my  premise  was  absurd. 
There  is  the  folly.  I  do  not  wish  to  misrepresent  any  Senator. 

I  say  that  if  the  people  of  a  State  establish  their  own  Legislature  and 
the  Senate  Seats  Senators  in  this  body  sent  by  that  Legislature,  the  Senate 
thereby  recognizes  the  Legislature  established  by  the  State.     I  say  the  Sen 
ate  has  no  power  to  go  into  a  State  and  recognize  a  Legislature  for  itself 
not  established  by  the  State.     It  is  the  duty  of  the  Senate  to  take  the  Legis 
lature  established  by  the  State  ;  that  is  my  premise,  and  the  Packard  gov 
ernment  never  was  established  by  the  State  of  Louisiana.     You  cannot 
a  representative   from  that  government.     The  Nicholls  government 
established  by  the  State,  and  you  are  compelled  to  take  the  representative 
from  that  State  government. 

Then  come  Senators  and  say,  "  If  we  admit  your  premises 
bound  to  take  the  government  recognized  and  established  by  the 
that  the  power  of  the  Senate  is  one  of  recognition,  then  it  would  foil 
as  often  as  the  State  changes  we  should  have  to  change."     I  am  amazed 
intelligent  gentlemen  should  attempt  to  deduce  such  an  inference  from  * 
a  premise  as  that  ;  and  then  undertake,  because  their  inference 
to  show  that  the  premise  is  wrong.     I  say  they  are  not  authorize 


690  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

such  an  inference  because  the  inference  itself  ignores  the  whole  Constitutional 
character  of  the  Government  under  which  we  live. 

How  could  a  State  change  capriciously  when  she  pleased,  how  could  a 
State  which  has  a  legal  Legislature  elected  for  two  years  change  that  Legis 
lature  every  month  or  every  six  months  ?  We  do  not  live  under  a  pure 
democracy,  we  live  under  a  Constitutional  Government,  and  the  people  can 
change  their  government,  they  can  change  the  Constitution,  that  is  true,  but 
they  must  change  the  Constitution  in  the  manner  poiilted  out  by  the  Con 
stitution  itself  and  by  the  laws  of  the  State.  A  mob  cannot  change  the 
government,  and  even  when  the  State  changes  her  government  or  her 
Legislature,  she  does  not  annul  anything  that  was  done  legitimately  by  the 
government  that  formerly  existed.  Everything  the  government  has  done 
while  it  had  legal  existence  is  valid,  even  though  the  State  by  due  forms  of 
law  may  change  subsequently  her  government.  My  own  State,  in  1877, 
called  a  convention  of  the  people  in  the  manner  provided  by  the  Constitu 
tion  and  framed  a  new  Constitution,  and  in  that  new  Constitution,  which 
was  submitted  to  the  people  and  ratified  by  them,  she  cut  off  the  terms  of 
the  members  of  the  Legislature  who  had  been  previously  elected  ;  but  that 
previous  Legislature  had  been  legal  when  it  acted.  The  State  changed  it, 
but  she  did  not  seek  to  undo  anything  that  had  been  done  by  that  Legis 
lature  while  it  had  legal  existence.  That  Legislature  sent  me  to  the  Senate, 
and  that  Legislature  made  laws,  and  those  laws  remain  of  force.  Whatever 
is  done  by  a  valid,  legal  Legislature  remains  valid  though  the  State  changes 
her  Constitution  and  orders  a  new  Legislature,  even  during  the  time  for 
which  the  old  one  was  elected.  I  am  amazed  that  intelligent  gentlemen 
like  the  Senators  from  South  Carolina,  distinguished  constitutional  lawyers, 
should  draw  an  inference  so  absurd  from  premises  so  absolutely  correct,  and 
then  seek  to  destroy  the  premises  by  showing  that  the  inference  is  absurd. 

That  is  all  on  that  point.  I  do  not  care  to  notice  any  other  point  made 
by  the  Senator  from  Wisconsin.  These  two  points  are  important  because 
they  relate  to  the  Constitutional  character  of  the  Government  under  which 
we  live,  and  I  do  not  care  that  such  representations,  especially  when  they 
seem  to  be  taken  up  by  the  Senator  from  Ohio  and  the  Senator  from  South 
Carolina  and  repeated,  should  go  on  the  record  unchallenged. 

Mr.  President,  I  believe,  as  far  as  the  other  side  of  the  Chamber  is  con 
cerned  in  this  case,  I  have  done  with  them  ;  I  have  no  further  quarrel  with 
them,  but  I  am  going  to  have  some  very  plain  words  with  my  friends  on 
this  side  of  the  House.  I  understand  the  gentlemen  on  the  other  side  ;  I 
understand  the  logic  of  their  position,  and  they  understand  it  themselves, 
and  the  country  will  understand  it ;  but  there  is  one  thing  I  do  not  under 
stand,  and  the  country  will  not  understand,  on  this  side  of  the  House.  The 
fentlemen  on  the  other  side  assume  and  believe,  or  pretend  to  believe — and 
must  assume  that  they  do  believe — that  the  Packard  government  was  a 
legal  government.  They  assume  to  believe  that  the  Packard  Legislature 
that  sent  the  sitting  member  here  was  the  valid  Legislature  of  the  State. 
How  they  can  believe  it,  I  do  not  know  ;  but  they  do  believe  it.  But  that 
is  not  the  condition  of  the  two  honored  gentlemen  from  South  Carolina  on 
this  floor.  They  admit  that  the  Packard  government  was  not  the  legal 
government  ;  they  admit  that  the  sitting  member  sits  here  without  author 
ity  of  the  Legislature  of  his  State  ;  and  3retthey  say  they  are  going  to  vote 
to  continue  him  here.  That  is  the  proposition.  I  confess  my  inability  to 
understand  it.  Only  two  Senators  on  this  side  have  thus  far  committed  them- 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AXD  WRITINGS.  691 

I 

selves  to  that  proposition  on  the  record,  and  as  I  do  not  wish  to  misrepresent 
them  in  the  slightest  degree,  for  they  know  the  high  esteem  I  have  for  them 
I  wish  to  quote  exactly  what  they  said.     The  Senator  from  South  Carolina 
( Mr.  Hampton)  who  spoke  first,  speaking  of  the  Nicholls  government,  used 
this  language  : 

That  this  government  was  the  legal  one  I  have  never  for  a  moment  doubted  •  nor  do 
I  entertain  a  doubt  that  the  court  would  have  so  decided  had  a  proper  issue  been  brought 
before  it  for  its  decision  on  this  point. 

The  Senator  puts  on  record  that  he  has  never  doubted  that  the  Nicholls 
government  w^as  the  legal  government  of  Louisiana,  and  of  course,  there 
fore,  it  follows  that  the  Packard  government  was  not  the  legal  government, 
for  there  could  not  be  two  legal  governments  in  Louisiana  at  the  same  time. 
The  other  Senator  from  South  Carolina  (Mr.  Butler)  said  this  : 

I  tell  that  Senator — 
Addressing  the  Senator  from  Alabama  (Mr.  Pryor) — 

frankly,  that  as  an  individual  I  do  not  believe  the  Packard  Legislature  was  a  lawful  Leg 
islature;  but  unfortunately  this  Senate  decided,  by  a  majority  of  its  members,  that  it  iras 
a  lawful  Legislature,  and  made  this  decision  before  he  and  I  became  members  of  this 
body. 

Now,  I  want  to  know  how  it  is  that  gentlemen  can  get  up  here  and  put 
on  record  a  formal  admission  that  a  man  is  sitting  in  this  body  who  was 
never  elected  by  a  legal  Legislature,  and  yet  have  such  a  lawful  title  to  sit 
here  that  they  will  not  vote  to  exclude  him. 

Mr.  Hutler. — I  ask  the  Senator  this  question  :  he  expresses  some  sur 
prise  that  I  should  admit  that  in  my  individual  judgment  the  Packard 
Legislature  was  an  illegal  body.  I  repeat  that  opinion,  that  it  was  illegal.  ' 
I  went  on  further  to  say  that  that,  in  my  judgment,  was  not  the  question 
before  the  Senate  ;  that  a  majority  of  the  Senate  had  decided  it  was  a  legal 
Legislature.  Now,  Mr.  President,  if  that  is  so  astounding  to  the  Senator, 
wrill  he  answer  me.  this  question  :  Does  he  believe  the  judgment  of  the  elec 
toral  commission,  which  declared  the  present  Chief  Executive  of  this  coun 
try  to  be  the  President  of  the  United  States,  a  lawful  judgment? 

Mr.  Hill. — I  do  not  believe  that  was  a  correct  judgment  ;  I  will  not  say 
it  was  not  a  lawful  judgment.  Yes,  I  think  it  was  lawful,  but  I  deny  that 
it  was  a  correct  judgment.  But  the  Senator  in  all  this  debate  must  keep 
in  mind  the  distinction  between  an  erroneous  decision  and  an  unconstitutional 
decision.  The  first  is  only  voidable,  the  latter  is  absolutely  void. 

Mr.  Sutler.— Let  me  ask  another  question  :  Does  he  believe  that  the 
judgments  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  the  recent  cases  from  Virginia  and  Ten 
nessee  are  right  and  proper  ?  Will  he  set  them  aside  ? 

Mr.  Hill— I  do  not  think  they  are  right  and  proper,  and  whenever 
where  I  have  the  authority  to  pass  upon  them  I  will  say  under  my  oath 
that  they  are  not  right  and  proper. 

Mr.  Butler.— I.  will  ask  the  Senator  if  he  has  not  had  it  in  his  power, 
ever  since  the  4th  of  March,  1877,  to  have  passed  upon  the  title  of  Mr. 
Hayes  as  President  of  the  United  States  ? 

Mr.  Hill.— Never,  except  once.     I  was  a  member  of  the  House  when 
the  decision  of  the  electoral  commission  was  submitted  to  the  House,  and 
voted  against  it. 

Mr.  Hampton.— Way  I  interrupt  the  Senator  a  moment 
stand  him  to  say  that  he  voted  against  the  bill  for  the  electoral  commis! 


692  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  did  not.  I  said  I  voted  against  the  correctness  of  the 
decision  by  the  electoral  commission. 

Mr.  Hampton.- -W as  the  Senator  opposed  to  the  electoral  commission? 

Mr.  Jif III.- -That  has  nothing  to  do  with  this  question.  I  will  come  to 
that.  I  know  it  has  been  stated  by  the  honorable  Senator  that  the  electoral 
commission  had  made  a  decision  to  which  we  had  all  submitted.  Certainly 
the  electoral  commission,  after  they  had  been  clothed  with  authority  by  law 
to  make  it,  did  make  a  decision 

Mr.  Butler. — Then  I  would  ask  the  honorable  Senator  if  the  Senate  of 
the  United  States  was  not  clothed  by  authority  of  law  with  the  right  to 
make  the  decision  which  it  made  in  1877  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — Let  me  attend  to  the  other  question  first. 

Mr.  Butler. — It  is  entirely  germane  to  the  question  I  had  just  pro 
pounded. 

Mr.  Hill. — The  Senator  does  not  allow  me  to  get  through  with  one  ques 
tion.  I  go  back  and  repeat  that  the  electoral  commission  made  a  decision 
by  authority  of  an  act  of  Congress  which  clothed  them  with  the  power  to 
make  that  decision.  I  do  not  believe  that  decision  was  correct,  and  I  did 
not  feel  bound  to  vote  for  it  because  the  electoral  commission  had  decided 
it.  The  House  of  Representatives  and  the  Senate  in  joint  convention 
accepted  by  a  majority  vote  that  advisory  decision  and  they  declared  Mr. 
Hayes  President  of  the  United  States.  It  was  not  the  electoral  commission 
that  did  it.  In  determining  that  question  I  had  the  exquisite  pleasure  of 
voting  against  the  decision  of  the  electoral  commission.  Now  the  Senator 
asks  whether  we  have  had  authority  to  review  that  since.  By  no  means. 
That  is  the  very  point.  The  jurisdiction  that  determined  whether  Hayes 
was  elected  President  or  not  was  the  two  Houses  of  Congress  of  the  Forty- 
fourth  Congress.  They  dissolved,  by  operation  of  law,  on  the  4th  of  March, 
1877,  and  no  other  tribunal  after  that  Congress  disbanded  has  been  clothed 

J  ^j 

with  authority  to  pass  on  that  question. 

Mr.  Butler. — I  should  like  to  ask  the  honorable  Senator  if,  when  the 
electoral  law  was  drafted,  the  reservation  was  not  distinctly  made  that  it 
should  not  preclude  the  right  to  inquire  into  the  regularity  of  that  proceed 
ing.  As  I  remember  the  proceedings  it  was  distinctly  reserved,  and  the 
honorable  Senator  could  at  any  moment  have  moved  in  the  matter. 

Mr.  Hill. — The  Senator  is  mistaken  again.  There  could  be  no  right 
reserved  to  exercise  a  jurisdiction  that  did  not  exist  by  the  Constitution  ; 
but  the  right  was  reserved  by  the  bill  creating  the  electoral  commission  that 
the  courts  might  exercise  whatever  power  they  had  on  the  subject.  That 
was  all.  There  was  no  new  power  given.  There  was  no  power  given  to 
the  courts  which  they  did  not  before  have.  The  truth  is  it  was  a  snare. 
It  reserved  no  power.  The  courts  could  not  review  a  political  decision 
rendered  by  the  joint  convention  of  the  two  Houses. 

Mr.  Butler. — I  understand  the  honorable  Senator  to  say  he  voted  for  a 
snare  ;  he  voted  for  the  electoral  bill ;  he  voted  with  the  understanding  that 

the  Supreme  Court  or  some  other  tribunal  had  the  right  to  review  their 
proceedings. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  did  not  vote  for  the  bill  because  that  provision  was  in  it, 
but  in  spite  of  it.  That  provision  was  only  a  nullity.  The  Senator  is  ex 
ceedingly  captious  to-day.  I  voted  for  the  bill  for  other  reasons.  I  repeat 
there  was  no  power  in  the  courts  to  review  and  reverse  a  decision  rendered 
by  the  two  Houses  of  Congress  in  counting  the  presidential  vote.  If  there 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND   WRITINGS. 

was  a  power  to  review  that  decision  would  the  Senator  get  up  here  and  say, 
"  I  believe  that  decision  was  unconstitutional,  and  yet  because  it  had  been 
so  once  decided  I  was  bound  by  it  ?  I  would  continue  in  force  an  unconsti 
tutional  decision  ?  '  Surely  he  would  not  ;  and  yet  the  Senator  comes  here 
and  says,  "  Oh,  here  is  a  man  sitting  in  this  body  who  was  not  chosen  by  the 
Legislature  of  the  State,  and  yet  because  the  Senate  once  seated  him,  though 
his  opinion  is  that  he  has  no  right  here  under  the  Constitution,  for  he 
denies  his  right,  yet  since  the  decision  of  the  Senate  he  will  vote  for  retain 
ing  him." 

Mr.  Butler. --Tk&t,  is  not  a  fair  statement  of  my  position.  I  vote  to 
retain  him  here,  because  under  my  opinion  of  the  powers  of  this  body  it 
cannot  unseat  him  after  having  seated  him  upon  the  merits  of  his  case. 
That  is  the  point. 

Mr.  Hill. — That  has  been  stated.  Of  course  the  Senator  means  by  his 
statement  that  he  recognizes  a  power  in  the  Senate  superior  to  that  of  the 
Constitution  ;  and  that,  with  all  due  deference  to  my  friend,  is  the  startling 
feature  of  his  position.  The  Constitution  says  that  no  man  shall  sit  here 
who  wa£  not  chosen  by  the  Legislature ;  the  Constitution  says  that  this 
Senate  shall  be  composed  of  two  Senators  from  each  State  chosen  by  the 
Legislature  thereof.  That  is  what  the  Constitution  says. 

Mr.  Butler. — But,  Mr.  President,  in  pursuance  of 'that,  the  Senate  has 
once  said  that  he  was  sent  here  by  a  proper  Legislature,  and  I  say  that  in 
my  judgment  we  have  not  the  power  to  oust  him.  I  do  not  take  the  ground 
the  Senator  puts  me  upon,  that  I  am  voting  to  retain  him  in  his  seat.  There 
is  a  great  deal  of  difference  between  voting  to  retain  him  in  his  seat  arid 
voting  to  oust  him.  I  say  I  do  not  believe  we  have  the  Constitutional  power 
to  oust  him  after  the  decision  in  his  favor. 

Mr.  Hill. — The  Senator  will  not  be  able  to  escape.  I  am  not  trying  to 
do  the  Senator  injustice.  I  have  the  kindest  feelings  personally  for  him. 
He  will  not  be  able  to  escape.  He  is  asked  to  vote  for  a  resolution  from 
the  Committee  on  Privileges  and  Elections,  which  simply  says  that  Kellogg 
was  not  chosen  by  the  Legislature  of  Louisiana. 

Mr.  Butler. — If  the  Senator  thinks  I  desire  to  escape  the  result  of  any 
action  of  mine,  he  is  very  much  mistaken  ;  but  I  undertake  to  say  that 
before  I  acknowledge  myself  convicted  I  will  select  some  other  tribunal 
than  his  own  unsupported  opinion. 

Mr.  Hill. — Well,  Mr.  President,  I  am  not  condemning  the  Senator, 
am  only  condemning  his  position,  and  it  is  from  the  logic  of  the  argument 
he  cannot  escape. 

Here,  I  repeat,  is  a  resolution  reported  from  the  Committee  on  Privi 
leges  and  Elections,  simply  declaring  as  a  fact  that  the  sitting  member  was 
not    chosen   by   the    Legislature   of  Louisiana.      The  Senator   admits  that 
he  was  not*chosen  by  the  Legislature  of  Louisiana,  and  yet  says  he  will 
vote  against  that  resolution,  and  he  says  he  will  vote  against  that  reso 
lution  because  the  Senate  once  seated  him,  and  thus  he  admits  that 
Senate  has  the  power  to  seat  a  man  in  this  Senate  with  a  legal  title  who 
was  not  chosen  by  the  Legislature  !     Why,  does  my  friend   support 
Constitution  according  to  the  view  of  a  majority  of  the  Senate  as  to  wha 
the  Constitution  is  ?     When  he  swears  to  support  the  Constitution,  he 
he  will  support  the  Constitution  as  he  understands  it,  not  as  somebody 
understands  it.     Now,  if  the  Senator  will  take  the  position  the  gent! 
on  the  other  side  take,  that  the  Packard  government  was  the  lawful  gove 


694  SENATOR  13.   II.   HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

ment,  however  absurd  I  think  that  might  be  in  point  of  fact,  I  could  under 
stand  him.  I  understand  them. 

Mr.  Butler. — I  do  not  support  the  Constitution  as  the  majority  of  those 
on  the  other  side  understand  it  ;  nor  do  I  support  it  as  the  Senator  from 
Georgia  understands  it,  by  any  means.  I  should  be  very  sorry  to  base  my 
judgment  on  either  construction  of  that  instrument.  I  support  it  as  I  un 
derstand  it,  not  as  the  Senator  interprets  it,  nor  as  the  majority  of  those  on 
the  other  side  interpret  it. 

Mr.  Hill. — Let  us  take  the  Senator's  support  of  it  as  he  understands  it. 
He  understands  it  that  Kellogg  was  not  chosen  by  the  Legislature  of 
Louisiana. 

Mr.  Bailer. — That  is  my  individual  opinion. 

Mr.  Hill. — And  he  will  not  vote  according  to  his  individual  opinion. 

Mr.  Butler. — I  say  if  this  were  a  question  brought  up  for  the  first  time, 
my  vote  would  be  very  different.  I  say  that  if  I  had  to  pronounce  judg 
ment  in  the  first  instance,  I  should  vote  very  differently.  If  the  Senator  had 
made  his  speech  in  the  first  instance,  if  he  had  brought  in  this  resolution  in 
the  first  instance,  it  would  have  presented  a  very  different  issue  ;.  but  the 
Senator  is  making  a  speech  three  years  after,  which  would  have  been  very 
appropriate  three  years  ago.  I  think  he  jumps  entirely  over  the  main  ques 
tion  ;  he  dodges  the  main  question,  has  dodged  it  from  the  beginning.  He 
has  gone  clear  over  it.  There  is  the  difference  between  the  Senator  and 
myself.  I  am  discussing  the  issue  before  the  Senate  ;  he  is  discussing  the 
issue  which  was  before  the  Senate  three  years  ago  ;  and  hence  I  say  I  chose 
not  to  select  his  interpretation  of  the  Constitution  to-day.  I  think  his  posi 
tion  would  have  been  entirely  correct  three  years  ago,  when  this  question 
was  first  considered. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  admit  that  the  Senator  says  that  the  reason  he  does  not  vote 
to  unseat  the  sitting  member  is  because  the  Senate  has  previously  decided  to 
admit  him  on  the  merits.  Then  he  votes  to  keep  a  man  here  whom  he 
admits  was  not  chosen  by  the  Legislature,  because  the  Senate  has  previously 
said  so.  Can  the  Senate  change  the  Constitution  ?  Was  the  Constitution 
different  three  years  ago  from  what  it  is  now  ?  Did  he  not  say  a  moment 
ago  that  he  voted  according  to  his  own  convictions  of  what  the  Constitution 
was,  and  not  according  to  what  the  Senate  said  ?  Arid  yet  he  turns  around 
now  and  reminds  me  that  he  votes  so  because  the  Senate  has  said  so.  What  I 
am  bringing  my  friend  to  is  the  point  that  he  who  believes  that  this  man 
was  not  chosen  by  the  Legislature  cannot  be  protected  in  voting  to  keep 
him  one  hour  because  the  majority  of  the  Senate  once  thought  otherwise. 
The  Senate  has  no  power  of  absolution.  It  cannot  change  the  Constitution. 
You  must  vote  on  a  Constitutional  question,  not  once,  but  always,  according 
to  your  own  convictions.  It  will  never  do  to  establish  the  doctrine  that  a 
man  is  relieved  from  his  own  judgment  and  convictions  of  what  is  a  Consti 
tutional  provision  by  any  vote  of  the  Senate.  You  can  do  this  and  it  is  your 
duty  to  respect  the  decisions  of  the  Senate  thus  far :  when  a  majority  have 
admitted  a  man  here  that  we  believe  has  no  authority  from  a  State  to  sit 
here,  we  of  course  have  to  recognize  him  as  a  Senator,  we  have  to  recognize 
the  fact  that  lie  draws  the  pay  and  has  an  actual  seat ;  he  is  a  Senator  de 
facto  ;  but  whenever  opportunity  is  presented  for  us  to  vote  on  the  question 
as  to  whether  he  has  a  title  to  sit  here,  it  is  our  duty  then  to  rescue  the  Con 
stitution  from  continued  violation.  Because  a  State  has  been  denied  her 
equal  suffrage  in  this  Senate  for  a  portion  of  a  term  is  no^reason  she  should 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  C95 

be  denied  that  equal  suffrage  the  whole  of  the  term.  The  State  alone  can 
give  title  to  a  seat  in  this  body.  A  resolution  by  the  Senate  seeking  to  give 
a  title  over  the  State  is  void.  If  the  Senator  would  have  voted  three  years 
ago  to  exclude  Kellogg  because  the  State  had  given  him  no  title  to  sit 
here,  he  is  equally  bound  now  to  exclude  him  because  the  State  has  not  yet 
given  him  a  title,  and  has  sent  us  her  most  solemn  protest  against  allowing 
Kellogg  to  sit  here  against  her  will  and  without  her  authority.  This  is  the 
logic  the  Senator  can  never  escape. 

Mr.  President,  I  assure  the  Senator  that  if  I  endeavor  to  state  the  ar^u- 
ment  strongly  it  is  not  from  personal  unkindness.  I  desire  to  strip  the  point 
naked  so  that  all  the  world  can  see  it.  My  friend  has  made  a  mistake,  a 
grievous  mistake  ;  it  is  a  dangerous  mistake  ;  it  is  a  mistake,  I  respectfully 
submit,  to  which  he  cannot  adhere,  when  he  says  that  he  will  vote  to  con 
tinue  a  man  in  this  body  for  any  cause  in  the  heavens  above  or  in  the  earth 
beneath,  who  he  admits  has  not  been  chosen  by  the  Legislature  of  his  State. 
If  it  was  the  last  hour  of  his  six  years'  term  and  the  question  was  up  if  he 
should  remain  here  for  that  hour,  it  would  be  our  duty  under  the  Constitu 
tion  to  say,  "no,"  because  the  Constitution  is  imperative  that  this  Senate  shall 
be  composed  of  persons  chosen  by  the  Legislatures,  and  you  cannot  allow 
any  man  to  sit  here  if  you  believe  he  was  not  chosen  by  the  Legislature. 

It  is  not  a  question  of  discretion  ;  it  is  a  question  of  duty.  The  Consti 
tution,  not  a  resolution  of  the  Senate,  is  the  supreme  law.  It  is  the  Consti 
tution  we  swear  to  support.  We  cannot  keep  that  oath  and  support  a  reso 
lution  or  continue  a  resolution  which  we  admit  was  unconstitutionally 
adopted. 

Mr.  Butler. — Will  the  Senator  allow  me  to  interrupt  him  now  ? 

Mr.  Hill.— Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Butler. — He  says  I  have  made  a  great  mistake,  one  from  which  I 
cannot  escape. 

Mr.  Hill. — That  is  my  opinion. 

Mr.  Butler. — He  will  pardon  me  for  saying  that  I  think  he  has  made  a 
most  grevious  mistake  in  thrusting  this  discussion  upon  the  Senate  at  this 
time,  one  which  he  cannot  persist  in  with  safety.  And  when  the  Senator 
threatens  me  with  making  this  issue  sharp  before  the  country,  I  desire  to  say 
to  him  that  he  may  make  it  just  as  sharp  as  he  pleases,  and  I  will  meet 
it  whenever  and  wherever  and  at  whatever  time  the  Senator  makes  it.  Let 
me  say  that  to  him. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  wish  to  say  distinctly  to  the  Senator  that  I  decline  to  yield 
any  more  for  the  purpose  of  such  interruptions  as  that. 

Mr.  Butler. — Well,  Mr.  President- 

Mr.  Hill. — I  decline  to  yield  further. 

Mr.  Butler. — I  ask  the  Senator,  then,  not  to  misrepresent  and  put  me  in 
a  false  position. 


"nil    ill  ll-llO  lllitlJ  Ilcl  .         JL   Hill    llUt    tlJ.1  UiVLirillll!^     UUV  — J^ 

wish  to  strip  the  issue  naked  I  I  want  to  make  the  Senator  feel  as  I  feel,  if 
I  can,  because  I  want  nothing  in  the  world  but  the  truth  shown  and  the 
right  to  triumph.  That  the  Senator  is  honest  in  his  opinion  I  do  not  ques 
tion  a  moment.  I  am  not  assailing  his  motive  ;  I  am  simply  discussing  his 
position,  and  I  will  illustrate  it  now  further. 


69G  SENATOR  B.   H.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

This  same  clause  says  : 

The  Senate  of  the  United  States  shall  be  composed  of  two  Senators  from  each  State, 
chosen  by  the  Legislature  thereof,  for   six  years  ;  and  each  Senator  shall  have  one  vote. 

Now  there  are  four  things  required  to  organize  the  Senate  under  that 
clause  :  (1)  that  each  State  shall  have  two  Senators  ;  (2)  that  they  shall  be 
chosen  by  the  Legislature  ;  (3)  that  they  shall  be  chosen  for  a  term  of  six 
years,  and  (4)  that  each  Senator  shall  have  one  vote.  One  of  these  provisions 
is  just  as  imperative  as  the  other.  If  the  Senator  can  say  that  because  the  Sen 
ate  has  once  seated  this  man  that  it  will  justify  him  in  keeping  him  here, 
though  he  believes  he  was  not  chosen  by  the  Legislature,  then  if  the  Senate 
should  seat  a  man  for  three  years,  for  twelve  years,  for  twenty  years,  for  life, 
the  Senator  would  be  bound  to  sustain  that  according  to  his  position.  If  the 
Senate  should  override  that  other  clause,  which  says  that  each  State  shall  have 
two  Senators,  and  give  each  State  three  Senators,  or  only  one  Senator,  as  in  this 
very  case,  would  the  Senator  feel  bound  to  sustain  that  resolution  ?  If  the 
Senate  should  say  that  each  Senator  should  have  two  votes,  or  that  each 
Senator  should  have  half  a  vote,  would  the  fact  that  this  Senate  so  overrode 
the  Constitution  be  obligatory?  Has  the  decision  of  this  Senate  superior 
power  and  authority  to  the  Constitution  of  the  country  ?  And  yet  it  is  just 
as  imperative  that  the  Senator  shall  be  chosen  by  the  Legislature  as  that  he 
shall  be  chosen  for  six  years,  as  that  each  Senator  shall  have  one  vote.  If 
the  Senator  believed  that  the  body  which  chose  Kellogg  was  the  Legislature 
as  a  matter  of  fact,  established  by  the  State,  that  would  change  the  case,  I 
admit.  If  he  took  the  position  the  gentlemen  on  the  other  side  take,  that 
this  was  a  legal  Legislature,  that  would  make  a  difference,  I  admit.  But 
when  the  Senator  concedes  that  he  has  no  doubt  that  this  man  was  not  chosen 
by  the  Legislature,  then  he  is  compelled  to  yield  the  whole  position,  because 
he  must  support  the  Constitution,  not  as  the  old  majority  say,  not  as  this 
majority  say,  not  as  any  man  says  the  Constitution  is,  but  as  the  Senator 
himself  believes  it  to  be. 

I  leave  this  branch  of  the  subject. 

There  is  another  thing  I  do  not  understand,  and  it  is  this  :  If  Senators 
believe,  if  this  side  of  the  Chamber  believe,  that  when  the  Senate  passed 
judgment  in  1877,  that  judgment  was  final  and  conclusive,  and  that  it  is  not 
competent  for  the  Senate  to  review  and  examine  it,  pray  tell  me  why  did  you 
order  this  investigation  ?  These  gentlemen  talk  here  as  though  it  was  this 
committee  that  ordered  this  investigation  ;  as  though  this  committee  is  press 
ing  this  thing  unnecessarily  ;  and  my  friend  says  he  thinks  I  am  unneces 
sarily  thrusting  this  discussion  before  the  country.  What  am  I  doing  ? 
What  is  the  committee  doing  ?  Nothing  on  earth  but  obeying  the  instruc 
tions  of  the  Senate.  The  Senate  ordered  the  committee  to  make  this  inves 
tigation  ;  the  Senate  ordered  us  to  make  this  report ;  and  because  we  made 
the  investigation,  and  made  the  report  under  the  orders  of  the  Senate,  gentle 
men  arraign  us.  I  do  not  wish  to  misrepresent  Senators  on  that  subject. 
This  very  question  was  decided  on  the  7th  day  of  May,  1879.  A  resolu 
tion  was  then  adopted,  and  after  elaborate  debate,  instructing  the  Committee 
on  Privileges  and  Elections  to  take  testimony,  to  make  this  investigation. 

Mr.  J3utler.--Then  I  understand  the  resolution  did  not  order  the  com 
mittee  to  make  report. 

Jfr.  Hill. — Certainly  ;  every  committee  is  to  make  report  when  it  makes 
investigation.  We  have  to  investigate  first. 


7/7.9  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  697 

Mr.  flutter. --Take  testimony. 

Mr.  Hill.-  -We  had,  when  we  took  testimony,  to  act  on  it. 

Mr.  Ifeitfer.- -That  is  the  question. 

Mr.  Hill.-  -No  question  at  all.  The  very  object  of  ordering  an  investi 
gation  is  to  have  a  report.  While  that  resolution  was  pending,  the  Senator 
from  Vermont  (Mr.  Edmunds)  offered  an  amendment  to  allow  the  inquiry 
to  go-  4  ' 

So  far  only  as  relates  to  any  charge  in  said  petition  of  personal  misconduct  on  the  part 
of  said  Kellogg  which  may  render  him  liable  to  expulsion  or  censure. 

And  the  Senate  voted  that  down,  and  the  honorable  junior  Senator  from 
South  Carolina  voted  in  the  negative.  Then,  again,  the  Senator  from  New 
York  (Mr.  Conkling)  offered  this  amendment : 

Provided,  That  the  inquiry  hereby  authorized  shall  be  confined  to  the  matters  alleged 
in  the  memorial  of  Mr.  Spofford  to  be  new  and  different  from  those  covered  by  the 
previous  inquiry. 

There  was  an  admission  that  there  were  matters  in  the  memorial  which 
never  had  been  before  the  Senate  hitherto,  and  the  Senator  from  New  York 
moved  to  confine  the  new  investigation  to  them,  and  this  Senate  voted  that 
down,  and  the  honorable  junior  Senator  from  South  Carolina  voted  also 
against  it. 

Again  the  Senator  from  Vermont  (Mr.  Edmunds)  moved  another  amend 
ment  : 

Resolved,  That,  recognizing  the  validity  and  finality  of  the  previous  action  of  the 
Senate  in  the  premises,  the  Committee  on  Privileges  and  Elections,  to  which  was  referred 
the  memorial  of  Henry  M.  Spofford,  etc. 

Recognizing  the  finality  of  the  former  decision,  says  Mr.  Edmunds,  and 
we  voted  that  down  ;  the  honorable  junior  Senator  from  South  Carolina  again 
voting  in  the  negative.  Then  the  Senator  from  New  York  (Mr.  Conkling) 
offered  another  amendment  : 

Provided,  That  such  questions  in  said  case  as  were  fully  considered  and  adjudged  in 
the  former  investigation  shall  not  be  reopened  under  this  resolution. 

And  they  voted  that  down,  the  honorable  junior  Senator  from  South 
Carolina  (Mr.  Hampton)  voting  against  it. 

Mr.  flutter.— Will  the  honorable  Senator  now  read  the  resolution  under 
which  the  committee  did  act. 

Mr.  Hill.— That  is  not  before  me,  but  I  will  read  the  substitute  offered. 

Mr.  flutter.— I  would  like  to  have  the  resolution  under  which  the  com 
mittee  acted  read. 

Mr.  Hill.— I  will  find  that  presently.  Here  was  the  substitute  offeree 
by  the  Senator  from  Massachusetts  (Mr.  Hoar)  to  the  resolution  reportec 
by  the  committee  : 

Strike  out  all  of  the  resolution  and  insert  the  following  : 

"Whereas,  on  the  25th  day  of  October,  1877,  the  Senate  unanimously  adopt 
following  resolution  : 

11  '  Resolved,  That  the  Committee  on  Privileges  and  Elections  on  the  conte 
William  Pitt  Kellogg  and  Henry  M.  Spofford,  claiming  seats  as  Senator 
of  Louisiana,  and  whose  credentials  have  been  referred  to  such  committee  be  autho 
to  send  for  persons  and  papers  and  administer  oaths,  with  a  view  of  enabling       d  c 
mittee  to  determine  and  report  upon  the  title  respectively  on  the  merit 
contestants  to  a  seat  in  the  Senate.'  Oj  lhp  fnl. 

"  And  whereas,  on  the  26th  day  of  November,  1877,  said  committee  report, 
lowing  resolution  : 


698  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

"  '  Resolved,  That  "William  Pitt  Kellogg  is,  upon  the  merits  of  the  case,  entitled  to  a 
seat  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  from  the  State  of  Louisiana  for  the  term  of  six 
years,  commencing  on  the  4th  of  March,  1877,  and  that  he  be  admitted  thereto  upon  taking 
the  proper  oath.' 

"  '  Resolved,  That  Henry  M.  Spofford  is  not  entitled  to  a  seat  in  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States.' 

"  And  on  the  30th  day  of  November,  1877,  the  Senate  adopted  said  resolutions  ;  and 
thereafter,  on  the  same  day,  said  Kellogg  was  duly  admitted  to  take  the  oath,  and  took 
his  seat  as  a  Senator  from  said  State  for  said  term  :  Therefore, 

"Resolved,  That  said  proceedings  are  final  and  conclusive  upon  the  right  of  said 
Kellogg  arid  the  claim  of  said  Spofford  to  such  seat  for  said  term." 

And  that  the  honorable  Senator  from  South  Carolina,  the  junior  Senator, 
voted  against,  and  that  resolution  the  Senate  voted  down.  Six  times  in  one 

^J  7 

day  this  Democratic  Senate  solemnly  voted  that  this  question  was  not  finally 
passed  upon.  Six  times  in  one  day  you  solemnly  voted  it  was  not  res  adjudi- 
cata,  and  should  be  reviewed.  If  one  vote  of  the  Senate  by  a  Republican 
majority  in  1877  was  so  solemn  as  to  justify  the  Senate  in  keeping  a  man  in 
this  seat  who  was  not  chosen  by  the  Legislature,  pray  tell  me  how  much 
respect  would  the  Senator  have  for  six  votes  of  the  Seriate  passed  on  the 
same  day  that  the  case  was  not  res  adjudicata  f 

My  friend  (Mr.  Vance)  calls  attention  to  the  seventh  vote  : 

Mr.  Hoar. — I  move  to  amend  the  original  resolution  by  adding  thereto  the  following : 
"  And  said  committee  was  further  instructed  to  inquire  and  report  whether  bribery 

or  other  corrupt  or  unlawful  means  were  resorted  to  to  secure  the  alleged  election  of  the 

memorialist." 

And  that  was  adopted  unanimously.  Republicans  and  Democrats  wanted 
that  testimony.  Seven  times,  then,  the  Senate  solemnly  voted  that  this  case 
was  not  precluded  either  as  to  Kellogg  or  as  to  Spofford.  Here  is  the  reso 
lution  adopted  by  the  Senate,  and  see  how  imperative  it  is.  You  voted  seven 
times  to  reopen  the  case,  and  then  you  voted  to  pass  this  resolution  : 

Resolved,  That  the  Committee  on  Privileges  and  Elections,  to  which  was  referred  the 
memorial  of  Henry  M.  Spofford,  praying  permission  to  produce  evidence  relating  to  the 
right  of  Hon.  William  Pitt  Kellogg  to  the  seat  in  the  Senate  held  by  him  from  the  State 
of. Louisiana,  and  in  support  of  the  claim  of  said  petitioner  thereto,  be,  and  said  commit 
tee  is  hereby  instructed  to  inquire  into  the  matters  alleged  in  said  petition  ;  and  for  that 
purpose  said  committee  is  authorized  and  empowered  to  send  for  persons  and  papers,  ad 
minister  oaths,  and  do  all  such  other  acts  as  are  necessary  and  proper  for  a  full  and  fair 
investigation  in  the  premises. 

Mr.  Butler. — Now,  I  should  like  to  ask  the  honorable  Senator  if  that  is 
not  the  resolution  under  which  the  committee  acted  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — Certainly. 

Mr.  Butler. — I  ask  him,  then,  if  the  seven  propositions  which  he  has 
said  we  voted  down,  thereby  asserting  that  the  question  was  not  res  adjudi 
cata,  Avere  not  amendments  to  that  resolution  ? 

Mr.  //^.—Certainly. 

Mr.  Butler. — Were  they  not  amendments  offered  by  Senators  on  the  op 
posite  side  of  the  Chamber  for  the  purpose  of  defeating  the  resolution  ?  I 
ask  the  Senator  that. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  do  not  know  what  the  purpose  was.  They  seemed  intended 
to  limit  the  investigation  to  new  matter  only. 

Mr.  Butler. — I  ask  the  honorable  Senator  if  they  were  not  offered  by 
what  is  called  the  opposition  in  the  Senate  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — I  read  that,  and  stated  the  name  of  the  Senator  moving  each 
amendment. 


HIS  LIFE,  SPKECIIES,  AND  WRITINGS.  699 

Mr.  Butler.- -Then  I  ask  the  honorable  Senator  if  he  does  not  know  that 
on  almost  every  bill  which  the  opposition  attempt  to  defeat  they  submit 
amendments  for  the  purpose  of  defeating  it  and  which  commit  the  Senate 
to  nothing  when  voted  down? 

Mr.  Hill. — The  Republicans  insisted  that  the  vote  of  1877  was  final  and 
could  not  be  reviewed,  and  offered  amendments  to  carry  out  their  views. 
The  Democrats  insisted  that  the  case  could  be  reviewed,  testimony  could  be 
taken,  and  voted  down  all  the  amendments  seeking  to  deny  or  limit  the  in 
vestigation. 

The  amendment  submitted  by  way  of  substitute  could  not  have  been  for 
the  purpose  of  defeating  the  motion  except  by  declaring  that  the  case  was 

•4-w  »-v   .  .          I    v  T-        f\    *"1  1  11    y^i  1   y-V  *-»  4-  *-v  y~l  f\  •*-»    y-J         ••  -I-         -4-  1-*    *-v          ^k   »-»  «^   *~*  A-  n  l^.    ^.  _1  *    _  .1*1*  T         •    . 


question  has  no  relevancy  whatever.  They 
Senate  had  done  in  1877  was  final  and  could  not  be  reviewed,  and  if  an  in 
vestigation  was  ordered  they  sought  by  every  means  to  limit  the  investiga 
tion  to  new  matter.  The  Senate  voted  it  down  every  time  and  reopened 
the  case  to  full  investigation,  and  when  the  proposition  was  distinctly  made 
by  the  Senator  from  Massachusetts  by  his  substitute,  that  the  whole  matter 
was  final  and  conclusive,  the  gentlemen  on  this  side  said  no.  Now,  read  that 
in  the  light  of  the  declarations  made  by  the  honorable  Senator.  Here  is 
what  the  junior  Senator  from  South  Carolina  said  : 

These  authorities  which  I  have  cited  are  conclusive  to  my  mind  that  in  passing  on 
election  cases  the  Senate  acts  in  a  judicial  capacity,  and  that  when  it  decides  such  a  case 
on  its  merits  its  action  is  final ;  it  does  not  possess  the  lawful  power  to  reverse  or  even  re 
view  its  action. 

And  yet  seven  times  on  the  7th  of  May,  1879,  the  honorable  Senator  who 
says  that,  voted  that  it  should  be  reviewed,  voted  that  it  was  not  final,  and 
ordered  this  committee  to  make  this  investigation.  And  here  is  the  other, 
the  senior  Senator's  statement  : 

Second.  The  Senate  expended  its  power,  under  that  provision  of  the  Constitution 
which  makes  it  the  "  judge  of  the  elections,  returns,  and  qualifications  of  its  members/' 
when  it  confirmed  the  judgment  of  a  majoritjT  of  the  Committee  on  Privileges  and 
tions,  giving  the  seat  to  the  sitting  member,  no  motion  to  reconsider  having  been  entered 
at  the  time  of  the  rendition  or  at  any  other  time. 

The  idea  that  the  Senate's  voting  once  on  the  question  expended  its 
power  !  Even  courts  are  not  limited  to  one  judgment  or  trial.  Then  why 
did  the  Senate  order  the  investigation  a  second  time  ?  Why  did  the  Senate 
order  the  committee  to  do  an  unconstitutional  thing  !  I  acquit  the  gentle 
men  on  the  other  side.  They  voted  that  it  was  final  ;  they  voted  against 
this  investigation  ;  but  every  Democrat  who  voted  on  this  side  of 
Chamber  voted  to  order  a  reinvestigation,  voted  that  it  was  not  final,  voted 


final,  why  did  you  order  this  investigation  . 

Senator  that  the  Senate  had  no  power  even  to  review  ;  if  you  believed,  i 

language  of  the  honorable  senior  Senator,  that  the  power  to  review 

amine  was  exhausted  by  the  first  decision,  why  did  you  order 

view  ?     Why   did  you  order  an   unconstitutional   thing  :      \V  h y  di 

order  the  expenditure  of  thousands  of  dollars  from  the  public 

do  what  you  say  we  have  no  power  to  do  ?     Why  did  you  order 


700  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

mittee  to  do  the  most  unpleasant  work  that  a  committee  ever  had  to  perform? 
Why  did  you  order  this  committee  to  be  stenched  in  a  den  of  skunks  for 
months  in  the  execution  of  an  unconstitutional  and  unnecessary  order  ? 
Such  corruption,  sucli  debased  perjury,  such  bribery,  such  effrontery,  such 
degradation  of  human  nature  in  every  shape  and  form,  I  never  imagined 
could  exist  as  I  saw  in  this  investigation.  We  obeyed  your  order  ;  we 
spent  thousands  of  dollars  of  the  public  money  in  executing  the  order  ;  we 
stood  submissive  under  the  shafts  of  abuse  and  calumny,  some  of  us  pelted 
with  filth,  to  execute  your  order  ;  and  when  we  had  passed  through  it  all, 
and  when  the  money  was  expended,  and  when  we  had  executed  your  instruc 
tions  faithfully  and  we  come  here  to  report  to  you,  you  rise  up  in  your  places 
and  most  graciously  say,  "  We  do  not  think  you  had  any  right  to  do  it  ;  we 
do  not  think  it  was  Constitutional  to  review  what  was  done  in  1877." 

Mr.  Hampton. — May  I  interrupt  the  Senator  for  a  moment  ?  I  am  not 
disposed  to  interrupt  him  at  all. 

The  Presiding  Officer  (Mr.  Johnston  in  the  chair). — Does  the  Senator 
from  Georgia  yield  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Hampton. — It  is  simply  in  reference  to  my  vote  authorizing  the 
committee  to  act.  It  is  well  known,  I  suppose,  to  the  Senator  from  Georgia,- 
it  certainly  is  to  very  many  other  members  of  that  committee  and  to  very 
many  others  in  the  Senate, — there  were  a  good  many  Senators  who  were  op 
posed  to  having  this  committee  authorized  to  make  this  investigation.  I 
was  one  of  that  number,  and  I  said  at  the  time  that  if  it  was  proposed  to  re 
open  the  case  I  would  not  vote  for  the  committee,  and  a  good  many  others 
of  my  colleagues  said  the  same  thing.  We  were  assured  by  some  of  the 
members  of  the  committee  that  it  was  not  the  intention  to  reopen  it  ;  but 
the  committee,  an  honorable  committee  of  this  body,  came  in  and  asked  per 
mission  to  collect  evidence.  We  thought  that  a  proper  respect  to  them 
made  it  mandatory  upon  us  that  we  should  allow  the  committee  to  investi 
gate  ;  and  I  voted  then  with  the  committee,  voted  at  the  request  of  the 
committee,  but  I  did  not  feel  that  I  was  committing  myself  in  advance  to 
resolutions,  and  in  fact  I  did  not  think  the  committee  was  authorized  to 
bring  in  such  resolutions  as  they  did,  and  without  any  consultation  with  the 
majority  of  the  Senate. 

Mr.  Bailey. — Will  the  Senator  from  Georgia  give  me  one  moment  ? 

Mr.  Hill.— Certainly. 

Mr.  Bailey. — In  view  of  what  has  been  said  by  the  Senator  from  South 
Carolina,  as  one  of  that  committee,  I  feel  constrained  by  a  sense  of  justice 
to  myself  to  say  that  at  the  time  this  question  was  submitted  to  the  com 
mittee  I  myself  had  formed  no  opinion  upon  the  main  question,  which,  as  I 
conceived,  was  presented  to  the  committee,  and  is  f.o-day  presented  to  the 
Senate,  namely,  whether  the  former  so-called  adjudication  by  the  Senate  was 
binding  and  conclusive.  I  expressed  no  opinion  upon  the  question,  for  I  had 
then  really  formed  no  opinion.'  I  beg  leave  to  say  for  one  of  that  committee 
that  I  gave  no  such  assurances  as  have  been  intimated  by  the  Senator  from 
South  Carolina,  nor  do  I  remember  that  any  other  member  of  the  committee 
gave  to  the  Senator  such  assurances,  either  in  public  or  in  private.  I  feel 
constrained  to  say  this  much  in  justification  of  myself  from  what  might 
seem  to  be  an  implied  charge  of  bad  faith  made  by  the  Senator  from  South 
Carolina. 

Mr.  Hampton. — Mr.  President 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  701 


Mr.  Bailey.—  Qt  course  I  do  not  understand  the  Senator  to  refer  to  me 
personally,  for  my  relations  with  him  are  exceedingly  pleasant. 

Mr.  Hampton.-  -Nor  to  the  committee,  in  the  slightest  degree.  I  was 
only  saying  what  I  had  learned  privately  and  what  had  influenced  my  action 
in  regard  to  this  matter  ;  not  that  the  committee  had  made  any  pledge,  not 
that  the  members  of  it  individually  or  privately  had  done  it,  but  the  under 
standing  left  upon  my  mind  was  that  the  committee  desired  to  take  evi 
dence  and  collect  facts,  and  bring  all  this  evidence  before  the  Senate,  and 
leave  it  to  the  Senate  then  to  determine  whether  they  should  take  any  other 
final  action  or  review  the  action  that  had  been  taken  before. 

Mr.  Hill.-  -That  last  statement  is  correct  to  this  extent  :  we  all  agreed 
that  if  there  was  no  evidence  to  be  taken  other  than  that  which  was  before 
the  Senate  in  1877,  it  would  then  be  a  question  whether  we  would  disturb 
or  change  the  former  judgment,  especially  as  far  as  the  regularity  of  the 
election  was  concerned  ;  but  it  was  alleged  that  evidence  was  suppressed  in 
1877  ;  it  was  alleged  that  new  evidence  had  been  discovered  since  1877. 
Whether  you  would  reverse  that  judgment,  therefore,  on  the  ground  of 
new  evidence  would  depend  upon  the  evidence  when  it  came  in.  But  the 
position  of  the  Senator  now  is  that  no  amount  of  evidence  would  justify  a 
review.  The  position  of  the  two  Senators  from  South  Carolina  is  that  under 
the  decision  of  1877  the  Senate  had  exhausted  its  power  of  review  and  no 
amount  of  evidence  would  be  sufficient.  If  no  amount  of  evidence  would 
be  sufficient  why  take  any  evidence  at  all  ?  If  the  Senator  voted  contrary 

•/  t/  J 

to  his  views  of  the  power  of  the  Senate  in  1879,  when  he  voted  against  this 
amendment  and  to  order  this  investigation  to  accommodate  the  committee 
or  because  the  committee  requested  it,  I  wish  he  would  vote  on  the  request 
of  the  committee  again.  But  the  Senator  has  no  right  to  say  he  voted  on 
the  request  of  the  committee.  The  committee  requested  nothing.  The 
committee  believed  the  investigation  was  within  the  power  of  the  Senate  and 
so  reported.  The  Senate  agreed  with  the  committee  and  ordered  the  in 
vestigation.  The  committee  acted  solely  from  a  sense  of  duty. 

Mr.  President,  there  is  no  escape  logically  from  the  position  of  Senators 
who  hold  to  the  doctrine  that  when  the  Senate  had  decided  this  question 
once  it  was  decided  finally  and  forever.  If  there  is  no  power  of  review  they 
had  no  right  to  order  this  investigation. 

I  want  to  say  one  more  thing  :  that  gentlemen  not  only  ordered  this  in 
vestigation  andV.ompelledjthis  committee  to  take  this  testimony,  but  now 
some  of  our  friends  have  made  very  strange  mistakes  as  to  what  the  testi 
mony  is.  I  want  to  call  the  attention  of  the  Senator  from  Ohio  (Mr.  Pendk- 
ton),"  who  took  generally  a  more  correct  view  of  the  law  of  this  case,  and  who 
escapes  the  dilemma  into  which  I  think  the  gentlemen  from  South  Carolina 
have  placed  themselves,  by  admitting  the  power  of  review,  but  he  says  the 
new  testimony  is  not  sufficient.  I  want  to  call  his  attention  to  the  fact  th.it 
he  made  a  most  remarkable  mistake,  and  a  mistake  of  fact  that  ![  think  the 
Senator  owes  it  to  himself  to  correct.  I  will  call  his  attention  to  it  and  then 
he  can  examine  it  at  his  leisure.  That  Senator  in  his  speech  makes  this 
statement  : 

In  this  case  it  has  been  asserted  in  every  form  of  phrase  and  expression  that  the  State 
government  of  Louisiana  was  fraudulently  in  power,  inaugurated  and  siistaii 
and  fraud,  by  false  returns  of  illegal  returning  hoards  ;  that  the  Legi 
elected  Kellogg  was  never  elected  ;  that  it  never  had  a  quorum  ;  that 
bribed  ;  that  IT  fell  of  its  own  inherent  lifelessness,  leaving  no  trace  except 


702  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

election.  But  all  these  allegations — every  one  of  them — whether  of  the  contestant  or  the 
committee,  tending  to  impeach  the  validity  of  the  State  government  as  such,  or  to  ques 
tion  the  complete  organization  of  the  Legislature,  or  affecting  its  action,  were  made  be 
fore  the  Senate  in  1877. 

The  Senator  is  vastly  mistaken  ;  there  was  nothing  before  the  Senate  in 
1877,  behind  the  certificates  of  the  returning  board,  as  to  the  legality  of  the 
Legislature.  The  very  evidence  that  Mr.  Spofford  proposed  to  introduce  in 
1877,  which  was  excluded,  was  the  evidence  attacking  the  fairness  of  the  re- 
turning-board  certificates.  The  Senate  in  1877  refused  to  go  behind  those 
certificates.  Mr.  Spofford  offered  to  show  the  complicity  of  Kellogg  in 
those  frauds,  but  they  rejected  the  evidence  as  immaterial.  The  Senator 
speaks  of  the  charge  of  bribery,  and  says  it  was  before  the  Senate  in  1877. 
There  was  no  such  charge  in  1877.  There  is  none  in  the  record  ;  there  was 
none  before  the  committee  ;  there  was  not  a  particle  of  evidence  taken  on 
the  subject.  Not  a  particle  of  evidence  was  taken  on  the  subject  of  the 
want  of  a  quorum,  assuming  the  returning-board  certificates  to  be  correct. 
Now,  we  have  taken  evidence  to  show  that  there  was  a  false  quorum  ;  that 
in  truth  there  was  no  quorum  ;  that  absent  members  were  recorded  who 
were  not  present,  and  that  absent  members  were  personated.  All  that  is 
new  ;  none  of  it  Avas  before  the  Senate  in  1877. 

I  tell  the  Senator  if  he  will  look  at  the  question  he  will  find  that  we  were 
shut  up  in  1877  to  the  returning-board  credentials.  I  think  it  but  fair  to  ask 
the  Senator  to  review  his  conclusion  on  the  evidence,  and  I  take  the  liberty 
of  referring  him  to  the  able  argument  of  the  Senator  from  Arkansas  (Mr. 
Garland)  on  this  subject  of  the  new  evidence.  The  record  abundantly 
shows  that  the  Republicans,  including  Kellogg,  admitted  the  bribery  charge 
was  a  new  one. 

The  Senator  quotes  me  in  his  speech  very  unjustly,  but  I  know  he  did 
not  intend  to  do  me  injustice.  He  quotes  remarks  made  by  me  to  show  that 
these  questions  were  all  passed  upon  by  the  Senate  in  1877.  I  was  showing 
in  the  remarks  which  the  honorable  Senator  quotes,  and  in  the  speech  which 
I  then  made  from  which  he  quotes,  what  we  sought  to  get  before  the  com 
mittee,  and  what  we  tried  to  get  before  the  Senate — the  evidence  of  frauds 
in  the  returning  board  and  of  Kellogg's  personal  complicity  in  those  frauds, 
but  the  evidence  was  rejected  by  the  committee  and  rejected  by  the  Senate. 
Therefore  it  was  never  before  the  Senate.  I  respectfully  ask  the  Senator  to 
review  his  position  upon  that  subject,  and  also  the  evidence  of  the  want  of  a 
quorum,  which  in  my  judgment,  is  conclusive. 

Mr.  President,  I  had  intended  to  say  what  I  have  said  in  a  very  few 
brief  words  and  to  devote  most  of  the  remarks  I  intended  to  make  to  a  very 
singular  assault  made  upon  me  by  the  Senators  from  South  Carolina,  r  Why 
it  was  made  I  shall  not  inquire.  But  the  senators  are  not  only  content  to 
take  the  position  which  they  have  taken,  and  which  they  no  doubt  hon 
estly  believe  to  be  a  correct  position,  they  have  not  only  been  content 
to  give  their  reasons  for  it  to  the  Senate  as  they  have  done,  but  they  have 
taken  occasion,  after  all  the  tribulations  through  which  this  committee  have 
passed,  to  turn  upon  the  committee  rather  savagely,  and  to  select  me,  as  a 
member  of  the  committee,  upon  whom  to  expend  their  polished  satire  and 
splenetic  rhetoric.  Certainly  nothing  has  ever  entered  my  thoughts  incon 
sistent  with  the  strictest  personal  honor  on  the  part  of  the  Senators  from 
South  Carolina.  There  were  no  two  Senators  on  this  floor  for  whom  I  had 
higher  personal  regard.  There  is  no  State  represented  on  this  floor  which  I 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  70:* 

could  less  desire  to  injure.  It  was  perhaps  because  I  felt  the  interest  in  the 
State  and  in  the  honorable  gentlemen  personally  which  has  brought  me  into 
the  trouble  with  them.  I  have  felt,  indeed  I  know,  when  friends  differ  the 
best  remedy  is  plain  language,  and  plain  language  I  shall  use,  assuring  the 
gentlemen  that  I  intend  nothing  personally  offensive  to  them.  If  I  did  not 
regard  them  as  I  do  personally,  I  should  not  notice  what  they  have  said.  I 
do  not  respect  a  man  who  require&ane  to  notice  the  vilest  calumnies  of  men 
who  stand  covered  with  bribery  and  perjury  before  the  country,  but  when 
honorable  gentlemen  like  the  Senators  from  South  Carolina,  standing  justly 
high  in  the  confidence  of  their  State  and  justly  high  in  my  own  confidence, 
go  out  of  their  way  to  give  a  meaning  to  language  used  by  me,  which  is  not 
justified,  and  to  make  their  own  misconstruction  of  it  the  occasion  fora  per 
sonal  assault,  they  must  excuse  me  if  I  come  back  in  proper  tone  and  proper 
temper  to  give  that  proper  attention  demanded  by  my  own  self-respect. 

Sir,  simultaneously  with  my  introduction  into"  the*  Senate  almost  and  my 
assignment  to  the  Committee  on  Privileges  and  Elections,  the  two  cases  from 
South  Carolina  and  Louisiana  were  referred  to  the  committee  for  investiga 
tion.  The  first  work  I  was  called  on  officially  to  do  in  committee  was  to 
examine  those  cases.  I  did  so  honestty  and  earnestly.  I  say  to  the  Senator 
from  South  Carolina  (and  I  believe  I  speak  the  judgment  of  every  Demo 
crat  on  that  committee),  we  had  much  greater  trouble  with  his  creden 
tials  than  we  had  with  those  of  Mr.  Spofford.  We  did  seriously  doubt, 
at  one  time,  whether  he  had  been  legally  elected,  because  there  was  doubt 
as  to  whether  there  was  any  Senate  at  all  to  the  body  of  the  Legislature 
which  elected  him.  But  we  were  satisfied  that  he  represented  the  will  of  his 
State,  and  the  State  of  South  Carolina  had  established  as  her  true  Legisla 
ture  the  one  that  elected  the  Senator  from  South  Carolina.  Therefore  we 
became  satisfied  that  he  represented  the  Legislature  that  was  established  by 
the  people  of  South  Carolina  and  admitted  him.  Others  labored  more  ably, 
none  labored  more  earnestly,  than  I  did  to  admit  the  Senator  to  his  seat ; 
and  I  say  there  is  not  a  Democratic  member  of  that  committee  who  did  not 
feel  and'admit  that  the  title  of  Mr.  Spofford  was  far  freer  from  doubt  than 
his  own,  and  that  indeed  there  was  not  a  member  of  the  Senate  who  had  a 
more  unquestionable  title  than  Spofford  had,  because  he  was  elected  by  a 
Legislature  after  the  factions  had  ceased  and  after  they  had  all  united  in 
one  body. 

Mr.  Cameron. — Will  the  Senator  allow  me  a  moment  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — I  am  not  dealing  with  you  on  that  side  now. 

Mr.  Cameron.— I  understand  that ;  but  you  are  dealing  with  the  Com 
mittee  on  Privileges  and  Elections,  of  which  I  happen  to  be  a  member. 

Mr.  Hill. — Not  your  side  of  it. 

Mr.  Cameron.— I  understood  the  Senator  to  state  that  when  the  case  of 
the  Senator  from  South   Carolina  was  considered  by  that  committee 
Democratic  members  of  the  committee  had  serious  doubts,  etc.,  concerning 
the  question  ns  to  whether — 

Mr.  Hill— I  said  we  had  serious  trouble  with  one  question. 

Mr.  Cameron.— -What  I  rose  to  say  was  this  :  that  the  case  of  the  Sena 
tor  from  South  Carolina  was  never,  according  to  my  recollection,  considered 
at  all  in  the  committee. 

Mr.  Hill.— That  is  wholly  unnecessaiy. 

Mr.  Cameron.— The  committee  was  discharged  from   the  cons: 
of  his  credentials,  and  the  case  was  not  considered  at  all  in  the  committee. 


704  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

Mr.  JKS.--That  is  a  wholly  unnecessary  interruption.  The  committee 
did  consider  it,  but  they  took  no  testimony.  The  briefs  of  both  sides  were 
submitted  to  the  committee.  That  the  committee  was  discharged  before 
they  concluded  their  labors,  I  admit.  The  committee  did  not  come  to  any 
decision  about  it,  that  is  true. 

Mr.  Cameron. — It  was  not  taken  up. 

Mr.  Hill. — The  Senator  will  excuse  me  ;  I  cannot  yield.  The  individual 
members  of  the  committee  did  consider  it,  I  considered  it,  the  Democratic 
members  of  the  committee  considered  it,  and  I  found  there  was  no  issue  of 
fact  whatever  between  Corbin  and  Butler ;  it  was  nothing  but  a  legal  ques 
tion,  and  that  legal  question  is  the  one  I  stated. 

Mr.  Cameron. — If  the  Democratic  members  of  the  committee  considered 
it,  the  committee  did  not. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  decline  to  yield  any  further. 

The  Presiding  Officer.  (Mr.  Ingalls  in  the  chair). — The  Senator  from 
Georgia  must  not  be  interrupted  without  his  consent. 

Mr.  Hill. — Now,  then,  I  will  speak  to  the  Senator  frankly.  He  says  in 
speech,  with  some  spleen,  that  I  have  been  disappointed.  I  have  been.  I  do 
not  blame  the  Senator,  I  am  not  censuring  him  ;  but  I  tell  him  with  a  frank 
ness  and  a  candor  which  is  due  from  one  to  another  who  are  entitled  to 
mutual  esteem,  that  I  did  not  dream,  when  I  was  laboring  so  earnestly  to  do 
what  was  right  to  admit  him  to  his  seat  in  this  body,  that  I  was  admitting 
strength  which  would  be  used  to  keep  a  better  title  out.  I  did  not 
dream  when  South  Carolina  stood  redeemed  and  disenthralled  from  the 
\  carpet-bag  government  that  South  Carolina  in  this  Senate  would  take  the 
\  lead  in  keeping  up  a  most  odious  carpet-bag  misrepresentation  upon 
Louisiana. 

Mr.  Butler. — I  will  say  in  reply  to  that  that  the  Senator  from  South 
Carolina  has  done  nothing  of  the  kind. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  have  told  the  Senator  I  did  not  attack  his  motives ;  I  am 
speaking  of  the  fact. 

Mr.  Butler. — The  honorable  Senator  goes  on  and  he  puts  me  in  a  false 
position,  and  puts  words  in  my  mouth  that  I  have  never  used,  and  it  goes 
upon  the  record.  If  he  will  just  confine  himself  exactly  to  what  is  the 
record  and  what  is  the  fact,  I  will  promise  him  not  to  interrupt  him.  Of 
course  I  have  no  right  to  interrupt  him  if  he  objects  to  it,  but  when  he 
undertakes  to  say  indirectly  or  by  implication  that  South  Carolina  has  im 
posed  upon  Louisiana  one  single  hardship  which  they  could  prevent,  he 
states  that  which  is  not  so. 

Mr.  Hill. — The  Senator  had  as  well  keep  his  temper. 

Mr.  Butler. — My  temper,  Mr.  President,  is  perfectly  preserved.  I  am 
not  in  the  slightest  degree  excited. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  must  decline  any  further  interruption  from  the  honorable 
Senator. 

The  Presiding  Officer. — The  Senator  from  Georgia  cannot  be  interrupted 
against  his  consent. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  have  said  so  once  before,  and  I  hope  the  Senator  will  re 
spect  it.  His  interruptions  are  unnecessary.  I  have  put  no  words  in  his 
mouth,  and  the  statement  that  I  misrepresent  him  is  not  so.  I  submit  that 
[  am  speaking  of  the  effect  of  the  Senator's  position.  That  is  what  I  say. 
I  did  not  expect,  when  I  was  voting  for  him  to  come  into  the  Senate,  that  he 
should  ever  take  the  position  that  he  has  taken,  I  will  not  say  what  his 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  705 

position  is.    Let  it  be  judged  by  his  own  language.     I  am  not  attacking  bis 
motives. 

The  Senator  says  I  spoke  of  whisperings.  Where  did  those  whisperings 
come  from  ?  he  asks.  "  How  did  they  reach  the  Senator's  ears  ;  through  the 
corridors  of  his  imagination,  or  from  the  polluted  lips  of  busy  scandal 
mongers?"  And  the  Senator  adds  other  indignant  interrogatories  as  though 
the  whisperings  were  new  to  him.  Whisperings  come  from  my  imagina 
tion?  I  remind  the  Senator  that  the  report  from  this  committee  was  made 
on  the  22d  of  March,  and  on  the  24th  of  March  an  elaborate  article  ap 
peared  in  the  Charleston  News  and  Courier  demanding  that  the  report, 
which  the  writer  evidently  had  never  read,  should  not  be  adopted,  and  in 
sisting  that  the  honor  of  Southern  Senators  was  involved,  and  that  Kellogg 
ought  to  be  retained  in  his  seat.  That  was  the  first  Democratic  paper  In 
the  Union  that  took  position  in  behalf  of  Kellogg,  so  far  as  my  observation 
extended,  and  it  was  two  days  after  the  report  was  made.  That  elaborate 
article  was  quoted  extensively  here  in  the  Republican  papers.  Is  the  News 
and  Courier  a  "busy  scandal-monger"?  When  the  Senator  was  delivering 
his  philippic  against  myself,  a  gentleman  placed  in  my  hands  a  letter  taken 
from  the  Charleston  News  and  Courier,  and  at  the  very  moment  he  was 
calling  upon  me  to  know  where  those  whisperings  came  from  I  read  this : 

To  the  Editor  of  the  News  and  Courier :  I  have  talked  to-day  with  prominent  citizens, 
business  men,  and  others. 

This  was  written  the  day  after  the  speech  delivered  by  the  junior  Sen 
ator  from  South  Carolina  (Mr.  Hampton). 

They  all  agree  that  Senator  Hampton  has  acted  well  and  in  good  faith  in  the  Spof- 
ford-Kellogg  matter. 

"  Good  faith  ! "  What  is  that  ? 

We  are  all  sorry  for  Louisiana.  Our  sympathies  are  with  her  ;  but  we  cannot  forget 
the  fact  that  Kellogg  was  seated  at  the  same  time  as  our  gallant  Butler.  If  one  is  un 
seated  the  other  may  be  hereafter. 

And  he  goes  on  in  that  strain.  "Charleston,  May  14,  1880"  -signed, 
"A  Merchant"— published  in  the  Charleston  News  and  Courier.  No w,  if 
the  Senator  becomes  excited  and  gets  mad  because  these  things  are  "whis 
pered,"  he  ought  not  to  point  his  wrath  at  me.  He  has  not  become 
offended,  that  I  am  aware,  at  the  Charleston  News  and  Courier,  He  has 
not  called  that  to  account.  Why  this  discrimination?  I  alluded  to  the 
rumor  to  stamp  it,  as  I  said,  with  scorn  and  indignation. 

The  News  and  Courier  gives  the  fact  as  a  reason  why  Southern  Senators 
should  allow  this  man  to  remain  in  his  seat.  Yet  it  has  not  aroused  the  ire 
of  the  honorable  Senators  from  South  Carolina. 

The  first  Democratic  paper  in  the  United  States  to  take  position  agains 
the  unseating  of  Kellogg  was  the  leading  Democratic  paper  of 
olina. 

The  first  Democratic  Senator  on  this  floor  to  announce  his  detern 
to  vote  against  unseating  Kellogg  was  the  junior  Senator  from  k 
olina. 

The  only  Senators  who,  up  to  this  time,  have  taken   the  ground 
there  was  no  Constitutional  power  to  unseat  Kellogg  are 
from  South  Carolina.  , , 

And  now,  disclaiming  all  personal  unkindness,  I  must  review  1 
of  the  Senators  on  this  case. 


i 


706  SENATOR  B.  1L  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

The  junior  Senator  could  not  have  had  the  facts  of  this  case  in  his  mind 
when  he  was  writing  the  speech  which  he  delivered.  I  know  the  high  char 
acter  of  that  Senator,  and  I  would  do  nothing  to  impair  it  even  if  I  could ; 
but  it  is  not  possible  to  mistake  the  thoughts  which  engaged  the  Senator 
while  he  was  writing  his  speech.  He  was  not  writing  a  speech  which  even 
attempted  to  fit  the  facts  of  this  case  or  the  issues  of  this  case,  and  I  will 
convince  even  him  of  it.  He  was  writing  a  very  handsome  speech  for  deliv 
ery  in  the  Senate,  but  he  was  not  writing  a  speech  on  the  Spofford-Kellogg 
case.  Now  I  will  call  his  attention  to  his  speech  in  the  light  of  the  facts  of 
the  case  and  see  how  it  will  read.  The  first  point  I  call  attention  to  is  this  : 

_But  on  the  matter  under  consideration  such  is  the  wide  difference  of  opinion  prevailing 
among  some  of  the  ablest  jurists  in  this  body  that  the  unprofessional  mind  seeks  in  vain 
for  light  to  guide  it  to  a  correct  judgment.  Amid  this  great  and  fundamental  diversity 
of  opinions  among  the  eminent  members  of  the  legal  profession,  a  layman  like  myself  may 
well  be  excused  for  entertaining  grave  doubts  as  to  the  settled  principles  of  law  which 
should  determine  this  important  issue,  and  he  surely  cannot  be  blamed  if,  disregarding 
the  mere  technicalities  of  law,  he  strives  earnestly  to  conform  his  action  to  the  fixed  and 
immutable  principles  of  justice. 

In  this  sentence  the  Senator  from  South  Carolina  admits  he  is  in  doubt 
as  to  the  law  which  will  determine  this  case,  and  yet  he  gives  the  benefit  of 
that  doubt  to  his  enemies  against  his  friends.  Yet  he  gives  the  benefit  of 
that  doubt  to  the  representatives  of  a  body  which  he  admits  was  not  the 
Legislature,  against  the  representative  of  a  body  which  he  admits  was  the 
Legislature  ;  he  gives  the  benefit  of  that  doubt  to  a  resolution  of  the  Senate 
against  the  Constitution  of  the  country.  He  gives  the  benefit  of  that  doubt 
to  the  sitting  member  against  the  supreme  voice  of  Louisiana  with  her  pro 
test  before  him. 

Now,  talking  about  unprecedented  things,  talking  about  revolutionary 
matters,  I  ask  the  honorable  Senator  if  he  can  find  in  history, — religious, 
moral,  or  political, — an  instance,  before,  where  a  man  ever  gave  the  benefit  of 
a  doubt  to  the  wrong  against  the  right  according  to  his  own  admissions  ? 
He  gave  the  benefit  of  a  doubt  to  what  he  admits  to  be  a  wrong  against  what 
he  admitted  to  be  a  right.  Then  again,  the  reason  of  the  honorable  Senator, 
the  manner  in  which  he  gives  the  benefit  of  this  doubt,  is  by  getting  rid  of 
the  technicalities  of  the  law  and  conforming  his  action  "  to  the  fixed  and  im 
mutable  principles  of  justice."  I  thought  there  was  no  way  on  earth  to  sus 
tain  Kellogg  in  his  seat  in  this  body  except  on  a  technicality,  on  a  very 
narrow  technical ity.  The  matter  was  contested  on  a  technicality — the  tech 
nicality  that  the  Senate  had  once  passed  on  it.  This  is  the  ground  on  which 
even  Kellogg's  friends  seek  to  sustain  him,  but  the  Senator  throws  away  the 
technicality  and  he  concludes  to  sustain  Kellogg  upon  the  principles  of 
"fixed  and  immutable  justice,"  Keeping  a  man  in  a  seat  to  which  he  admits 
-  he  was  not  elected  by  the  rightful  Legislature  upon  the  principles  of  fixed 
and  immutable  justice  !  The  Senator  was  not  thinking,  when  he  wrote  that 
sentence,  of  the  facts  of  the  case,  or  I  am  sure  he  would  not  have  written  it. 
I  will  now  call  the  attention  of  the  honorable  Senator  to  another  clause.  He 
says  : 

I  recognize,  painfully,  in  my  own  case,  how  difficult  it  is  to  throw  off  the  shackles 
forged  by  partisanship  ;  to  oppose  the  mandates  of  party,  or  to  rise  superior  to  that  spirit 
of  sectionalism  which  has  so  often  exercised  its  malign  influence  on  matters  which  have 
come  before  us. 

I  appreciate  as  fully  as  any  one  the  necessity  of  party  organizations,  and  I  acknowledge 
to  their  fullest  legitimate  extent  the  obligations  of  party  fealty.  But  there  are  sometimes 


HIS  LIFE.   SPEECHES,   AND    WHITINGS.  707 

questions  upon  which  we  are  called  to  act  which  each  man  must  determine  for  himself- 
when  his  only  guide  must  be  his  conscience  and  his  sense  of  right.  Such  aque-tion  is  the 
present  one  ;  one  as  grave,  as  important,  as  far-reaching  in  its  consequence  as  ever  came 
before  this  body,  and  one  which  demands  all  the  prudence,  all  the  wisdom,  all  the  patriot 
ism  which  should  belong  to  this  the  highest  as  well  as  the  most  conservative  legislative 
tribunal  in  this  country.  We  cannot  afford,  in  a  matter  of  such  vital  consequence  to 
draw  party  lines  or  to  be  governed  by  sectional  prejudices.  We  are  here  as  represent* 
tives  of  great  coequal  States,  and  in  judging  of  the  rights  of  any  of  UK-M-  states  we  are 
bound  to  do  equal  and  exact  justice  to  all,  while  we  protect  inviolate  the  rights  and 
privileges  of  our  colleagues.  Any  proceeding  in  this  Chamber  that  could  be  considered 
as  at  all  revolutionary  or  even  irregular  would  shock  the  sentiment  of  the  whole  country, 
and  would  shake  the  settled  foundations  of  the  Government  itself.  We  cannot  tamper 
rashly  with  the  principles,  the  rules,  the  traditions  even  which  have  obtained  in  the  or 
ganization  of  this  august  body.  Some  may  treat  these  fears  as  groundless  while  they 
boldly  seek  to  establish  new  precedents,  but  I  seek  safety  and  repose  in  clinging  to 
the  old,  for  I  realize  how  dangerous  innovations  may  become. 

I  have  analyzed  that  sentence  honestly  arid  earnestly  five  or  six  times  ;  I 
have  analyzed  it  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  and  I  must  say  to  the  honorable 
Senator  from  South  Carolina  that  I  am  unable  to  extract  but  two  ideas  from 
the  whole  paragraph  I  have  read.  One  is  an  implication  that  the  Democratic 
party  in  this  Senate  is  proposing  to  do  something  "harsh,"  something  "  sec 
tional,"  something  revolutionary,  something  unprecedented,  and  that  they 
are  employing  party  discipline,  and  party  mandates,  and  party  plans,  and 
party  organization  to  enforce  the  observance  of  the  party  to  such  purposes. 
The  other  idea  is  that  the  Senator  finds  himself  so  much  purer,  so  much  bet 
ter,  and  so  much  more  patriotic  than  his  party  that  he  bursts  the  shackles  of 
party  in  this  case,  rises  above  his  party,  and  asserts  his  independence  of  his 
party  in  this  particular  case  for  "conscience  sake  and  from  a  sense  of  right." 

I  do  not  doubt  the  truth  of  the  latter  proposition.  I  would  not  question 
the  honorable  Senator's  claim  to  great  purity  or  attempt  in  the  slightest  de 
gree  to  derogate  from  it,  for  I  know  he  is  entitled  to  all  he  claims  ;  but  the 
Senator  did  very  great  injustice  to  the  Democrats  of  the  Senate  and  to  the 
party  with  which  he  usually  associates  when  he  put  them  in  the  position  of 
proposing  something  revolutionary,  something  unprecedented,  or  something 
sectional  in  order  to  lift  himself  to  a  high  pedestal  of  conservative  patriotism 
and  lofty  Unionism  above  his  party. 

After  that  the  Senator  quotes  some  very  beautiful  poetry.  The  only 
objection  to  it  is  that  I  do  not  see  any  idea  in  it  that  has  the  slightest 
relation  to  this  case.  The  Senator  then  proceeds  to  make  an  argument  and 
read  authorities  in  support  of  his  position.  I  am  not  going  to  refute  them. 
I  simply  say  to  the  Senator  that  every  point  lie  has  made  and  every  author 
ity  he  has  read  in  this  case  is  conceded,  and  they  have  no  more  application 
to  the  facts  and  issues  in  this  case  than  has  the  Decalogue  or  the  Lord's 
Prayer  or  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  The  position  he  has  taken  and  the 
authorities  he  has  read  apply  to  the  regularity  of  an  election  by  a  conceded 
Legislature.  They  have  no 'reference  whatever  to  the  case  now  before  the 
Senate.  The  very  fundamental  question  involved  is  the  denial  of  what 
himself  admits  to  be  true,  the  existence  of  a  Legislature  at  all.  That  is  why 
the  Senator  fell  into  error.  Whoever  directed  his  attention  to  the  authori 
he  read,  misled  him. 

The  Senator  then  closes  his  argument  with  a  very  beautiful  peroratioi 
which  he  speaks  highly  of  his  own  bravery  and  gallantry  during  the  war 
I  have  no  objection  to  that,  but  what  has  that  to  do  with  the  quest 
He  reminds  us  that  he  carried  the  palmetto  flag  to  the  front  amid 


708  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

of  shot  and  shell  and  bladed  steel,  and  that  he  was  in  a  very  dangerous  place, 
while  somebody  else  was  at  a  safer  place.  I  say  to  the  Senator — and  he  will 
pardon  me  for  doing  it — suppose  he  was  brave  during  the  war,  and  does  not 
everybody  admit  it  ?  Does  that  make  the  Packard  government  a  legal  gov 
ernment  ?  Does  that  make  a  resolution  of  the  Senate  declaring  it  a  legal 
government  Constitutional?  Because  the  Senator  was  brave  in  war  and  car 
ried  the  flag  to  the  front,  does  that  justify  him  or  justify  us  in  keeping  a 
man  in  the  Senate  not  chosen  by  the  Legislature  of  a  State? 

f 

Sir,  the  Senator  is  unfortunate  and  Louisiana  is  peculiarly  unfortunate. 
Of  all  the  States  which  have  been  called  on  to  pass  through  the  terrible 
Reconstruction  ordeal,  Louisiana  was  most  defiled,  most  maligned,  and  most 
plundered,  and  South  Carolina  was  next.  When  the  people  of  Louisiana 
saw  their  sons  shot  down  in  the  streets  of  New  Orleans  on  the  memorable 
14th  of  September,  it  was  no  mitigation  of  their  sorrrow  to  be  told  that  those 
who  shot  them  down  were  under  the  command  of  a  brave  and  gallant  ex-con 
federate  general,  and  I  tell  the  honorable  Senator,  disfranchisement  will  not 
be  less  galling  to  Louisiana  because  its  infliction  is  continued  under  the  lead 
of  South  Carolina  ! 

The  honorable  Senator  was  not  content  with  a  glowing  eulogy  upon  his 
own  brilliant  daring  in  the  war,  but  he  takes  occasion  also  to  inform  the 
world  that  while  he  was  following  the  palmetto  flag  on  bloody  fields  that 
were  "shot-sown  and  bladed  thick  with  steel,"  he  did  not  enjoy  the  benefit 
of  the  precepts  and  example  of  myself.  He  intimates  that  while  he  was 
gaining  honors  I  was  enjoying  a  place  of  safety.  My  only  answer  is  that  I 
was  brave  enough  during  the  war  to  discharge  as  best  I  could  the  duties  of 
the  position  to  which  the  people  of  Georgia,  without  any  solicitation  from 
myself,  saw  proper  to  call  me  ;  and  I  am  brave  enough  now  neither  to  boast 
of  my  own  achievements  nor  to  depreciate  those  of  the  Senator  from  South 
Carolina. 

Sir,  it  did  not  require  a  war  to  make  me  a  Union  man.  I  am  and  ^ver 
have  been  one  from  conviction.  I  feel  under  no  obligation  or  necessity  to 
yield  one  jot  or  tittle  of  the  equal  rights  and  privileges  of  the  Southern 
States  and  people,  under  the  Constitution,  in  order  to  appease  Northern 
wrath  or  to  show  to  the  Northern  people  that  I  have  been  effectually 
thrashed  into  a  condition  of  submission  and  subservient  loyalty.  No  South 
ern  State  shall  be  deprived  of  her  equal  suffrage  in  this  Senate  by  my  vote 
or  without  my  protest.  I  would  surrender  a  thousand  seats  in  this  body  be 
fore  I  would  give  one  vote  to  place  or  retain  a  man  here  who  I  admitted 
was  not  chosen  by  the  Legislature  and  did  not  represent  the  sovereign  will 
of  the  State,  or  to  exclude  a  Senator  from  his  seat  who  I  admitted  was 
chosen  by  the  Legislature  and  therefore  did  represent  the  sovereign  will  of 
his  State.  One  military  record  may  suffice  to  restrain  the  just  indignation 
of  the  people  for  such  a  vote,  for  it  seems  a  man  who  has  a  military  record 
can  do  anything  with  impunit\^  ;  but  ten  thousand  military  records  would 
never  be  sufficient  to  satisfy  my  own  conscience  with  such  a  vote. 

Sir,  I  believe  the  only  basis  of  either  permanent  or  honorable  union  is 
the  Constitution.  That  Constitution  I  will  demand  as  fearlessly  for  the 
South  as  I  will  grant  it  cheerfully  to  the  North.  Contrary  to  that  Consti 
tution,  I  will  consent  to  no  sacrifice  of  a  single  right  or  privilege  of  any  State 
or  citizen  of  this  Union. 

Wars,  especially  civil  wars,  are  more  damaging  in  their  sequel  than  in 
their  progress.  Their  moral  slaughters  exceed  their  physical  slaughters. 


HTS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  709 

Mr.  Burke  says  : 

Civil  wars  strike  deepest  of  all  into  the  manners  of  the  people.  They  vitiate  their 
politics  ;  they  corrupt  their  morals  ;  they  pervert  even  the  natural  taste  and  relish  of 
equity  and  justice. 

One  chief  source  of  these  evils  is  found  in  the  fact  that  civil  wars  breed 
a  species  of  heroes  who  invariably  use  their  war  exploits  as  means  of  secur 
ing  civil  positions,  and  to  this  end  keep  alive  the  spirit  of  the  conflicts. 
These  remarks  do  not  apply  to  the  Senator  from  South  Carolina. 

Montesquieu  says  : 

If  Europe  should  ever  be  ruined  it  will  be  by  her  warriors. 

Mark  the  words,  not  by  her  wars,  but  "by  her  warriors" 

The  people  of  the  United  States  have  been  struggling  for  fifteen  years 
to  recover  from  the  consequences  of  a  very  unnecessary  civil  war. 

The  greatest  obstacle  to  success  has  arisen  from  the  difficulty  in  freeing 
the  people  from  the  spirit  engendered  by  the  war.  The  Southern  States 
and  people  have  suffered  a  double  portion  of  the  evils  which  have  followed 
civil  war.  At  the  North,  a  large  number  of  politicians  are  ever  appealing 
to  the  war  passions  to  justify  any  wrong,  any  outrage,  any  slander  upon  the 
Southern  people.  At  the  South,  we  have  a  few  who  are  ever  magnifying 
their  own  exploits  in  the  war  in  order  to  further  their  individual  schemes, 
to  excuse  their  deficiencies,  failures,  mistakes,  and  shortcomings  in  every 
respect.  Sensational  writers  are  exciting  the  war  pride  of  the  people  with 
glowing  accounts  of  achievements  which  were  not  known  to  or  reported  by 
Lee,  and  fifteen  years  after  the  war  ended  we  are  having  eloqment  speeches 
to  the  soldiers  which  the  soldiers  never  heard. 

It  is  pleasant  to  know  that  these  remarks  apply  to  but  few.  There  are 
men  in  this  presence  who  carried  the  Confederate  flag  bravely  to  the  front, 
whom  no  man  can  discover  wdthout  inquiring  of  others. 

Mr.  President,  there  are  other  things  I  had  intended  to  say.  I  had  in 
tended  to  take  up  and  review  the  speech  of  the  senior  Senator  from  South 
Carolina  more  particularly,  but  it  is  wholly  unnecessary,  because  it  has  no 
more  relevancy  to  the  question  at  issue  than  did  the  speech  of  the  junior 
Senator  from  South  Carolina.  They  are  all  made  upon  the  theory  which  is 
conceded  by  the  report  of  this  committee.  The  gentlemen  did  not  touch 
the  real  issues  that  are  before  the  Senate.  I  invoke  them  again  to  consider 
the  real  issues  which  are  before  the  Senate,  and  not  the  issues  decided  in 
the  Bright  and  Fitch  case  and  other  similar  cases,  which  have  no  relevancy 
whatever  to  the  present  case. 

Mr.  President,  one  more  remark  and  I  shall  close.  The  Senator  from 
Massachusetts  (Mr.  Hoar)  some  time  ago  called  for  the  list  of  members  of 
the  Packard  Legislature  who  had  been  appointed  to  offices  under  the  Fed 
eral  Government.  At  my  suggestion,  and  with  the  aid  of  my  friend  from 
Missouri,  an  elaborate  list  has  been  prepared,  giving  the  names. 

Mr.  Hoar.— The  Senator  errs,  if  he  will  permit  me  ;  I  did  not  call 
the  list. 

Mr.  mil.— I  do  not  see  what  you  meant ;  you  said  the  statement 
been  made  that  there  were  so  many  of  these  members  of  the  Legislature  of 
Louisiana   appointed   to   office,  and   it  had   not  been  retracted,  implying 
thereby  it  was  not  true,  and  I  promised  to  produce  it. 

Mr.  Hoar.— It  the  Senator  will  pardon  me,  I  should  like  to  say  i 


710  SENATOR  B.  It.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

suppose  he  prefers  to  state  the  facts  as  t*hey  happened,  and  would  be  un 
willing  to  fall  into  any  error.  When  the  Senator  stated  that  the  Senator 
from  Massachusetts  called  for  a  list  I  replied  and  corrected  him  that  I  did 
no  such  thing.  I  do  not  think  he  makes  his  original  assertion  good  by  say 
ing  that  he  did  not  know  what  I  meant. 

Mr.  J?ill.—  -F\\e  Senator  rose  in  his  place  and  called  the  attention  of  the 
Senate  and  of  the  country  to  the  fact  that  the  statement  had  been  made 
that  thirty-nine  or  some  other  number  of  members  of  the  Packard  Legis 
lature  had  been  employed  in  the  custom-house  and  other  government  offices, 
and  he  said  the  statement  had  not  been  retracted. 

Mr.  Hoar. — Exactly ;  that  is  true. 

Mr.  Hill. — Is  not  that  calling  for  the  list? 

Mr.  Hoar. — No,  sir. 

Mr.  Hill.-  -The  Senator  is  exceedingly  critical ;  he  is  hypercritical,  not 
hypocritical.  I  say  I  have  had  prepared  the  list ;  here  it  is  in  full,  showing 
in  the  employ  of  the  Government  eight  senators  of  the  Packard  Legislature, 
three  senate  officers,  thirty-two  members  of  the  House,  and  four  House 
officers,  receiving  in  the  aggregate  $49,490  a  year. 

Mr.  Cameron. — Does  the  list  show  the  date  of  their  several  appoint 
ments  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — No,  simply  because  the  Blue  Book  and  the  list  of  custom 
house  employees  furnished  the  committee  do  not  always  give  the  date.  It 
seems  from  the  evidence  and  the  list  that  most  of  them  were  appointed  in 
May  and  June  last. 

Mr.  Cameron. — I  think  perhaps  that  might  be  quite  important.  I  have 
no  doubt  it  would  show  that  very  many  of  them  were  appointed  long  be 
fore  Mr.  Kellogg  was  elected.  .  . 

Mr.  Hill. — No,  sir,  I  beg  your  pardon  ;  only  a  few  of  them,  three  or 
four  perhaps.  The  evidence  shows  that  a  few  were  appointed  before  this 
investigation  began,  and  the  evidence  shows  that  nearly  every  one  of  them 
has  been  appointed  since  the  investigation  began.  A  few  of  them  were  ap 
pointed  before,  but  as  the  evidence  shows  they  were  appointed  in  pursuance 
of  promises  made  at  the  time  the  votes  were  given  ;  for  instance,  take  the 
man  Twitchell,  a  senator ;  the  witness  swore  that  he  was  given  $300  by 
Kellogg  and  promised  an  office  if  he  would  vote  for  him,  and  sure  enough, 
some  time  after  the  inauguration  of  Mr.  Hayes,  Twitchell  was  appointed 
consul  to  Kingston.  He  is  among  them.  The  whole  number  is  forty  seven 
members  and  officers  of  the  Packard  Legislature  who  are  in  the  employ  of 
the  Government.  We  got  some  of  this  information,  most  of  it,  from  the 
list  furnished  before  the  committee  by  the  custom-house  officers,  but  that 
list  was  incomplete.  We  had  to  go  to  the  Blue  Book  for  a  portion  of  it 
and  to  the  testimony  for  a  portion  of  it.  I  will  furnish  this  list  to  be 
printed  as  part  of  my  remarks  without  reading  it  all,  and  the  gentleman  can 
see  it  in  full  in  the  Record. 

Mr.  President,  I  hope  I  have  closed  my  connection  with  this  case  for 
ever.  I  have  done  nothing  but  my  duty  as  I  understood  it  to  be.  I  say 
again  to  the  Senators  from  South  Carolina,  that  while  I  have  a  very  positive 
way  of  expressing  myself,  I  have  not  meant  to  be  offensive.  I  did  not 
mean  to  be  unjust  to  the  Senators.  I  could  not  see  the  impropriety  of  al 
luding  to  a  rumor  when  it  was  published  in  the  papers  of  their  own  State, 
and  when  it  had  been  repnblished  all  over  the  country  and  read  upon  the 
very  floor  of  the  Senate.  If  I  have  said  anything  that  any  gentleman  can 


fifS  LtFfi,   SPEECHES,  AND  ifmftSGS. 

construe  to  be  unjust  to  anybody  I  regret  it,  and  would  freely  and  gladly 
correct  it.  There  are  no  members  on  this  floor  for  whom  I  have  entertained 
a  higher  personal  regard  than  the  honorable  Senators  from  South  Carolina. 
I  will  not  question  the  honesty  of  their  convictions.  In  my  judgment, 
looking  at  the  law  as  I  do  and  the  facts  as  I  regard  them,  they  have  taken 
a  most  unfortunate  position,  I  think  a  most  incorrect  position,  and  I  am  con 
strained  to  believe  that  the  honorable  Senators  have  contented  themselves 
with  an  abstract  legal  view  without  reading  all  of  the  testimony  in  this 
case. 


SPEECH    DELIVERED    IN    THE     SENATE    OF    THE  UNITED 

STATES,  MARCH  14,  1881. 


All  men  respect  an  honest  change  of  opinion,  but  the  people  of  no  portion  of  this  country 

will  tolerate  treachery. 


FIDELITY  TO  TRUSTS  THE  HIGHEST  DUTY. 


This  speech,  on  the  political  treachery  of  William  Mahone,  was  the  last  delivered  by 
Senator  Hill  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States.  It  was  wholly  impromptu,  and  sprang 
from  the  indignant  impulse  of  the  occasion.  It  is  one  of  the  most  bitter  and  scathing 
invectives  against  political  treachery  ever  spoken.  A  graphic  writer,  in  describing  the 
scene  and  Senator  Hill's  speech,  uses  the  following  vivid  language  : 

"  When  Senator  Hill  rose,  all  eyes  were  turned  on  the  Georgia  giant.  As  he  pro 
ceeded,  warming  to  the  subject,  his  magnificent  head  became  gracefully  erect  ;  his 
splendid  eyes  shone  radiant  with  a  genius  that  thrilled  all  hearers,  and  his  long  arms 
were  soon  swinging  right  and  left  with  the  grace  and  vigor  born  of  the  inspiration  of  the 
hour,  ever  and  anon  held  out  at  full  length  like  the  wings  of  an  eagle  when  poised  for  a 
long  and  vigorous  flight,  swooping  suddenly  to  earth  to  clutch  its  pre}7  and  rend  it  into 
pieces  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye.  No  wonder  that  the  object  of  attack — his  'terrible 
denunciation  of  Mahone,  as  the  papers  expressed  it  next  morning — no  wonder  Senator 
Mahone  instinctively  dropped  behind  his  desk,  now  and  then  dodging  to  one  side  or  the 
other  nervously,  as  if  he  felt  the  talons  of  the  great  eagle  buried  in  his  flesh.  The  speaker 
did  not  look  at  the  Virginian,  nor  at  any  one  else,  but  far  away  and  above  the  crowd,  as 
if  addressing  an  invisible  audience  and  arraigning  an  imaginary  culprit." 

The  Senate  resumed  the  consideration  of  the  resolution  introduced  by 
Mr.  Pendleton,  March  10,  for  the  appointment  of  standing  committees.  Mr. 
Hill,  of  Georgia,  said  : 

Mr.  President:  Whatever  else  may  be  said  of  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  I  think  on  all  hands  it  will  be  agreed  that  it  should  be  a  place  where 
no  masquerading  ought  to  be  tolerated.  Senators  should  deal  candidly 
with  each  other  as  well  as  with  the  country,  We  owe  it  not  only  to  our 
selves  but  to  the  place  in  which  we  are  assembled.  No  man  in  this  body 
has  a  right  to  put  members  of  the  body  in  a  false  position,  even  if  we  con 
cede  that  any  Senator  has  a  right  to  put  himself  in  a  false  position. 

I  for  one  have  favored  the  organization  of  the  Senate  without  delay.  I 
am  aware,  as  all  other  Senators  are  aware,  that  the  Senate  cannot  proceed 
with  the  discharge  of  its  duties,  duties  which  the  President  of  the  United 
States  is  constantly  and  daily  exacting  of  us,  without  that  organization  ;  and 
because  it  is  our  duty  to  transact  the  business  of  the  Senate,  I  have  favored 
the  organization  of  the  committees. 

The  country  is  witnessing  a  most  singular  exhibition,  an  exhibition  for 
which  there  ought  to  be  a  very  strong  and  controlling  reason.  For  the  first 
time  in  the  history  of  the  United  States  Senate  the  regular,  orderly,  timely, 
proper  organization  of  the  committees  is  resisted,  resisted  by  an  entire  party, 
resisted  by  a  great  party.  But  one  reason  has  been  given  or  intimated. 
That  reason,  if  I  understand  Senators  correctly,  is  that  by  waiting  a  few 

712 


ffIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  713 

days  the  Senate  committees  would  be  organized  in  a  manner  different  from 
the  organization  that  must  result  if  they  are  organized  now  ;  and  there 
fore  to  get  what  they  claim  to  be  their  legitimate  party  advantage  in  the 
organization  of  the  Senate,  gentlemen  on  the  other  side  insist  that  the  organ 
ization  shall  be  postponed.  The  only  reason  given  why  they  would  have 
an  advantage  a  few  days  hence  that  they  do  not  now  have,  is  the  fact  they 
state  that  no  less  than  four  seats  on  this  floor  have  been  vacated,  one  by 
death  and  three  by  the  action  of  the  President.  That  is  true. 

Mr.  President,  let  us  come  to  the  point.  The  Senator  from  New  York 
has  repeated  over  and  over  again,  in  language  too  plain  to  be  misunderstood 
(he  has  not  stated  it  as  his  opinion  ;  if  I  understand  his  language  he  has 
affirmed  as  a  fact),  that  within  a  few  days  the  Republicans  will  control  a 
Constitutional  majority  of  the  Senate,  and  that  that  Constitutional  majority 
will  have  it  in  its  power  to  select  the  committees.  If  not  his  language,  at 
least  what  we  have  regarded  as  the  imputations  of  the  distinguished  Senator, 
are  to  the  effect  that  we  on  this  side  are  seeking  to  precipitate  the  organiza 
tion  now,  because  we  may  procure  an  organization  now  for  a  few  days  which 
we  cannot  procure  when  the  Senate  is  full. 

Let  us  come  to  the  fact ;  it  is  the  great  fact.     I  have  believed  that  when 
every  seat  shall  be  filled  the  Senate  will  be  Democratic,  precisely  as  it  is  now. 
If  I  am  wrong  in  that  belief  I  have  been  deceived  ;  if  the  Senator  from  New 
York  is  correct  in  his  statement,  I  have  been  deceived.     I  owe  it  to  myself, 
I  owe  it  to  the  country,  I  owe  it  to  those  with  whom  I  am  associated  on  this 
floor,  to  state  distinctly  to  the  country  and  in  this  presence  why  I  say  the 
Senate  will  continue  to  be  Democratic  when  all  the  seats  shall  be  filled. 
I  am  right  in  that  conclusion,  the  Senator  has  no  right  to  say  that  we  are 
seeking  an  advantage  now  which  we  cannot  have  when  the  Senate  is  full. 
Mr.  Conkling  (in  his  seat).— Suppose  you  wait  and  see. 
Mr.  Hill. — I  have  no  doubt  the  Senator  is  anxious  for  us  to  wait.     That 
is  what  he  says.     We  have  heard  that  before,  and  he  has  a  most  apt  way  of 
interrupting  a  gentleman's  argument  by  putting  in  something  that  does  not 
belong  to  it.     He  seeks,  I  suppose,  thereby  to  break  the  force  of  it. 

I  have  a  list  of  the  Senators  before  me  chosen  by  the  Legislatures  of 
several  States  to  the  Forty-seventh  Congress,  except  the  few  the 
mentioned  who  have  not  yet  arrived.     I  assume  what  I  believe  is  true,  that 
every  Senator  yet  to  arrive  will  be  a  Republican  ;   I  believe  all  the  seat! 
vacated  will  bellied  by  Republicans  ;  but  when  full,  how  will 
stand  ?     That  is  the  question.      I  have  the  list  before  me. 
every  man  knows,  that  the  Senate,  when  full,  consists  of  seventy-six  membe 
Thirty-eight  members  of  the  body  now  sitting  here  were  elected  to  t 
as  Democrats.     Let  that  fact  go  to  the  country.     Thirty-eight  member 
the  Senate,  now  in  the  hearing^of  my  voice,  were  sent  here  commit 
sit  here  as  Democrats.     Thev  hold  no  commission  that  was  no 
them  as  Democrats  and  by  Democrats.     That  thirty-eight  amoun 
cisely  half  the  Senate.     One  member  of  the  Senate,  the  distinguished  fc 
tor  from  Illinois  (Mr.  Davis),  was  not  sent  here  as  a    Democn 
sent  here  by  Democratic  votes,  and  in  words  of  high  and  lof  ty  pat™ 
and  fidelity  to  trust,  worthy  of  the  very  best  days  of  this    Repu 
nounced  on  Friday  that  he  would  be  true  to  the  trust  that  sent  him  here 
and  which  he  agreed  to  fulfill.  ., 

Mr.  Hoar.-l  understood  him  to  announce  that  he  thought 
cratic  organization  was  contrary  to  his  taste  and  his  judgm< 


vu  SENATOR  B.  n.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

Mr.  Conkllng. — And  his  conscience,  too. 

Mr.  Hill. — Mr.  President,  I  shall  be  excused  if  I  do  not  reply  to  that 
statement.  The  Senator  from  Illinois  needs  no  defense.  His  words  are  on 
record  ;  his  words  have  gone  to  the  country  ;  and  if  the  country  has  not 
lost  its  reverence  for  high  fidelity  and  manly  patriotism,  they  will  electrify 
the  country  with  pleasure  and  delight.  In  this  day,  when  so  many  evils 
have  afflicted  us,  fidelity  at  least  ought  to  be  cherished  and  have  its  reward- 
fidelity  in  this  high,  conspicuous  place,  which  stands  the  very  focus  of  the 
nation's  blaze,  where  no  man  can  dare  to  be  treacherous. 

This  being  true,  I  challenge  contradiction  to  the  statement  I  make  when 
I  say  there  are  thirty-nine  members  of  the  Senate  now  sitting  here  com 
missioned  by  Democrats,  elected  by  Democratic  votes.  Thirty-nine  consti 
tute  two  majority  of  this  body  when  full.  Yet  in  the  face  of  this  high  pres 
ence,  in  the  face  of  the  nation,  the  leading  Senator  on  the  other  side,  the 
great  Senator  from  the  great  State  of  New  York,  rises  and  repeats  over  and 
over  again  that  when  the  Senate  shall  be  full  it  will  have  a  Constitutional 
majority  of  Republicans.  How  has  that  been  accomplished?  That  is  the 
question.  It  was  not  accomplished  by  the  people.  It  was  not  accomplished 
by  the  Legislatures  of  the  States.  How?  By  whom?  When  ?  For  what 
purpose  has  that  wonderful  coalition  been  accomplished  by  which  somebody, 
sent  here  as  a  Democrat,  has  been  seized  on — no,  I  will  not  say  seized  ;  I  will 
imitate  the  words  of  the  distinguished  Senator  from  New  York — taken  and 
carried  away  to  the  Republican  party  ?  Who  did  it?  The  Senator  from 
New  York  did  not ;  I  acquit  him  ;  I  know  him  too  well.  Who  did  it?  Who 
has  seized,  who  has  taken  and  carried  a  way?  How  is  it  that  we  on  this 

«/ 

side  have  no  right  to  act  on  the  assumption  that  thirty-eight  members  who 
were  sent  to  this  body  as  Democrats  are  not  still  Democrats?  Sir,  I  say 
they  are,  and  I  stand  here  to  vindicate  the  honor,  the  integrity,  the  fidelity 
to  State,  to  people,  and  to  principle  of  all  the  thirty-eight  who  were 'sent 
here  as  Democrats,  and  I  deny  that  either  has  proven  treacherous  to  his 
constituents  or  has  falsified  the  commission  that  lies  upon  your  table.  The 
Senator  from  New  York  has  done  injustice  to  some  Democrat 

Mr.  Conkling. — Does  the  Senator  make  it  personal  to  himself  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — No,  sir,  and  the  Senator  knows  it ;  but  I  have  a  right  to  say, 
as  I  do  say,  that  I  assume  that  every  man  whom  the  Legislatures  of  the 
States  sent  to  this  body,  worthy  to  hold  a  seat  in  this  body,  is  true  to  the 
mission  and  the  trust  with  which  they  clothed  him,  and  when  the  Senator 
from  New  York  intimates  that  somebody  is  false,  I  say  the  Senator  from 
New  York  does  injustice  to  that  somebody. 

Mr.  Conkling. — Mr.  President,  I  think  I  ought  to  ask  the  Senator  to 
allow  me  to  interrupt  him,  as  he  refers  to  me  so  pointedly.  I  interrupt  him 
to  deny  what  the  honorable  Senator  has  said.  I  have  neither  stated  nor  im 
plied  that  anybody  was  to  be  false  to  any  understanding— 

Mr.  Hill. — Mr.  President,  I  will  not  yield  further  to  the  gentleman.  He 
understands  that  I  am  not  charging  him  with  that. 

^  Mr.  Conkling. — I  understood  the  honorable  Senator  to  say  that  I  had  im 
plied  or  charged  that  somebody  was  to  be  false,  and  I  think  it  is  quite  fair 
and  just,  without  being  generous,  that  the  Senator  should  allow  me  to  inter 
pose  to  say  that  my  meaning,  my  statement,  my  implication,  my  belief  is  that 
everybody  is  to  be  true,  and  therefore  that  somebody  is  to  be  true  to  the 
opposition  to  a  reigning  element  in  this  country,  opposition  to  which  sent 
him  to  this  body.  That  is  what  I  mean. 


LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  715 

Mr.  Edmunds. — Order,  order,  Mr.  President. 

The  Vice-President.--The  Sergeant-at-Arms  will  see  that  order  is  en 
forced  in  the  galleries. 

Mr.  Hill.— I  was  not  astonished  at  the  interruption,  or  the  length  of  it, 
or  the  manner  of  it ;  nor  do  I  object,  nor  will  I  complain  ;  but  I  have  said, 
what  the  Senator  will  not  dispute,  that  there  are  thirty-eight  members  of 
this  body  elected  by  Democratic  votes  and  sent  here  as  Democrats. 

Mr.  Conkling — I  do  deny  it. 

Mr.  Hill.-  -Thirty-eight  sent  as  Democrats,  and  one  as  an  independent  by 
Democratic  votes. 

Mr.  Conkling. — I  do  deny  it. 

Mr.  Hill. — Very  well ;  the  records  of  the  country  must  settle  that  with 
the  Senator.  The  Senator  will  say  who  was  elected  as  a  Republican  from 
any  of  the  States  to  which  I  allude.  I  say,  what  the  whole  world  knows, 
that  there  are  thirty-eight  men  on  this  floor  elected  as  Democrats,  declaring 
themselves  to  be  Democrats,  who  supported  Hancock,  and  who  have  sup 
ported  the  Democratic  ticket  in  every  election  that  has  occurred,  and  who 
were  elected,  moreover,  by  Democratic  Legislatures,  elected  by  Legislatures 
which  were  largely  Democratic  ;  and  the  Senator  from  New  York  will  not 
deny  it.  One  other  Senator  whojwas  elected,  not  as  a  Democrat,  but  as  an 
independent,  has  announced  his  purpose  to  vote  with  us  on  this  question. 
That  makes  thirty-nine,  unless  some  man  of  the  thirty-eight  who  was  elected 
by  a  Democratic  Legislature  proves  false  to  his  trust.  Now,  the  Senator 
from  New  York  does  not  say  that  somebody  has  been  bought.  No  ;  I  have 
not  said  that.  He  does  not  say  somebody  has  been  taken  and  carried  away. 
No  ;  I  have  not  said  that.  But  the  Senator  has  said,  and  here  is  his  language, 
and  I  hope  he  will  not  find  it  necessary  to  correct  it : 

It  may  be  said,  very  likely  I  shall  be  found  to  say  despite  some  criticism  that  I  may 
make  upon  so  saying  in  advance,  that  notwithstanding  the  words  "during  the  present 
session,"  day  after  to-morrow  or  the  day  after  that,  if  the  majority  then  present  in  the 
Chamber  changes,  that  majority  may  overthrow  all  this  proceeding,  obliterate  it,  and  set 
up  an  organization  of  the  Senate  in  conformity  with  and  not  in  contradiction  of  the  edict 
of  the  election. 

The  presidential  election  he  was  referring  to- 

If  an  apology  is  needed  for  the  objection  which  I  feel  to  that,  it  will  be  found,  I  think, 
in  the  circumstance  that  a  majority,  a  Constitutional  majority  of  the  Senate,  is  against  that 
resolution,  is  against  the  formation  of  committees  Democratic  in  inspiration  and  persua 
sion,  to  which  are  to  go  for  this  session  all  executive  matters. 

The  Senator  has  announced  to-day  that  the  majority  on  this  side  of  the 
Chamber  was  only  temporary.    He  has  announced  over  and  over  that  it  was 
to  be  a  temporary  majority.    I  meet  him  on  the  fact.    I  say  there  are  thirty- 
eight  members  sitting  in  this  hall  to-day  who  were  elected  by  Democratic 
Legislatures  and  as  Democrats,  and  one  distinguished  Senator,  who  was  not 
elected  as  a  Democrat,  but  by  Democratic  votes,  the  distinguished  Senator 
from  Illinois  (Mr.  Davis),  has  announced  his  purpose  to  vote  with  t 
thirty-eight  Democrats.     Where,  then,  have  I  misrepresented? 
true,  and  if  those  who  were  elected  as  Democrats  are  not  faithless 
constituency  that  elected  them,  you  will  not  have  the  majority  when 
Senate  is  full. 

Again,  so  far  from  charging  the  Senator  from  New  York  with 
personal  party  to  this  arrangement,  I  acquitted  him  boldly  and 
for  I  undertake  to  say  what  I  stated  before,  and  I  repeat  it,  to  his  cre<  it,  I 


716  SENATOR  B.   II.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

is  no  party  to  an  arrangement  by  which  any  man  chosen  by  a  Democratic 
Legislature  and  as  a  Democrat  is  not  going  to  vote  for  the  party  that  sent  him 
here.  Sir,  I  know  too  well  what  frowns  would  gather  with  lightning  fierce 
ness  upon  the  brow  of  the  Senator  from  New  York  if  I  were  to  intimate  or 
any  other  man  were  to  intimate  that  he,  elected  as  a  Republican,  because  he 
happened  to  have  a  controlling  vote,  was  going  to  vote  with  the  Democrats 
on  the  organization.  What  would  be  insulting  to  him,  he  cannot,  he  will 
not  respect  in  another. 

Now,  sir,  I  say  the  Senator  has  been  unjust  in  the  conclusion  which  he 
has  drawn,  because  it  necessarily  makes  somebody  who  was  chosen  as  a  Dem 
ocrat  ally  himself  with  the  Republicans,  not  on  great  questions  of  policy,  but 
on  a  question  of  organization,  on  a  question  of  mere  political  organization. 
I  assume  that  that  has  not  been  done.  No  man  can  charge  that  I  have  come 
forward  and  assumed  that  his  fidelity  was  in  question.  I  have  assumed  that 
the  Senator  from  New  York  was  wrong  in  his  statement.  Why?  Because 
if  any  gentleman  who  was  chosen  to  this  body  as  a  Democrat  has  concluded 
not  to  vote  with  the  Democrats  on  the  organization,  he  has  not  given  us 
notice,  and  I  take  it  for  granted  that  when  a  gentleman  changes  his  opinions, 
as  every  Senator  has  a  right  to  change  his  opinions,  his  first  duty  is  to  give 
notice  of  that  change  to  those  with  whom  he  has  been  associated.  He  has 
not  given  that  notice  ;  no  Democrat  of  the  thirty-eight  has  given  that 
notice  to  this  side  of  the  House.  I  therefore  assume  that  no  such  change 
has  occurred. 

But  there  is  another  obligation.  While  I  concede  the  right  of  any 
gentleman  to  change  his  opinions  and  change  his  party  affiliations,  yet  I  say 
that  when  he  has  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  duty  requires  him  to  make 
that  change,  he  must  give  notice  to  the  constituency  that  sent  him  here.  I 
have  heard  of  no  such  notice.  If  the  people  of  any  of  these  Democratic 
States,  who,  through  Democratic  Legislatures,  have  sent  thirty-eight  Demo 
crats  to  this  body  and  one  more  by  Democratic  votes,  have  received  notice 
of  a  change  of  party  opinion  or  a  change  of  party  affiliations  by  any  of  those 
they  sent  here,  I  have  not  heard  of  it ;  the  evidence  of  it  has  not  been  pro 
duced. 

Sir,  I  concede  the  right  of  every  man  to  change  his  opinions ;  I  concede 
the  right  of  every  man  to  change  his  party  affiliations  ;  I  concede  the  right 
of  any  man  who  was  elected  to  the  high  place  of  a  seat  in  this  Senate,  as  a 
Democrat,  to  change  and  become  a  Republican  ;  but  I  deny  in  the  presence 
of  this  Senate,  I  deny  in  the  hearing  of  this  people,  that  any  man  has  aright 
to  accept  a  commission  from  one  party  and  execute  the  trust  confided  to 
him  in  the  interest  of  another  party.  Demoralized  as  this  country  has  be 
come,  though  every  wind  bears  to  us  charges  of  fraud  and  bargain  and 
corruption  ;  though  the  highest  positions  in  the  land,  we  fear,  have  been 
degraded  by  being  occupied  by  persons  who  procured  them  otherwise  than 
by  the  popular  will,  yet  I  deny  that  the  people  of  either  party  in  this 
country  have  yet  given  any  man  a  right  to  be  faithless  to  a  trust.  They 
have  given  no  man  a  right  to  accept  a  commission  as  a  Democrat  and  hold 
that  commission  and  act  with  the  Republicans.  Manhood,  bravery,  cour 
age,  fidelity,  morality,  respect  for  the  opinions  of  mankind,  requires  that 
whenever  a  man  has  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  he  cannot  carry  out  the 
trust  which  was  confided  to  him,  he  should  return  the  commission  and  tell 
his  constituents,  "  I  have  changed  my  mind,  and  therefore  return  you  the 
commission  you  gave  me."  Sir,  I  do  not  believe  that  a  single  one  of  the 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND    WRITINGS.  717 

thirty-eight  gentlemen  who  were  elected  as  Democrats,  and  whose  names 
are  before  me  here,  will  hold  in  his  pocket  a  commission  conferred  by 
Democrats,  conferred  on  him  as  a  Democrat,  and  without  giving  notice  to 
his  constituency,  without  giving  notice  to  his  associates,  w'fll  execute 
that  commission  in  the  interest  of  the  adversary  party  and  go  and  com 
municate  his  conclusions,  first  of  all,  and  only,  to  the  members  of  the  adver 
sary  party. 

'Sir,  who  is  it  that  has  changed  ?  Whom  of  these  thirty-eight  does  the 
Senator  rely  upon  to  vote  with  the  Republicans  ?  That  one  has  not  notified 
us  ;  he  has  not  notified  his  constituency.  Therefore  I  say  it  is  not  true, 
and  I  cannot  sit  here  quietly  and  allow  a  gentleman  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Chamber,  however  distinguished,  to  get  up  here  and  assume  and  asseverate 
over  and  over  that  somebody  elected  as  a  Democrat  is  faithless  to  his  trust, 
and  not  repel  it.  No,  gentlemen,  you  are  deceived  ;  you  will  be  disap 
pointed.  I  vindicate  the  character  of  American  citizenship  ;  I  vindicate 
the  honor  of  human  nature  when  I  say  you  will  be  disappointed,  and  no 
man  elected  as  a  Democrat  is  going  to  help  you  organize  the  committees  of 
this  Senate.  I  do  not  say  so  because  I  know.  No,  I  have  no  personal  in 
formation,  but  I  will  stand  here  and  affirm  that  no  man  who  has  been 
deemed  by  any  constituency  in  this  country  to  be  worthy  of  a  place  in  this 
body  will  be  guilty  of  that  treachery.  And  how  is  the  Senator's  majority  to 
come  ?  How  many  are  there  ?  He  has  not  told  us.  The  papers  said  this 
morning  that  there  were  two  or  three,  and  they  named  my  good  friend 
from  Tennessee  (Mr.  Harris).  When  I  saw  that,  I  knew  the  whole  thing 
was  absurd.  The  idea  that  anybody  in  this  world  would  ever  believe  that 
my  friend  from  Tennessee  could  possibly  be  guilty  of  such  a  thing,  and  my 
colleague  (Mr.  Brown),  also  was  named — gentlemen  who  were  born  and 
reared  in  the  school  of  fidelity  to  their  party.  How  many  ?  Have  you  one  ? 
If  you  have  but  one  that  was  elected  as  a  Democrat,  and  who  has  concluded 
to  go  with  the  Republicans,  then  you  have  only  half  ;  you  have  38  to  38, 
and  I  suppose  you  count  upon  the  vote  of  the  Vice-President.  Has  that 
been  arranged  ?  Sir,  I  will  not  blame  you  if  you  vote  for  voting  according 
to  the  sentiment  that  elected  you,  for  voting  according  to  the  professions  of 
your  principles  which  you  avowed  when  you  were  elected.  I  deny  myself 
the  right  of  the  Vice-President  to  take  part  in  the  constitution  and  organi 
zation  of  this  Senate ;  but  I  shall  not  make  the  question.  If  you  have  got 
one,  the  vote  will  be  38  to  38.  Who  is  the  one  ?  Who  is  ambitious 
to  do  what  no  man  in  the  history  of  this  country  has  ever  done,  to  be  the 
first  man  to  stand  up  in  this  high  presence,  after  this  country  has  reached 
fifty  million  people,  and  proclaim  from  this  proud  eminence  that  he  disgraces 
the  commission  he  holds  ? 

The  Vice-President  rapped  to  order. 

Mr.  IIill.~Who  is  it  ?     Who  can  he  be  ?     Do  you  receive  him  wi 
affection  ?     Do  you  receive  him  with  respect  ?     Is  such  a  man  worthy 
your  association  ?     Such   a  man  is  not  worthy  to  be  a  Democrat, 
worthy  to  be  a  Republican  ?     If  my  friend  from  Illinois,  my 
Kansas,  or  my  friend  from  New  York,  were  to  come  to  me  holdi 
publican  commission  in  his  pocket,  sent  here  by  a  Republican  Lej.         ure, 
and  whisper  to  me,  "  I  will   vote  with  the  Democrats  on  orgamzal 
would  tell  him  that  if  he  so  came,  he  would  be  expelled  with  ignominy 
the  ranks  of  the  party. 

And  why  do  you  beg  us  to  wait  ?    If  all  who  were  elected  as  1 


718  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

are  to  remain  Democrats,  what  good  will  waiting  do  you  ?  You  will  still 
be  in  a  minority  of  two,  the  same  minority  you  are  in  this  morning. 

Mr.  President,  I  affirm  that  no  man  elected  and  sent  here  by  a  Demo 
cratic  Legislature  as  a  Democrat,  whatever  may  have  been  local  issues, 
whatever  may  have  been  the  divisions  of  factions,  and  above  all,  no  man 
Avho  professed  to  be  a  Democrat  when  he  was  elected  and  who  procured  his 
election  by  professing  to  be  a  Democrat,  in  the  name  of  Democracy  and 
Republicanism  as  well,  in  the  name  of  American  nature,  I  charge  that  no 
such  man  will  prove  false  to  his  trust  ;  and,  therefore,  why  wait?  Why 
delay  the  business  of  the  country  ?  Why  should  the  nominations  lie  on  the 
table  unacted  on  ?  Why  should  we  spend  days  and  days  here  with  the 
party  on  the  other  side  filibustering  for  time  to  get  delay,  to  get  a  few 
days  ?  Why  should  we  do  that  when,  upon  the  assumption  that  the  Senate 
is  not  to  blush  at  an  exhibition  of  treachery,  the  result  will  be  the  same  one 
week,  two  weeks,  six  months,  two  years  from  now  that  it  is  now  ? 

Sir,  I  know  that  there  is  a  great  deal  in  this  question.  The  American 
people  have  had  much  to  humiliate  them  ;  all  peoples  have  much  to  humili 
ate  them.  I  know  that  the  patronage  of  this  Government  has  become  very 
great.  I  know  that  the  distinguished  gentleman  who  presides  at  the  other 
end  of  the  avenue  holds  in  his  hand  millions  and  hundreds  of  millions  of 
patronage.  To  our  shame  be  it  said  it  has  been  whispered  a  hundred  times 
all  through  the  country  by  the  presses  of  both  parties  until  it  has  become 
absolutely  familiar  to  American  ears  that  the  patronage  of  the  Federal  Gov 
ernment  has  been  used  to  buy  votes  and  control  elections  to  keep  one  party 
in  power.  It  is  a  question  that  confronts  every  honest  statesman  whether 
something  shall  not  be  done  to  lessen  that  patronage.  I  respond  to  the 
sentiment  of  the  President  in  his  inaugural  when  I  say  there  ought  to  be  a 
rule  in  even  the  civil  service,  by  which  this  patronage  shall  be  placed  where 
it  cannot  be  used  for  such  purposes.  If  it  is  not  done,  I  do  not  know  what 
humiliations  are  in  store  for  us  all. 

But,  Mr.  President,  here  are  facts  that  no  man  can  escape.  Gentlemen 
of  the  Republican  party  of  this  Senate,  you  cannot  organize  the  Senate, 
unless  you  can  get  the  vote  of  some  man  who  was  elected  as  a  Democrat. 
You  cannot  escape  that.  Have  you  gotten  it  ?  If  so,  how  ?  If  you  have, 
nobody  knows  it  but  yourselves.  How  ?  There  is  no  effect  without  a 
cause  ;  there  is  no  change  without  a  purpose  ;  there  is  no  bargain  without 
a  consideration.  What  is  the  cause  ?  If  there  has  been  a  change,  why  a 
change?  How  does  it  happen  that  you  know  the  change  and  we  do  not? 
What  induced  the  change  ?  I  deny  that  there  has  been  a  change.  I  main 
tain  that  all  the  distinguished  gentlemen  who  make  up  the  thirty-eight  Dem 
ocrats  on  this  side  of  the  Chamber  are  firm — firm  to  the  principles  that  sent 
them  here,  firm  to  the  professions  that  sent  them  here,  and  firm  to  the  con- 
1  stituencies  that  sent  them  here.  They  were  elected  as  Democrats.  Now,  on 
the  question  of  organization,  which  is  nothing  in  the  world  but  a  pure  polit 
ical  question,  and  a  party  question  at  that,  they  will  act  with  the  Democratic 
party,  and  you,  gentlemen,  will  be  deceived  if  you  calculate  otherwise. 
Therefore,  there  is  no  necessity  for  you  to  enter  into  all  this  filibustering 
and  producing  this  delay  for  the  purpose  of  getting  the  organization. 

Mr.  President,  as  I  said  before,  the  Senate  should  be  a  place  where  there 
should  be  no  masquerading  ;  men  should  deal  frankly  with  each  other.  If  I 
were  to  charge  any  gentleman  on  the  Republican  side  of  the  Chamber  who 
was  elected  as  a  Republican,  who  professed  to  be  a  Republican  when  he  was 


7//.S  LIFE,   SPEECHES,    AND   WHITINGS.  719 

elected,  with  having  made  arrangements  with  the  Democrats  to  vote  with  them, 
I  should  insult  him  and  he  would  resent  it  as  an  insult,  and,  gentlemen,  excuse 
me  for  repelling  the  charge  which,  if  made  against  you,  you  would  repel  as 
an  insult,  I  repel  as  an  insult  the  charge  made  against  any  Democrat  that 
he  would  be  false  to  his  colors  and  is  intending  to  vote  with  you  on  the 


organization. 


Mr.  Mahone.— TA.T.  President,  I  do  not  propose  to  detain  you  and  the 
Senate  more  than  a  few  minutes.  The  distinguished  Senator  from  Georgia 
has  manifestly  engaged  in  an  effort  to  disclose  my  position  on  this  floor. 

Mr.  Hill— I  do  not  know  what  your  position  is.  How  could  I  disclose 
it? 

Mr.  Mahone. — Sir,  the  Senator  might  be  a  little  more  direct,  as  he  might 
well  have  been  in  the  course  of  his  remarks,  in  asking  my  position  :  and  that 

I-ll         «  v  •  if    f 

will  give  him. 

Now,  Mr.  President,  the  Senator  has  assumed  not  only  to  be  the  custo 
dian  here  of  the  Democratic  party  of  this  nation,  but  he  has  dared  to  assert 
his  right  to  speak  for  a  constituency  that  I  have  the  privilege,  the  proud 
and  honorable  privilege  on  this  floor,  of  representing  without  his  assent, 
without  the  assent  of  such  Democracy  as  that  he  speaks  for.  I  owe  them, 
sir,  I  owe  you  [addressing  Mr.  Hill],  and  those  for  whom  you  undertake  to 
speak,  nothing  in  this  Chamber.  I  came  here,  sir,  as  a  Virginian  to  repre 
sent  my  people,  not  to  represent  that  Democracy  for  which  you  stand.  I 
come  with  as  proud  a  claim  to  represent  that  people  as  you  to  represent  the 
people  of  Georgia,  won  on  fields  where  I  have  vied  with  Georgians,  whom 
I  commanded,  and  others  in  the  cause  of  my  people  and  of  their  section  in 
the  late  unhappy  contest  ;  but,  thank  God  !  for  the  peace  and  the  good  of 
the  country,  that  contest  is  over,  and  as  one  of  those  who  engaged  in  it,  and 
who  has  neither  here  nor  elsewhere  any  apology  to  make  for  the  part  taken, 
I  am  here  by  my  humble  efforts  to  bring  peace  to  this  whole  country,  peace 
and  good  will  between  the  sections  ;  not  here  as  a  partisan,  not  here  to  re 
present  that  Bourbonism  which  has  done  so  much  injury  to  my  section  of 
the  country. 

Now,  sir,  the  gentleman  undertakes  to  say  what  constitutes  a  Democrat. 
A  Democrat !  I  hold,  sir,  that  to-day  I  am  a  better  Democrat  than  he,  infin 
itely  better — he  who  stands  nominally  committed  to  a  full  vote,  a  free  bal 
lot,  and  an  honest  count.  I  should  like  to  know  how  he  stands  for  these 
things  where  tissue  ballots  are  fashionable. 

Now,  sir,  I  serve  notice  on  you  that  I  intend  to  be  here  the  custodian  of 
my  own  Democracy.  I  do  not  intend  to  be  run  by  your  caucus.  I  am  in 
every  sense  a  free  man  here.  I  trust  I  am  able  to  protect  my  own  rights 
and  defend  those  of  the  people  whom  I  represent,  and  certainly  to  take  care 
of  my  own.  I  do  not  intend  that  any  Senator  on  this  floor  shall  undertake 
to  criticise  my  conduct  by  innuendoes,  a  method  not  becoming  this  body  or 
a  straightforward  legitimate  line  of  pursuit  in  argument. 

I  wish  the  Senator  from  Georgia  to  understand  just  here  that  we 
get  along  in  the  future  harmoniously,  that  the  way  to  deal  with  me 
deal  directly.     We  want  no  bills  of  discovery.     Now,  sir,  you  will  bnd  out 
how  I  am  going  to  vote  in  a  little  while. 

Mr.  Davis.—  Mr.  President,  during  this  temporary  suspension 

Mr.  Mahone.— I  have  not  yet  yielded  the  floor.     I  am  waiting  for  a  1 
order. 

Mr.  Davis.— I  wish  to  call  the  attention  of  the  Chair  to  the  disorder 


720  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

the  Senate  both  when  my  friend  from  Georgia  was  speaking  and  now.  I 
believe  it  has  been  some  time  since  we  have  had  as  much  disorder  as  we 
have  had  to-day  in  the  galleries.  I  hope  the  Chair  will  enforce  order. 

Mr.  Teller. — I  should  like  to  say  that  much  of  the  disorder  originated  in 
the  first  place  from  the  cheering  on  the  Democratic  side  of  the  Chamber. 

The  Vice- President. — The  Chair  announces  that  order  must  be  main 
tained  in  the  galleries  ;  otherwise  the  Sergeant-at-Arms  will  be  directed  to 
clear  the  galleries. 

Mr.  Mahone. — I  promised  not  to  detain  the  Senate,  and  I  regret  that  so 
early  after  my  appearance  here  I  should  find  it  necessary  to  intrude  any 
remarks  whatsoever  upon  the  attention  of  this  body.  I  would  prefer  to  be 
a  little  modest  ;  I  would  prefer  to  listen  and  to  learn  ;  but  I  cannot  feel 
content,  after  what  has  passed  in  this  presence,  when  the  gentlemen  by  all 
manner  of  methods,  all  manner  of  insinuations,  direct  and  indirect,  has 
sought  to  do  that  which  would  have  been  better  done  and  more  bravely 
pursued  if  he  had  gone  directly  to  the  question  itself.  He  has  sought  to  dis 
cover  where  the  Democrat  was  who  should  here  choose  to  exercise  his  right 
to  cast  his  vote  as  he  pleased,  who  should  here  exercise  the  liberty  of  man 
hood  to  differ  with  his  caucus.  Why,  sir,  the  gentleman  seems  to  have  for- 
fotten  that  I  refused  positively  to  attend  his  little  love-feast  ;  not  only  that 
refused  to  take  part  in  a  caucus  which  represents  a  party  that  has  not 
only  waged  war  upon  me  but  upon  those  whom  I  represent  on  this  floor. 
They  have  not  only  intruded  within  the  boundaries  of  my  own  State,  with 
out  provocation,  to  teach  honesty  and  true  Democracy,  but  they  would  now 
pursue  my  people  further  by  intruding  their  unsolicited  advice  and  admoni 
tion  to  their  representative  in  this  Chamber.  Yes,  sir,  you  have  been  noti 
fied,  duly  notified,  that  I  would  take  no  part  or  lot  in  any  political  machin 
ery. 

Further  than  that,  you  have  been  notified  that  I  was  supremely  indif 
ferent  to  what  you  did  ;  that  I  had  no  wish  to  prefer,  and  was  indifferent  to 
your  performances  ;  that  I  should  stand  on  this  floor  representing  in  part 
the  people  of  the  State  of  Virginia,  for  whom  I  have  the  right  to  speak 
(and  not  the  Senator  from  Georgia),  even  of  their  Democracy.  The  gentle 
man  may  not  be  advised  that  the  Legislature  which  elected  me  did  not  re 
quire  that  I  should  state  either  that  I  was  a  Democrat  or  anything  else.  I 
suppose  he  could  not  get  here  from  Georgia  unless  he  was  to  say  that 
lie  was  a  Democrat,  anyhow.  I  come  here  without  being  required  to 
state  to  my  people  what  I  am.  They  were  willing  to  trust  me,  sir,  and 
I  was  elected  by  the  people,  and  not  by  a  Legislature,  for  it  was  an  issue  in 
the  canvass.  There  was  no  man  elected  by  the  party  with  which  I  am 
identified  that  did  not  go  to  the  Legislature  instructed  by  the  sovereigns  to 
vote  for  me  for  the  position  I  occupy  on  this  floor.  It  required  no  oath  of 
allegiance  blindly  given  to  stand  by  your  Democracy,  such  as  it  is,  that 
makes  a  platform  and  practices  another  thing.  That  is  the  Democracy  they 
have  in  some  of  the  Southern  States. 

Now,  I  hope  the  gentleman  will  be  relieved.  He  has  been  chassezing 
all  around  this  Chamber  to  see  if  he  could  not  find  a  partner  somewhere ; 
he  has  been  looking  around  in  every  direction  ;  occasionally  he  would  refer 
to  some  other  Senator  to  know  exactly  where  the  Senator  was  who  stood 
here  as  a  Democrat  that  had  the  manhood  and  the  boldness  to  assert  his 
opinions  in  this  Chamber  free  from  the  dictation  of  a  mere  caucus.  Now, 
I  want  the  gentleman  to  know  henceforth  and  forever  here  is*  a  man,  sir, 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND   WRITINGS.  721 

that  dares  stand  up  and  speak  for  himself  without  regard  to  caucus  in  all 
matters.     Mr.  President,  pardon  me  ;  I  have  done. 

Mr.  Hill. — Mr.  President. 

The  Vice- President.- -The  Senate  will  be  in  order.  Gentlemen  on  the 
floor  not  members  of  the  Senate  will  take  seats. 

Mr.  Hill. — Mr.  President,  I  hope  nobody  imagines  that  I  rise  to  make 
any  particular  reply  to  the  remarkable  exhibition  we  have  just  seen.  I  rise 
to  say  a  few  things  in  justification  of  myself.  I  certainly  did  not  say  one 
word  to  justify  the  gentleman  in  the  statement  that  I  made  an  assault 
upon  him,  unless  he  was  the  one  man  who  had  been  elected  as  a  Democrat 
and  was  not  going  to  vote  with  his  party.  I  never  saw  that  gentleman 
before  the  other  day.  I  have  not  the  slightest  unkind  feeling  for  him.  I 
never  alluded  to  him  by  name  ;  I  never  alluded  to  his  State  ;  and  I  cannot 
understand  how  the  gentleman  says  that  I  alluded  to  him  except  upon  the 
rule  laid  down  by  the  distinguished  Senator  from  New  York,  that  a  guilty 
conscience  needs  no  accuser.  I  did  not  mention  the  Senator.  It  had  befen 
stated  here  by  the  Senator  from  New  York  over  and  over  that  the  other  side 
would  have  a  majority  wrhen  that  side  was  full.  I  showed  it  was  impos 
sible  that  they  should  have  a  majority  unless  they  could  get  one  Demo 
cratic  vote,  with  the  vote  of  the  Vice-President.  I  did  not  know  who  it 
was ;  I  asked  who  it  was  ;  I  begged  to  know  who  it  was ;  and  to  my 
utter  astonishment  the  gentleman  from  Virginia  comes  out  and  says  he  is 
the  man. 

The  Senator  from  Virginia  makes  a  very  strange  announcement.  He 
charged  me  not  only  with  attacking  him,  but  with  attacking  the  people  of 
Virginia.  Did  I  say  a  word  of  the  people  of  Virginia  ?  I  said  that  the 
people  of  no  portion  of  this  country  would  tolerate  treachery.  Was  that 
attacking  the  people  of  Virginia  ?  I  said  that  thirty-eight  men  had  been 
elected  to  this  body  as  Democrats.  Does  the  Senator  deny  that?  Does  he 
say  he  was  elected  here  not  as  a  Democrat  ?  He  says  he  was  not  required 
to  declare  that  he  was  a  Democrat,  and  in  the  next  breath  he  says  he  is  a 
truer,  better  Democrat  than  I  am.  Then  I  commend  him  to  you.  Take 
good  care  of  him,  my  friends.  Nurse  him  well.  How  do  you  like  to  have 
a  worse  Democrat  than  I  am  ? 

Mr.  Conkling  and  others. — A  better  Democrat. 

Mr.  Hi!l.—6\),  a  better  !  Then  my  friend  from  New  York  is  a  better 
democrat  than  I  am.  You  have  all  turned  Democrats  ;  and  we  have  in  the 
United  States  Senate  such  an  exhibition  as  that  of  a  gentleman  showing  his 
Democracy  by  going  over  to  the  Republicans  ! 

Sir,  I  will  not  defend  Virginia.     She  needs  no  defense.     Virginia  has 
given  this  country  and  the  world  and  humanity  some  of  the  brightest  names 
of  history.     She  holds  in  her  bosom  to-day  the  ashes  of  some  of  the  nol 
and  greatest  men  that  ever  illustrated  the  glories  of  any  country.        say 
the  Senator  from  Virginia  that  neither  Jefferson,  nor  Madison,  nor^ 
nor  Washington,  nor^Leigh,  nor  Tucker,  nor  any  of  the  long 
men  that  Virginia  has  produced  ever  accepted  a  commission  to  repre 
party  and  came  here  and  represented  another. 

Mr.  Cockrell.—I  trust  that  those  at  least  who  are  enjoying  the  privilege 
the  floor  of  the  Senate  Chamber  will  be  prohibited  from  cheering. 
The  Vice-  President.— The  Chair  will  state  that  the  violation  of 
does  not  appear  to  be  in  the  galleries,  but  by  persons  who  have        m  i 
minted  to  the  privilege  of  the  floor.     The  Chair  regrets  to  clear 


722  SENATOR  R   II.    HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

but  if  the  manifestation  is  continued  he  will  be  obliged  to  do  so.  It  is.  a 
violation  of  the  rules  of  the  Senate. 

Mr.  Mahone  rose. 

Mr.  Hill. — Does  the  Senator  from  Virginia  wish  to  interrupt  me  ? 

Mr.  Mahone. — I  do  wish  to  interrupt  you. 

The  Vice- President. — Does  the  Senator  from  Georgia  yield? 

Mr.  Hill. — Certainly. 

Mr.  Mahone. — I  understood  you  to  say  that  I  accepted  a  commission 
from  one  party  and  came  here  to  represent  another.  Do  I  understand  you 
correctly  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — I  understand  that  you  were  elected  as  a  Democrat. 

Mr.  Mahone. — Never  mind  ;  answer  the  question. 

Mr.  Hill. — Yes,  I  say  you  accepted  a  commission,  having  been  elected  as 
a  Democrat.  That  is  my  information. 

Mr.  Mahone. — I  ask  you  the  question:  Did  you  say  that  I  had  accepted 
a  commission  from  one  party  and  came  here  to  represent  another  ?  That  is 
the  question. 

Mr.  Hill. — Oh,  I  said  that  will  be  the  case  if  you  vote  with  the  Republi 
cans.  You  have  not  done  it  yet,  and  I  say  you  will  not  do  it. 

Mr.  Mahone. — If  not  out  of  order  in  this  place,  I  say  to  the  gentleman 
that  if  he  undertakes  to  make  that  statement  it  is  unwarranted  and  un 
true. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  should  like  to  ask  the  gentleman  a  question  :  Was  he  not 
acting  with  the  Democratic  party,  and  was  he  not  elected  as  a  Democrat  to 
this  body  ?  Answer  that  question. 

Mr.  Mahone. — Quickly,  sir.  I  was  elected  as  areadjuster.  Do  you  know 
what  they  are  ? 

The  Vice- President  rapped  with  his  gavel. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  understand  there  are  in  Virginia  what  are  called  Readjuster 
Democrats  and  Debt-paying  Democrats,  or  something  of  that  kind,  but  as  I 
understand  they  are  all  Democrats.  We  have  nothing  to  do  wTith  that  issue. 
We  are  not  to  settle  the  debt  of  Virginia  in  the  Senate  Chamber  ;  but  I  ask 
the  Senator  again,  was  he  not  elected  to  this  body  as  a  member  of  the  Na 
tional  Democratic  party  ? 

Mr.  Mahone. — I  will  answer  you,  sir.  No.  You  have  got  the  answer 
now. 

Mr.  Hill. — Then  I  conceive  that  the  gentleman  spoke  truly  when  he  said 
that  I  do  not  know  what  he  is.  What  is  he?  Everybody  has  understood 
that  he  voted  with  the  Democrats.  Did  he  not  support  Hancock  for  the 
Presidency  ?  Did  not  the  Senator  support  Hancock  for  the  Presidency,  I  ask 
him?  [A  pause.]  Dumb!  Did  he  not  act  with  the  Democratic  party 
in  the  national  election,  and  was  not  the  Senator  from  Virginia  himself  a 
'Democrat  ?  That  is  the  question.  Why  attempt  to  evade?  Gentlemen,  I 
commend  him  to  you.  Is  there  a  man  on  that  side  of  the  Chamber  who 
doubts  that  the  Senator  was  sent  to  this  body  as  a  Democrat  ?  Is  there  a  man 
in  this  whole  body  who  doubts  it  ?  Is  there  a  man  in  Virginia  who  doubts 
it  ?  The  gentleman  will  not  deny  it.  Up  to  this  very  hour  it  was  not  known 
on  this  side  of  the  Chamber  or  in  the  country  how  he  would  vote  in  this  case, 
or  whether  he  was  still  a  Democrat  or  not.  I  maintain  that  he  is.  The  Sen 
ator  from  New  York  seemed  to  have  information  that  somebody  who  was 
elected  as  a  Democrat  was  not,  and  I  went  to  work  to  find  out  who  it  was. 
It  seems  I  have  uncovered  him.  For  months  the  papers  of  the  country  have 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  723 

been  discussing  and  debating  how  the  Senator  would  vote.  Nobody  could 
know,  nobody  could  tell,  nobody  could  guess.  I  have  been  a  truer  friend  to 
the  Senator  than  he  has  been  to  himself.  I  have  maintained  always  that 
when  it  came  to  the  test  the  Senator  would  be  true  to  his  commission  •  that 
the  Senator  would  be  true  to  the  Democratic  professions  he  made  when  he 
was  elected.  He  will  not  rise  in  this  presence  and  say  he  could  have  been 
elected  to  the  Senate  as  a  Republican.  He  will  not  rise  in  the  Senate  and 
say  he  could  have  been  elected  to  the  Senate  if  he  had  given  notice  that  on 
the  organization  of  this  body  he  would  vote  with  the  Republicans.  He  will 
not  say  it. 

The  gentleman  makes  some  remarks  about  the  caucus.  I  have  no  objec 
tion  to  a  gentleman  remaining  out  of  a  caucus.  That  is  not  the  question. 
I  have  no  objection  to  a  gentleman  being  independent.  That  is  not  the 
question.  I  have  no  objection  to  a  gentleman  being  a  readjuster  in  local 
politics.  That  is  not  the  question.  I  have  no  objection  to  a  man  dodging 
from  one  side  to  another  on  such  a  question.  With  that  I  have  nothing  to 
do.  That  is  a  matter  of  taste  with  him  ;  but  I  do  object  to  any  man  coming 
into  this  high  council,  sent  here  by  one  sentiment,  commissioned  by  one 
party,  professing  to  be  a  Democrat,  and  after  he  gets  here  acting  with  the 
other  party.  If  the  gentleman  wants  to  be  what  he  so  proudly  said,  a  man, 
when  he  changes  opinions  as  he  had  a  right  to  do,  when  he  changes  party 
affiliations  as  he  had  a  right  to  do,  he  should  have  gone  to  the  people  of 
Virginia  and  said,  "  You  believed  me  to  be  a  Democrat  when  you  gave  me 
this  commission  ;  while  I  differed  with  many  of  you  on  the  local  question  of 
the  debt,  I  was  with  you  cordially  in  national  politics  ;  I  belonged  to  the 
National  Democratic  party  ;  but  I  feel  that  it  is  my  duty  now  to  co-operate 
with  the  republican  party,  and  I  return  you  the  commission  which  you  gave 
to  me."  It'  the  gentleman  had  done  that  and  then  gone  before  the  people  of 
Virginia  and  asked  them  to  renew  his  commission  upon  his  change  of  opin 
ion,  he  would  have  been  entitled  to  the  eulogy  of  manhood  he  pronounced 
upon  himself  here  in  such  theatrical  style.  I  like  manhood. 

I  say  once  more,  it  is  very  far  from  me  to  desire  to  do  the  Senator  injury. 
I  have  nothing  but  the  kindest  feeling  for  him.  He  is  very  much  mistaken 
if  he  supposes  I  had  any  personal  enmity  against  him.  I  have  not  the  slight 
est.  As  I  said  before,  I  have  never  spoken  to  the  gentleman  in  my  life  un 
til  I  met  him  a  few  days  ago  ;  but  I  have  done  what  the  newspapers  could 
not  do,  both  sides  having  been  engaged  in  the  effort  for  months  ;  I  have 
done  what  both  parties  could  not  do,  what  the  whole  country  could  notdo- 
I  have  brought  out  the  Senator  from  Virginia. 

But  now,  in  the  kindest  spirit,  knowing  the  country  from  which  the  hon 
orable  Senator  comes,  identified  as  I  am  with  its  fame'and  its  character,  lov 
ing  as  I  do  every  line  of  its  history,  revering  as  I  do  its  long  list  of  great 
names,  I  perform  the  friendly  office,"  unasked,  of  making  a  last  appeal  to  the 
honorable  Senator,  whatever  other  fates  befall  him,  to  be  true  to  the  trust 
which  the  proud  people  of  Virginia  gave  him,  and  whoever  else  may  be  dis 
appointed,  whoever  else  may  be  deceived,  whoever  else  may  be  offended  at 
the  organization  of  the  Senate,  I  appeal  to  the  gentleman  to  be  true 
people,  to  the  sentiment,  to  the  party  which  he  knows  commissioned  him  to 
a  seat  in  this  body. 

Mr.  Logan.--WY.  President,  I  have  but  a  word  to  say. 
to  a  very  extraordinary  speech.     The  Senate  of  the  United  States  i 
where  each  Senator  has  a  right  to  a  free  voice.     I  have  never  known  be 


724  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

a  Senator,  especially  a  new  Senator,  to  be  arraigned  in  the  manner  in  which 
the  Senator  from  Virginia  has  been,  and  his  conduct  criticised  before  he  had 
performed  any  official  act,  save  one,  so  far  as  voting  is  concerned.  He  needs 
no  defense  at  my  hands  ;  he  is  able  to  take  care  of  himself  ;  but  I  tell  the 
Senator  from  Georgia  when  he  says  to  this  country  that  no  man  has  aright 
to  come  here  unless  he  fulfills  that  office  which  was  dictated  to  him  by  a 
party,  he  says  that  which  does  not  belong  to  American  independence.  Sir, 
it  takes  more  nerve,  more  manhood,  to  strike  the  party  shackles  from  your 
limbs  and  give  free  thought  its  scope  than  any  other  act  that  man  can  per 
form.  The  Senator  from  Georgia  himself,  in  times  gone  by,  has  changed 
his  opinions.  If  the  records  of  this  country  are  true  (and  he  knows  whether 
they  are  or  not),  he,  when  elected  to  a  convention  as  a  Union  man,  voted  for 
secession. 

The  Vice- President  rapped  with  his  gavel. 

Mr.  Hoar. — If  my  friend  will  pardon  me  a  moment,  I  desire  to  call  the 
attention  of  the  Chair  to  the  fact  that  there  has  been  more  disorder  in  this 
Chamber  during  this  brief  session  of  the  Senate  than  in  all  the  aggregate  of 
many  years  before.  I  take  occasion  when  a  gentleman  with  whose  opinions 
I  perfectly  agree  myself  is  speaking,  to  say  that  I  shall  move  the  Chair  to 
clear  any  portion  of  the  gallery  from  which  expressions  of  applause  or  dis 
sent  shall  come  if  they  occur  again. 

Mr.  Logan.- -What  I  have  said  in  reference  to  his  record  I  do  not  say 
by  way  of  casting  at  the  Senator,  but  merely  to  call  attention  to  the  fact 
that  men  are  not  always  criticised  so  severely  for  changing  their  opinions. 
The  Senator  from  Georgia  spoke  well  of  my  colleague.  Well  he  may.  He 
is  an  honorable  man  and  a  man  deserving  well  of  all  the  people  of  this  coun 
try.  He  was  elected  not  as  a  Democrat  but  by  Democratic  votes.  He  votes 
with  you.  He  never  was  a  Democrat  in  his  life  ;  he  is  not  to-day.  You 
applaud  him  and  why  ?  Because  he  votes  with  you.  You  want  his  vote  ; 
that  is  all.  You  criticise  another  man  who  was  elected  by  Republican  votes 
and  Democratic  votes,  readjusters  as  they  are  called,  and  say  that  he  has  no 
right  to  his  opinions  in  this  Chamber.  The  criticism  is  not  well.  Do  you 
say  that  a  man  shall  not  change  his  political  opinions  ? 

The  Senator  from  Georgia  in  days  gone  by,  in  my  boyhood  days,  I  heard 
of,  not  as  a  Democrat.  To-day  he  sits  here  as  a  Democrat.  No  one  wishes 
to  criticise  him  because  he  has  changed  his  political  opinions.  He  had  a 
right  to  do  so.  I  was  a  Democrat  once,  too,  and  I  had  a  right  to  change  my 
opinions,  and  I  did  change  them.  The  man  who  will  not  change  his 
opinions  when  he  is  honestly  convinced  that  he  was  in  error  is  a  man  who  is 
not  entitled  to  the  respect  of  men.  I  say  this  to  the  Senator  from  Georgia. 
The  Senator  says  to  us  "take  him,"  referring  to  the  Senator  from  Virginia. 
Yes,  sir,  we  will  take  him  if  he  will  come  with  us,  and  we  will  take  every 
other  honest  man  who  will  come.  We  will  take  every  honest  man  in  the 
South  who  wants  to  come  and  join  the  Republican  party,  and  give  him 
the  right  hand  of  fellowship,  be  he  black  or  white.  VVill  you  do  as 
much  ? >! 

Mr.  Hill. — We  have  got  them  already. 

Mr.  Logan. — Yes,  and  if  a  man  happens  to  differ  with  you  the  tyr 
anny  of  political  opinion  in  your  section  of  country  is  such  that  you 
undertake  to  lash  him  upon  the  world  and  try  to  expose  him  to  the  gaze  of 
the  public  as  a  man  unfaithful  to  his  trust.  We  have  no  such  tyranny  of 
opinion  in  the  country  where  I  live  ;  and  it  will  be  better  for  your  section 


St8  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  725 

when  such  notions  are  driven  to  the  shades  and  retired  from  th*  ,  ,-  * 
your  people.  m  tue  action  of 

I  do  not  know  that  the  jrentlemin  f™   ,  Vi,  «.•   •     • 

Republican.  I  have  never  hf  ard  h™  sav  I&  'T'"1?  tO,  VOtC  as  a 
here  to-dav  ;  but  I  respect  him  for  "St*  'I  to  tl,o  s  ,  °  ^  W,hat  'le  has  "& 
he  is  tired  of  the  Bourbon  Democracy  al  if  L""6  a"d  tlle.col">"7  that 
country  would  be  better  off.  The  p^o'pl  *»  ^™«™^^  .  °f  >'  "'« 
m  your  country,  everywhere  The  •  en  down 

U/better  it  will  be  fl  both  siffCthe  pTopTof  ufe'  whl  %%£*" 

is  something  I  never  witnessed  before  in  this  Chamber  or 
7d  m     7  JUdment  WaS  "Ot    U8ti 


fTW  ever 

r.  ^.-1  desire  to  say  once  more,  what  everybody  'in  this  aud 

knows  is  true,  that  I  did  not  arraign  the  Senator  from  Virginia.     In  the  first 
speech  I  never  alluded  to  Virginia  or  to  the  Senator  from  Virginia 
alludfd.  L°gan-  Every  °ne  in  the  Camber  knew  to  whom  the  Senator 

Mr.  Hill—  I  alluded  to  somebody  who  was  elected  as  a  Democrat  and 
who  was  going  to  vote  as  a  Republican. 

Mr.  Teller.—  He  was  not  elected  as  a  Democrat. 

™    ^~"TSSn  J  did  not  allude  to  the  Senator  from  Virginia. 

Mr   Teller.—  The  Senator  said  that  thirty-eight  members  of  the  Senate 
were  elected  as  Democrats. 

Mr.  Hill.  —  Certainly  they  were. 

Mr.  Teller.—  That  is  a  mistake. 

Mr.  Hill.—  Certainly  they  were,  and  the  record  shows  it. 

Mr.  tonklmg.—M&y  I  ask  the  Senator  a  question  ? 

Mr.  ffia.—-lLet  me  go  on  and  then  you  can  follow  me.     I  again  say  it  is 
trange  that  the  Senator  from  Virginia  should  say  I  arraigned  him  ;  and  his 
valiant  defender,  the  Senator  from  Illinois,  comes  to  defend  him  from  an 
arraignment  that  was  never  made. 

Mr.  Logan.—Didi  not  the  Senator  from  Georgia  ask  the  Senator  from 
V  irgmia  m  his  seat  if  he  was  not  elected  as  a  Democrat  ?    Did  not  the 
senator  charge  that  a  man  was  acting  treacherously  to  his  constituents  ? 
the  Senator  not  make  the  most  severe  arraignment  of  him  that  he  could 
possibly  make  ? 

Mr.  Hill.  —  If  the  Senator  will  allow  me,  I  did  that  only  after  the  Senator 
from  Virginia  had  arraigned  himself.     The  Senator  from  Virginia  insisted 
hat  I  alluded  to  him  when  I  had  not  called  his  name,  and  I  had  not  alluded 
to  his  State,  and  when  I  had  arraigned  nobody. 

Mr.  Logan.  —  Will  the  Senator  allow  me  to  ask  him  this  question  :  Did 
he  not  have  in  his  mind  distinctly  the  Senator  from  Virginia  when  he  made 
his  insinuations  ? 

Mr.  Hill.  —  I  will  answer  the  gentleman's  question  fairly.  I  did  believe 
that  the  gentlemen  on  the  other  side  who  were  counting  upon  a  Democratic 

1  were  counting  upon  the  Senator  from  Virginia,  but  I  equally  believed 
that  they  would  be  disappointed.     I  did  not  believe  that  the  Senator  from 
Virginia  was  guilty,  and  I,  in  perfect  sincerity  and  good  faith,  so  far  from 
CTaigning  him,  intended  to  defend  him  from  the  foul  suspicion,  and  my 
honest  repulsion  of  the  insinuation,  which  was  necessary  in  consequence  of 


726  SENATOR  B.   II.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

what  they  expected,  was  regarded  by  the  Senator  himself  as  an  arraignment. 
There  is  an  anecdote  told  in  the  life  of  the  great  minister,  Whitfield.  When 
he  was  speaking  one  day  in  the  country  to  an  audience,  he  described  the 
enormity  of  sin  and  the  characteristics  of  sin  ;  he  did  it  with  wonderful 
power.  When  he  came  out  he  was  assailed  by  a  gentleman  for  having  made 
a  personal  assault  on  him.  "  Why,"  said  Whitfield,  "I  never  heard  of  you 
before  ;  I  did  not  intend  any  assault  upon  you."  He  replied,  "  Well  sir, 
you  told  me  everything  I  have  been  doing  all  my  life."  I  frankly  confess  I 
am  not  a  man  to  dodge.  The  papers  have  justified  me  in  believing,  Senators 
have  justified  me  in  believing,  that  you  are  calculating  to  get  the  Democratic 
vote  of  the  Senator  from  Virginia,  whom  the  whole  country  has  treated  as 
having  been  elected  as  a  Democrat.  I  believed  you  would  be  disappointed  ; 
I  believed  that  because  you  would  be  disappointed  it  was  wholly  unneces 
sary  to  delay  this  organization.  I  did  not  believe  the  Senator  would  vote 
with  you,  and  in  vindication  of  that  Senator  I  will  not  believe  it  yet.  He 
has  not  said  so.  He  has  made  the  mistake,  because  of  what  the  papers  say, 
of  assuming  that  I  alluded  to  him  ;  but  I  vindicate  him  vet.  He  said  if  I 

£j  «/ 

asserted  that  he  was  elected  as  a  Democrat  and  would  be  false  to  his  commis 
sion,  I  said  what  was  not  warranted  and  what  was  untrue.  I  am  glad  he  said 
so.  I  did  not  say  he  would  ;  but  I  say  you  expected  it,  I  say  your  papers 
expected  it,  and  I  say  it  has  been  calculated  on.  I  vindicate  the  Senator 
from  Virginia,  and  I  hope  he  will  vindicate  himself  by  not  doing  what  you 
expect  him  to  do. 

The  Senator  from  Illinois  charges  me  again  with  criticising  a  man  for 
changing  his  opinion.  I  distinctly  said  that  every  man  in  this  country  has  a 
right  to  change  his  opinion.  The  distinguished  Senator  from  Illinois  has 
changed  his  opinion.  He  says  the  country  is  tired  of  Bourbon  Democracy. 
He  ought  to  know,  for  he  used  to  be  one  of  the  worst  Bourbon  Democrats 
this  country  ever  saw. 

Mr.  Logan. — That  was  when  you  belonged  to  the  other  side. 

Mr.  Hill.- -The  first  time  I  ever  heard  of  that  Senator  was  when  I  was 
battling  in  the  South  for  the  good  old  Whig  principles  and  he  was  an  out 
rageous  Bourbon  Democrat.  That  amounts  to  nothing.  You  had  a  right 
to  change,  if  you  have  changed  ;  I  do  not  say  you  have. 

Mr.  Logan. — I  will  only  say,  if  the  Senator  will  allow  me,  that  when  I 
saw  the  light  I  changed  for  the  righto  The  Senator  saw  the  darkness  and 
changed  for  the  wrong. 

Mr.  Hill. — Ah,  that  is  not  argument. 

Mr.  Logan. — It  is  true,  however,  just  the  same. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  hope  the  Senator  will  see  more  light  and  change  again. 

Mr.  Logan. — I  do  not  think  I  shall. 

Mr.  Hill. — He  needs  a  great  deal  of  light. 

Mr.  Logan. — No  doubt  of  that.  I  do  not  expect  to  get  it,  however, 
from  that  side. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  object  to  this  st}de  of  interruption  ;  it  is  unworthy  of  the 
Senate.  I  am  not  here  to  indulge  in  such  remarks.  The  Senator  has  a  right 
to  change  ;  I  have  arraigned  nobody  for  changing  his  opinion.  If  the  Sena 
tor  from  Virginia  has  changed  his  opinions  he  has  a  right  to  change  them  ; 
I  have  not  said  he  has  not  ;  I  do  not  deny  his  right.  I  admit  that  a  man 
has  a  right,  also,  to  change  his  party  affiliations  if  he  is  convinced  he  has  been 
wrong  ;  but  a  man  has  no  right  to  hold  a  commission  which  was  given  him 
while  he  was  a  Democrat  and  because  he  was  a  Democrat  and  given  to  him 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND   WRITINGS.  727 

as  a  Democrat,  and  change  his  opinions  and  act  with  the  adversary  party.  It 
is  his  duty  to  return  that  commission  to  the  people  who  gave  it  and  ask 
them  to  renew  it  upon  his  change  of  opinion.  That  is  all  I  ask. 

Mr.  Logan.-  -Will  the  Senator  allow  me  to  ask  him  what  right  has  he  as 
a  Senator  to  undertake  to  dictate  to  the  Senator  from  Virginia  as  to  what  shall 
be  required  in  his  State  ? 

Mr.  Hill.- -That  is  incorrect  again.  I  have  not  undertaken  to  dictate  to 
the  Senator  from  Virginia.  The  Senator  from  Virginia  can  do  just  as  he 
pleases  ;  but  when  the  Senator  from  Virginia  acts  as  a  public  man  I  have  a 
right  to  my  opinion  of  his  public  acts,  and  I  have  a  right  to  speak  of  all 
public  acts  and  their  character.  I  will  not  deny  his  right ;  I  am  not  dictat 
ing  to  him — far  from  it.  There  is  not  in  my  heart  now  an  unkind  feeling 
for  the  Senator  from  Virginia.  I  would,  if  I  could,  rescue  him  from  the 
infamy  into  which  others  are  trying  to  precipitate  him.  That  is  what  I 
want  to  do  ;  I  am  not  assailing  him  ;  I  am  not  arraigning  him  ;  I  am  not 
dictating  to  him.  I  know  the  proud  nature  of  the  Senator  from  New  York. 
I  know  if  that  Senator  was  elected  to  this  body  as  a  Republican,  although  he 
might  have  been  a  Readjuster  at  the  time,  and  if  he  should  come  to  this 
body  and  the  Democrats  should  begin  to  intimate  in  this  hall,  and  the 
Democratic  papers  should  intimate  over  the  country,  that  he  was  going  to 
vote  with  the  Democrats  on  the  organization,  he  would  feel  insulted  just  as 
my  friend  from  Tennessee  (Mr.  Harris)  justly  felt  by  the  allusions  to  him  in 
the  newspapers.  So  with  any  other  man  on  that  side.  If  the  Senator  from 
Virginia  was  elected  as  a  Democrat  I  am  right ;  but  if  as  a  Republican,  I 
have  nothing  more  to  say. 

Mr.  Logan. — Will  the  Senator  allow  me  right  there  ?  Is  it  not  true  that 
the  Democracy  of  the  Virginia  Legislature  that  elected  the  Senator  now  in 
his  seat  from  Virginia  did  nominate  Mr.  Withers  as  their  candidate  and 
supported  him,  and  was  not  this  Senator  elected  by  the  opponents  of  the 
Democrats  of  that  Legislature  ?  Is  not  that  true  ?  I  ask  the  Senator  from 
Virginia. 

Mr.  Mahone. — Substantially  so. 

Mr.  Logan. — Then  if  that  be  true,  why  say  that  he  came  here  as  the 
representative  of  the  Democracy  of  Virginia  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — My  understanding  is  that  the  Democracy  of  Virginia  is  very 
much  like  the. Democracy  of  other  States,  as  Tennessee.  We  are  divided 
down  there  in  several  States  on  local  questions  that  have  nothing  to  do  with 
national  politics.  In  Virginia  the  Democracy  was  divided  between  what  are 
called  Readjuster  Democrats  and  Debt-paying  Democrats — but  all  Demo 
crats. 

What  was  called  the  Republican  party  it  was  said,  although  ][  must  vin 
dicate  many  of  the  Republicans  in  the  State  from  the  charge,  coalesced  with 
what  are  called  the  Readjuster  Democrats.  The  late  Senator  from  Virginia 
was  nominated  by  what  are  called  the  Debt-paying  Democrats,  and  the  pres 
ent  Senator  from  Virginia,  as  I  understand  it,  was  run  against  him  as  a 
Readjuster  Democrat. 

Mr.  Logan.— Au&  the  Republicans  all  supported  him. 

Mr.  Hill— Certainly,  because  they  always  support  a  candidate  who 

ning  against  the  regular  nominee.     I  suppose  the  Republicans  always  go 


«  M  *_       *•«  -,-     *  V  m.  L  A  U  \J         UXAV        A   X^   -tT,   *-*  *.W  *•  _  —  -» 

for  men  who  are  not  in  favor  of  paying  debts  !     I  had  thought  that 
.  licans  professed  to  affiliate  with  those  who  would  pay  debts.     But   1  h 
nothing  to  do  with  that  Question  :  it  does  not  come  in  here.     What  I  say, 


728  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

and  what  will  not  be  denied,  and  I  am  ashamed  that  there  is  an  attempt  to 
deny  it  is,  and  it  is  the  worst  feature  of  this  whole  thing,  that  anybody 
should  get  up  here  and  attempt  to  deny  that  the  Senator  from  Virginia  was 
elected  to  the  Senate  as  a  Democrat ;  should  attempt  to  evade  the  fact  that 
he  was  a  Hancock  Democrat  last  year ;  that  he  has  acted  with  the  National 
Democracy  all  the  time  ;  and  that  whatever  might  have  been  the  local  differ 
ences  in  Virginia  he  has  been  a  National  Democrat  every  hour,  held  out  to 
the  country  as  such.  I  say  I  am  ashamed  that  anybody  should  attempt  to 
make  a  question  of  that  fact.  He  was  not  only  a  Democrat,  a  National 
Democrat,  and  voted  for  Hancock,  but  I  remember  the  historical  fact  that 
he  had  what  was  called  his  own  ticket  in  the  field  for  Hancock  and  voted  for 
it.  He  is  just  as  much  a  Democrat,  sent  here  as  a  Readjuster  Democrat,  as 
the  other  candidate,  the  Debt-paying  Democrat,  would  have  been  if  he  had 
been  elected. 

Mr.  Logan. — The  difference  is,  if  the  Senator  will  allow  me,  if  the  other 
had  been  elected  he  would  have  been  in  full  accord  with  the  Democracj'- 
here.  This  gentleman  does  not  happen  to  be,  and  therefore  the  criticism  of 
the  Senator  from  Georgia. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  do  not  wish  to  do  the  Republicans  of  Virginia  injustice  ;  I 
do  not  wish  to  do  anybody  injustice.  There  are  some  Republicans  in  Vir 
ginia  for  whom  I  confess,  if  reports  be  true,  I  have  a  profound  respect. 
AVhen  a  portion  of  the  Democrats,  under  the  cry  of  readjusterism,  sought  to 
get  the  support  of  the  Republicans  of  Virginia,  there  were  manly  Republicans 
who  refused  to  go  into  a  coalition  that  would  compromise  the  character  of 
the  State  on  the  question  of  its  debt.  I  am  told  there  are  Republicans  now 
in  Virginia  who  say  that  if  Republicanism  here  means  the  Senator  from  Vir 
ginia,  and  you  accept  him  as  a  Republican,  you  must  give  them  up  as  Repub 
licans.  I  do  not  know  how  true  it  is.  But  this  is  unworthy  of  the  Senate. 

I  repeat,  the  worst  feature  of  this  whole  transaction  is  that  anybody 
should  get  up  here  and  attempt  to  make  an  impression  that  there  was  a 
doubt  as  to  the  Democracy  of  the  Senator  from  Virginia  heretofore.  That 
is  an  evasion  unworthy  of  the  issue,  unworthy  of  the  place,  unworthy  of 
the  occasion,  unworthy  of  Virginia,  unworthy  of  the  Senator,  unworthy  of 
his  defenders.  Admit  the  fact  that  he  was  a  Democrat,  elected  as  a  Demo 
crat,  and  then  claim  that  he  exercised  the  inalienable  right  of  changing  his 
opinions  and  his  party  affiliations,  but  do  not  claim  that  he  had  a  right  to  do 
it  in  the  manner  you  say  he  has  done  it. 

Once  more  let  me  say,  the  Senator  from  Virginia  ought  to  know  that  by 
all  the  memories  of  the  past  there  is  not  a  man  in  this  body  whose  whole  soul 
goes  out  more  in  earnest  to  protect  his  honor  than  my  own.  I  would  rather 
lose  the  organization  of  the  Senate  by  the  Democratic  party  and  never  again 
have  a  Democratic  committee  in  this  body  than  have  Virginia  soiled  with 
dishonor.  I  do  not  say  that  the  Senator  is  going  to  do  it,  but  I  see  the  prec 
ipice  yawning  before  him.  I  see  whither  potential  influences  are  leading 
him.  I  know  the  danger  just  ahead.  I  would  rescue  him  if  I  could.  He 
may  say  it  is  enmity  ;  he  may  say  it  is  an  unfriendly  spirit ;  he  will  live  to 
know  the  force  of  the  words  I  am  uttering.  Men  in  this  country  have  a 
right  to  be  Democrats;  men  in  this  country  have  a  right  to  be  Republicans ; 
men  in  this  country  have  a  right  to  divide  on  national  issues  and  local  issues  ; 
but  no  man  has  a  right  to  be  false  to  a  trust,  I  repeat  it ;  and  whether  the 
Senator  from  Virginia  shall  be  guilty  or  not  is  not  for  me  to  judge  and  I 
will  not  judge.  I  say  if  he  votes  as  you  want  him  to  vote  God  save  him  or 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  729 

li^  is  gone.  If  he  comes  here  to  illustrate  his  Democracy  by  going  over  to 
that  side  of  the  House  and  voting  with  that  side  of  the  House,  he  will  be  be 
yond  my  rescue.  No,  gentlemen,  I  honor  you.  I  like  a  proud  Republican  as  well 
as  I  do  a  proud  Democrat.  I  am  conscious  of  the  fact  that  some  of  the  best 
personal  friends  I  have  in  this  body  sit  on  that  side  of  the  Chamber,  men 
whose  high  character  I  would  trust  anywhere  and  everywhere.  Gentlemen, 
you  know  your  hearts  respond  to  every  word  I  am  uttering  when  I  say  you 
despise  treachery,  and  you  honor  me  to-day  for  making  an  effort  to  rescue 
a  gentleman,  not  from  treachery,  but  from  the  charge  of  it.  If  the  Senator 
shall  vote  as  you  desire  him  to  vote,  he  cannot  escape  the  charge. 

Mr.  Mahone. — Mr.   President,  I   want   to   interrupt  the  Senator  from 
Georgia. 

The  Vice- President. — Does  the  Senator  from  Georgia  yield  ? 

Mr.  Hill. — Certainly. 

Mr.  Mahone. — I  cannot  allow  you  to  make  any  such  insinuation. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  make  no  insinuation. 

Mr.  Mahone. — You  did  emphatically,  and  it  was  unmanly.     Now  it  must 
stop.     Let  us  understand  that. 

Mr.  Hill. — I  repeat,  I  do  not  know  how  the  Senator  is  going  to  vote, 
believe  he  is  not  going  to  vote  as  you  expect.  I  believe  he  is  not  going  to 
be  guilty  of  being  false  to  his  commission.  I  will  not  charge  that  he  will ; 
I  will  not  insinuate  that  he  will.  I  have  not  insinuated  it.  The  gentleman 
must  be  his  own  keeper  ;  the  gentleman  must  solve  his  own  questions  ;  but 
I  repeat,  I  repeat  as  a  friend,  I  repeat  as  a  friend  whose  friendship  will  be 
appreciated  some  day,  that  the  Senator  is  in  danger  of  bringing  upon  him 
self  a  charge  which  he  will  never  have  the  power  to  explain. 


NOTES    ON    THE    SITUATION. 


The  following  papers,  called  by  the  author  "Notes  on  the  Situation,"  were  written 
against  the  Reconstruction  measures  of  Congress.  Full  reference  has  been  made  to  them 
in  the  body  of  the  biographical  sketch1^*  No  political  writings  ever  produced  a  pro- 
founder  impression  or  accomplished  greater  results.  It  is  not  extravagant  to  say  that 
they  lifted  our  people  out  of  the  slough  of  despair  in  which  their  liberties  were  dying 
and  aroused  them  to  heroic  and  united  efforts  resulting  in  deliverance  from  radical  op 
pression  and  the  attainment  of  political  regeneration.  In  bitter  denunciation,  scathing 
invective,  and  logical  force  they  will  ever  occupy  a  first  rank  in  the  world's  political 
literature. 


NUMBER    ONE. 
tt 


~X~TEVER  despair  of  the  Republic  "  was  a  much  lauded  Roman  maxim. 

i\l  But  maxims  never  saved  a  country,  and  this  one  did  not  save  Rome. 
She  was  very  great.  The  combined  world  was  too  weak  to  harm  her.  But 
she  fell — -fell  by  her  own  hands — and  for  centuries  has  remained  fallen. 

If  good,  liberty-loving  Americans  almost  despair  of  their  country,  the 
events  of  the  last  thirteen  years  would  seem  to  be  sufficient^)  save  them 
from  reproach.  From  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  until  now,  no 
period  in  human  annals  of  thrice  the  duration  exhibits  such  deception  among 
leaders,  such  credulity  among  the  people,  such  treachery  by  rulers,  and  such 
energetic  self-destruction  by  the  nation. 

The  United  States  have  done  more  in  these  years  to  weaken  confidence 
in  free  institutions,  and  have  inflicted  more  injury  upon  their  own  people, 
and  created  heavier  burdens  for  their  children  and  children's  children  than 
the  united  armies  and  navies  of  the  earth  could  have  accomplished  in  fifty 
years.  Before  these  notes  close  I  may  undertake  to  show  the  real  causes  of 
these  evils.  It  is  sufficient  now  to  say  that  from  1854  a  spirit  which  is  en 
mity  to  the  life  of  the  Constitution  has  been  dominant.  The  government 
has  been  in  the  keeping  of  its  enemies.  We  read  of  a  great  man  who, 
while  an  infant,  was  nursed  by  a  wolf.  This  may  have  been  and  may  again 
be  possible  ;  but  it  never  lias  been  and  never  will  be  possible  for  men  of 
extreme  tempers  and  opinions  to  nurse  a  Constitution  whose  only  life  is 
mutual  concession  for  the  common  good. 

The  Southern  people,  greatly  provoked  and  misguided,  abandoned  the 
Union  to  preserve  the  Constitution.  While  the  Northern  people,  less  pro 
voked  but  equally  misguided,  made  war  to  preserve  the  Union,  by  placing 
themselves  under  the  lead  of  men  who  were  the  bitter,  implacable  enemies 
of  the  Constitution,  and  who  were  foredetermined  to  destroy  or  reform  it. 

After  four  years  of  heroic  struggle,  the  Southern  people  laid  down  their 
arms  because  they  were  assured  by  their  enemies,  and  taught  by  long-trusted 
but  faithless  counselors  and  officeholders  among  themselves,  that,  by  so 
doing,  they  would  be  again  in  the  Union  as  before.  The  many  believed  this 
and  withdrew  their  support  and  deserted  their  colors.  The  few  who  dis 
believed  were  overpowered.  But  more  than  two  years  have  passed — more 
thaM  half  the  period  of  the  actual  conflict — and  the  Southern  people,  now 

730 

-lf*?t>\ 

f     J/ 

t#J7 


^ 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WAITINGS.  731 

thrice  deluded,  have  not  enjoyed  the  blessings  of  the  Union  !  Why? 
Because  these  leaders  of  the  North— true  to  their  original  hatred  and  per 
fectly  logical  in  that  hatred— declare  the  Union  shall  not  be  restored  except 
upon  terms  which  practically  destroy  the  Constitution,  and  which  certainly 
leave  no  Union  except  one  founded  in  force.  And  thus  far  the  North 
ern  people  either  have  failed  to  comprehend  or  have  consented  to  sustain 
their  treachery,  and,  to  give  the  last  development  of  this  most  remarkable 
history,  we  see  some  of  our  Southern  counselors,  who  urged  us  into  seces 
sion  as  the  only  peaceful  method  of  securing  our  rights,  who  afterward  led 
us  to  subjugation  as  the  only  method  of  escaping  military  despotism,  now 
boasting  of  the  great  confidence  heretofore  reposed  in  their  counsel,  and  ad 
vising  us  to  accept  the  proposed  terms  for  a  new  Union  ! 

With  such  experience  fresh  and  still  increasing,  how  shall  we  wonder  if 
true  men  doubt,  if  brave  men  fear,  and  if  good  men  despair? 

For  thirteen  years  the  actual  revolution  has  been  right  onward,  and  is 
still  onward.  He  is  stupidly  blind  who  does  not  see  that  the  evils  before 
us  are  far  greater  than  the  evils  present  and  behind  us.  Our  people  have 
drank  bitter  cups,  but  they  are  as  honey  when  compared  with  the  cups  they 
must  drink  if  the  child  is  not  taken  from  the  wolf,  if  the  Constitution  is 
not  taken  from  the  nursing  care  of  those  who  hate  it,  if  the  government 
shall  continue  to  be  administered  by  its  enemies. 

If  anything  I  may  say  shall  tend,  however  slightly,  to  avert  the  evils 
which  threaten  the  country,  I  shall  not  only  be  satisfied,  but  happy.  I  have 
no  party  to  serve  and  no  personal  ends  to  accomplish. 

I  frankly  admit  my  opinions  heretofore  have  not  been  accepted  by  a 
majority  of  the  people.  I  have  never  thought  that  what  the  majority  be 
lieved  was,  therefore,  true  ;  or  that  what  the  majority  did  was,  therefore, 
right.  My  political  life  has  been  but  a  struggle  against  prevailing  opinions 
and  policies.  When  policies  have  been  adopted  and  fixed  in  spite  of  my 
opposition,  I  have  labored  to  work  good  results  in  spite  of  my  convictions 
that  the  policies  were  unwise.  And  when  I  see  the  ruin  which  has  been 
wrought,  I  can  but  rejoice  in  the  recollection  that  I  was  not  one  of  the 
chosen  architects.  I  do  believe  the  people  have  mourned  and  still  mourn 
only  because  wicked  men  have  ruled  and  still  rule  ;  and  I  believe  wicked 
men  have  been  chosen  to  rule  only  because  they  have  made  political  issues 
to  foment  popular  passions,  and  have  suited  their  conduct  and  opinions  to 
the  popular  passions  so  fomented. 

These  notes  are,  therefore,  given  to  the  public,  claiming  no  title  to  con 
sideration,  except  that  they  are  written,  not  to  please  that  public,  but  to  ^ 
aid  in  arresting  the  further  progress  of  a  revolution  which  has  been  so  pro 
lific  of  ruin  in  the  past,  and  which  is  so  fearfully  pregnant  with  ruin  for  the 
future.  It  may  turn  out  that  no  man — that  no  human  power  can  arrest  this 
revolution.  It  may  be  that  a  change  of  government,  through  an  ordeal  of 
anarchy,  is  inevitable.  But  this  much  every  man  can  do  :  he  can  see  to  it 
that,  if  this  destruction  must  come,  it  shall  not  owe  its  coming  to 
sent.  If 


government 

fore,  patriotic , 

others  may  do,  you~will  support  the  Constitution,  and  oppose  whatever  is 
contrary  thereto.      For  mark  this  :  whatever  else  people  and  rulers 
do,  they  cannot  support  or  preserve  the  government  by  violating  its  funda 
mental  law. 


732  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

NUMBER    TWO. 

While  these,  or  similar  notes,  may  ultimately  take  a  wider  range,  the 
immediate  purpose  is  to  examine  the  pending  feature  of  the  revolution — the 
Military  Bills,  embracing  what  is  called  the  Congressional  plan  of  Recon 
struction.  I  have  given  these  measures  full,  fair,  and  mature  consideration. 
I  entertain  not  the  slightest  doubt  that  the  conclusions  I  have  reached  are 
correct,  and,  that  if  those  proposed  measures  shall  become  laws,  the  future 
developments  will  most  abundantly  prove  this  correctness.  Before  proceed 
ing  with  the  analysis  of  the  character  of  the  bills,  their  effects,  and  the  apolo 
gies  offered  for  them,  I  desire  to  announce  the  conclusions  which  the  reason 
ing  will  establish  and  the  events  will  confirm,  as  the  certain  results  of  their 
acceptance  and  of  the  incorporation  of  the  plan  and  principles  proposed  into 
the  Federal  Constitution  and  the  State  Constitutions  of  the  ten  States. 

1.  They  will  consummate  the  subversion  of  the  Republic  ;  the  destruc 
tion  of  the   Constitution ;  the  annihilation   of  individual  liberty,  and  the 
ultimate  but  complete  change  of  all  American  government  from  the  prin 
ciple  of  consent  to  the  rule  of  force.     And  the  results  will  become  perma 
nent  and  absolute  and  irremediable. 

2.  Before  this  final  consummation  is  reached,   the  country  will    pass 
through  an  ordeal  of  anarchy.     This  ordeal  will  be  prolonged,  and  the  most 
bitter  of  any  in  history — because  anarchy  in  a  republic  is  like  fever  with  an 
individual,  most  violent  with  the  most  vigorous,  will  not  cease  until  strength 
is  reduced  or  destroyed,  and  no  people  ever  had  such  strength  and  material 
prosperity  for  the  prey  of  anarchy  as  have  the  people  of  the  United  States. 
Besides,  in  the  transition,  two  races  will   struggle  for  the  mastery,  greatly 
increasing  the  horror  of  these  writhings  of  liberty  in  her  passage  to  death. 

3.  I  need  not,  and  I  cannot — it  is  beyond  the  power  of  the  pen — enumer 
ate  the  terrible  evils  that  will  spread  over  all  the  land  during  this  reign  of 
disorder,  discord,  and  decay.     Among  them  will  be  the  prostration  of  com 
merce  ;  the  paralysis  of  all  industrial  agencies  and  pursuits  ;  the  repudia 
tion  of  all  debts — National,  State,  and  individual  ;  the  disregard  of  all  legal 
sanctions  ;  the  removal  of  all  restraints  upon  the  wicked  ;  the  withdrawal 
of  protection  from  the  helpless  and  the  good  ;  the  demoralization  of  men  ; 
the  prostitution  of  women  ;  the  starvation  of  children  ;  the  rise  and  fall  of 
factions  ;  the  burning  and  sacking  of  cities,  and  the  general  devastation  of 
the  country.     Robbers  will  fill  our  mountains  and  forests  ;  assassins  will 
come  boldly  from  all  hiding  places  ;  civil   wars  and  insurrections  will  mul 
tiply  ;  leaders  and  followers  will  slay  and  be   slain  ;  clans  of  burglars  and 
thieves  will  hunt  the  rich  as  herds  of  buffalo  hunt  the  green  pastures,  and 
insatiate  wickedness  will  rend  and  tear  all  that  is  pure  and  good,  as  the 
hungry  lion  when  fleshing  his  tooth  in  the  young  and  tender  fawn. 

4.  But  there  is  one  feature  of  this  ordeal  of  anarchy — one  result  of  this 
devilish  device  to  destroy  the  Constitution  by  those  who  take  solemn  oaths, 
and  make  saintly  pretensions  to  preserve  it — which   is   distinct  from  all 
others,  involving  hypocrisy  without  example,  delusion  without  limit,  and 
cruelty  without  parallel,  and  which  I  cannot  contemplate   without  feelings 
of  peculiar  sadness.     I  mean,  of  course,  the  effect  upon  the  African  race. 

A  separate  note  must  elaborate  the  point  ;  but  as  I  am  announcing  gen 
eral  conclusions,  I  must  not  omit  the  result  which  will  be,  must  be,  the 
most  certain  and  inevitable  of  all.  A^war  of  races  will  come,  and  come 
early,  in  this  hideous  programme  of  ruin.  *  This  war  will  be  produced  by  three 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AXD  WRITINGS.  733 

chief  causes  :  1.  The  ignorant,  vicious,  imaginative,  and  exceedingly 
credulous  habits  and  passions  of  the  negro.  2.  The  delusions  practiced 
upon  this  imaginative  and  credulous  nature  by  emissaries  from  the  North 
aided  by  bad  men  at  the  South,  some  of  whom  will  act  from  mistaken 
notions  of  philanthropy,  some  with  wicked  purposes  of  selfishness,  but  the 
most  dangerous  with  views  of  party  ascendency.  3.  The  protection  to  the 
white  race  and  to  every  interest  of  person  and  property  and  life,  which  this 
nature,  thus  deluded,  shall  render  absolutely  necessary.  The  result  of 
this  war  will  be  the  substantial  extermination  of  the  negro  race  in  the 
United  States  ;  or  its  exclusion  therefrom,  and  final  barbarism ;  or  its 
practical  re-enslavement  under  the  government  of  force  which  I  have  indi 
cated. 

The  giddy  and  the  foolish  wall  say  this  picture  of  results  is  overdrawn. 
Such  creatures  never  believe  horrors  will  come  till  they  are  felt  and  are 
past  remedy.     Some  thoughtless  good  people  will  say  God  will  interfere" 
and  spare  us  such  evils,  as  though  God  ever  interposed  to  save  a  people  who 
persisted  in  destroying  themselves. 

The  ambitious  politician  who  has  determined  to  support  these  measures, 
because  they  are  proposed  by  the  strong  party,  will  close  his  ears  and  pass 
on.  He  cares  not  for  the  sufferings  of  the  people,  or  the  subversion  of  the 
government,  so  he  may  reap  and  rule.  He  was  a  traitor  to  the  Union,  a 
traitor  to  the  Confederacy,  and  wrould  sell  the  honor  of  the  people  who 
trusted  him — all  for  greed  and  for  place — first,  from  his  own  people,  and 
then  from  his  people's  "  oppressors."  How  can  such  a  man  be  moved  by 
the  voice  of  honor  or  be  made  to  listen  to  the  appeals  of  patriotism  ?  How 
van  he,  who  is  a  traitor  to  truth,  be  convinced  by  argument  ?  How  can  he, 
whose  ambition  seeks  only  his  owrn  good,  be  turned  from  his  purpose 
by  the  exhibition  of  wrongs  to  others  ?  The  fiery  flames  of  sulphurous  hell 
could  not  turn  the  lusts  of  power  and  pelf  from  the  minds  of  ambitious 
Lucifer  and  his  fallen  followers.  How,  then,  can  truth,  [though  naked 
stripped  ;  or  sarcasm,  though  born  in  gall ;  or  wooing  appeals,  though 
they  come  from  millions  wronged,  be  expected  to  open  the  mind,  or  reach 
the  conscience,  or  shake  the  purpose  of  the  hardened  wretch — this  political 
Lucifer — who  is  willing  to  make  a  Pandemonium  of  his  country  because, 

To  reign  is  worth  ambition,  though  in  hell. 

But  the  wise,  the  good,  the  patriotic,  and  the  truly  brave  will  take  warning. 
These  alone  can  save  the  country.     The  thoughtless,  the  selfish,  the  fanati 
cal,  and  the  ambitious,  are   its  destroyers.     This  mad  attempt  by  military 
measures  to  force  an  unresisting  people  into  self-degradation  for  no  purpose 
but  party  aggrandizement,  must  produce  fearful  calamities  which  no  pen 
can  describe.     Actual  events  will  shame  my  language  for  very  weakness  in 
this  feeble  attempt  to  forecast  the  future.     But  from  all  these  horrors  there 
is  a  way  of  escape.     There  is  but  one  way.     Trust  to  no  party,  listen  no 
longer  to  men  who  have  deceived  you  ;  who  have  been  false  to  every  prom 
ise,  faithless  to  every   principle,    and   treacherous   to   every  government. 
Return,  oh  !  my  deluded  and  prostrate  countrymen,  return  to  the  Const! 
tion !     It  alone  is  safe.     It  is  safe  for  all  colors  and  safe  from  all  dangei 
Every  blessing  comes  from  its  observance,  every  woe  from  its  violation. 
Let  us  all  resolve  to  accept  whatever  is  according  to  its  provisions,  and 
ject  everything  that  is  contrary  thereto,  and  then  fear  nothing.        hey  ah 
are  disloyal  and  traitors  who  violate  the  Constitution,  and  they  the  viles 

mJ  ^^ 


34  SENATOR  R  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 


of  traitors  who  use  the  power  of  the  government  to  aid  and  shield  them 
in  the  violation. 

NUMBER    THREE. 

When  any  measure  of  legislation  in  America  is  presented  for  our  accept 
ance  or  approval,  the  first  question  should  always  be  :  Is  it  Constitutional  ? 
or,  better  phraseology  would  be  :  Is  it  authorized  by  the  Constitution  ? 
For,  in  America,  the  distinctive,  distinguishing  feature  of  government, 
State  and  Federal,  is  the  written  Constitution.  This  is  the  Alpha  and  Omega 
of  all  true  American  statesmanship.  It  is  also  the  only  impregnable  fortress 
for  American  liberty.  The  written  Constitution  are  words  which  should  be 
repeated  by  every  citizen  every  day  and  every  hour,  and  held  as  indispensa 
ble  to  the  preservation  of  American  political  life  as  is  air,  or  water,  or 
meat  and  drink  to  the  preservation  of  animal  life. 

In  entering  on  the  discussion  of  the  Military  Bills,  the  first  remarkable 
fact  which  strikes  us  is  the  general  concession  that  they  are  not  in  accord 
ance  with  the  Federal  Constitution.  In  the  debates  on  the  passage  of  the 
Supplemental  Bill,  some  of  the  advocates  of  these  measures  insisted  upon 
submitting  to  the  people  of  the  several  States  affected,  to  decide  "  for  or 
against  "  the  State  Convention  through  which  the  purposes  are  to  be  accom 
plished,  because  if  the  people  should  vote  for  a  Convention,  and  thereby 
admit  and  approve  the  propriety  and  necessity  for  the  measures,  the  whole 
plan  would  be  relieved  of  the  unconstitutional  objections.  Thus  even  Rad 
ical  fanatics  found  it  necessary  to  provide  some  excuse  for  their  consciences  ! 
And  this  excuse  consists  in  an  attempt  to  secure  the  consent  of  the  people  — 
yea,  of  the  people  to  be  degraded  —  to  the  scheme  which  is  to  degrade  them, 
and  thus  to  rest  the  legality  of  the  plan,  not  upon  the  Constitution,  but  upon 
the  consent  of  the  people!  And  this  consent  is  to  be  secured  by  disfran 
chising  intelligence  by  military  rule,  by  threats,  and  last,  though  not  least, 
by  bribery  !  The  negro  race,  duped  by  emissaries  and  aided  by  deserters 
from  their  own  blood,  is  to  give  consent  for  the  white  race  ! 

Mr.  Stanbery,  in  his  argument  before  the  Supreme  Court,  though  deny 
ing  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Court  in  the  case  made,  felt  it  necessary  to  dis 
claim  any  admission  that  the  bills  were  Constitutional,  but  admitted  the 
contrary,  and  hoped,  when  the  proper  case  should  be  made,  which  he  ad 
mitted  could  be  made  in  many  ways,  the  Court  would  discharge  its  duty. 

It  is  true  that  Mr.  Sumner,  and  such  as  he,  claim  that  Congress  has  the 
right,  under  the  Constitution,  to  pass  such  bills,  and  for  all  the  States,  and 
locates  the  power  in  two  clauses  of  the  Constitution  :  that  which  requires 
the  United  States  to  "  guarantee  a  Republican  "  government  to  each  State, 
and  the  latter  clause  of  the  fourteenth  amendment,  which  authorizes  Con 
gress,  "  by  appropriate  legislation,  to  enforce  "  the  emancipation  of  the  slave. 

But  whatever  may  be  claimed  for  Mr.  Sumner  otherwise,  it  is  certain 
he  is  not  respectable  authority  on  questions  of  Constitutional  law.  Xo 
fanatical  mind  can  be  regarded  as  safe,  or  become  respectable  as  an  ex 
pounder  of  law  ;  because  fanatical  minds  will  accept  nothing  as  true  except 
what  they  desire  to  be  true.  But  law  is  an  inflexible  rule,  and  none  but  in 
flexible  minds,  rigid  in  spite  of  theories  and  hard  cases,  can  either  truly 
learn,  greatly  love,  or  safely  expound  the  law. 

But  even  if  Mr.  Sumner  and  such  as  he  had  reputation  as  lawyers,  such 
reputation  would  be  destroyed  by  the  very  positions  assumed  ;  for  no  legal, 
or  logical,  or  well-balanced  mind  can  say  it  is  necessary  or  proper  to  dis- 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  735 

c 

franchise  white  people  ;  to  establish  military  rule  ;  to  abolish  the  trial  by 
jury,  and  to  suspend  the  privilege  of  habeas  corpus  in  time  of  peace   for  all 
races  and  colors,  m  order  to  guarantee  republican  government  to  the  States 
or  to  enforce  the  emancipation  of  the  slave. 

It  may  be  safely  assumed,  therefore,  that  all  respectable  le<ral  minds  in 
America,  whether  for  or  against  these  military  bills  as  a  plan  of  reconstruc 
tion,  admit  that  the  bills  are  not  authorized  *by  any  provision  in  the  Con 
stitution.  Indeed,  the  advocates  of  these  bills  find  the  authority  for  their 
adoption,  not  in  the  Constitution,  but  in  certain  circumstances  outside  of  the 
Constitution— in  a  condition  of  things  not  anticipated  and  not  provided  for 
by  the  Constitution  ;  and  some  find  the  power  in  necessity,  some  in  human 
ity,  and  some  in  international  law !  Before  I  conclude  these  notes,  it  is  my 
purpose  to  devote  separate  and  special  attention  co  each  of  the  apologies  for 
these  bills  (for  they  are  not  arguments);  but  I  wish  to  say  now,  that  if  these 
positions,  or  any  of  them,  be  true,  then  Congress  has  found  for  itself  a  much 
broader  grant  of  power  outside  of  the  Constitution  than  exists  inside  of  that 
instrument.  Indeed,  they  have  found,  outside,  a  power  by  which  they  can 
destroy  the  Constitution,  by  which  alone  the  Congress  itself  was  created 
and  has  being.  If  this  be  so,  our  fathers  did  a  silly  work  in  providing  a 
written  Constitution. 

Then  we  may  safely  say  that  what  legal  minds  admit  is  true,  to  wit : 
That  these  Military  Bills  are  not  authorized  by  any  provision  of  the  Con 
stitution  ;  and,  if  justifiable  at  all,  they  must  be  justified  by  circumstances, 
by  some  condition,  by  some  authority  outside  of  the  Constitution.  And 
now,  wise,  prudent,  patriotic  readers,  lovers  of  law  and  law's  safety,  pro 
pound  and  answer  this  question  :  If  Congress  has  a  sphere,  a  dominion,  an 
existence,  outside  of  the  Constitution,  whence  did  it  come,  where  does  it  lie, 
and  what  is  its  extent,  its  length  and  breadth  ?  Do  you  not  know  there  is 
no  dominion  outside  of  the  Constitution  and  laws  but  the  dominion  of  an 
archy — grim,  bloody,  lawless,  thriftless,  hopeless  anarchy  ?  Do  you  not 
know  that  the  very  definition  of  anarchy  is,  outside  of  the  law,  disregard  of 
law,  abandonment  of  law  ?  Have  not  all  people  who  have  gone  into  an 
archy,  and  reaped  her  riot  of  ruin,  done  so  under  the  pressure  of  bad  men 
and  circumstances?  And  will  Americans,  black  or  white,  abandon  the  well- 
defined  boundaries,  the  safe  expositions,  the  well-tried,  ever  sufficient  and 
glorious  protection  of  a  written  Constitution,  and  rush  into  the  wild  outside 
to  find  safety  for  persons,  or  for  property,  or  for  liberty  ? 

But  the  argument  must  not  stop  here.     These  Military  Bills  are  not  only 
not  authorized  by,  but  are  directly  contrary  to,  the  Constitution.     They  sub 
ject  citizens  to  trial  for  capital  and  infamous  offenses  without  indictment  by 
a  grand  jury  ;  and  this,  the  Constitution  says,  shall   not  be  done.     They 
authorize  trial  without  a  jury,  which,  the  Constitution  says,  shall  not  be 
done  ;  and  the  Constitution,  on  this  subject,  is  so  tender  of  liberty    lat 
does  not  trust  the  matter  simply  to  a  prohibition,  but  it  declares,  with  re 
peated   emphasis,   the    right  :  "  The    trial    of  all   crimes,   except  in    cases 
of   impeachment,  shall   be   by  jury."     "  In    all  criminal  prosecutions, 
accused  shall  enjoy  the  right  to  a  speedy  and  public  trial  by  an  impar 
jury." 

They  suspend  the  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  when  there  is 
neither'insurrection  nor  invasion,  which  the  Constitution  says  shall  m 
done. 

In  these  and  other  respects,  then,  these  Military  Bills  are  in  direct 


736  SENATOR  B.   H.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

flict  with  the  plainest  and  most  solemn  injunctions  and  guarantees  of  the 
Constitution. 

But  these  bills  not  only  thus  most  flagrantly  violate  the  provisions  of  the 
Federal  Constitution,  but  they  abrogate  and  destroy,  in  whole,  the  Constitu 
tions  of  ten  States  formed  by  the  people,  and  authorize  a  new  people  to 
form  Constitutions,  not  according  to  the  wishes  of  either  the  new  or  the  old 
electors,  but  according  to  the  wishes  and  under  the  direct  dictation  of  the 
authors  of  these  Military  Bills,  not  one  of  whom  resides  in  either  of  the  ten 
States  thus  trampled  on,  or  can  be  subject  to  the  government  of  the  Consti 
tutions  which  they  thus  dictate. 

Nor  is  all  yet  told.  These  bills  not  only  violate  and  destroy  govern 
ments,  but  they  destroy — most  ruthlessly  destroy — the  very  principles  on 
which  all  American  Constitutions  and  Governments  are  based  ;  and^to  secure 
and  perpetuate  which  Constitutions,  State  and  Federal,  were  made.  Magna 
Charta  ;  Bill  of  Rights  ;  Petition  of  Rights  ;  the  Settlement  ;  the  glorious 
principles  of  the  Common  Law — the  compact  wisdom  of  centuries  ;  the  fruits 
of  many  bloody  revolutions  ;  all  the  guards  and  guarantees  which  patriots, 
statesmen,  judges,  and  people,  by  sword  and  by  pen,  for  eight  hundred 
years,  have  been  providing  and  perfecting  to  build  up  and  make  immortal 
that  most  wonderful  blessing  of  human  genius  and  power, — the  structure  of 
Anglo-Saxon  liberty, — are  abrogated  and  withdrawn  from  ten  millions  of 
people,  of  all  colors,  sexes,  and  classes,  who  live  in  the  ten  unheard  and  ex 
cluded  States  ;  and  that  too,  by  men,  I  repeat,  who  do  not  live  in  these 
States,  and  who  n.ver  think  of  them  but  to  hate,  and  never  enter  them  but 
to  insult. 

Surely  this  is  enough,  but  the  argument  requires  me  to  add  that  the  body 
of  men  who  enacted  these  military  abominations  were  not  the  Congress,  and 
had  no  authority  to  legislate.  By  the  Constitution  all  Federal  legislative 
powers  are  vested  in  a  "  Congress  of  the  United  States."  This  Congress 
"  shall  consist  of  a  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives."  The  House 
"  shall  be  composed  of  members  chosen  by  the  people  of  the  several  /States." 
The  Senate  "  shall  be  composed  of  two  Senators  from  each  (State."  Now, 
was  the  body  of  men  who  pretended  to  enact  these  bills  so  composed?  If 
not,  they  did  not — they  could  not — be  the  Congress.  Why  were  they  not 
so  composed  ?  By  their  own  act.  Members  to  compose  the  Congress  were 
chosen  by  the  people  and  all  the  States  for  the  House  and  the  Senate.  But 
the  members  from  ten  States  were  excluded  from  their  seats  by  the  members 
of  the  other  States,  thus  reducing  what  would  have  been  a  Congress  to  a 
fragmentary  conclave  of  members.  No  sophistry,  no  fanaticism,  no  ambi 
tion,  no  perjury,  and  no  force  can  escape  the  conclusion  :  These  Military 
Bills  have  no  authority.  1.  Because  they  are  not  authorized  by  the  Consti 
tution.  2.  Because  they  are  contrary  to — absolutely  annul — the  Constitu 
tion  ;  and  3,  because  they  have  never  been  passed  by  the  Congress.  Naturalists 
tell  us  of  a  venomous  reptile  which  sometimes  becomes  so  furiously  enraged 
it  sticks  its  fangs  in  its  own  flesh  and  dies  of  its  own  poison.  And  it  does 
seem  fitting  that  these  mad  violators  of  the  Constitution  they  were  sworn  to 
support,  these  wild  exterminators  of  States,  these  adroit  but  furious  mur 
derers  of  law  and  liberty,  should  first,  by  their  own  act,  have  destroyed 
themselves  in  their  preparation  and  desire  to  destroy  others. 

I  do  not  shrink  from,  but  do  most  heartily  rejoice  at  the  inevitable  con 
clusion  to  which  the  argument,  nerved  by  the  very  sinews  of  logic  and 
warmed  by  the  purest  love  of  country,  must  lead ;  and  if  American  patrij 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  737 

otism  shall  not  finally  and  forever  die,  but  shall  wake  from  the  trance  into 

which  ambition  and  lust  for  place  have  thrown  it,  then  will  lines dark 

lines — yea,  lines  as  black  as  unstarred  night,  be  drawn,  and  with  a  power 
nervous  with  indignation,  around  all  the  records  and  the  bastard  official 
existence  of  these  fragmentary  conclaves  of  libelers  of  true  Republicanism, 
and  all  will  be  declared  to  constitute  no  part  of  authorized  American  law,  or 
of  legitimate  American  will. 

Time  was  !  Ah,  yes,  the  time  was  when  to  say  to  an  American  citizen 
a  proposed  measure  was  not  authorized  by  the  Constitution  was  enough.  It 
was  rejected.  And  has  the  fierce  power  of  war,  or  that  power  which,  in 
republics,  is  worse  and  mightier,  and  more  to  be  avoided,  than  war- 
which  is  the  father  of  wars — which  begot  our  war,  and  which  seems  deter 
mined,  with  an  adulterous  mania,  to  multiply  its  hell-visaged  brood — the 
corruption  of  party  manipulators,  wrought  so  great  a  change?  And  has  the 
time  alreadv  come  when  Americans — even  Southern  Americans — can  enter- 

«/ 

tain,  as  a  question,  whether  they  will  accept,  and,  by  that  acceptance,  make 
valid,  a  proposition  which  is  not  authorized  by  the  Constitution  ;  which  is 
contrary  to  the  Constitution  ;  which  destroys  the  Constitution  ;  which  mocks 
the  very  principles  which  made,  which  gave  soul  to  the  Constitution,  and 
which  tramples  thus  on  the  Constitution  in  order  to  destroy  existing  Southern 
State  governments  founded  in  the  consent  of  the  people,  and  to  form  others 
not  founded  in  the  consent  of  the  people  ;  and  which,  in  forming  these  new 
governments,  disfranchises  existing  electors  distinguished  for  intelligence, 
and  enfranchises  new  electors  notorious  for  ignorance ;  and  which  new  gov 
ernments  so  formed  are  not  to  suit  either  new  or  old,  learned  or  ignorant, 
black  or  white  electors,  who  are  to  live  under  them,  but  must  suit  men  who 
never  lived  in  these  States,  who  never  expect  to  live  in  these  States,  and  who 
forget  their  own  oaths  and  the  interest  of  their  own  people  to  indulge  the 
hatred  by  which  they  oppress  the  people  of  these  Southern  States? 

And  have  we  some  of  these  same  party  manipulators  who  were  born 
under  our  skies,  who  have  been  trusted  by  our  people,  who  boast  of  their 
honors,  who  now  advise  and  try,  coax  and  labor  to  persuade,  and  by  turns 
threaten,  deceive  and  slander,  to  compel  us  to  accept  this  iniquity? 

Oh,  depths  of  infamy  !  Open,  open,  far  deeper  depths,  for  the  dwelling 
of  these  coming  monsters  of  treachery,  that  they  shame  not  with  their  pres 
ence  the  lowest  of  the  damned  spirits"  which  now  inhabit  your  labyrinths ! 

NUMBER   FOUR. 

Having  shown  what  every  fair  mind  admits,  and  what  every  legal  mind 
must  conclude,  that  these  military  measures  are  subversive  of  the  Constitu 
tion  and  fatal  to  the  very  life  of  all  American  principles  of  government,  let 
us  now  proceed  to  examine  the  reasons  urged  to  justify  or  induce  their 
acceptance  by  our  people.  After  careful  consideration  find  that  all 
reasons  which  I  have  heard  or  read  are  included  in  the  following  five  propo 

sitions  and  allegations : 

1.  We  are  helpless,  it  is  alleged,  and  can  neither  resist  nor  prevent 

adoption  of  these  measures. 

2.  That  if  we  refuse  to  accept  this  plan  of  Reconstruction,  a  worse 
will  be  provided.     An  appeal  to  our  fears,  and  therefore  a  strong  < 
fange/rous  position.  , 

3.  That  if  we  reject  this  plan  Congress  will  become  more  off 


738  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

will  confiscate  our  property,  and  take  the  substance  we  have  left.     This  is 
an  appeal  to  our  avarice — a  very  dominant  passion  of  human  nature. 

4.  That  we  of  the  South  are  a  conquered  people,  and  are  bound  to  accept 
the  terms  of  the  conqueror,  and  that  these  bills  are  the  terms  of  the  con 
queror. 

5.  That  the  negro,  being  now  free  and  made  a  citizen,  is  entitled  both 
for  his  own  protection,  and  in  accordance  with  the  principles  of  popular 
government,  to  political  as  well  as  civil  equality  with  the  white  race,  and 
that  civil  equality  will  be  idle  without  political  equality. 

This  last  position  is  urged  chiefly  by  Northern  supporters  of  these  bills, 
and  has  a  semblance  of  consistency  and  principle,  and  I  have,  therefore, 
included  it  in  the  list  of  arguments  or  positions  to  be  answered. 

I  have  no  difficulty  whatever  in  finding  the  most  satisfactory  replies  to 
all  these  alleged  reasons.  Indeed,  I  affirm,  with  absolute  confidence,  that  all 
the  good  which  it  is  claimed  will  come  of  the  acceptance  of  these  measures, 
will  come  and  can  only  come  of  their  rejection  ;  and  that  all  the  evils  which 
it  is  alleged  will  result  from  their  rejection  will  necessarily  and  naturally 
result  from  their  acceptance.  But  I  find  it  very  difficult  while  writing,  and 
impossible  while  speaking,  to  exhibit  what  I  do  not  feel ;  and,  while  making 
the  analysis,  it  will  be  a  task  to  exhibit  respect  either  for  these  positions  or 
for  those  who  use  them.  For  the  educated  politician — the  man  who  has 
experience  in  public  affairs  and  who  aspires  and  labors  to  be  a  teacher  and 
counselor  of  the  people,  and  who  urges  these  teachings  and  counsels,  "I 
am  exceedingly  filled  with  contempt,"  because  I  can  but  believe  that  such  a 
man  consciously  desecrates  the  truth,  and  recklessly,  but  with  most  concil 
iating  address,  hazards  every  interest  of  the  people  only  that  he  may  take 
the  benefit  of  being  "  on  the  strong  side."  Alas,  what  pen  shall  ever  be  able 
to  recount  the  countless  horrors  which  have  resulted  from — been  wrought 
by — that  demoniac  spirit  of  our  political  leaders  to  be  on  the  strong  side, 
and  to  make  issues  and  pander  to  passions  "  to  keep  the  strong  side."  This 
spirit  made  "bleeding  Kansas";  rent  the  Union  in  twain;  drenched  the 
country  in  blood,  and  clad  the  people  with  mourning  ;  demoralized,  deceived, 
and  betrayed  the  most  gallant  people  under  the  cycles  of  the  sun  to  tlie 
most  humiliating  subjugation,  and  now  counsels,  urges,  threatens  to  compel 
dishonor  to  a  people  who  have  nothing  but  honor  left. 

But  I  know  there  are  many  people  who  are  honest,  and  even  intelligent 
on  most  subjects,  who  commit  grave  political  errors  and  mistakes.  It  would 
be  strange  if  they  did  not  when  there  are  so  many  influences  to  deceive.  In 
popular  governments,  therefore,  and  more  especially  now,  since  so  much 
power  is  proposed  to  be  given  to  so  much  ignorance,  it  is  necessary  to  answer 
the  knave  in  his  argument  lest  he  make  a  fool  of  his  hearer. 

First,  then,  it  is  said  we  are  helpless  and  cannot  prevent  the  success  of 
these  Military  Bills.  Well,  if  this  is  true,  why  ask  our  consent?  If  suc 
cess  does  not  depend  on  consent,  why  beg  and  coax  and  threaten  to  secure 
consent?  If  we  must  be  disfranchised  and  have  an  "  enemy's  government" 
forced  upon  us,  spare  us  the  gratuitous  dishonor  of  consenting !  If  a  fiend, 
with  the  power,  should  come  to  burn  your  house,  or  rape  your  wife,  or  kill 
your  family,  and  should  coolly  ask  your  consent,  saying  you  had  better  con 
sent,  for  if  you  did  not,  he  would  burn  or  rape  or  kill  anyhow,  and  perhaps, 
being  incensed  by  your  refusal,  do  all — would  you  consent?  I  like  the  spirit 
of  the  old  Roman  centurion.  A  decemvir — a  ruler  of  the  strong  side — 
became  enamored  of  the  humble  centurion's  daughter,  He  first  persuaded, 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  730 

but  persuasion  failing  to  secure  consent,  he  resorted  to  his  power,  the  power 
of  his  office.  When  the  hour  of  supposed  helplessness  was  reached  the 
father  snatched  a  knife  and  plunged  it  into  the  breast  of  his  daughter 
exclaiming,  '  This  is  all,  my  dearest  daughter,  I  can  give  thee  to  preserve 
thy  chastity  from  the  lust  and  violence  of  a  tyrant."  And  what  was  the 
result  in  heathen  Rome  ?  The  soldiers  and  people  honored  the  father,  and 
rose  with  indignation  and  abolished  the  decemviral  power  of  Rome  forever, 
and  the  guilty  decemvirs  slew  themselves.  And  to  this  day  the  thing  is  told 
as  a  memorial  of  the  noble  father,  and  of  the  glorious  army  and  people  who 
avenged  him.  And  the  daughter's  name  was  Virginia.  The  virtue  of  all 
our  daughters  and  the  pride  of  all  our  sons  are  secure  only  in  our  sense  of 
honor  as  a  people. 

But  are  we  helpless?  If  we  contemplate  resistance  by  arms,  I  concede 
that  now  we  are  helpless.  But  our  strength  is  not  in  arms.  Our  strength 
is  in  the  Constitution.  If  the  Constitution  is  strong  we  are  strong,  and  if  we 
are  helpless  the  Constitution  is  helpless.  I  have  shown  if  these  military  meas 
ures  be  forced  upon  us  the  Constitution  is  destroyed.  On  its  parapets  alone 
let  us  mount  our  guns  and  fire  on.  The  most  startling  evidence  of  our  pro 
gress  toward  anarchy,  is  the  idea  with  some,  I  fear  many  of  our  people,  that 
the  Constitution  can  do  us  no  good.  The  very  thought  should  alarm  every 
man  on  the  continent  who  has  property  or  liberty  or  peace,  or  who  desires 
to  get  or  to  keep  either.  The  only  possible  hope  I*have  in  the  future  for  any 
thing  good  or  safe  to  the  people  of  any  section  and  of  any  color,  is  founded 
in  the  belief  that  the  Constitution  is  not  dead — is  not  helpless.  It  has  been 
sadly  disregarded,  abandoned,  and  trampled  on,  I  admit.  But  its  enemies 
are  too  cruel.  They  insist  upon  dealing  their  blows  too  often,  too  quickly, 
and  too  recklessly.  Their  motives  are  becoming  manifest.  The  murderer's 
intent  is  at  last  being  seen.  The  people  will  come  to  the  rescue  ;  they  will 
come  in  wrath,  and  these  long  rioting  enemies  will  call  on  the  very  moun 
tains  to  hide  them.  If  I  am  mistaken — if  the  Constitution  is  dead — if  the 
people  have  lost  the  will  to  save  it — then  patriots  and  Christians,  and  all 
order-loving  men  have  but  one  duty  to  perform.  That  duty  is  to  pray- 
pray  earnestly — pray  unceasingly,  that  the  Caesar  of  American  history  would 
come  and  come  quickly. 

Our  noble  governor  sought  to  test  the  Constitutionality  of  these  measures 
before  the  Supreme  Court  by  a  bill  filed  in  the  name  of  the  State.  I  am 
glad  he  did  so.  It  was  a  manly  effort,  for  which  our  children  will  praise 
him.  Besides,  he  gave  the  Court  an  opportunity  of  deciding  an  important 
question  which  may  be  one  day  invoked.  He  failed  to  get  the  test,  because 
the  Court  was  not  able  to  decide  that  it  had  jurisdiction  in  the  form  in  which 
the  question  was  made  ;  not  because  Georgia  was  not  a  State,  but  because 
Georgia  being  a  State,  the  question,  as  made,  was  political  only.  But  the 
humblest  of  the  ten  millions  of  the  people  of  the  ten  States,  whose  rights 


do  most  earnestly  hope  that  every  citizen  whose  property  is  seized  or  whose 
person  is  arrested  under  pretense  of  these  Military  Bills,  will  promptly  ap 
peal  to  the  law.  I  am  aware  that  our  people  are  attempted  to  be  frightened 
from  this  appeal  to  the  Courts  because  they  are  told  it  will  be  years  before 
decision  can  be  forced  !  This  is  not  true.  A  decision  on  a  writ  of  habeas 
vorpus  must  come  at  onw  from  the  District  Court,  and  in  a  short  time  from 


740  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

the  Supreme  Court.  But  if  this  delay  is  to  defeat  the  application,  would 
not  people  for  the  same  reason  assert  no  right  by  the  law,  and  thus  submit 
to  all  outrages  or  take  the  law  in  their  own  hands  ?  And  must  the  right  on 
which  all  rights  depend  be  abandoned  because  the  law  is  slow? 

But  it  is  said,  that  while  the  Courts  are  waiting,  the  Congress  will  com 
plete  its  work.  But  if  the  Courts  finally  hold  that  the  work  is  completed 
without  any  authority  under  the  Constitution,  will  not  all  the  work  go  for 
nothing  and  our  existing  government  be  restored? 

But  suppose  it  will  take  one  year,  or  five  years,  or  ten  years  to  "  force 
the  Court  to  a  decision."  Would  it  not  be  better  to  brook  the  Court's  de 
lay  for  even  ten  years  than  to  accept  anarchy  and  slavery  for  a  century  ? 

No,  there  is  neither  logic,  nor  sincerity,  nor  patriotism  in  this  argument 
or  excuse,  that  we  are  helpless.  If  we  consent  to  and  accept  these  military 
measures,  then  we  are  helpless,  because  they,  by  that  consent,  become  valid — 
become  our  act.  If  we  do  not  accept — if  we  vote  against  a  convention — 
they  never  can  become  valid.  They  can  never  be  finally  enforced.  This  is 
the  reason,  and  the  only  reason,  why  every  means  is  resorted  to  to  secure 
our  consent.  Without  that  consent  these  acts  have  no  vitality.  There  is 
for  these  corrupt  party  manipulators  and  bribed  deserters  from  their  own 
honor,  no  refuge  from  disgrace,  but  in  the  success  of  their  scheme  of  ruin. 
There  is  no  possible  way  of  success  except  by  the  people's  consent  to  their 
own  ruin.  Therefore  it  is,  that  emissaries  come,  and  renegades  labor,  and 
original  secessionists  become  orthodox  loyalists,  and  by  persuasions  and  by 
threats,  by  bribing  some  and  alarming  others  and  deceiving  all,  seek  to  get 
the  people  to  consent. 

The  wicked  violators  of  the  Constitution  would  cover  their  crimes  by 
calling  it  progress  and  getting  the  people  to  tread  with  them  in  their  coun 
try's  death  march. 

The  itinerant  vender  of  his  people's  honor  would  escape  the  infamy  of 
his  trade  by  inducing  the  people  to  join  in  the  sale. 

What !  will  the  people  violate  the  Constitution  to  get  strength,  or  aban 
don  the  laws  to  find  safety  ?  Then,  is  the  mariner  skilled  who  throws  away 
his  chart  and  compass  to  find  his  way  over  the  sea  ;  and  the  madman  has  be 
come  wise  who  forsakes  his  shelter  to  avoid  the  storm. 

One  of  the  banished  crew, 
I  fear,  hath  ventured  from  the  deep,  to  raise 
New  troubles. 

NUMBER   FIVE. 

It  is  said,  in  the  next  place,  that  if  we  do  not  accept  the  present  plan  of 
Reconstruction  proposed  in  these  Military  Bills,  another  plan,  more  odious 
and  oppressive,  will  be  provided.  Further  disfranchisement,  it  is  said,  of  the 
white  race  will  take  place,  and,  it  may  be,  a  total  disfranchisement  of  all 
but  the  blacks  and  their  fellows  in  sufferings  and  former  bondage — the  per 
secuted  loyalists — and  who  alone  will  then  have  the  government  of  the 
State. 

But  if  the  present  plan  fails  because  it  is  unconstitutional,  how  can  a 
worse  plan — a  plan  still  more  unconstitutional — succeed  ?  If  it  is  not  in  the 
power  of  Congress  to  disfranchise  a  few,  how  can  it  disfranchise  all  ?  Con 
gress  can  neither  make  nor  unmake  elector 'S,  and  every  member  of  the  Congress 
knows  it.  And  every  act  which  seeks  or  pretends  to  make  or  unmake  voters 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WAITINGS.  741 

in  a  State  is  void  and  null,  and  will  be  declared  so  ;  and  every  election  held 
or  Constitution  formed,  or  government  organized  by  voters  who  are  mado 
voters  only  by  Congress,  is  void  and  will  be  declared  so.  Every  man  who 
is  made  a  voter  by  the  law  of  his  State,  and  is  denied  that  vote  by  Congress 
is  wronged,  and  every  agent  or  officer  of  the  Congress,  or  other  person  who 
enforces  the  denial  is  &  wrong-doer,  and  responsible  in  all  the  penalties  and 
damages  prescribed  by  the  State  laws.  The  only  danger  possible  lies  in  the 
strange  fear  of  the  people  to  assert  their  rights,  and  the  consequent  disposi 
tion  to  consent  to  the  wrong.  From  consent  alone  can  wrong  derive  power, 
and  when  once  consented  to  its  power  becomes  irresistible.  If  thev  did  not 
see,  or  think  they  saw,  a  fatal  inclination  in  our  people  to  yield, "Congress 
and  the  renegades  would  not  ask  their  consent,  nor  dare  to  inflict  the  wrongs. 
For  to  attempt  the  wrong  and  fail  (and  withouc  consent  they  must  fail),  can 
only  bring  ultimate  disgrace  on  those  who  make  the  attempt.  When  the 
burglar  knows  the  owner  of  the  house  is  awake  and  determined  to  resist,  he 
will  not  dare  enter  ;  but  if  he  knows  the  owner  is  asleep  or  disposed  to  yield, 
he  is  sure  to  enter  ;  he  is  invited  to  enter.  A  Congress  or  a  fragmentary 
conclave  thereof,  who  breaks  the  Constitution  to  inflict  wrongs  on  an  unresist 
ing  people,  is  more  criminal  and  far  more  cowardly  than  the  burglar  ;  and 
the  man  who  is  within — who  is  of  the  people — and  who  counsels  submission 
to  the  wrong,  is  far  more  to  be  despised  than  a  burglar,  or  than  even  such  a 
Congress. 

Of  like  character  is  the  threat  that,  if  we  reject  this  plan,  Congress  will, 
in  a  new  plan,  add  confiscation.  He  is  to  be  pitied  for  his  simplicity  who 
does  not  know  that  Congress  has  no  more  power  to  confiscate  the  property 
of  a  peaceful  citizen  than  has  a  political  meeting  or  a  church  mob  ;  and  that 
the  very  attempt  would  necessarily  end  the  existence  of  the  Congress 
attempting  it. 

But  unmanly  and  without  foundation  of  either  law  or  reason  as  are 
these  threats  of  further  attempts  at  disfranchisement  and  confiscation,  the}' 
are  of  surpassing  importance  in  other  respects,  and  demand  the  most^ serious 
consideration  of  our  people.  The  position  urged  upon  us  is  this  :  We  must 
submit  to  a  proposed  wrong  lest  a  greater  wrong  follow.  We  must  surrender 
our  franchises,  because,  if  we  do  not,  our  property  will  be  taken  also.  Now, 
the  first  point  to  which  Tbeg  attention  is  this  :  These  positions  admit  that 
the  party  (or  power,  if  you  please)  which  proposes  the  present  wrong,  has 
already  the  will'to  inflict  further  wrong;  that  the  Congress  which  requires 
you  to  consent  to  the  destruction  of  your  franchise,  has  already  the  will  to 
rob  you  of  your  property. 

Thus,  you  are  asked  to  place  your  property  for  safety  in  the  keeping 
that  power  which  already  has  the  will  to  take  it.     You  are  importuned 
escape  the  power  of  the  lion  by  rushing  to  his  embrace  ;  to  avoid 
of  the  serpent  by  placing  your  hand  in  his  mouth  ! 

This  is  precisely  the  point.     Will  every  man  in  the  South  ponder 
repeat  it— never  forget  it  ?     Disfranchisement,  confiscation,  and 
evils  will  not  come,  they  cannot  come,  through  our  existing  Mate  gov 
ment.     Never!    But  they  can  come,  and  they  will  come  through  the  gov 
ment,  which  this  plan  of  Reconstruction  proposes  to  establish  for  ou 
ini;  State  governments.     Who,  in  all  these  States,  favor  or  agitate  for  con 
fiscation  except   the   Northern  emissary  and  Southern  renegade,  an 
negro,  when  prompted  and  directed  by  these  emissaries  and  re 
Are  we  not  warned  ?     Read  the  resolutions  of  negro  conventions  and  when- 


742  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

ever  you  find  one  of  these  conventions  in  which  these  emissaries  and  rene 
gades  are  the  devilish  prompters,  you  will  find  confiscation  threatened,  or 
apologized  for,  or  justified,  or  demanded.  And  these  are  the  very  men  who 
are  to  form,  organize,  control,  and  administer,  and  enjoy  the  offices  under 
these  new  governments  proposed  by  these  Military  Bills.  And  when  we 
admit  the  power  to  abrogate  existing  governments  and  organize  new  gov 
ernments  to  be  composed  of  such  men  with  such  views  and  for  such  pur 
poses,  then  abrogations  and  disfranchisements  and  new  organizations  will 
continue  until  such  men  do  effectually  control,  and  such  views  and  purposes 
do  effectually  prevail.  The  whole  purpose  of  these  Military  Bills  is  to  add 
these  ten  States  to  Radical  party  power  ;  nothing  less  than  the  complete 
accomplishment  of  the  purpose  will  be  accepted.  And  this  purpose  can 
never  be  accomplished  but  by  disfranchising,  impoverishing,  destroying,  and 
driving  off  all  the  true,  and  noble,  and  manly,  and  country-loving  of  the 
Southern  people  ;  and  delivering  over  our  bright  and  beautiful  land  to  the 
riotous  rule  and  miscegenating  orgies  of  negroes,  Yankees  and  base  apos 
tates  from  their  own  kindred,  color,  country,  and  blood.  I  would  not  fear 
the  docile  negro,  left  to  himself.  He  would  soon  know  his  true  friends,  see 
his  interest,  and  be  useful.  But  the  Africanized  white  man  is  an  enemy  to 
the  peace  and  interest  of  both  races,  and  would  be  an  admitted  monster  in 
any  age  or  country  of  barbarians. 

I  admit,  then,  that  we  are  in  danger  of  confiscation.  Those  who  outlaw 
patriotism  and  intelligence,  would  not  scruple  to  rob.  The  representatives 
who  violate  the  Constitution  they  are  sworn  to  support,  in  order  to  abrogate 
State  government,  and  reduce  the  people  to  military  bondage,  could  not  add 
to  their  iniquities  by  taking  the  little  property  we  have  left.  As  a  people 
we  have  but  little — scarcely  enough  to  prevent  starvation.  All  the  world 
seems  to  be  moving  to  send  bread  to  keep  us  alive.  What  a  curious  people 
we  are  !  fit  objects  of  charity  and  fit  subjects  for  confiscation  !  The  same 
train  brings  the  bread  to  feed,  the  officer  to  oppress,  and  the  emissary  to 
breed  strife  and  to  rob  !  Alas,  we  have  been  robbed — robbed  in  war  and  in 
peace,  and  by  foes  and  by  friends  ! 

A  few  are  rich.  They  prospered  while  their  victims  were  sacrificed — 
showed  a  talent  to  make  money  while  their  dupes  showed  a  will  to  lose 
blood.  These  might  naturally  dread  confiscation,  and,  in  view  of  the  sacri 
fices  they  made  to  get  property,  it  may  be  reasonable  they  should  make 
great  sacrifices  to  keep  what  they  made,  for  what  is  honor  worth  to  such  ? 
But  even  these  should  not  altogether  lose  their  reason.  May  they  not  be 
nursing  a  power  that  may  consume  them?  Thieves  are  not  always  to  be 
trusted,  even  by  their  friends  and  co-laborers.  It  is  safer  to  avoid  a  danger 
than  trust  to  controlling  it. 

When  we  abandon  the  safeguard  of  the  Constitution,  and  trust  ourselves 
-*    to  the  magnanimity  of  its  violators,  we  shall   embrace  the  surest  means  of 

-)  procuring  the  loss  of  all  things.  But  I  scorn  to  pursue  such  a  line  of  argu 
ment. 

^,  A  people  who  are  willing  to  sacrifice  honor  to  avarice  are  beyond  the 

possibility  of  redemption.     If  the  very  statement  of  the  proposition  does 

Jt  not  awaken  a  feeling  of  abhorrence,  we  are  indeed  in  a  sad  condition.  If 
anything  can  be  baser  than  degradation,  it  is  such  a  motive  for  sinking  to 
it.  Lost  property  may  be  recovered  ;.,  burnt  cities  may  be  rebuilt  ;  devas 
tated  fields  may  bloom  again  ;  even  buried  children,  fallen  for  their  country, 
will  live  again  in  the  quickened  spirits  of  new  generations.  But  as  with 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  743 

t  individuals  so  with  people  and  communities— the  sense  of  honor  once  lost  is 

I  lost  forever.     Yea,  more  ;  the  history  of  human  nature,  singly  and  in  com- 

I  munities,  teaches,  without  exception  of  example,  that  when  self-respect  is 

once  lost,  self-abasement  once  accepted,  cities,  lands,  liberty,  country  can- 

'  not  be  retained. 

It  is  natural,  too,  that  all  others  should  lose  respect  for  those  who  lose 
respect  for  themselves.  If  we  accept  the  humiliation  proposed  for  us,  all 
mankind  will  be  ashamed  of  us,  our  children  will  be  ashamed  of  us,  and  our 
very  enemies,  whose  hatred  prompted  the  shame,  will  mock  and  deride  UH. 
Even  now  I  believe  the  impression  which  a  few  have  been  industrious  to 
produce,  that  our  people  are  willing  to  reconstruct  under  these  acts,  has 
damaged  us  more  in  the  estimation  of  all  honorable  minds  than  anything 
else  that  has  happened.  I  do  not  know  Gen.  Pope,  but  if,  as  I  assume,  he 
possesses  the  ordinary  instincts  of  honor  that  belong  to  an  American  gentle 
man,  he  must  have  felt  an  almost  nauseating  pity  for  the  poor  men  who 
gathered  about  him  in  Atlanta,  and  forgetting  the  history  of  their  fathers 
and  the  character  of  our  institutions,  welcomed  in  feasting  and  rejoicing 
the  inauguration  of  military  depotism  over  one  of  the  Old  Thirteen,  whose 
sons  were  in  the  first  revolution,  and  who  holds  in  her  bosom  the  ashes  of 
Pulaski !  A  brave  man  loves  courage  in  others,  and  despises  sycophancy 
which  makes  sacrifices  to  power  to  secure  safety,  perhaps  patronage,  for 
itself.  Heroism  in  defeat,  patience  in  suffering,  the  preservation  of  honor 
in  the  midst  of  misfortune,  are  the  sublime  virtues  which  everything  on 
earth  admires  and  everything  in  Heaven  rewards,  and  which  never  fail  to 
lift  a  people  possessing  them,  however  temporarily  unfortunate,  to  final 
prosperity  and  renown.  And  a  people,  however  great,  who  propose  dis 
honor  to  the  helpless,  who  would  take  advantage  of  misfortune  to  force 
oppressions  on  the  unresisting,  will  surely  sink  by  the  weight  of  their  own 
infamy  to  ruin,  and  everything  virtuous  on  earth  and  in  heaven  will  rejoice 
at  the  fall. 

I  admit  that  I  have  often  overrated  the  intelligence  and  virtue  and  en 
durance  of  our  people.  Everything  they  have  done,  from  the  suicidal  repeal 
of  the  Missouri  Compromise  to  the  criminal  and  factious  demoralization 
which  compelled  our  surrender,  has  been  contrary  to  my  wishes  and  against 
my  protests.  But  I  do  not  believe  they  are  so  lost  to  every  instinct  of  man 
hood  as  to  accept  the  plan  of  State  destruction  proposed  by  the  fanatical 
representative  of  other  States,  as  contained  in  these  Military  Bills.  Many 
at  first  were  taken  by  surprise,  and  were  tempted  with  a  desperate  thought 
lessness  to  yield. 

But  they  will  reject  the  hateful  thing  they  had  almost  embraced. 

NUMBER   SIX. 

Of  all  the  pretexts  which  have  been  used  to  justify  the  oppression  of  the 
Southern  people,  none  is  so  faithless  in  character,  or  so  destitute  of 
tion  in  truth  and  law,  as  the  one  that  the  Southern  States  and  people,  being 
conquered,  are  subject  to  the  will  of  the  conqueror.     It  is  time  our  people 
fully  understood  this  question.     They  need  the  information  to  protect 
from  the  very  deceptive  purposes  of  their  own  active  Southern-born  coun 
selors.     We  might  be  surprised  at  the  ignorance,  if  we  did  not  know 
treachery  of  the  motives  of  those  who,  in  this  day  of  civilization,  labo 
earnestly  to  fix  in  the  minds  of  our  people  the  idea  that  when  one  party 


744  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

yields  to  another  in  a  war,  the  yielding  party  submits  thereby  all  rights  of 
person  and  property  and  of  political  government  to  the  will  of  the  con 
queror.  And  that  such  advice  should  be  given  by  those  among  us  who  pro 
fess  to  be  actuated  for  our  good  can  be  explained  only  on  the  hypothesis 
that  the  real  purpose  is  to  betray  for  a  consideration. 

The  late  war  was  either  a  rebellion,  or  it  was  a  civil  war,  or  it  was  a  for 
eign  war.  Each  name  has  its  advocates.  Others,  again,  give  the  war  either 
or  all  these  characters  by  turns,  as  the  giving  of  either  or  all  can  be  sup 
posed  to  justify  some  oppression  on  the  unsuccessful  party  to  the  conflict. 
I  shall  not  stop  to  prove  that  it  was,  what  history  can  only  call  it,  a  civil 
war.  Whether  it  was  the  one  or  the  other,  there  is  no  question  in  all  inter 
national  or  municipal  law  better  settled,  or  settled  on  more  manifest  founda 
tions  of  natural  reason,  social  justice,  and  public  faith,  than  is  the  question 
of  the  rights  and  powers  of  the  conqueror  and  the  rights  and  obligations  of 
the  conquered. 

All  conflicts,  whether  between  a  sovereign  and  his  subjects,  or  between 
two  parties  in  a  government  or  republic,  or  between  two  independent  na 
tions,  are  founded  on  some  question,  some  difference,  making  an  issue  be 
tween  the  parties  which  reason  has  not  been  able  to  settle.  The  parties 
take  up  arms  to  solve  the  question  and  settle  the  issue  between  them. 

Every  war  ends  by  compromise,  or  by  one  party  yielding  to  the  other, 
either  on  terms  or  without  terms.  If  the  end  is  by  compromise,  the  terms 
of  the  compromise  constitute  the  law  of  the  peace.  If  one  party  surrender 
on  terms,  the  law  of  peace  is  the  issue  of  the  fight  qualified  by  the  terms  of 
the  surrender  ;  if  the  surrender  is  without  terms,  then  all  the  questions  involved 
in  the  issue  are  settled  in  favor  of  the  conqueror,  but  no  question  not  dis 
tinctly  involved  is  settled  or  affected. 

Now,  two  things  must  be  distinctly  understood  and  fixed  in  the  minds 
of  the  reader. 

1.  Where  must  we  look  to  find  the  terms  on  which  the  conflict  ends,  and 
which  make  the  law  of  the  peace  between  the  parties  ? 

2.  At  what  time  must  these  terms  be  made  known  or  agreed  upon  ? 
Wars  between  independent  nations  are  usually  ended  by  treaty,  and,  of 

course,  we  must  look  to  the  treaty  of  peace  to  find  the  terms  of  the  peace. 
What  is  not  found  in  the  treaty  is  not  settled.  So  also  in  civil  wars- 
treaties  are  sometimes  made  and  have  the  same  force  and  effect  as  when 
made  between  independent  nations.  Usually,  however,  treaties  are  not  made 
between  parties  to  civil  war  or  a  rebellion,  because  the  sovereign  or  party 
claiming  to  be  the  legitimate  government  will  not  treat  with  those  whom 
they  persist  in  calling  rebels,  because  to  treat  with  them  is  to  admit  a  sort 
of  implied  independence  or  authority.  In  all  such  cases,  in  order  to  find  the 
terms  of  the  peace,  we  must  look  to  the  causes  or  differences  which  actuated 
the  parties  in  taking  up  arms  to  the  declarations  and  demands  of  the  parties 
at  the  time  of  beginning  and  during  the  progress  of  the  struggle  ;  to  the 
promises  made  or  assurances  proclaimed  by  the  victor  to  induce  the  adver 
sary  to  lay  down  his  arms,  and  to  the  negotiations  and  terms  of  the  surren 
der.  Whatever  is  not  there  found  is  not  settled,  and  forms  no  part  whatever 
of  the  terms  of  peace.  I  need  not  add  that  all  the  treaties,  declarations,  and 
promises  are  to  be  interpreted,  not  according  to  the  discretion  of  either 
party,  but  in  the  light  and  according  to  the  rules  of  the  laws  of  nations  and 
the  established  principles  of  natural  justice  and  good  faith. 

In  the  next  place  it  must  be  stated,  that  whatever  either  party,  in  case 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  745 

of  a  compromise  or  a  treaty,  or  the  victor  in  case  of  a  surrender,  intends  to 
demand  as  a  condition  of  the  peace,  must  be  made  known  before  or  at  the 
time  the  treaty  is  made,  or  before  or  at  the  time  the  surrender  is  accepted 
No  party  agrees  to  what  is  not  made  known,  or  surrenders  to  what  is  not 
claimed.  To  demand  new  guarantees  after  a  treaty  has  been  made,  is  a 
breach  of  the  treaty  ;  and  to  prescribe  new  terms  of  surrender  after  the  sur 
render  has  been  accepted,  is  deemed  infamous  by  all  mankind,  and  in  both  cases 
is  held  to  be  a  new  and  just  cause  of  war.  And  when  such  conduct  is  exhib 
ited  toward  an  adversary  who  has  given  up  his  arms  and  submitted  to  the 
victor,  and  is  thereby  unable  to  renew  the  war,  the  party  guilty  of  it  has  no 
claim  to  the  confidence  or  respect  of  any  people,  for  he  brings  the  faith  of 
promises  into  disrepute. 

The  faith  of  treaties— constancy  in  fulfilling  our  engagements— is  to  be  held  sacred 
and  inviolable,  and  if  mankind  be  not  willfully  deficient  in  their  duty  to  themselves,  in 
famy  must  ever  be  the  portion  of  him  who  violates  his  faith. 

.  .  .  And  in  general,  the  sovereign,  whose  word  ought  ever  to  be  sacred,  is 
bound  to  the  faithful  observance  of  every  promise  he  has  made,  even  to  rebels— I  mean 
to  such  of  his  subjects  as  have  rebelled  without  reason  or  necessity.  .  .  .  But  tyrants 
alone  will  treat  as  seditious  those  brave  and  resolute  citizens  who  exhort  the  people  to 
preserve  themselves  from  oppression,  and  to  vindicate  their  rights  and  privileges.  If  a 
good  prince  has  justice  and  his  duty  at  heart— if  he  aspires  to  that  immortal  and  unsul 
lied  glory  of  being  the  father  of  his  people— let  him  mistrust  the  selfish  suggestions  of 
that  minister  who  represents  to  him  as  rebels  those  citizens  who  do  not  stretch  out  tl«ir 
necks  to  the  yoke  of  slavery — who  refuse  tamely  to  crouch  under  the  rod  of  arbitrary 
power. 

And  if  there  existed  no  reasons  to  justify  the  insurrection  (a  circumstance  which,  per 
haps,  never  happens),  even  in  such  case,  it  becomes  necessary,  as  we  have  above  observed, 
to  grant  an  amnesty  when  the  offenders  are  numerous.  When  the  amnesty  is  once  published 
and  accepted,  all  the  past  must  be  buried  in  oblimon;  nor  must  any  one  be  called  to  ac 
count  for  what  has  been  done  during  the  disturbances. —  Vattel. 

There  are  cases  in  which  a  party  to  a  conflict  may  increase  his  demands 
during  the  conflict,  or  he  may  make  these  demands  during  negotiations 
for  peace.  He  may  demand  the  removal  of  the  cause  which,  in  his  judg 
ment,  produced  the  conflict  ;  or  he  may  demand  securities  for  the  observ 
ance  of  promises  ;  or  the  expense  of  the  war  ;  or  any  other  terms  which  may 
reasonably  tend  to  make  peace  permanent.  But  in  all  cases  such  demand 
must  be  distinctly  made  before  the  treaty  is  agreed  to  or  before  the  surrender 
is  accepted.  To  make  such  demands  afterward  is  a  base  treachery,  of  which 
any  power,  great  enough  to  be  a  victor,  ought  to  be  deemed  totally  incapa 
ble.  Even  in  cases  of  revolt,  when  the  revolters  are  subdued  and  sue  for 
peace,  the  amnesty  may  except  the  authors  of  the  disturbance  ;  but  even 
then  only  that  they  "  may  be  brought  to  a  legal  trial  and  punished  if  found 
guilty." 

At  the  present  day  it  seldom  happens  that  either  of  the  belligerents  perseveres  to  the 
last  extremity  before  he  will  consent  to  a  peace.     Though  a  nation  may  have  lost 
battles  she  can  still  defend  herself  ;  as  long  as  she  has  men  and  arms  remaining  she  : 
destitute  of  all  resource.     If  she  thinks  fit,  by  a  disadvantageous  treaty,  to  procure  a 
necessary  peace— if  by  great  sacrifices  she  delivered  herself  from  imminent  danger  o 
total  ruin— the  residue  which  remains  in  her  possession  is  still  an  advantage 
she  is  indebted  to  the  peace  ;  it  was  her  own  free  choice  to  prefer  a  certain  and  imme< 
loss,  but  of  limited  extent,  to  an  evil  of  a  more  dreadful  nature,  which,  though  ye 
some  distance,  she  had  but  too  great  reason  to  apprehend. —  Vattel. 

But  how  does  she  have  a  "  residue  of  rights  remaining,"  according  to 
the  terms  of  the  peace,  if  new  terms  of  total  ruin  may  be  prescribed  after 


V4C  SENATOR  B.   H.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

the  peace  ?  How  is  the  extent  of  the  loss  "limited1'  by  the  terms  of  her 
surrender,  if  unlimited  exactions  may  be  made  by  the  victor  afterward  ? 
Whatever  the  conqueror  demands  lie  must  demand  while  his  adversary  has 
"  men  and  arms  remaining."  A  conquered  people  are  never  "  subject  to  the 
will  of  the  conqueror."  None  but  very  barbarous  people  and  Northern 
Radicals  and  Southern  renegades  ever  said  so.  A  conquered  people  are  sub 
ject  to  the  terms  of  the  conquest  made  known  and  demanded  before  or  at 
the  time  the  conquest  is  admitted,  and  to  no  after-terms  or  will  whatever ; 
and  none  but  a  treacherous  conqueror  would  demand  more  ;  and  none  but  a 
more  treacherous  and  very  base  conquered  would  concede  more.  Rapacity 
only  claims  more  than  the  bond.  Servile  cowardice  alone  consents  to 
more. 

If  an  unjust  and  rapacious  conqueror  subdues  a  nation,  and  forces  her  to  accept  of 
hard,  ignominious,  and  insupportable  conditions,  necessity  obliges  her  to  submit ;  but 
this  apparent  tranquillity  is  not  a  peace  ;  it  is  an  oppression  which  she  endures  only  so 
long  as  she  wants  the  means  of  shaking  it  off,  and  against  which  men  of  spirit  rise  on  the 
tirst  favorable  opportunity.  .  .  .  Will  any  man  pretend  that  a  people  so  oppressed 
would  not  be  justifiable  in  seizing  a  convenient  opportunity  to  recover  their  rights,  to 
emancipate  themselves,  and  to  expel  or  exterminate  the  horde  of  greedy,  insolent,  and 
cruel  usurpers  ?  No  !  such  a  monstrous  absurdity  can  never  be  seriously  maintained. 
Besides,  were  you  to  preach  up  the  contrary  doctrine,  which  is  so  repugnant  to  all  the 
feelings  and  suggestions  of  nature,  where  could  you  expect  to  make  proselytes  ? —  Vattel. 

Must  the  answer  to  the  question  of  this  noble  writer — who  lived  in  a 
former  generation  and  in  the  midst  of  European  despotism — be,  that  prose 
lytes  to  a  doctrine  so  repugnant  to  the  feelings  of  nature  are  found  here  in 
free  America — in  proud  Southern  America.  Yea,  more  ;  that  here,  in 
Georgia,  men  claiming  to  be  leaders,  favorite  advisers  of  the  people,  long 
trusted  by  the  people,  are  to  be  found  teaching  the  people  that  they  are  not 
only  bound  to  submit  to  hard  and  ignominous  terms  which  they  have  ac 
cepted,  but  they  are  bound  to  submit  and  ought  to  submit  to  such  terms 
when  they  have  not  accepted  them,  and  that  they  are  bound  to  submit  and 
ought  to  submit  to  whatever  the  will  of  a  conqueror  may  demand  after  they 
have  laid  down  their  arms  ?  Still  more,  not  only  submit,  but  consent  to 
accept  and  defend  and  justify  such  terms  of  the  conqueror  ! — terms  that 
abrogate  their  governments,  and  adopt  new  governments  made  by  their 
former  slaves,  to  please  and  suit  only  their  oppressors  ! 

I  wish  to  call  the  reader's  attention  to  one  rule  to  be  observed  in  ascer 
taining  the  terms  of  peace,  and  then  we  will  proceed  to  apply  the  rules  to 
ascertain  the  terms  of  peace  between  the  parties  to  our  late  civil  war,  and 
what  are  the  rights  of  the  conqueror  and  the  obligations  of  the  conquered. 
The  rule  is  this :  So  far  is  it  from  being  true  that  the  will  of  the  conqueror 
is  the  law  of  the  conquered,  that  all  points  of  doubt,  in  ascertaining  the 
terms  of  the  peace  as  fixed  before  the  surrender,  are  to  be  construed  against 
the  conqueror. 

In  case  of  doubt,  the  interpretation  goes  against  him  who  prescribed  the  terms ; 
for  as  it  was,  in  some  measure,  dictated  by  him,  it  was  his  own  fault  if  he  neglected  to 
express  himself  more  clearly,  and  by  extending  or  restricting  the  signification  of  the  ex 
pression  to  that  meaning  which  is  least  favorable  to  him,  we  either  do  him  no  injury,  or 
we  only  do  him  that  to  which  he  has  willfully  exposed  himself  ;  whereas,  by  adopting  a 
contrary  mode  of  interpretation,  we  would  incur  the  risk  of  converting  vague  or  ambig 
uous  terms  into  so  many  snares  to  entrap  the  weaker  party  in  the  contract,  who  has  been 
obliged  to  subscribe  to  what  the  stronger  had  dictated. —  Vattel. 

So  we  see,  in  all  Avars,  the  conqueror  must  not  only  make  known  his 
terms  before  his  adversary's  surrender  is  accepted,  and  "  while  his  men  and 


HIS  LIFE.   SPEECHES,   AND    WRITINGS.  747 

arms  are  remaining,"  but  he  must  make  known  his  terms  distinctly,  and  if 
he  fails  to  be  distinct,  the  injury  shall  result  alone  to  the  conqueror,  because 
a  contrary  rule  would  entrap  the  weaker  party.  What  would  become  of 
the  wrecked  party  if  the  conqueror  were  not  only  relieved  from  the  duty  of 
making  known  his  terms  beforehand,  but  were  allowed  to  prescribe  terms 
according  to  his  own  will  after  the  peace  was  declared  ?  The  very  thought 
is  horrible  to  all  honorable  minds,  whether  of  the  conqueror  or  the  con 
quered. 

Whether  the  late  war  was  a  rebellion,  a  civil  war,  or  a  foreign  war,  the 
terms  of  peace  are  not  doubtful.  They  were  prescribed  by  the  conqueror- 
the  United  States — most  solemnly  prescribed,  while  the  "arms  and  men" 
of  their  adversary  "  were  remaining."  They  induced  thousands  to  lay 
down  their  arms  in  advance  ;  even  to  desert  their  colors.  They  prevented 
the  independence  of  the  Confederate  States  by  giving  strength*  to  internal 
treachery,  and  now  to  insist  upon  other  terms,  having  no  law  but  the  will  of 
the  conqueror  as  expressed  by  a  fragmentary  conclave  of  Congressional 
members,  is  to  insist  upon  a  treachery  which  would  shame  the  tyrannical 
conqueror  of  the  unfortunate  Montezuma.  To  these  terms  of  peace  the 
reader's  attention  will  be  invited  in  the  next  note. 

NUMBER    SEVEX. 

The  late  civil  war  did  not  end  by  any  formal  treaty  of  peace.  The 
United  States,  though  recognizing,  by  all  the  departments  of  their  Federal 
Government,  the  Confederate  States  as  a  belligerent  party,  would  not  recog 
nize  the  right  of  making  a  treaty  by  their  enemy,  lest  a  sort  of  separation 
or  independence  should  be  implied. 

We  must,  therefore,  look  to  the  grounds  of  difference  which  brought  on 
the  conflict — to  the  declaration  by  the  United  States  of  the  purposes  of  the 
war  as  made  at  the  beginning  and  during  the  progress  of  the  war,  and  to 
the  conditions  or  stipulations  of  surrender,  for  the  terms  of  peace,  and  the 
consequent  rights  of  the  victor  and  the  obligations  of  the  vanquished.  For 
we  must  admit  that  the  doctrines  of  the  issue,  as  insisted  upon  by  the  United 
States,  and  the  purposes  and  demands  of  the  United  States  in  making  and  carry 
ing  on  the  war,  and  the  terms  of  surrender,  were  agreed  to  by  us  in  the  act 
of  surrender,  and,  therefore,  make  the  law  of  the  peace  for  both  parties, 
being  thus  demanded  by  one  party  and  conceded  by  the  other.* 

*  NOTE.— The  reader  will  observe  that  I  do  not  claim  the  doctrines  and  purposes  of 
the  Confederate  States  as  constituting  any  of  the  terms  of  the  pence.     These  were  all  de 
feated  in  the  fight,  and  were  abandoned  by  the  surrender.     The  official  declarations  and 
purposes  of  the  United  States,  as  avowed  before  the  surrender,  were  the  terms  to  whirl] 
the  Confederate  States  agreed  to  submit  by  the  surrender,  and  with  which  the 
States  are  bound  to  be  satisfied  ;  and  thus  they  form  the  law  of  peas*.     Yet,  a  G< 
one  boasting  of  tjie  honors  conferred  on  him  by  the  people,  in  a  late  speech  at  Milledge- 
ville.  tells  us  we  are  out  of  the  Union  according  to  our  own  position  ! 
rendered,  after  a  gallant  fight,  we  were,  upon  our  own  deelaration,  a  conquered 
State,  subject  to  the  will  of  the  conqueror  !"  as  though  that  very  surrender  did 
feat  our  declaration,  and  make  good  the  declaration  of  the  conqueror,  that  our 
was  void,  and  that  we  were  not  and  should  not  be  out  of  tlie  Union  as  a  1 
One  of  our  own  teachers,  who  tells  us  his  children  are  to  live  among  us,  making,  i 
same  breath   our  will  and  the  will  of  the  enemy  alike  «>/r  law.  if,  by  such  CM 
positions,  he  can  harm  us  in  both  cases!    Such  perfidy  is  surpassed  only  by  the 
that  Mr.  Davis  "  made  strong  efforts  to  get  a  perpetual  suspension  of  habea*  corpn 
by  the  littleness  which  quotes  the  conclusion  of  the  petition  for  habea*  corpui,  I 


748  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

The  Southern  States  insisted  : 

1.  That  the  Federal  Constitution  was  a  compact  to   which  the  States 
were    parties,  as    separate    and   independent   States  ;    and,   therefore  were 
parties,  with  the  right,  by  virtue  of  their  separate  sovereignty,  of  with 
drawal  from  the  compact  when,  in  the  judgment  of  the  State  withdrawing, 
her  interest  or  safety  required  withdrawal. 

2.  That  the  administration  of  the  common  government  by  a  sectional 
party — sectional  because  organized  on  principles  of  avowed  hostility  to  a 
right  of  property  held  by  the  citizens  of  the  Southern  States  ami  recognized 
in  the  Constitution — would  endanger  the  interest  and  safety  of  such  State, 
and,  therefore,  justified  the  exercise  of  the  right  claimed  to  withdraw. 

Many  in  the  South  believed  this  right  to  withdraw  would  be  conceded 
by  the  party  then  coming  into  power  in  the  United  States,  and  that,  there 
fore,  the  secession  would  be  peaceable.  They  Avere  encouraged  to  believe 
tins,  because  this  doctrine,  though  now  and  for  years  advocated  at  the 
South,  did  really  originate  in  New  England,  and  first  came  as  a  threat  from 
that  quarter  of  the  Union  ;  because,  also,  many  of  the  prominent  organs  and 
leaders  of  the  new  party  did  concede  the  right,  and  some  declared  if  the 
Southern  States  chose  to  exercise  it,  they  should  do  so  in  peace. 

But  this  impression  proved  to  be  a  very  fatal  mistake  ;  and  it  is  very 
certain  that  the  United  States,  and  every  department  of  their  government, 
in  the  beginning  and  throughout  the  duration  of  the  struggle,  and  until 
after  the  final  surrender,  did  deny,  in  every  official  form,  both  the  right  of 
withdrawal,  the  validity  of  the  attempt  to  withdraw,  as  well  as  the  suffi 
ciency  of  the  case  made  to  justify  the  attempt. 

Thus  the  right  of  a  State  to  withdraw  from  the  Union  became  the  great, 
leading  question  of  difference  between  the  parties  to  the  conflict,  as  made  by 
all  the  official  records,  and  was  the  main  question  to  be  decided  by  the  con 
flict.  The  South  insisted  the  Union  was  dissolved  ;  the  North  denied  it  ; 
they  joined  in  battle  to  decide  the  question.  Now  let  us  see  the  official 
proof  that  this  was  the  original  issue. 

In  Mr.  Lincoln's  first  Inaugural  Address  we  find  the  following  language  : 

It  follows,  from  these  views,  that  no  State,  upon  its  own  mere  motion,  can  lawfully 
get  out  of  the  Union  ;  that  resolves  and  ordinances  to  that  effect  are  legally  void.  .  .  . 
1,  therefore,  consider  that,  in  view  of  the  Constitution  and  laws,  the  Union  is  unbroken, 
and,  to  the  extent  of  my  ability,  I  shall  take  care,  as  the  Constitution  itself  expressly  en 
joins  upon  me,  that  the  laws  of  the  Union  shall  be  faithfully  executed  in  all  the  States. 

formal  conclusion  of  all  such  papers,  as  evidence  of  humiliation  or  inconsistency  on  the 
part  of  Mr.  Davis  !  And  yet  he  exclaims,  as  if  his  motive  was  suspected  and  needed  vin 
dication,  "  What  interest,  then,  can  I  have  in  misleading  you  ?" 

A  great  writer  gives  us  an  account  of  a  very  similar  speech  which  was  made  long  ago, 
by  one  who  had  been  "  often  honored  ";  and  after  quoting  the  speech,  adds  this  comment : 

"  So  spake  the  false  dissembler  unperceived  ; 
For  neither  Man  nor  Angel  can  discern 
Hypocrisy,  the  only  evil  that  walks 
Invisible,  except  to  God  alone." 

But  that  speaker  himself  afterward,  in  a  soliloquy,  gave  the  explanation  of  all  his  at 
tempts  at  deception.  He  said  : 

"But  what  will  not  ambition  and  revenge 
Descend  to  ?    Who  aspires  must  down  as  low 
As  high  he  soar'd  ;  obnoxious,  first  or  last, 
To  basest  things." 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AXD   WHITINGS.  749 


TT  Q          thi"-*  are  P^y.  ™**^  ty  the  Executive  power  of  the 

United   States  :   1.    That  the  Union   is  not  and  cannot  be  broken  by  the 
separate  States  ;  and  2.  That  this  doctrine  shall  be  maintained. 

In  July,  1861,  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  with  almost  entire  una- 
Dimity,  resolved  : 

"  That  this  war  is  not  waged,  on  our  part,  in  any  spirit  of  oppression,  nor 
for  any  purpose  of  conquest  or  subjugation,  nor  purpose  of  overthrowing  or 
interfering  with  the  rights  or  established  institutions  of  the  States,  but  to 
defend  and  maintain  the  supremacy  of  the  Union,  and  to  preserve  the  Union 
with  all  the  dignity,  equality,  and  rights  of  the  several  States  unimpaired  ' 
and,  as  soon  as  these  objects  are  accomplished,  the  war  ought  to  cease." 

Now,  let  us  analyze  this  resolution,  and  we  find  that  it  asserts  three  very 
distinct  propositions  : 

1.  It  declares  what  is  not  the  purpose  of  the  war  :  It  is  not  "in  a  spirit 
of  oppression,"  nor  for  any  purpose  of  conquest  or  subjugation. 

2.  It  declares  what  is  the  purpose  of  the  war  :  "To  defend  and  maintain 
the  Constitution,  and  to  preserve  the  Union,  with  all  the  dignity,  equality 
and  rights  of  the  several  States  unimpaired" 

3.  It  declares  when  the  war  shall  cease  :  "As  soon  as  these  objects  are 
accomplished,  the  war  ought  to  cease  "  :  that  is,  as  soon  as  the  Constitution 
is  maintained  and  the  Union  preserved  with  the  dignity,  equality,  and  rights 
of  the  States  unimpaired,  the  war  ought  to  cease. 

Ten  days  afterward  the  Congress  again  declared,  on  motion  of  a  New 
England  Radical,  their  "fixed  determination  to  maintain  the  supremacy  of 
the  Government,  and  the  integrity  of  the  Union  of  all  these  United  States." 
And,  with  the  single  exception  of  Mr.  Breckenridge,  this  resolution  was 
unanimous  in  the  Senate. 

Quotations  of  like  character  could  be  multiplied  until  there  should  be  no 
end  of  the  books  that  should  be  written  ;  but  these  which  I  have  made  are 
so  clear,  so  explicit,  so  official,  and  make  the  single  purpose  of  the  war  on 
the  part  of  the  United  States  so  distinct,  that  I  could  not  make  it  more  ex 
plicit  by  a  thousand  additional  proofs.  That  single  purpose,  at  that  time, 
was  to  defeat  the  validity  of  secession,  and  preserve  the  Union  of  all  the 
States. 

Now,  I  have  conceded,  and  here  repeat,  that  either  party,  during  the 
struggle,  may  increase  his  demands  or  enlarge  his  purposes  in  waging  the 
war;  and  these  additional  demands  or  purposes  being  proclaimed  and  made 
known  to  the  other  party  before  the  surrender,  while  "  his  men  and  arms  re 
main,"  may  be  claimed  as  among  the  results  decided  by  the  war,  and  as  mak 
ing  part  of  the  terms  of  peace.  Such  demands,  it  is  true,  must  be  reasonable, 
and  such  purposes  must  be  within  the  laws  of  war.  For  instance,  either 
party,  within  the  time  prescribed,  may  demand  the  removal  of  the  cause  of 
the  war,  so  that  it  may  not  produce  a  renewal  of  the  conflict  ;  or,  in  case  of 
an  unjust  war,  or  of  unnecessary  or  unreasonable  prolongation  of  the  struggle 
may  demand  the  expenses  of  the  war  ;  or,  in  case  of  rebellion,  may  insist  on 
excepting  from  the  amnesty  the  authors  of  the  disturbance  to  be  brought  to 
legal  trial  ;  or,  if  a  cruel  and  barbarous  nation  were  to  give  distinct  notice 
to  rebels  that  they  must  expect  no  quarter—  that  they  must  consider,  incase 
of  surrender,  that  their  lives  or  property  or  both  are  forfeited  ;  the  world 
might  be  shocked  and  humanity  made  ashamed,  but  the  rebels  ought  not  to 
complain,  for  in  that  case  they  are  notified  they  must  submit  to  the  declared 
will  of  the  conqueror,  and  ought  to  fight  to  extermination.  But,  as  such  de- 


v50  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

mands  are  unusually  cruel,  they  ought  to  be  made  known  before  the  surren 
der,  with  unusual  distinctness,  lest  the  weaker  party,  relying  on  the  law  of 
nature  and  humanity,  to  save  something  by  not  fighting  to  extermination, 
should  be  entrapped  into  a  surrender  which  accomplishes  what  they  in 
tended  by  surrendering  to  escape. 

I  repeat,  the  only  demand  made  by  the  United  States  in  the  beginning 
was  that  the  people  of  the  Confederate  States  should  "  lay  down  their  arms, 
retire  to  their  homes,  and  obey  the  laws,"  because  thereby  the  United  States 
sought  to  accomplish  the  only  purpose  of  the  war,  to  wit :  the  defeat  of 
secession  and  the  preservation  of  the  Union. 

The  question  is,  did  the  United  States,  during  the  war  and  before  the 
surrender,  make  other  demands  or  avow  additional  purposes  and  make  them 
known  to  the  Confederates  ? 

I  have  been  unable  to  find  any  other,  and  believe  no  other  man  is  able  to 
find  any  other,  legitimate  or  official  demands  or  purposes. 

I  tind  many  individual  threats,  and  I  find  also  acts  of  confiscation,  sus 
pension  of  habeas  corpus,  and  such  like  acts  ;  but  then  they  are  declared  to 
be,  what  indeed  their  very  nature  makes  them,  war  measures — to  end  with 
the  war,  and  to  make  no  part  of  the  terms  or  law  of  peace.  They  were 
adopted  as  means  to  accomplish  the  one  great  original  purpose — to  force  us 
to  lay  down  our  arms,  and  thus  preserve  the  Union.  Mr.  Lincoln  did 
promise  a  liberal  exercise  of  the  pardoning  power,  from  which  it  may  be 
claimed  to  imply  that  he  would  except  some  from  the  amnesty,  but  he  could 
only  except  them  for  a  legal  trial,  and  I  suppose  even  Mr.  Lincoln  did  not 
doubt  the  result  of  a  fair  legal  trial,  unless  of  some  one  who  made  war  on 
the  United  States  before  the  secession  of  his  State.  For  though  the  result 
of  the  war  did  decide  that  secession  was  void,  yet,  as  intent  is  the  essence  of 
crime,  it  did  not  and  could  not  decide  that  one  who  honestly  believed  that 
secession  was  legal,  was  bound  to  know  it  was  void  before  the  decision 
made  it  so.  And  though  the  result  establishes  that  secession  is  and  icas.  and 

O 

must  remain  void,  yet  he  who  honestly  believed,  at  the  time,  that  secession 
was  either  a  constitutional  or  revolutionary  right,  or  that  his  allegiance  was 
due  to  his  State  when  secession  was  asserted,  or  who  believed  the  coercion 
of  a  State  was  a  crime,  could  not  become  a  criminal  by  acting  on  his  honest 
belief.  But  if  a  man,  before  the  secession  of  his  State,  made  war  on  the 
United  States  by  seizing  her  forts  or  otherwise  ;  or  if,  while  holding  an  of 
fice  under  an  oath  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  he  used 
the  functions  of  that  very  office,  by  overt  acts,  to  destroy  the  Union,  such  a 
man  was  a  traitor,  and  might,  with  some  show  of  reason,  have  been  excepted 
from  the  amnesty  and  reserved  for  trial.  I  think,  however,  true  wisdom  and 
a  peaceful  future  required  entire  amnesty  for  the  past,  and  careful  abstinence 
from  all  oppressive  acts  in  all  the  future. 

During  the  war,  Mr.  Lincoln,  as  President  of  the  United  States,  issued 
his  proclamation,  emancipating  slaves  in  certain  States  and  parts  of  States. 
But  this,  itself,  was  declared  to  be  a  war  measure  only.  Afterward  the 
Congress  had  proposed  to  the  States  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution, 
abolishing  slavery  everywhere.  But  the  States  had  not  ratified  it.  It  was, 
therefore,  only  a  proposition  undetermined  at  the  time  of  the  surrender. 
After  the  surrender  the  slave  States  accepted  and  ratified  this  proposed 
amendment,  and  thus,  by  the  act  of  the  slave  States  after  the  surrender,  this 
amendment  became  a  portion  of  the  Constitution.  Therefore,  the  abolition 
Of  slavery  mav,  in  fact,  though  not  in  legal  stqctn.ess,  be  coimtecl  as  on^  of 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  751 

the  things  decided  by  the  war,  and  as  being  part  of  the  law  of  peace.  It  is 
a  noticeable  fact,  also,  that  although  Mr.  Lincoln  included  the  acceptance  of 
emancipation  as  part  of  the  terms  at  the  conference  in  Hampton  Roads,  yet 
neither  he  nor  Gen.  Grant,  nor  any  other  power,  alluded  to  this  as  part  of 
the  terms  during  the  negotiations  for,  nor  at  the  time  of  the  acceptance  of, 
the  surrender.  The  only  conditions  of  the  surrender  were  to  submit  to  the 
laws,  and  not  take  up  arms  again  against  the  United  States. 

What,  then,  did  the  war  decide,  and  what,  by  that  decision,  is  the  law  of 
peace?  Here  it  is,  and  here  is  all: 

Secession  is  void  ;  the  Constitution  is  maintained  ;  the  Union  is  preserved 
with  all  the  dignity,  equality,  and  rights  of  the  several  States  unimpaired, 
with  the  single  exception  of  the  abolition  of  slavery  through  the  consent  of 
the  original  slave  States. 

And  when  our  people,  after  the  surrender,  took  an  oath  to  support  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  and  the  union  of  the  States  thereunder,  they 
swore  to  support  the  above  decision,  and  nothing  more. 

The  meeting  of  the  Conventions  in  these  States,  to  conform  their  Con 
stitutions  and  laws  to  the  change  brought  by  the  abolition  of  slavery,  was 
proper,  and  a  result  of  the  agreement  to  emancipate.  The  appointment  of 
provisional  civil  officers  by  the  President  to  enable  these  conventions  to  be 
called  and  to  act,  was  proper  machinery  to  accomplish  the  end.  Further 
than  this,  no  reconstruction  was  ever  needed,  or  was  legal  or  proper.  But 
for  the  abolition  of  slavery  the  States  would  have  been  restored  to  their  old 
Constitutions  and  government,  as  they  existed  at  the  time  of  secession. 

Every  proposition  in  these  Military  Bills  has  been  originated  since  the 
war  ;  not  one  of  them  was  demanded  during  the  war,  or  was  made  a  condi 
tion  of  the  surrender.  There  is  not  a  respectable  publicist  or  law-writer, 
ancient  or  modern,  heathen  or  Christian,  which  can  be  quoted  to  sustain 
them. 

By  every  such  author  the  attempt  to  prescribe  new  terms  after  the  sur 
render  is  infamous — is  a  breach  of  the  peace — is  anew  declaration  of  war,  and 
is  a  most  perfidious  abandonment  of  the  most  sacred  of  national  obligations 
in  the  face  of  mankind. 

Nay,  more  :  these  Military  Bills  are  disunion  bills.     Those  who  propose 
them  are  disunionists  ;  those  who  advocate  them  are  disunionists  ;  those  who 
consent  to  or  accept  them  are  disunionists.     And  they  are  disunionists,  too, 
not  like  the  secessionists,  on  a  principle — asserting  a  simply  doubtful  right ; 
but  they  are  disunionists  in  the  teeth  of  the  very  decision  of  the  war  itself, 
and  disunionists  who  do  not  seek  to  accomplish  their  ends  in  an  open,  manly 
way,  but  who  destroy  the  Union  under  pretense   of   preserving   it 
trample  on  the  Constitution  under  oath  to  support  it  ;  who  continue  t 
war  after  resistance  has  ceased  ;  who  fight  an  unarmed  people,  and  re 
own  impoverished  victims. 


NUMBER    EIGHT. 


Even,  then,  if  we  are  really  a  conquered  people,  I  have  shown  that  by 
the  well-established  rules  of  the  laws  of  war  and  of  nations,  we 
"  subject  to  the  will  of  the  conqueror,"  except  as  that  will 
before  the  surrender,  and,  therefore,  agreed  to  by  the  surrender, 
shown  that  any  terms  prescribed  after  the  war  is  over,  and  alter  a  su 
is  accepted,  are  not  only  not  binding  on  the  conquered,  but 


752  SENATOR  B.   R.   HILL,    OF  GEOlt&TA. 

the  conqueror,  and  amount  to  a  new  declaration  of  war  against  those  who 
were  entrapped  into  laying  down  their  arras,  and  who  are,  therefore,  for  the 
time  being,  helpless.  And  whether  the  Congress  or  the  Executive,  or  both, 
as  is  variously  claimed,  or  whether  the  President  and  the  Senate  (as  is  the 
truth),  be  the  peace-making  power  of  the  United  States,  I  have  shown  from 
the  official  records  of  each  and  all,  that  the  only  conditions  demanded  of  the 
Southern  people,  in  laying  down  their  arms,  were  the  preservation  of  the 
Union  under  the  Constitution,  with  the  single  change  of  the  abolition  of 
slavery,  which  single  change  was  very  doubtfully  and  imperfectly  demanded, 
but  was  very  promptly  and  cheerfully  yielded. 

No  principles  than  those  I  have  announced,  are  better  settled,  or  more  in 
consonance  with  natural  reason  and  public  justice ;  no  terms  were  evermore 
distinctly  declared  as  the  purpose  of  waging  the  war,  or  more  sacredly  prom 
ised  as  the  conditions  of  the  peace  ;  and  no  surrendering  people  ever  did 
more  promptly,  more  absolutely,  more  submissively,  or  with  one-tenth  the 
sacrifice  of  property  and  hope  and  pride  and  feeling,  comply  with  all  the 
terms  demanded  on  their  part,  than  did  the  Southern  States  and  people. 
They  laid  down  their  arms  ;  they  gave  up  the  great  principle  of  govern 
ment  which  their  fathers  taught  them  never  to  yield,  and  to  maintain  which 
they  had  fought  so  long  and  endured  so  much  ;  though  already  impover 
ished  they  gave  up  four  billions  more  of  property — the  descended  patrimony 
of  centuries  ;  they  struck  the  fetters  from  their  slaves  by  their  own  con 
sent,  and,  with  words  of  encouragement  and  hope,  gave  the  freed  slaves, 
by  their  own  laws,  absolute  civil  equality  with  their  former  owners ;  they 
abided,  without  complaint  or  claim  for  damages,  the  burning  of  their  cities, 
the  devastation  of  their  homes,  the  destruction  of  the  food  for  their  wo 
men  and  children,  and  a  thousand  other  acts  of  war  which  no  civilized  code 
will  justify,  and  no  civilized  precedent  will  mitigate  ;  they  changed  their 
organic  laws  and  redigested  their  municipal  codes  to  conform  them  to  the 
new  order  of  things.  They  repudiated  the  obligations  and  contracts  they 
had  assumed  to  their  own  people  and  to  mankind  to  secure  help  in  what 
they  had  deemed  a  struggle  for  liberty  and  life.  They  hazarded  a  social 
revolution  and  a  paralysis  of  every  form  of  labor,  which  might  well  have 
awed  the  most  thrifty  people  and  the  most  firmly  established  society.  All 
these  things  they  did  and  suffered  to  show  good  faith  in  fulfilling  the  obli 
gations  of  their  surrender,  to  maintain  the  Constitution  and  preserve  the 
Union  ! 

Yet  two  long  years  have  elapsed,  and  they  have  not  been  permitted  to 
enjoy  a  single  privilege,  nor  suffered  to  escape  a  single  burden  of  that 
Union  !  Nay,  while  waiting  to  receive  what  was  so  earnestly,  so  sacredly 
promised — their  recognition  as  continuing  equals  in  the  Union — they  have 
seen  swarms  of  agents  of  the  United  States  permeating  every  neighborhood 
of  their  land,  and  stealing,  in  the  name  and  by  the  permits  of  the  Govern 
ment,  and  carrying  away  their  cotton  arid  other  remaining  means  with  which 
they  had  hoped  to  begin  the  recuperation  of  their  condition  ;  and  they  see 
continued  among  them  a  hybrid  institution,  born  in  war  and  unknown  to 
the  Constitution,  with  a  crowd  of  officers  to  execute  its  functions,  many  of 
whom  make  companions  of  their  former  slaves  to  foment  hatred  to  the 
Southern  whites,  and  some  of  whom  find  mistresses  among  their  former 
slaves  and  use  their  offices  to  levy  blackmail  on  all  classes  for  their  sup 
port.  And  all  these  things,  and  more,  our  people  bear,  and  speak  about 
only  in  whispers,  lest  by  resisting  and  resenting  the  outrages  of  even  rob- 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  753 

bers  and  vagabonds,  they  furnish  to  those  robbers  and  vagabonds  the  pre 
tense  for  the  charge  of  a  lingering  spirit  of  rebellion  against  the  Govern 
ment  ! 

And  now  we  are  told,  by  these  Military  Bills,  that  the  very  Constitutions 
and  governments  we  so  promptly  and  so  submissively  framed  and  organized 
in  order  to  fulfill  all  the  possible  obligations  of  our  surrender,  must  be  abro 
gated  and  annulled  ;  that  new  Constitutions  must  be  framed  and  ne\v  gov 
ernments  must  be  organized,  in  which  our  former  slaves  are  all  to  partici 
pate,  and  from  which  every  intelligent  and  virtuous  man  whom  our  people 
have  deemed  worthy  of  trust  and  confidence  at  any  time  during  his  whole 
life,  shall  be  forever  excluded.  To  this  new  government  the  negro  race  is 
to  consent  for  the  white  race,  and  by  it  the  emigrant  robber  and  vagabond, 
with  their  bribed  Southern  coadjutor,  are  to  rule  both  races.  And  until 
this  oppression  shall  be  fixed  upon  us,  and  made  part  of  the  irremediable 
law  of  the  land,  and  shall  receive  the  approval  of  the  authors  of  these  bills, 
who  are  never  to  be  subject  to  the  government  they  thus  dictate,  our  peo 
ple  are  to  live  under  military  surveillance,  subject  to  charge  without  crime  ; 
to  arrest  without  warrant ;  to  warrant  without  oath  ;  to  trial  without  jury  ; 
to  imprisonment  without  remedy  for  release  ;  to  robbery  without  appeal  for 
redress,  and  to  death  without  any  process  of  law. 

Even  this  bitter  cup  of  hellish  ingredients  might  be  drank,  but  for  the 
nausea  which  makes  us  vomit  when  we  see  it  commended  to  us — urged  upon 
us  by  some  who  were  born  among  us — who  have  been  often  trusted  and 
honored  by  us  ;  nay,  by  those  who  hurried  us  into  secession  to  get  our 
rights,  to  save  our  honor,  and  "  ta  avoid  equality  with  the  negro";  wh<> 
assured  us  secession  would  be  peaceable,  and  who,  after  secession,  did  all 
they  could  to  provoke  a  war  ;  who  pledged  us  the  "  last  man  and  the  last 
dollar  "  if  the  war  should  come,  and  who  employed  their  talents  in  discourag 
ing  the  men,  in  quarreling  with  ourselves  and  im  making  money  when  the 
war  did  come  ;  who  bravely  promised  us  that  no  enemy  should  invade  our 
soil  without  "  marching  over  their  dead  bodies,"  but  who,  when  the  enemy 
came,  only  betrayed  us  to  subjugation  ;  who  now  inform  us  of  their  con 
fidential  receptions  into  the  counsels  of  our  oppressors,  and  can  bring  from 
those  counsels  only  the  assurance  that  unless  we  drink  this  cup,  one  more 
bitter  shall  be  provided.  And,  as  evidence  of  fidelity,  wisdom,  and  kind 
ness,  in  all  this,  they  are  willing  to  submit  to  their  own  disfranchisement, 
and,  therefore,  can  have  no  possible  motive  but  our  good! 

The  Constitution  is  violated  ;  the  laws  of  nations  are  defied  ;  the  pledged 
faith  of  the  nation  is  mocked  ;  an  unresisting  people  are  warred  on  ;  a  < 
armed  people  are  insulted  ;  an  impoverished  people  are  oppressed 
ing  people  are  betrayed  ;  the  Union  is  rent  wider  and  wider,  and  ever  wid< 
asunder,  and  all,  all  by  those  who  load  the  weary  air  with  constant 
proclaims  that  they  alone  are  loyal,  or  wise,  or  true  ! 

Alas  !  our  country  sinks  beneath  the  yoke  ; 
It  weeps,  it  bleeds  :  and  each  new  day  a  gash 
Is  added  to  her  wounds. 

NUMBER   NINE. 

The  time  has  not  come  to  write  Confederate  history.     Passions  control 
men.     Falsehood  and  slander  are  more  acceptable  than  truth  to  the 
revenge.     Truth  would  shame  revenge,  but  falsehood  grati 


754  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

the  most  important  Confederate  archives,  containing  the  reason,  the  phil 
osophy,  the  explanations  of  Confederate  actions  and  history  and  motives, 
are  not  accessible.  It  may  be  proper  to  add,  I  do  not  know  where  they  are. 
They  have  not  come  to  light,  and  it  were  well  for  some,  who  seem  to  be  in 
high  favor  witli  themselves  and  the  deluded  people,  if  they  never  do  come 
to  light.  I  arn  no  Sadducee,  and,  however  the  wicked  flourish  now,  I  have 
firm  faith  in  the  resurrection  of  the  just. 

But  many  will  write.  Confederate  histories,  biographies,  memoirs,  recol 
lections,  etc.,  etc.,  etc.,  are  getting  to  be  plenty  as  blackberries  in  June,  but 
not  so  valuable.  I  have  tried  to  keep  up  with  these  premature  births,  but 
find  it  difficult.  I  have  seen  enough  to  know  that  nearly  all  of  these  books 
are  written  either  by,  or  under  the  immediate  supervision  of,  those  who  were 
chiefly  intent  during  the  struggle  in  making  war  on  the  Confederate  adminis 
tration.  They  were,  therefore,  excluded,  or  excluded  themselves,  from  the 
Confederate  councils,  and  really  know  less  than  most  people  ;  and  the  little 
they  do  know,  or  think  they  know,  they  received  through  a  very  jaundiced 
medium,  which  gave  it  very  horrid  colors.  Some  of  them  seem,  at  last,  to 
be  discovering,  what  unselfish  patriots  always  knew,  that,  in  making  war 
upon,  and  in  breaking  down  the  people's  confidence  in  the  Confederate 
administration,  so  unjustly  and  so  falsely  too,  they  made  war  upon  and 
broke  down  the  Confederate  cause.  They  fear  the  world  will  find  this  out. 

«/ 

Conscience  being  thus  troubled  and  reputation  in  danger,  they  become  rest 
less  and  cannot  wait.  They  rush  forward,  like  most  criminals,  to  justify 
before  they  are  formally  accused.  Others  write  to  get  pay,  and  say  any 
thing  to  fill  a  book.  Hence,  these  works  are  generally  self -vindications,  or 
self-eulogies,  or  miserable  libels  and  perversions,  and  are  not  only  unworthy 
of  credit,  but  should  he  held  as  insults  to  an  unfortunate  but  gallant  people. 
General  Early's  book  is  an  exception.  He  writes  of  what  he  saw  and  did, 
ancl  writes  like  a  patriot.  His  work  will  be  valuable  to  the  historian,  here 
after.  There  may  be  a  few  other  exceptions,  but  I  do  not  now  think  of 
them.  Some  others  of  like  character  are  said  to  be  preparing,  which  I  hope 
will  appear. 

But  the  fiercest  storms  exhaust  themselves,  and  so  will  even  this  storm  of 
the  American  passions.  Revenge  cannot  always  rule.  The  full  truth  will 
appear  and  impartial  history  will  be  written.  In  that  day,  I  venture  now 
to  say,  no  fact  will  be  brought  out  more  clearly  than  this  :  .The  Confeder 
ates  were  not  conquered  by  either  the  skill,  or  the  power,  or  the  numbers  of 
their  armed  enemies.  The  Confederacy  was  crushed  by  ideas,  and  not  by 
bayonets.  And  the  ideas  were  very  few — indeed,  may  all  be  embraced  in 
two  ;  and  neither  had  the  slightest  foundation  in  truth.  They  were  born 
of  treacheiy  and  disappointment,  and  nurtured  by  those  worse  than  Gor 
gon  whelps — ambition,  selfishness,  and  revenge. 

Here  are  the  ideas  : 

1.  That  the  Confederate  Government  had  become,  or  would  become,  a 
permanent  military  despotism. 

2.  That  our  people  had  but  to  lay  down  their  arms,  and  they  would  be 
restored,  at  once,  to  all  their  rights  in  the  Union. 

There  were  several  considerations  which  made  our  people  peculiarly 
liable  to  be  entrapped  into  believing  these  ideas.  In  the  first  place,  the 
masses  of  the  Southern  people  really  loved  the  Union  according  to  the  Con 
stitution.  In  truth,  they  were  the  most  faithful  and  devoted  friends  that 
Union  ever  had,  or,  I  fear,  ever  will  have  again.  It  required  many  years  of 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  755 

slander  and  intermeddling  and  threatened  aggressions  and  bad  faith  on  the 


T-_. •  ••••••   •  1 1 i.i 1 1  >    i  it* •  \*  < 1 1< i 

consent  to  leave  the  Union,  the  great  actuating  motive  in  going  was  to  save 
the  guarantees  and  principles  of  the  Constitution,  which  they  were  per 
suaded  could  not  be  preserved  by  remaining  in  the  Union.  And  they  were 
assured  by  the  extremists,  North  and  South,  they  could  go  peaceably. 

Again  :  while  many  of  our  intelligent  men  and  counselors  were  actuated 
with  sincere  convictions,  and  did  honestly  believe  a  division  must  come 
sooner  or  later,  and  that  the  sooner  it  came  the  better  for  all  sides;  vet, 
there  were  others  who  had  far  other  motives.  These  last  did  not  act 'from 
convictions,  but  from  desires.  Therefore,  they  were  very  noisy  and  clam 
orous.  They  abused  everything  in  the  North,  and  denounced  as  traitors 
and  submissionists  and  cowards  those  of  our  own  people  who  did  not  believe 
the  Union  ought  to  be  dissolved  for  existing  causes,  or  could  be  dissolved 
at  all  peaceably.  As  light  things  rise  when  the  air  is  stirred,  so  in  the  ex 
citement  of  passions  these  men  became  favorites.  They  expected  to  be  the 
founders  of  a  new  government,  and  go  down  to  posterity  as  the  Washingtons 
and  Jeffersons  of  a  republic. 

But  the  war  came,  and  that  portion  of  the  masses  who  were  most  anxious 
to  secede,  were  disappointed.  Secession  was  to  be  peaceable. 

So  the  high  offices  in  the  new  government  were  filled,  and  alas !  how 
many  of  the  noisy  and  self-sufficient  were  disappointed  ?  Republics  were 
ungrateful  and  the  people  strangely  thought  it  was  necessary  to  select  con 
siderate  men  to  make  Washingtons ! 

As  the  war  progressed,  hardships  increased.  These  hardships  caused  ' 
some  to  grow  unwilling,  and  the  Confederate  Government  was  driven,  as 
have  been  all  people  who  go  to  war,  to  employ  harsh  measures  to  make  the 
unwilling  do  their  duty.  These  harsh  measures  required  agents,  and 
agents,  as  agents  often  do,  became  exacting  and  oppressive.  These  harsh 
measures  were  seized  upon  by  the  disappointed  politicians,  and  used  as 
pretexts  to  make  the  people  believe  their  government  intended  to  establish 
a  military  despotism.  In  the  mean  time,  speculation  became  riotous ;  the 
example  being  set  by  some  in  high  places  ;  others,  also,  thought  it  no  harm 
to  use  their  "God  given  talents  to  make  money."  These  evils  multiplied 
the  necessities  for  harsh  measures  to  support  the  army,  and  the  harsh  meas 
ures  increased  the  noise  of  the  politicians  and  the  consequent  demoralization 
of  the  people. 

While  this  internal  treachery  was  doing  its  work,  the  United  States,  in 
every  form,  and  by  every  department  of  their  Government,  were 

•  *:  J  .       •  •      i    . 


to  till  them.     Emissaries  came  from  the  North  under  the  pretense  of  being 
driven  here  as  Southern  sympathizers,  and  joined  our  malcontents  to  < 
seminate  these   two  ideas.     Treachery  became  bold,  and  desertion  became 
respectable. 

In  this  way  the  masses  of  the  Southern  people  were  conquered,  and 
remnant  of  patriots  were  overpowered. 

The  actual  statistics  show  that  during  the  two  last  years  of  the  war,  1 


756  SENATOR  B.   H.    HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

every  one  of  our  soldiers  whom  the  external  armed  enemy  killed,  disabled, 
or  captured,  the  internal  unarmed  enemy  induced  three  to  desert.  And  this 
work  went  on,  too,  in  the  face  of  the  fact  that  General  Grant's  only  policy 
for  defeating  General  Lee  was  in  wearing  out  his  army ;  and  also  in  the 
face  of  the  fact  that  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  his  last  annual  message,  declared  the 
hope  of  suppressing  the  rebellion  consisted  in  the  abandonment,  by  the 
Southern  people,  of  their  President  or  Chief. 

Therefore,  I  affirm,  the  treachery  within  was  thrice  as  strong  as  the 
power  without  in  subduing  the  Confederates. 

Thus,  some  of  those  who  were  most  active  in  destroying  the  Union,  were 
also  most  active  in  destroying  the  Confederacy.  And  these  are  now  the 
favorites  in  the  South  with  the  Radicals  of  the  North.  They  are  received 
into  the  counsels  at  Washington  ;  and  they  are  cheek  by  jowl  with  Wilson 
and  Sumner  and  Stevens  in  their  efforts  to  destroy  the  Constitution.  Men, 
who  I  know  made  bitter  secession  speeches,  have  been  traveling  through  the 
North  proclaiming  their  sufferings  as  "  persecuted  loyalists  "  ;  and  seeking 
to  rouse  this  fragmentary  conclave  of  a  Congress  to  secure  measures  to  dis 
franchise  those  whom  they  denounced  as  traitors,  because  they  opposed 
secession,  in  order  that  they  may  get  the  offices  of  these  States  as  rewards 
for  their  "devotion  to  the  Union!'  And  the  poor,  deluded,  helpless 
Southern  people  are  thus  bespattered  with  their  own  tilth  ! 

These  facts  suggest  several  points  which  deserve  the  most  serious  con 
sideration  of  the  Northern  people. 

1.  The  first  is  that  they  are  under  the  most  solemn  obligation  possible 
to  recognize  these  States  as  existing  members  of  the  Union,  with  no  diminu 
tion  of  their  rights,  except  as  to  slavery.     This  was  the  avowed  purpose  of 
the  war.    This  was  the  promise  to  the  Northern  people  by  their  government 
to  encourage  them  to  fight ;  and  this  was  the  pledge  to  the  Southern  people 
to  induce  them  to  cease  fighting. 

2.  That  this  purpose  has  been  defeated  ;  this  promise  has  been  violated  ; 
this  pledge  has  been  broken  by  their  Radical  leaders,  with  the  clear  and 
unmistakable  intent  of  destroying  the  Constitution  ;  and  that  in  this  work 
they  are  now  joined  and  aided  by  the  most  vindictive,  the  most  active,  and 
the  most  unscrupulous  of  the  original  Southern  secessionists. 

3.  That  the  Southern  people  became  weak  in  prosecuting  the  war  only 
because  they  listened  to  this  pledge,  and  laid  down  their  arms  only  because 
they  believed  it.     That  though  this  generation  may  be  helpless  because 
they  were  entrapped,  the  next  will  refuse  to  believe  and  will  remain  strong — 
invincible.     That  these   deceptions  can  breed  nothing  but  distrust ;  that 
these  oppressions  can  produce  nothing  but  hate  ;  that  oppressed  and  op 
pressors  can  never  live  together  in  peace,  and  that  our  children  and  chil 
dren's  children  will  be  the  victims  of  this  Typhoean  union  of  the  Northern 
Radicals  and  the  Southern  Secessionists,  with  no  gain  to  either  section  but 
"  havoc  and  spoil  and  ruin." 

NUMBER   TEN. 

But  it  is  said  the  negro  race  is  now  free,  and  made  citizens  by  our  laws, 
and,  therefore,  are  entitled  to  political  as  well  as  civil  equality. 

It  is  idle  to  reason  with  a  fanatical  mind.  A  fanatic  is  a  lunatic.  The 
conclusions  of  such  are  never  founded  in  reason  nor  affected,  by  experience  ; 
they  are  founded  in  feeling  and  live  only  on  passion.  We  must  appeal,  and 
still  appeal,  and  not  cease  to  appeal  to  the  rational  American  mind,  and,  by 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  757 

reason,  and  the  experience  of  mankind,  save,  if  we  can,  our  country  from 
the  awful,  indescribable  horrors  which  must  result,  and  result  soon,  from  the 
crazy  domination  of  men  who  make  "  liberty  and  equality  "  the  touchstones 
of  political  wisdom.  This  mad  theory  is  nothing  but  war  upon  the  teachings 
of  reason,  the  experience  of  all  ages,  and  the  law  of  God.  It  was  never  the 
doctrine  of  any  but  the  agents  of  revolution,  and  it  never  bore  for  any 
people  any  fruits  but  anarchy  and  blood,  and  the  evils  that  follow  in  the 
train  of  unrestrained  passions. 

But  suppose,  as  an  abstract  proposition,  we  concede  that  the  negro  race 
is  entitled  to  political  equality;  how  does  that  justify  these  Military  Hills? 
Does  the  negro's  right  to  vote  authorize  a  violation  of  the  Constitution  by 
Congress  ?  If  it  is  right  to  enfranchise  the  negro,  is  it  right  to  disfranchise 
the  whites  ? 

No  principle  is  better  or  more  universally  conceded  in  American  politics 
than  that  the  people  of  the  States  alone  must  regulate  the  political  franchi^^ 
of  their  citizens — each  State  for  itself.  If  this  principle  is  to  be  rejected 
then  no  other  need  be  respected.  The  first  great  question  we  must  deter 
mine  is  this :  Do  we  mean  to  support  the  Constitution,  or  do  we  mean  to 
violate  it?  Do  we  mean,  when  we  swear  to  support  the  Constitution,  to 
vote  for  that  which  violates  the  Constitution  and  justify  our  perjury  by 
some  vagary  about  abstract  right?  I  press  the  question  to  every  man's 
conscience.  Have  you  obtained  your  consent  to  disregard  the  Constitution? 
Don't  dodge,  or  explain,  or  qualify ;  answer  the  question.  Have  you 
obtained  your  consent  to  disregard  the  Constitution?  Have  you  obtained 
your  consent  to  swear  to  support  the  Constitution,  and  then  flippantly  write 
or  say,  "  T/ie  Constitution  is  dead!'1  If  dead,  why  swear  to  support  it? 
If  not  to  be  regarded  or  respected  or  observed,  why  swear  to  support  it? 
The  Military  Bills  are  conceded  to  be  unconstitutional.  Whether  we  be 
States,  or  Territories,  or  Provinces,  Congress  is  forbidden  by  the  Constitu 
tion  to  deny  trial  by  jury,  or  to  authorize  a  warrant  without  oath,  or  put 
upon  trial  without  indictment,  or  suspend  habeas  corpus  except  during 
insurrection  or  invasion,  or  establish  military  rule  over  citizens  in  time  of 
peace,  anywhere — in  any,  single  foot  of  land— State,  Territory,  or  Province. 
These,  these,  oh,  my  deluded  countrymen  !  these  are  the  Constitutional  shield, 
and  buckler,  and  helmet,  and  breastplate  of  every  American  citizen  of  every 


of  the  State  or  Territory  in  which  he  dominates 

I  ask  again  and  again,  and  I  beseech  all  men  to  ask ;  it  is  the  earnest, 
anxious,  piercing  appeal  of  the  dying  hope  of  liberty :  Are  you  wtikng  to 
violate  the  Constitution?     Are  you  willing  to  swear  to  support  it,  with  \ 
intent,  at  the  time  of  swearing,  to  violate  it?     Then,  I  proclaim-         pos 
terity  will   proclaim— your  hell-mortgaged  conscience  will   never  cease 
proclaim  :  you  are  perjured,  and  perjury  is  not  half  your  crime- 
perjury  in  order  to  become  a  traitor! 

And  now  mark  this  :  The  very  oath  which  you  take  to  regisi        ?qu 
you  to  swear  to  support  the  Constitution,  and  if  you  take  that  oath  am 
vote  for  a  convention  to  carry  out  these  Military  Bills,  or  aid  in  carryi 
them  out,  you  vote  to  accept,  to  approve,  to  establish  that  which 
tion  of  the  Constitution,  and  just  so  sure  as  passion  shall  subside,  and  rea 
return  to  our  people,  and  sober,  oath-observing  patriotism 


758  SENATOR  B.   11.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

in  the  land,  so  sure'  will  you  be  branded,  and  justly  branded  as  a  felon,  and 
whipped  throughout  the  land  with  the  stinging,  ceaseless  lashes  of  public 
infamy,  because  you  took  an  oath  to  support  the  Constitution,  with  intent 
to  violate  it ;  because  you  committed  perjury  in  order  that  you  might  help 
to  destroy  your  country.  And  in  vain  will  you  hunt  excuses  to  palliate 
your  changeless  infamy.  The  malignity  which  now  makes  you  call  patriots 
rebels  ;  the  cowardice  which  continues  a  war  upon  the  unresisting  whom  you 
induced,  with  the  most  sacred  pledges,  to  lay  down  their  arms  ;  the  mean 
ness  which  devises  oppression  for  the  helpless ;  the  vileness  which  presses 
dishonor  on  those  you  have  entrapped  into  your  power ;  the  worse  than 
hypocritical  statesmanship  which  disfranchises  white  men  in  order  to  en 
franchise  black  men  ;  the  criminal  philanthropy  which  provides  for  the  sure 
destruction  of  the  deluded  negro  race  under  pretense  of  elevating  it — all 
these  will  only  rise  up  to  mock  and  laugh  at  you  then.  Like  the  hell-hounds 
which  "death,  by  rape  begot  of  sin,"  when  Heaven's  Almighty  hurled  down 
to  hell  those  who,  by  deceit  and  force,  sought  to  destroy  His  supremac}r, 
these  very  pretenses  which  hate  begets  of  hypocrisy,  in  this  attempt  to 
destroy  the  Constitution,  will  become  "yelling  monsters"  in  the  political 
hell  into  which  the  genius  of  Constitutional  liberty  will  cast  you,  and  will 
"  kennel  in  the  womb  that  bred  them,"  and  "  howl  and  knaw,"  and  "  vex 
with  conscious  terrors  "  forever. 

I  know  how  fallen  is  human  nature  ;  I  know  how  nations  and  peoples 
have  often  become  the  mere  prey  of  bad,  ambitious  rulers  ;  I  know  the 
streams  of  blood  with  which  hypocrisy,  under  pretense  of  saintly  purpose, 
has  often  flooded  mankind  ;  I  know  how  countries  have  often  been  de 
stroyed,  that  a  few  wicked  men  might  continue  in  power.  But  can  it  be 
that  our  people  have  become  willing  to  violate  our  Constitution  for  our  own 
dishonor  and  destruction  ?  Will  they  take  an  oath  to  get  a  chance  to  violate 
it,  in  order  that  they  may  degrade  the  white  race,  and  ultimately  destroy 
the  black  race  ? 

How  many  will  thus  violate  it  ?  How  many  will  stand  by  it,  LIVE  WITH 
IT,  or  DIE  FOR  IT  ?  That  is  the  next  count. 

NUMBER    ELEVEN. 

In  all  ages  governments  have  been  overturned  by  men  who  made  great 
professions  of  patriotism  and  good  intentions.  The  serpent  induced  Eve  to 
eat  the  forbidden  fruit  by  flattering  her,  and  declaring  his  counsel  would  do 
her  good.  He  greatly  desired,  he  protested,  to  improve  her  condition. 
From  that  day  to  this  traitors  have  been  unable  to  find  any  better  method 
of  accomplishing  their  purposes.  Ignorance  is  more  easily  duped  than  in 
telligence,  and,  therefore,  knaves  have  always  been  advocates  of  conferring 
power  on  fools  ;  and  so,  fools  have  generally  thought  knaves  were  their 
be*st  friends.  For  this  very  reason  commonwealths — free  countries — have 
produced  more  demagogues,  and  have  become  more  fearfully  the  prey  of 
anarchy  than  any  other  forms  of  government.  The  people  generally  mean 
well.  They  think  they  follow  friends  when  they  follow  those  who  flatter 
them,  and  they  follow  with  "  cheers  and  a  tiger."  They  go,  like  the  fatted 
ox  with  pretty  ribbons  streaming  from  his  horns,  frisking  to  their  own 
slaughter  ! 

Were  not  they  glorious  Southern  leaders  who  established  the  right  to 
carry  slaves  to  Kansas  ?  What  if  God  had  declared  slavery  could  not  pros- 


LIFE,   SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  756 

per  there,  and  our  fathers  had  agreed  it  should  not  go  ?  Who  cared  for 
God  and  oar  fathers,  if  their  decrees  and  compacts  stood  in  the  way  of  -our 
rights!  Oh,  how  good  theories  and  fair  promises  have  wrecked  hopes  de 
stroyed  prosperity,  and  subverted  governments  !  Every  command  in'  the 
decalogue  has  been  violated  in  the  name  of  God,  and  every  precept  of  the 
Saviour  has  been  trampled  upon  under  pretense  of  promoting  religion 

Never  at  any  period  of  human  history,  have  bad  men,  or  traitors  or 
devils  undertaken  to  accomplish  a  wicked  work,  with  greater  professions  of 
good  will,  or  with  circumstances  more  favorable  for  exciting  the  confidence 
of  the  people  in  the  sincerity  of  their  professions,  than  those  by  which  and 
under  the  influence  of  which,  these  radicals  have  undertaken  to*  destroy  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  and  the  principles  of  free  government  in 
America.  With  sincere  convictions  of  right  and  necessity,  but  in  a  suicidal 
way,  the  Southern  States  and  people  seemed  to  place  themselves  in  an  at 
titude  of  hostility  to  the  Constitution.  And  these  Northern  traitors  who 
provoked  the  South  to  her  folly  for  the  very  purpose,  have  ever  since  been 
enabled  to  tickle  and  divert  the  minds  of  the  Northern  people  with  the  flip 
pant  cry,  of  "rebel"  and  "traitor,"  and  thus,  not  only  unperceived,  but  in 
the  midst  of  the  wild  cheers  and  mad  aid  of  the  giddy,  foolish  masses,  have 
given  the  Constitution  a  thousand  stabs.  And  still  the  arch-leaders  give  out 
the  key-note,  rebel  ;  and  the  Babel  crowd  catch  up  the  refrain,  and  fools  in 
oflice  cry,  rebel  ;  and  knaves  trying  to  get  office  cry,  rebel  ;  preachers  of 
lies  and  hate  from  pulpits  cry,  rebel  ;  lunatics  in  schools  cry,  rebel  ;  and, 
foulest  of  the  foul,  Southern  renegades  cry,  rebel  ;  and  the  traitors  thank 
God  for  the  wild  distemper  of  the  people,  and  stab  on  !  And  the  poor  out 
raged  Constitution,  under  which  our  common  fathers  lived  and  loved  and 
prospered,  and  which  would  gather  all,  black  and  white,  "even  as  a  hen 
gathereth  her  chickens  under  her  wings,"  bleeds  and  reels,  and  no  one  will 
hear  her  cries  or  heed  her  tottering  ! 

Equally  insane,  but  equally  favorable  to  the  purposes  of  the  Radicals  is 
the  hypocritical  pretense  of  elevating  the  black  race.  All  wise  or  good  men 
everywhere,  and  more  especially  those  in  the  South,  desire  to  elevate  the 
black  race,  but  Radical  traitors  and  their  Southern  tools  alone  desire  to  de 
grade  the  white  race.  By  whatever  other  means  the  work  may  be  done,  it  is 
certain  the  black  race  cannot  be  secure  in  privileges  or  rights  by  taking  away 
from  the  white  race  these  same  privileges  and  rights.  Whether  either 
race,  and  which,  shall  finally  gain  the  mastery  ;  or,  whether  both  races  can 
live  and  rule  together  as  equals  and  in  peace,  are  questions  which  good  men 
may  discuss,  and  about  which,  possibly,  even  true  men  may  differ ;  but  one 
thing  is  very  certain,  neither  race  separately,  nor  both  races  together  can 
rule  or  be  ruled,  wisely  or  peacefully,  or  with  safety  to  life,  property,  or 
franchise,  by  violating  and  trampling  upon  the  Constitution — the  funda 
mental  law  for  all.  He  who  would, 'therefore,  be  a  friend  to  either  race 
must  first  be  a  friend  to  the  Constitution.  lie  who  violates  the  Constitution 
is  an  enemy  to  both  races.  He  who  observes  the  Constitution  is  a  friend  to 
both  races. 

The  very  reverse  of  all  this  plain  reasoning  is  every  principle  which  can 
be  adduced  to  support  these  Military  Bills.     These  bills  violate  the  Consti 
tution.     These  bills  degrade  the  white  race.     Those  bills  trample  on 
rights  of  both  races  ;  and  all  these  things  these  bills  do  under  pretense  ofele 
voting  the  black  race  !     The  work  is  absurd  and  impossible, 
proposed   cannot   accomplish  the  end  professed.     Both  races  must  go  to- 


760  SENATOR  R   II.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

gether,  or  the  greater  must  control  the  less,  or  the  two  must  collide.  And 
when  the  two  collide,  the  less  must  perish,  or  be  driven  away,  or  be  brought 
under  control,  however  the  greater  race  may  suffer  by  the  collision  and  the 
struggle. 

And  the  Radicals  know  this  ;  and,  therefore,  the  means  they  propose  are 
not  intended  to  accomplish  the  end  they  profess.  The  real  end  is  to  secure 
these  ten  States  to  keep  the  Radical  party  in  power  in  the  approaching 
Presidential  election,  and  this  they  seek  to  do  reckless  of  consequences  to 
black  or  white,  to  the  Constitution  or  Government.  The  traitors  are  seek 
ing  to  retain,  by  this  fraud  and  force  at  the  South,  the  power  they  are  losing 
by  the  detection  of  their  treason  at  the  North.  They  annul  the  Constitution 
in  the  name  of  loyalty  ;  they  exterminate  the  black  race  in  the  name  of  phil 
anthropy  ;  they  disfranchise  white  men  in  the  name  of  equality  ;  they  pull 
down  all  the  defenses  for  life  and  prosperity  in  the  name  of  liberty ;  and 
with  blasphemous  hosannahs  to  the  Union,  they  are  rushing  all  sections  and 
all  races  into  wild  chaotic  anarchy  ;  and  all,  all,  that  traitors  may  hold  the 
seats  of  the  power  they  desecrate,  and  riot  in  the  wreck  of  the  prosperity  they 
destroy  !  And  will  the  Southern  people,  whom  they  have  so  long  slandered 
and  oppressed,  take  them  up,  as  the  Northern  people,  whom  they  have  so 
long  flattered  and  deceived,  are  casting  them  away  ? 

It  was  my  purpose  to  discuss  at  length  the  questions  of  civil  rights  and 
political  trusts,  and  by  what  means  the  first  could  be  safely  secured,  and  in 
and  by  whom  the  last  could  be  wisely  reposed  and  exercised  ;  with  the  view 
of  showing  how  illogical  and  contrary  to  human  nature  and  experience  and 
safety,  is  the  dogma  that  political  equality  is  a  right  of  citizenship,  or  neces 
sary  to  the  enjoyment  of  civil  equality.  But  why  labor  and  worry  the 
printer  and  weary  the  reader  by  proving  that  untrue  which  none  but  fan 
atics  are  unblushing  enough  to  pretend  is  true.  Why  labor  to  prove  these 
Military  Bills  will  not  work  good  to  the  negro,  when  they  do  not  intend 
good  to  the  negro — are  not  adapted  as  means  to  secure  good  to  the  negro  ; 
but  are  intended  simply  to  add  ten  States  to  party  power  !  The  negroes 
are  enfranchised  because  it  is  believed  they  will  vote  for  the  Radical  party, 
and  the  whites  are  disfranchised  because  it  is  believed  they  will  not  vote  for 
the  Radical  party.  If  the  belief  were  reversed,  the  rule  would  be  reversed. 
The  object  is  not  to  punish  disloyalty,  and  the  proof  is  found  in  the  fact 
that  the  most  bitter  original  Secessionists  are  at  once  received  into  Radical 
favor  by  agreeing  to  support  the  Radical  party,  and  the  most  unscrupulous 
is  always  received  with  the  greatest  marks  of  favor,  because  such  are  the 
most  congenial  and  best  suited  for  the  work  of  destroying  the  Constitution 
under  pretense  of  preserving  the  Union  ;  and  preserving  the  Radical  party 
under  pretense  of  loving  the  dear  people  ! 

It  is  proper,  without  fully  elaborating  the  argument,  to  suggest  a  few  ele 
mentary  principles  which  all  our  people  ought,  in  these  times,  to  keep  con 
stantly  before  them. 

In  all  society  or  government  are  rights  to  be  enjoyed,  burdens  to  be  borne, 
and  trusts  to  be  discharged. 

Among  the  rights  are  the  right  of  property  ;  theright'of  locomotion  ;  the 
right  to  appropriate  and  dispose  of  the  proceeds  of  our  own  labor  ;  the  right 
to  worship  according  to  conscience  ;  and  the  right  to  protection  from  society 
in  the  enjoyment  of  all  these  rights,  and  the  right  to  have  all  the  legal  pro 
cesses  and  remedies  provided  to  make  this  protection  effectual.  These  arc 
called  civil  rights,  and  when  we  speak  of  civil  equality  we  mean  that  these 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND    WRITINGS.  70 1 

rights  belong  alike  and  equally  to  all  citizens,  to  all  classes,  to  all  colors,  to 
all  sexes,  to  all  ages,  and  to  all  grades  of  intellect,  society,  and  worth.  These 
rights  necessarily  attach  to  and  become  conditions  of  free  citizenship.  The 
negro  is  entitled  to  all  these  rights.  And  being  now  deprived  of  the  pro 
tection  which,  as  a  slave,  he  received  from  his  owner,  all  good  men  ought  to 
rejoice  that  he  can  still  be  safe  under  the  protection  of  the  law,  and  being 
unaccustomed  to  assert  his  rights — a  work  which  was  formerly  performed  by 
his  master — all  true  men  ought  to  be  ready  to  aid  him  in  that  assertion.  And 
all  but  Radicals  and  renegades  are  willing  to  aid  him,  but  they  seek  to  use 
him  under  pretense  of  aiding  him. 

Among  the  burdens  of  society  and  governments  I  may  mention  :  workiiiw 
the  public  highways  ;  providing  public  buildings ;  paying  the  public  taxes°; 
defending  the  public  safety,  etc.,  etc.  These  burdens  ought  to  be  borne  by 
all  according  to  fitness  and  capacity,  for  these  burdens  constitute  the  con 
sideration  we  pay  for  the  protection  we  get.  Women  and  children,  lunatics 
and  idiots  do  not  work  the  highways  or  defend  the  society  with  arms,  be 
cause  their  positions  or  capacity  forbid  ;  but  they  are  all  citizens — or  mem 
bers  of  the  society — and  pay  taxes.  These  are  called  burdens  because  they 
are  borne,  not  for  ourselves  only,  but/or  others — for  the  public. 

Lastly,  in  every  society  or  government  there  are  trusts  to  be  discharged. 
Offices  are  to  be  filled  ;  laws  are  to  be  made,  executed,  and  administered,  else 
there  could  be  no  rules  or  process  for  protection  ;  and  agents  are  to  be  se 
lected  for  all  these  purposes.  The  whole  business  of  selecting  agents  to  dis 
charge  duties,  as  well  as  the  discharge  of  the  duties  themselves,  comes  under 
the  head  of  trusts.  They  are  called  trusts  because  they  are  powers  exercised 
not  for  one's  own  good  but  for  the  good  of  others — for  the  public.  The  au 
thority  to  vote  is,  therefore,  a  trust  reposed,  and  the  exercise  of  the  author 
ity  is  the  exercise  of  a  trust — the  trust  of  selecting  agents  to  provide  and  ex 
ecute  the  laws  by  which  rights  are  to  be  protected.  All  men  are  born  to 
rights — which  are  personal — affecting  each  person  only  ;  but  no  man  is  born 
to  a  trust — to  a  power  which  affects  all  other  members  of  society.  You  had 
as  well  say  a  man  is  born  to  an  office  as  to  say  he  is  born  to  a  vote  for  that 
office.  So,  again,  all  trusts  imply  capacity  and  integrity.  No  man  has  a 
right  to  be  intrusted  to  discharge  a  duty  affecting  others  who  does  not  un 
derstand  that  duty,  or  who  has  not  integrity  to  be  trusted  with  its  faithful 
exercise. 

How  can  the  rights  of  the  members  of  society  be  safe  if  the  protection  for 
those  rights  is  to  be  provided  or  applied  by  ignorant  or  vicious  agents 
And  how  can  ignorant  and  vicious  agents  be  avoided  if  ignorant  and  vicious 
persons  are  born  to  the  right  to  select  them  ? 

Rights  are  personal— born  with  persons— belong  to  the  person,  and  affa 
the  person  ;  but  trusts  are  relative— and  born  with  society-  -belong  to  society 
—and  are  for  the  good  and  under  control  of  society.      :Iow  is  any  mi 
born   with   a  right  to  take  my  rights,   or  to  select  another  to 


rights  ? 


Suffrage,  then,  is  not  a  right— it  is  not  a  privilege— it  is  a  trust,  and  a 
most  solemn  and  sacred  trust.     It  is  the  trust  of  preserving          >ty,  < 
curing  rights,  of  protecting  persons. 

Would  you  select  an  ignorant,  or  vicious,  or  untrustworthy  man  asyc 
trustee,  or  {he  trustee  for  your  wife  or  your  child  in  the  smallest  concerns 
life  ?  How,  then,  would  you  make  a  trustee  of  an  ignorant  or  vicious 


762  SENATOR  R  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

to  discharge  these  great  duties,  on  the  wise  and  faithful  discharge  of  which 
all  rights,  and  all  protection,  and  all  things  depend? 

The  burdens  of  society  are  light  or  heavy  according  as  the  trusts  of 
society  are  wisely  or  unwisely,  faithfully  or  unfaithfully  discharged.  The 
heavy  taxes  under  which  America  groans,  spring  alone  from  the  unfaithful 
and  wicked  execution  of  the  trusts  of  our  people  in  selecting  agents,  and  of 
the  agents  in  discharging  their  duties. 

Universal,  indiscriminate,  ignorant,  vicious  white  suffrage  has  buried  a 
million  of  victims, — slain  by  each  others  hands, — destroyed  the  peace  and 
prosperity  of  the  country,  and  saddled  an  innocent  and  unborn  posterity 
with  burdens  too  grievous  to  be  borne. 

Will  it  be  wise  to  extend  the  sacred  but  desecrated  trust  of  suffrage  to 
more  ignorance,  to  more  vice,  and  at  the  same  time  withdraw  those  trusts 
from  intelligence  and  worth  ? 

Men  are  born  with  a  ri^ht  to  vote  as  thev  are  born  to  breathe  the  air,  or 

CT1  •/ 

enjoy  the  proceeds  of  their  own  labor !  Then,  why  is  it  that  women  and 
children  and  lunatics  and  idiots  are  not  allowed  to  vote?  They  breathe  and 
eat  and  pay  taxes. 

It  is,  therefore,  the  right  of  society  to  decide  upon  whom  shall  be  de 
volved  the  trust  of  preserving  society  and  administering  protection  to  rights. 
And  it  is  the  duty  of  society  to  withhold  these  trusts  from  the  ignorant  and 
vicious — since  the  ignorant  and  vicious  should  never  be  intrusted,  and  have 
no  right  to  be  intrusted,  with  the  exercise  of  a  power  by  which  they  may 
rob  or  kill  or  torture  others. 

And  it  follows  that  every  society  must  determine  this  matter  for  itself, 
for  it  alone  is  to  be  affected  by  the  exercise  of  the  trusts  created.  It  is 
flagitious  ;  it  is  mean  ;  it  is  cowardly  ;  it  is  treason  to  the  very  framework 
of  society  to  say  that  Massachusetts,  or  a  fragmentary  conclave  of  per 
jured  Congressional  traitors  from  other  States,  shall  determine  who  shall  be 
intrusted  with  the  great  duty  of  preserving  society  in  Georgia  ;  and  lan 
guage  breaks  in  the  vain  effort  to  express  the  contempt  and  scorn  I  feel  for 
the  dastard  Georgian  who  would  consent  for  Massachusetts  or  that  frag 
mentary  conclave  to  so  determine. 

The  negroes  in  Georgia  are  citizens  of  Georgia.  They  are  free  and  have 
equal  rights,  and  shall  enjoy  them.  They  will  be  required  to  bear  the 
burdens  only  in  proportion  to  their  capacity.  They  will  be  empowered  to 
discharge  the  trusts  when  time  and  experience  shall  show  they  "  are  capable 
and  worthy,"  and  the  good  of  society  will  be  promoted  thereby  ;  and  this 
Georgia  will  determine  for  herself,  and  not  to  please  enemies  or  to  keep 
traitors  in  party  power. 

NUMBER   TWELVE. 

I  have  now  shown  that  the  Military  Bills  are  unconstitutional.  There 
can  be  nothing  clearer  than  this,  for  they  are  in  the  most  direct  conflict 
with  the  very  language  and  purpose  of  the  Constitution,  and  the  position 
is  conceded.  Of  course  there  can  be  no  possible  good  reason  for  violating 
the  Constitution,  for  to  say  so,  is  neither  more  nor  less  than  to  say  the 
Constitution  is  wrong,  and  the  Government  organized  under  it  ought  to  be 
subverted!  And  this  is  exactly  what  every  man  who  voted  for  or  approves 
these  bills  did  say  and  does  say  ;  and  every  man  who  votes  to  carry  out  these 
bills,  votes  to  set  aside  the  Constitution  and  subvert  the  Government !  I  care 
not  what  his  mouth  says,  or  his  lips  profess,  about  loyalty,  his  heart  is  far 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,   AND  WllITL\08.  763 


II          .  .  .      »-^  ••       —  --—        ••    *JV     »»T       i^yi       I41lcir<'l  I   V. 

n  plain  words,  the  question  who  is  "  for  a  Convention  "  and  who  is  "  a<'ainW 
a  Convention,"  means  precisely  "  who  is  against  the  Constitution,"  and  "  who 
is  for  the  Constitution." 

But  I  have  shown  that  all  the  excuses  or  apologies  made  for  these  bills 
are,  like  the  bills,  also  unconstitutional ;  and  are  untrue  in  themselves  ;  are 
contrary  to  the  laws  of  every  civilized  war,  and  are  founded  in  false 'pre. 
tenses,  and  are  insincere  in  purpose,  and  really  tend  and  intend  to  subvert 
the  government  and  degrade  the  white  race  in  order  to  prolong  the  existence 
of  the  party  that  is  thus  faithless,  deceitful,  oppressive,  and  dishonoring  to 
both  government  and  people,  and  to  their  own  pledges. 

If,  in  the  face  of  this  plain  statement  of  the  issue,  the  correctness  of 
which  statement  no  true  man  can  gainsay,  and  no  honest  mind  will  gainsay, 
there  is  still  to  be  found  a  man  in  America  who  can  see  in  these  Military 
Bills  any  safety  for  property,  or  life,  or  liberty  ;  or  any  protection  in  the 
enjoyment  of  either  ;  or  any  elevation  for  the  black  race  ;  or  anything  in 
government  but  anarchy,  with  its  long  ordeal  of  blood,  and  robbery,  and 
factions,  and  havoc,  and  spoil,  and  waste,  and  crime  in  every  form  and  grade, 
until  power  or  powers  shall  arise  and  proclaim  the  peace  to  a  deluded,  ex 
hausted,  and  ruined  people  through  an  empire  or  empires,  a  despotism  or 
despotisms  ;  such  a  man  is  simply  given  over  "  to  believe  a  lie  that  he  may 
be  damned  "  ;  yes,  and  to  act  a  lie  that  his  country  may  be  damned  ! 

The  next  question,  in  the  natural  order  of  argument,  is  this  :  In  what 
way  shall  these  bills  be  resisted,  or  by  what  remedies  shall  their  enforcement 
and  final  establishment  be  prevented  ?  I  enter  upon  this  branch  of  the  dis 
cussion  with  pain  and  pleasure — with  pain  because  I  shall  consider  it  my 
duty  to  declare  some  grievous  errors  committed  by  friends  of  our  side  of 
the  Constitution  ;  errors,  too,  which  surrender  the  most  effective  remedies 
against  these  measures  ;  and  with  pleasure  because  I  can  still  see  remaining 
to  us  remedies  ample  to  save  the  Constitution,  the  country,  and  lil>erty,  if, 
as  rulers  and  people,  we  still  have  even  a  moiety  of  that  glorious  moral 
courage  which  makes  us  not  afraid  to  tell  the  truth  and  defend  the  right. 
Never,  never  had  any  people  in  any  age  of  the  world  such  an  occasion- 
such  necessity — for  moral  courage  as  have  now  the  people,  not  only  of  the 
ten  States  oii  which  rape  is  being  perpetrated,  but  of  the  United  States, 
who  are  all  involved  in  the  crime,  and  must  pay  its  penalties. 

That  devilish  spirit  of  treason,  which  comes  not  with  arms  and  open, 
manly  warning,  but  creeps  and  hides  itself  in  some  unsuspected,  yea,  trusted 
form,'  is  nmo  in  our  political  Eden,  and  with  artful  words,  and  with  the  pres 
tige  of  authority,  and  assurances  of  safety  and  blessmg  and  greatness,  is 
persuading  our  people  to  eat  that  forbidden  fruit  of  using  force  to  preserve 
a  government  of  consent,  and  of  making^y  statute,  that  like  and  equal 
which  GOD  by  nature  made  unlike  and  unequal,  and  in  so  doing  to  disobey 
the  commands  of  the  Constitution  !  And  some  are  already  persuaded,  and 
lustily  cry,  "  It  is  true,  let  us  disobey,  and  taste,  for  we  shall  thereby  be  great. 
And  'if  our  people  awake  not  now  to  their  danger,  and  drive  this  modern 
political  Satan  of  Radicalism,  with  scourging  and  hissing,  from  their  hen 
tage,  then  death— political  death— will  come,  and  quickly,  fiercely  come, 
with  blighting  curse,  all  over  this  last  and  noblest  domain  of  freedom,  and 


764  SENATOR  £.  H.  HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

doom  ourselves  and  our  children  to  the  "  blood  and  sweat '  of  despotism 
forever ! 

Oh,  that  some  voice  would  rise  whose  thrilling  notes  of  patriotism  could 
cover  all  the  land,  and,  hushing  this  Bedlam  din  of  sectional  crimination, 
distrust,  and  oppression,  inspire  the  people  to  unite  and  make  one  more 
manly  national  effort  to  save  the  Constitution,  and  stop  the  deep  and  ever 
deepening  stabs  which  treachery,  through  force  and  perjury,  is  madly 
making  at  the  very  vitals  of  liberty  !  We  need  a  fearless  Hercules — strong 
in  moral  courage  and  a  universal  country-wide  patriotism — to  kill  this 
Nemsean  lion  ;  to  burn  to  the  roots  the  more  than  hundred  heads  of  this 
Lernaean  hydra  ;  to  clean  this  Augean  stable,  whose  fierce  rapacity,  and 
prolific  terrors,  and  boundless  filth  are  all  combined  in  this  destroyer  of 
States,  this  assassin  of  written  Constitution,  this  more  than  brutish  defiler 
of  its  own  race — modern  Radicalism  ! 

The  framers  of  the  Constitution  doubtless  supposed  they  had  provided, 
or  left  existing,  ample  remedies  for  all  violations  of  that  instrument  ; 
both  preventive  and  curative  remedies,  whether  those  violations  should  be 
made  by  the  government,  or  by  the  States,  or  by  the  people;  and  had  also 
provided  for  the  amendment  of  the  Constitution  in  a  proper  manner,  to  suit 
it  to  such  unanticipated  necessities  as  the  future  might  develop.  These 
remedies  were  distributed — some  being  lodged  in  the  different  departments 
of  the  Government  and  some  left  under  regulations  with  the  people. 

These  remedies  should  always  be  applied  in  their  proper  order,  according 
to  the  nature  and  source  of  the  violation. 

In  my  opinion,  the  first  remedy  against  these  Military  Bills  was  with  the 
Executive  department  of  the  Government. 

The  Government  is  divided  into  three  departments,  and  separate  powers 
given  to  each  department  for  the  great  purpose  of  providing  mutual  checks 
and  balances,  so  that  no  one  department  shall  be  able  to  destroy  the  Gov 
ernment. 

Now,  if  either  department  can,  by  any  means,  absorb  to  itself  the 
powers  confided  to  the  other  departments,  or  of  either  of  the  others,  it,  by 
that  means,  gets  to  itself  powers  which  it  was  not  intended  it  should  exer 
cise  ;  and  can,  by  reason  of  this  increase  of  powers,  accomplish  what  the 
division  of  powers  intended  to  prevent — destroy  the  Government.  So,  if 
either  department,  instead  of  thus  absorbing  to  itself  the  powers  of  the 
other  department,  can,  in  lieu  thereof,  adopt  some  means  by  which  it  can 
compel  or  induce  the  other  departments,  or  either  of  theln,  to  execute  its 
unlimited  will,  it  can  thus  as  effectually,  and  perhaps  more  conveniently, 
accomplish  the  forbidden  end — destroy  the  Government — than  if  it  had  ab 
sorbed  the  powers  to  itself ;  because  the  department  so  compelled  or  in 
duced  to  serve,  ceases  to  be  a  check  or  balance  to  prevent  destruction  as  was 
intended,  but  degenerates  into  a  mere  tool  or  aider  and  abetter  in  the  work 
of  destruction. 

Here — right  here — is  precisely  the  process  by  which  this  fragmentary 
conclave  of  a  Congress  is  destroying  the  Constitution  and  the  Government 
under  the  Constitution. 

They  first  excluded  from  both  Houses  all  the  representatives  of  ten  en 
tire  States,  because  they  were  supposed  not  to  be  willing  to  the  schemes  of 
the  majority  making  the  exclusion  ;  and,  to  make  the  exclusion  effectual, 
they  denied  the  right  of  representation  to  the  ten  States,  all,  in  the  teeth  of 
the  most  explicit  and  positive  provisions  of  the  Constitution,  declaring  how 


IIIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   *JW  WRITINGS.  765 

the  Congress  shall  be  constituted,  and  of  what  the  two  Houses  shall  be  com- 
posed.  1  hey  next,  under  various  transparent  pretenses,  excluded  obnoxious 
members  from  other  States. 

This  process  of  exclusion  continued  until  two-thirds  of  those  remaining 
were  of  one  evil  mind.  The  Executive  Department,  though  earnestly  d«- 
nouncmg  the  body  as  not  organized  as  the  Constitution  required,  vet  recog 
nized  this  fragment  as  the  Congress.  Thus  organized  and  thus  recognized, 
this  fragaraentary  conclave— now  become  very  bold  and  dictatorial— began 
to  absorb  to  itself  the  powers  and  functions  of  both  the  other  department* 
of  the  Government,  and  to  threaten  impeachment  and  remodeling  and  non- 
appropriation  of  salaries,  if  the  other  departments  should  presume  to  form 
checks  upon  its  will.  The  President  sent  back,  with  his  now  ineffectual 
objections,  the  several  steps  of  this  conclave  in  the  work  of  destruction,  and 
accompanied  those  objections  with  an  earnest  patriotism  and  a  fervor  of 
meaning  which  have  not  been  excelled.  But  why  talk  patriotism  to  traitors, 
or  address  reason  to  fanatics,  now  conscious  of  their  power  to  destroy,  and 
of  safety  to  themselves  in  the  work  ?  They  would  laugh  and  grin,  and  pass 
the  bills  to  destroy  the  Constitution  with  "the  glee  of  the  cat  which  plays 
with  the  contortions  of  its  captured,  dying  mouse.  In  an  evil  hour  the 
President  consented — agreed  it  was  his  duty — to  execute  as  law  whatever 
two-thirds  of  this  fragmentary  conclave  might  desire,  declare,  or  order ! 

Then  I,  and  you,  and  all  of  us  fell  down 
Whilst  bloody  treason  flourished  over  us. 

I  have  no  doubt  the  President  acted,  in  this  matter,  from  the  purest  and 
most  patriotic  motives.  His  course  was  advised  and  commended  by  men 
distinguished  for  ability.  He  is  surrounded  by  circumstances  peculiarly  re 
sponsible  and  embarrassing,  and  every  desire  of  my  heart  is  to  help  him  and 
not  to  say  anything  that  may  weaken  any  man's  faith  in  him.  But  the 
country  is  passing  through  a  most  fearful  ordeal.  Everything  we  all  have 
or  can  hope  for  is  involved.  Errors  may  ruin  though  motives  be  angelic. 
On  questions  of  policy  or  expediency,  I  love  the  yielding,  conciliating  spirit. 
I  despise,  from  my  heart,  the  bigot  or  the  fanatic.  But  a  principle — a  vital 
principle — should  never  be  abandoned  for  temporary  relief,  nor  yielded  to 
conciliate  an  enemy.  The  Constitution  ought  to  be  administered  in  a  spirit 
of  concession,  but  no  man  intrusted  to  administer  it  should  allow  its  destruc 
tion  upon  any  pretense.  I  do  believe  the  idea  that  the  President  is  bound 
to  execute  whatever  a  two-thirds  majority  of  Congress  may  declare  is  the 
most  fatal  and  dangerous  error  of  this  generation,  not  excepting  secession, 
or  coercion,  or  even  fanaticism  itself — the  hideous  mother  of  both  secession 
and  coercion.  It  is  the  error  which,  being  committed,  will  be  the  greatest 
lever  of  strength  to  fanaticism,  and  which,  not  having  been  committed, 
would  have  been  the  death-blow  to  fanaticism  and  to  all  its  hellish  brood  of 
horrors.  I  am  not  writing  to  please  any  man.  I  see— have  no  doubt,  I  see 
-unprecedented  evils  ahead  of  us.  I  firmly  believe  there  is  no  way  to 
escape  these  evils  but  by  cleaving  to  the  Constitution.  In  this  crisis,  I  love 
all  who  cleave  to  the  Constitution  as  I  love  my  property,  my  life,  my  liberty, 
and  the  peace  and  happiness  of  my  children,  for  by  that  Constitution  alone 
can  these  blessings  be  enjoyed.  I  hate  all  who  violate  the  Constitution  as 
I  hate  the  thief  who  steals  my  property,  the  tyrant  who  fetters  my  liberty, 
the  murderer  who  seeks  my  life,  or  the  monster  who  would  destroy  all 
hope  for  my  children  ;  because,  in  the  destruction  of  the  Constitution  by 


766  SENATOR  R  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

force  and  fraud,  all  these  curses  will  come.  If  the  Constitution  needs 
amendment,  let  us  all — all  the  States — amend  it ;  if  free  government  has 
failed,  let  us  admit  it  and  form  another,  like  men  of  reason  and  honesty. 
But  whatever  government  and  laws  we  have  let  us  obey  them  while  we  have 
them,  and  not  seek  to  evade  them  by  fraud,  or  overturn  them  by  force,  for 
then  we  have  anarchy,  which  means  the  utter  absence  of  all  safety  and 
hope,  and  the  actual  presence  of  every  danger,  for  person,  property,  liberty 
and  life.  Of  all  the  enemies  to  individuals,  to  society,  or  to  government, 
he  who  deceives  and  takes  advantage  of  trusts  reposed,  or  power  conferred, 
to  injure,  slander,  or  betray,  is  the  meanest,  the  most  cowardly,  and  the 
most  dangerous.  Therefore  I  denounce  the  Radicals  and  all  their  disciples. 
I  know  the  President  is  a  patriot,  but  his  error  threatens  to  place  him  and 
his  country  in  the  unrestrained  and  vengeful  power  of  foresworn  enemies, 
and  he  who  believes  it  is  an  error,  owes  it  to  his  country  to  say  so  and  give 
his  reasons  for  his  belief. 

In  the  construction  of  all  human  instruments  there  must  arise  questions 
on  which  men  will  honestly  differ.  These  doubtful  questions  have  arisen 
under  the  Constitution.  It  was  anticipated  they  would  arise,  and  arise,  too, 
between  the  Executive  and  Congress,  and  the  method  of  settling  such  dif 
ferences  was  provided.  When  the  President  thinks  a  bill  presented  to  him 
is  unconstitutional,  he  must  return  it  with  his  objections.  Congress  must 
reconsider  it,  and  if  two-thirds  differ  with  the  President,  the  bill  becomes  a 
law,  notwithstanding  the  President's  objections.  Now,  that  this  refers  to 
cases  of  mere  honest  differences  as  to  what  is  the  meaning  of  the  Constitu 
tion — to  cases  of  doubt — is  very  clear  from  the  deliberation  which  is  re- 

\> 

quired  of  all  parties.  The  President  is  required  to  send  his  objections  to 
Congress.  The  objections  must  be  in  writing.  The  House  to  which  the 
objections  are  sent  must  enter  them  on  their  journal,  and  then  proceed  to 
reconsider.  If  two-thirds  differ  with  the  President,  the  bill  and  objections 
must  be  sent  to  the  other  House.  The  other  House  must  also  reconsider, 
and  if,  after  all  sides  are  fully  heard,  and  the  matter  has  been  considered  and 
reconsidered,  two-thirds  of  both  Houses  differ  with  the  President,  the  bill 
shall  become  a  law.  That  is,  in  these  doubtful  questions,  if  two-thirds  of 
both  Houses,  after  full  consideration  of  all  sides,  shall  be  of  one  opinion,  and 
the  President  and  one-third  shall  be  of  another  opinion — the  opinions  of  the 
two-thirds  shall  prevail.  Such  were  the  Bank  and  Tariff  and  Internal  Im 
provement  questions,  and  many  others.  In  all  such  cases  it  is  very  manifest 
the  President  must  execute  the  law  until  the  Judiciary  shall  pronounce 
against  it.  The  President  cannot,  himself,  become  the  Court,  or  absorb  to 
himself  the  functions  of  the  Court. 

This  is  the  whole  extent  of  the  doctrine  of  the  President's  obligation  to 
execute  the  laws.  No  more,  no  less. 

Does  this  give  two -thirds  of  the  Congress  power  to  subvert  the  Govern 
ment,  and  is  the  President  bound  to  help  them  subvert  it?  The  Constitu 
tion,  in  separate  clauses,  defines  what  Congress  may  do,  and  then,  by  other 
clauses,  declares  what  Congress  shall  not  do.  Doubts  naturally  arise  in 
ascertaining  the  extent  of  the  meaning  in  those  clauses  which  seek  to  define 
what  Congress  may  do.  But  suppose  Congress  undertake  to  do  that  which 
the  Constitution  says  Congress  shall  not  do?  How  then?  If  two-thirds 
say  they  will  do  it  anyhoic,  is  the  President  bound  to  execute  it  ? 

The  Constitution  says  :  "  No  bill  of  attainder  or  ex  post  facto  law  shall 
be  passed"  Suppose  two-thirds  pass  a  bill  of  attainder,  is  it  a  law  f  If  so, 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  767 

two-thirds  of  the  Congress  can  annul  the  Constitution.  If  so  the  will  of 
two-thirds  of  Congress,  and  not  the  Constitution,  is  the  supreme  law  But 
the  President  is  not  bound  to  execute  that  which  is  not  a  law  The  Presi 
dent  admits  the  Sherman  Bill  is  a  bill  of  attainder  against  nine  millions  of 
people  !  How,  then,  can  he  be  bound  to  execute  that  which  the  Constitu 
tion  says  shall  not  be  done. 

Suppose  two-thirds  of  this  conclave  shall  declare  that  the  present  patri 
otic  Governor  of  Connecticut  was  not  properly  elected,  because  the  colored 
citizens  of  that  State  were  excluded  by  the  laws  thereof  from  votino-  in  the 
election  ;  and  should  then  declare  the  government  was  provisional,  and  send 
a  military  commander  there  to  govern  the  people  until  they  should  change 
their  laws  and  hold  another  election,  in  which  the  colored  citizens  should 
participate  ?  Must  the  President  execute  this  order  ? 

Suppose  this  two-thirds  shall  declare  that  all  elections,  State  and  Federal, 
of  persons  not  of  the  Radical  or  Republican  party,  are  void,  because  such' 
persons  are  not  loyal,  and  shall  reduce  the  people  guilty  of  such  disloyal 
elections  to  military  subjection — must  the  President  execute  the  mandate  ? 

Suppose  two-thirds  of  the  conclave  shall  declare  that  the  President  'is 
disloyal,  and  he  is,  therefore,  not  a  legal  President,  and  is  removed  or  not  to 
be  obeyed  ;  must    the  Executive  department  execute  its  own   demolition  ? 
Suppose  they  say  the  Supreme  Court  is  an  obstruction  to  progress  and  is 
abolished  ;  yea,  more — suppose  they  shall  declare,  what  they  have  often  said, 
that  the  Federal  Constitution  "  is  a  covenant  with  hell  .and  a  league  with 
the  devil,"  and  that  no  State  Constitution  is  republican  in  form,  and  that  all 
shall  be  set  aside,  or  declared  only  provisional,  and  the  whole  country  shall 
be  placed  under  military  rule  with  commanders  subject  to  the  orders  of  this 
conclave,  until  new  Constitutions,  State  and  Federal,  shall  be  approved  by 
them  •  and  in  making  which,  all  who  agree  with  them  shall  be  enfranchised, 
and  all  who  differ  from  them  shall  be  disfranchised,  must  the  President  be 
bound  to  execute  this  revolution  or  quietly  look  on  and  see  the  Government 
destroyed  ?     All  these  things  some  of  this  conclave  have  declared  ought  to 
be  done,  and  have  threatened  to  do  !     More  than  all  these  they  have  done, 
and  are  now  actually  doing  for  ten  of  the  States.     Why  may  they  not  do  so 
for  all  ?     The  power  is  the  same  overall  that  it  is  over  one.     They  OUGHT  to 
do  so  for  all  or  for  none.     They  send  a  single  officer  to  Virginia,  who  is  not 
even  a  resident  of  the  State,  and  claim  for  him  power  to  repeal  the  laws 
passed  in  the  days  of  Washington  and  by  the  votes  and  approval  of  Jeffer 
son,  Madison,  Monroe,  and  Marshall  ;  and  a  similar  non-resident  individual, 
by  his  own  irresponsible  edicts,  sets  aside  whole  constitutions  and  codes  in 
the  States  of  Macons  and  Pinckneys,  and  proclaims  others  in  their  stead,  in 
a  manner  more  summary  and  arbitrary  than  any  monarch  in  Europe  dare  ex 
hibit  !     All  this  is  admitted  to  be  plainly,  grossly  unconstitutional,  but  it 
must  be  done,  and  the  President  is  bound  to  see  to  it  that  it  is  done,  because 
two-thirds  of  this  conclave  savs  it  must  be  done  ! 

Thus,  not  only  two- thirds  "of  a  Congress,  but  of  a  fragmentary  conclave 
of  members — who  secure  that  two-thirds  by  unlawfully  excluding  from  their 
seats  those  members  who  are  not  willing  to  commit  perjury  to  destroy  the 
Government— become  not  only  greater  than  the  Constitution,  not  only  have- 
power  to  destroy  the  Government,  but  can  command,  order,  compel  every 
other  department  of  the  Government  to  aid  in  the  destruction.  Was  ever 
conclusion  so  lame,  heresy  so  dangerous,  or  patriotism  so  self-destructive' 

Henceforth,  not    the   Constitution  and    the  laws  passed  in  pursuance 


768  SENATOR  B.   If.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

thereof  but  the  will  of  the  two-thirds  of  Congress,  or  of  a  conclave  taking 
forcible  possession  of  the  Capitol,  shall  be  the  supreme  law  of  the  land. 
Would  it  not  be  well  to  require  us  all,  from  the  President  down,  to  take  an 
oath  to  support  that  will,  instead  of  requiring  ns  to  swear  to  support  the 
Constitution,  and  then  compelling  us,  by  the  higher  power  of  this  will,  to 
violate  our  oaths? 

No  Congress,  not  even  a  legitimate  Congress,  by  even  a  unanimous  vote, 
has  power  to  destroy  States,  to  pass  laws  forbidden  by  the  Constitution, 
nor  to  subvert  the  Government ;  and  when  they  undertake  it,  and  in  the 
meanest  and  most  dangerous  of  all  ways — under  cover  of  oaths  and  office- 
it  is  as  much  the  duty  of  the  President  to  suppress  them  as  it  is  his  duty  to 
suppress  an  insurrection  or  an  invasion.  The  contrary  doctrine  is  a  procla 
mation  to  Radicalism,  that  it  shall  be  aided  in  its  work  even  by  the  friends 
of  the  Constitution.  It  is  a  license  to  propagandism  to  bring  all  Constitu 
tions,  governments,  and  people  into  complete  subjection  to  its  will. 

Alas  !  our  country  sinks  for  want  of  nerve  in  its  defenders.  Truth  is 
weak  only  because  its  dis&ples  will  not  support  as  well  as  assert  it.  Radical 
ism  is  strong  only  in  its  sense  of  impunity.  Unlimited,  it  loses  all  conscious 
ness  of  guilt,  and  throws  away  all  restraint  upon  its  will.  Assured  of 
assistance  from  its  enemies  there  is  no  excess  at  which  it  will  hesitate.  But 
boldly  and  fearlessly  opposed,  and  denounced  and  treated  as  the  most  dan 
gerous  enemy  of  all  government  and  law,  its  own  conscience  will  at  once 
become  its  fiercest  accuser  ;  it  will  grow  weak,  will  tremble  like  the  detected 
thief,  and  will  soon  sink  beneath  the  weight  of  its  own  sins,  abandoned  by 
the  selfish  and  despised  by  the  good.  But  now  such  men  as  Stevens  and 
Sumner,  seeing  how  timid  and  indifferent  and  unnerved  the  friends  of  the 
Constitution  have  become,  encourage  the  hesitating  of  their  party  in  the 
same  spirit  with  the  bloody  Lady  Macbeth,  when  urging  her  faltering 
husband  to  his  crime  : 

When  in  swinish  sleep 
TJieir  drenched  natures  lie,  as  in  a  death, 
What  cannot  you  and  I  perform  upon 
The  unguarded  Duncan  ?     What  not  upon 
His  spongy  officers,  who  shall  bear  the  guilt 
Of  our  great  murder  ? 

NUMBER     THIRTEEN. 

I  have  said  in  all  cases  of  doubtful  constitutionality,  the  Executive 
department  could  not  become  a  court  or  judge  in  the  matter.  Neither  can 
Congress  be  a  court.  But  it  was  necessary  there  should  be  a  final  arbiter, 
and,  therefore,  the  Constitution  provided  a  third  department  of  Government 
called  the  Judicial.  This  Judicial  power  is  expressly  declared  to  extend  to 
all  cases  arising  under  the  Constitution,  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  and 
treaties,  etc.,  etc.  But  here  again  differences  have  arisen,  and  it  has  been  in 
sisted  that  the  word  "  cases"  has  a  legal  technical  signification,  and  must  be 
confined  within  it,  and,  therefore,  that  the  Judicial  power  does  not  extend 
to  all  questions  arising  under  the  Constitution.  This  position  was  a  favorite 
one  with  persons  of  the  strict  Construction  State  Rights  School. 

When  South  Carolina  declared  the  Tariff  Act  plainty  and  palpably  un 
constitutional,  she  refused  to  refer  the  question  to  the  Court,  but  proceeded 
to  nullify  the  act  in  her  borders.  The  Union  men  and  Federalists  insisted 
that  she  should  refer  the  question  to  the  Supreme  Court  as  the  final  arbiter. 


'HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  769 

but  South  Carolina  refused  to  do  so,  insisting  that  that  State  was  an  inde- 
pendent,  separate  sovereignty,  outside  of  the  express  powers  granted  to 
Congress-that  this  was  a  political  question,  affecting  her  separate  sover 
eignty,  and  that  she  would  not  permit  any  other  power  to  sit  in  judgment 
upon  questions  involving  her  sovereignty  ;  that  in  this  respect  South  Caro 
lina  stood  to  the  United  States  as  she  did  to  France  or  England 

It  was  supposed  that  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  State  Righto  had  been 
decided  by  the  war  against  the  position  taken  by  South  Carolina,  and  that 
hereafter  the  Supreme  Court  would  become  what  the  old  Union  men 
always  contended  it  was  intended  to  be— the  final  arbiter  upon  all  questions 
arising  under  the  Constitution,  so  as  to  leave  no  excuse  or  necessity  for  an 
appeal  to  arms  to  settle  controversies  between  the  General  Government  and 
the  States. 

Georgia  and  Mississippi  were  the  first  to  act  on  the  new  idea.  They 
did  what  South  Carolina  refused  to  do.  They  applied  to  the  Supreme 
Court  (in,  I  think,  a  proper  case  made)  to  enjoin  the  enforcement  of  bills 
palpably  unconstitutional— admitted  to  be  so— in  their  borders.  The  reply 
was,  the  question  made  is  apolitical  question,  and  not  a  judicial  case.  The 
Supreme  Court  refused  to  entertain  the  jurisdiction,  and  thus  simply 
affirmed  whut  was  called  the  ultra  State  Rights  doctrine  of  South  Carolina. 
I  am  glad  the  question  was  presented.  I  am  especially  glad  they  were  pre 
sented  by  the  Southern  States,  showing  a  disposition  thereby  to  abide  the 
decision  claimed  to  have  been  made  by  the  war,  and  to  recognize  an  arbiter 
of  future  disputes,  short  of  arms. 

These  decisions,  therefore,  so  far  from  showing  there  is  no  remedy 
against  these  Military  Bills,  show  clearly  the  reverse.  They  proceed  on 
the  very  basis  that  the  States  are  still  separate  political  communities,  and 
as  such  it  necessarily  follows  that  their  internal  domestic  governments  can 
not  be  abrogated,  regulated,  or  interfered  writh  \>y  Congress.  Hence  the 
way  is  clear  for  every  State,  citizen,  and  corporation  to  make  a  case  and 
test  these  Military  Bills,  when  any  person,  by  their  authority,  shall  inter 
fere  with  a  right  of  property,  or  of  person,  or  of  liberty. 

I,  therefore,  beg  every  citizen,  black  and  white,  even  the  humblest  of 
the  ten  millions  who  inhabit  these  ten  States,  to  remember — never  forget 
that  it  is  his  right — his  glorious,  unpunishable,  unimpeachable  RIGHT — to 
resist  every  interference  by  any  officer,  high  or  low,  with  his  property,  or 
his  person,  or  his  liberty,  under  these  Military  Bills  ;  and  that  each  citizen 
owes  it  to  every  other  citizen  and  to  his  State,  and  to  posterity  and  Con 
stitutional  liberty  to  assert  the  right  boldly  and  fearlessly  against  every 
such  interference.  Nor  have  military  officers  in  such  cases  one  particle 
more  of  protection  from  such  resistance  than  civil  officers.  The  law  is 
superior  to  all — is  master  of  all  ;  and  the  strength,  the  majesty,  and  the 
merit  of  the  law  make  the  citizen's  panoply  in  this  issue.  Hear  what  a  dis 
tinguished  American  writer  says  on  this  subject : 

It  is  now  settled  in  England  and  the  United  States,  that  an  officer  of  the  forces  who 
executes  the  unlawful  order  remains  personally  answerable.     If  the  highest  in  comma 
the  British  monarch  himself,  order,  contrary  to  law,  an  officer  to  quarter  hi*  soldier 
t^  citizens  to  annoy  and  oppress  them,  as  Charles  I.  did,  the  officer  remains  respons 
in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  term,  to  the  law  of  the  land.     All  that  has  been  gainn 
arduous  and  protracted  struggle  which  began  to  show  itself  most  signally  under  < 
I.,  may  be  summed  up  in  the  few  words,  that  tlie  law  shall  be  *///*  fifff  to  all  and  er 
«ttd  every  branch  of  government  •  that  there  is  nowhere  a  mysterious,  supr 


770  SENATOR  R   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

tainable  power,  which,  despite  of  the  clearest  law,  may  still  dispense  with  it  or  arrest  its 
course.  This  is  the  sum  total  of  modern  civil  liberty,  the  great,  firm,  and  solid  com 
mons'  liberty. 

Our  Constitution — our  supreme  law,  which  no  Congress,  nor  President, 
nor  other  earthly  power  can  violate  or  authorize  to  be  violated  with  im 
punity — is  our  ruler,  our  only  ruler,  and  all  the  highest  office-holders — civil 
and  military — are  but  its  servants,  and  bound,  under  penalties,  to  obey  its 
commands. 

Our  Constitution  declares : 

The  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall  iwt  be  suspended,  unless,  when  in  case 
of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public  safety  may  require  it. 

No  bill  of  attainder  or  ex  post  facto  law  shall  be  passed. 

The  trial  of  all  crimes,  except  in  cases  of  impeachment,  shall  be  by  jury. 

No  soldier  shall,  in  time  of  peace,  be  quartered  in  any  house  without  the  consent  of 
the  owner. 

Congress  shall  make  no  law  abridging  the  freedom  of  speech  or  of  the  press. 

No  citizen  "  shall  be  held  to  answer  for  a  capital  or  otherwise  infamous  crime,  unless 
on  a  presentment  or  indictment  of  a  grand  jury." 

No  warrant  shall  issue,  but  upon  probable  cause,  supported  by  oath  or  affirmation. 

These  are  the  commands  of  the  only  imperial  power  in  America — the 
Constitution.  They  are  so  plain  that  a  wayfaring  man,  though  a  fool, 
cannot  err  in  reading  them.  They  cover  every  State,  and  territory,  and 
province,  and  foot  of  soil  over  which  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States 
can  possibly  go.  Yet  every  one  of  these  positive  commands,  and  others 
besides,  are  violated  and  ordered  to  be  violated  by  these  Military  Bills. 
They  are,  therefore,  assaults — unmistakable,  traitorous  assaults — upon  the 
Constitution  ;  and  every  man,  woman,  or  child,  or  officer,  civil  or  military, 
in  the  United  States,  who  votes  for  these  bills,  or  approves  them,  or  accepts 
them,  or  executes  them,  or  passively  submits  to  them,  is  an  enemy  of  the 
Constitution  and  an  enemy  of  every  citizen  whose  rights  are  protected  by 
the  Constitution.  I  care  not  what  excuses  are  made,  nor  what  pretenses 
are  whined  out  about  the  power  of  Congress  and  the  progressive  Radical 
party.  Such  pretenses  only  show  cowardice  or  the  treasonable  intent  in 
those  who  use  them.  The  only  way  to  crush  the  Radical  party  is  to  bring 
down  upon  it  that  power  which  is  greater  than  the  Radical  party — the 
Constitution.  If  the  President  is  a  slave  and  bound  to  execute  the  orders 
of  traitors,  the  people  are  freemen  and  entitled  to  resist.  The  only  ques 
tion,  and,  therefore,  the  only  danger,  is,  have  they  the  courage  to  resist  ?  A 
freeman  should  know  no  master  but  the  law,  and  bend  the  knee  to  no  earthly 
power  but  the  Constitution. 

As  the  result  of  reason  and  settled  authority — I  affirm  : 

That  every  officer,  high  or  low,  who  seizes  the  property  of  a  citizen  under 
?  these  Military  Bills,  is  a  trespasser,  subject  to  indictment  and  suits  for  dam 
ages  as  an  individual. 

That  every  such  officer  who  arrests  a  citizen  under  these  bills  is  guilty 
of  false  imprisonment,  and  subject  likewise  as  an  individual,  and  amenable 
to  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  before  any  Court,  State  or  Federal,  having 
jurisdiction  to  issue  the  writ. 

That  if  a  single  citizen,  white  or  black,  is  tried  by  a  military  commis 
sion  and  executed,  the  officer  ordering  the  court,  the  individuals  composing 
the  court,  the  counsel  prosecuting  the  case,  the  officer  approving  and  exe 
cuting  the  sentence,  up  to  and  including  the  President,  each  and  all  are 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WHITINGS.  771 

guilty  of  murder,  and  indictable   in   the  county  where  the  crime  is  com 
mitted. 

And  I  again  beg  our  citizens  everywhere  to  assert  these  remedies  and 
assert  them  fearlessly.  Do  not  be  prevented  by  the  sickly,  cowardly 
criminal  statements  that  the  courts  are  prohibited  from  taking  jurisdiction! 
1  his  is  the  poor  defense  with  which  those  authorizing  the  crimes  have  sought 
to  shield  those  silly  creatures  who  may  obey  them,  and  is  itself  unconstitu 
tional  I  he  power  which  cannot  violate  the  law,  cannot  annul  or  escape  the 
processes,  or  remedies  and  penalties  of  the  law. 

Sue  in  damages  for  every  injury  ;  indict  for  every  crime.  Be  sure  and 
include  the  thieving  Treasury  agents  who  were  lately  stealing  your  cot 
ton  or  other  things.  Sue  or  indict  in  the  county  where  the  injury  was  or 
may  be  done,  or  the  crime  was  or  may  be  committed.  Whether  the  de 
fendants  are  present  or  absent,  get  the  true  bills.  Don't  let  lapse  of  time  bar 
you.  Whenever  you  see  me  at  a  court,  understand  I  will  aid  you  without 
fee  or  reward.  The  written  Constitution  is  my  client,  and  the  preservation 
of  its  protection  the  only  fee  I  shall  ask.  The  time  for  the  law's  triumph 
over  passion  will  one  day  come.  If  our  people  will  now,  everywhere,  assert 
these  rights,  not  by  again  abandoning  the  Constitution,  but  by  claiming  its 
remedies,  that  time  will  come  quickly  ;  and  then  we  shall  demand  the  crim 
inals  wherever  found  and  they  will  be  delivered.  If  the  President  himself 
should  commit  murder  in  the  manner  I  have  indicated,  I  do  not  hesitate  to 
say  that  I  would  urge  a  true  bill  against  him  and  demand  him  for  trial  when 
his  term  has  expired.  We  owe  it  to  ourselves,  to  our  children,  to  free  in 
stitutions,  to  teach  all,  however  high  or  low,  who  take  advantage  of  degen 
erate  times  like  these  to  violate  the  great  guarantees  of  the  law,  and 
trample  on  the  rights  of  the  citizen,  that  when  the  political  spasm  is  over 
they  can  find  no  hiding  place  from  the  law's  avenger  nor  take  shelter  from 
its  penalties  anywhere  in  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Constitution. 

Let  this  generation  teach  this  lesson  now,  and  teach  it  faithfully  and 
well,  and  we  shall  have  no  return  of  such  periods  of  sorrow  and  crime  for  us 
or  for  our  children.  If  we  do  not  teach  this  lesson,  then  sorrow  and  crime 
will  increase  their  coming  and  prolong  their  stays,  because  rogues  will  steal ; 
tyrants  will  oppress  ;  little  officers  "will  cut  fantastic  tricks  ";  and  traitors 
will  use  fraud  and  force  to  perpetuate  their  power,  just  as  often  and  as  long 
as  they  think  they  can  do  so  with  impunity. 

I  also  earnestly  hope  the  people  of  each  of  the  ten  States  will  go  boldly 
forward,  and  preserve  and  continue  their  existing  State  governments,  and 
hold  all  elections  in  the  manner  and  at  the  time  prescribed  by  existing  State 
Constitutions  ;  will  chose  officers  qualified  according  to  existing  State  Con 
stitutions  and  laws,  and  by  voters  qualified  according  to  existing  State 
Constitutions  and  laws.  If  any  citizen  or  officer  shall  be  interfered  with  in 
exercising  his  rights  under  these  laws,  or  in  discharging  the  duties  of  any 
office  to  which  he  may  be  chosen,  let  him  make  the  issue  fearlessly. 

I  would  have  them  continue  this  until,  and  even  after,  pretended  Consti 
tutions  may  be  formed  by  deluded  negroes  and  their  designing  inferiors 
under  these  Military  Bills  ;  and  if  any  attempt  were  made  to  displace  exist 
ing  Constitutions  and  governments  by  pretended  Constitutions  so  formed, 
and  officers  chosen  thereunder,  I  would  indict  every  officer  so  attempting  to 
subvert  existing  legal  State  governments,  and  I  would  then  have  our  gov 
ernors,  or  the  Legislatures  (if  in  session),  make  application  to  the  President, 
'  under  the  Constitution,  to  protect  existing  State  governments  "  against  do- 


772  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

mestic  violence,"  and  thus  compel  the  President  to  decide  whether  he  is 
bound  to  displace  by  force  what  he  admits  to  be  existing  legal  State  Con 
stitutions  and  governments,  for  those  he  admits  to  be  illegal,  unconstitu 
tional,  and  tyrannical. 

I  will  add  two  important  considerations  why  our  people  should  thus  re 
sist,  and  never  consent  to,  these  usurpations  : 

In  the  first  place,  if  we  once  allow  these  new  governments  to  become 
legally  fixed  on  us  by  our  consent,  we  can  never  get  rid  of  them.  The 
power  will  be  in  the  hands  of  those  who  make  and  administer  them  ;  and, 
though  destroy  as  they  will,  they  will  hold  on  to  their  iniquity.  It  will  also 
require  three-fourths  of  the  States  to  concur  in  the  adoption  of  the  odious 
Constitutional  Amendment,  but,  if  adopted,  it  will  then  require  three-fourths 
of  the  States  to  get  rid  of  it. 

But,  in  the  second  place,  if,  as  is  clear,  these  bills  are  so  grossly  uncon 
stitutional,  then  they  can  never  be  legally  established  if  we  continue  to  resist 
them.  Let  us  commence  cases  now,  and  continue  cases  as  fast  and  as  often 
as  they  arise,  and  if,  even  after  these  military  Constitutions  are  framed  and 
organized,  and  have  oppressed  an  unwilling  people  for  years,  the  Court 
finally  decide  the  acts  authorizing  them  to  be  unconstitutional,  then,  unlike 
a  case  of  arms  between  belligerents,  everything  done  under  them  will  be  de 
clared  void — the  wicked  governments  will  be  displaced,  every  man  who  has 
administered  them  will  be  a  criminal,  and  our  existing  State  Constitutions 
will  be  restored  to  us. 

Then  will  patriots  meet  again  at  Washington  and  at  every  State  capitol, 
and,  gathering  the  records  of  these  Radical  traitors,  and  of  all  their  State 
subordinates  together,  will  do,  as  our  fathers  in  Georgia  did  when  corrup 
tion  had  usurped  power  and  soiled  our  honor  as  a  people  once  before — we 
Avill  catch  fire  from  Heaven  and  burn  them  up. 

If,  then,  we  yield  now,  our  remedies  are  gone  and  we  are  conquered  for 
ever  ;  but  if  we  refuse  to  yield,  our  remedies  will  continue,  and  we  can 
never  be  conquered. 

NUMBER    FOURTEEN. 

But  if  this  generation  shall  do  its  full  duty,  we  must  do  more  than  simply 
rescue  the  country  from  impending  evils.  The  causes  which  produced  those 
evils  must  be  understood  and  corrected.  The  people  must  see  how  and  by 
what  means,  and  for  what  purpose,  they  have  been  so  sorely  afflicted.  If 
this  be  not  done,  then,  though  we  may  arrest  the  revolution  for  a  time  and  de 
feat  the  treasonable  iniquit}'  of  these  Military  Bills,  yet  in  some  other  form 
these  same  evils  will  come  again.  This  is  the  people's  government.  All  the 
evils  which  have  befallen  us  have  been  accomplished  through  the  people,  and 
the  final,  the  complete,  the  permanent  remedy  must  come  from  the  people. 
He  will  be  entitled  to  be  called  the  father  of  his  country,  far  above  Wash 
ington,  who  shall  be  able  to  lay  bare  to  popular  comprehension  the  agencies 
by  which  the  people  of  America  have  been  made  to  cut  each  other's 
throats,  Destroy  their  common  prosperity,  and  blight  the  hopes  of  their 
own  children. 

My  pen  is  not  sufficient  for  the  task,  and  these  Notes  are  already  too  ex 
tended  to  undertake  it  now.  But  I  shall  allude  to  these  agencies  here,  and 
in  the  future  may  return  to  the  subject. 

These  agencies  seem  to  be  many,  but  there  are  really  two,  and  from 
these  all  the  others  spring. 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  773 

1.  Deniagogism,  or  thirst  for   office,  including   all    the   appliances    for 
gratifying  it. 

2.  Fanaticism,  or  the  bigotry  of  extreme  opinions,  which  has  existed  in 
all  sections,  and  has  been  developed  on  various— even  antagonistic— sub 
jects.     Ignorance,  credulity,  and  want  of  virtue  among  the   people    have 
been  the  food  for  both  agencies. 

One  of  the  most  learned  and  profound  judges  of  men  and  governments 
says  :  '  In  the  birth  of  nations,  the  chief  men  make  the  institutions,  but  in 
the  sequel  the  institutions  make  the  chief  men."  This  single  sentence  em 
braces  all  the  philosophy  of  the  rise  and  fall  of  free  institutions  in  the 
United  States. 

The  chief  men  of  that  day  made  the  Constitutions— State  and  Federal. 
They  were  patriots,  and  were  made  great  and  prominent  by  leading  their 
country  to  independence.  •  Of  course,  as  long  as  these  men  lasted  they  were 
the  chosen  administrators  of  the  institutions  they  had  formed.  They  could 
have  no  other  desire  or  higher  ambition  than  to  make  those  institutions  pro 
mote  the  good  of  the  people.  And,  therefore,  no  result  could  follow  but  that 
which  did  follow  :  The  American  people  rushed  to  prosperity  with  a  rapidity 
and  to  an  extent  which  was  and  must  remain  the  marvel  of  human  ex 
perience.  But  these  fathers  of  the  republic  passed  away,  and  so  next  did  the 
generation  which  was  born  in  their  day,  and  taught  by  their  immediate  ex 
amples  and  influences.  After  this  new  rulers  had  to  be  chosen,  and  the 
necessity  of  choosing  was  frequent,  according  to  our  institutions.  Every 
man  was  equally  entitled  to  be  chosen.  The  people  were  the  choosers,  and 
to  please  the  people  was  the  way  to  be  chosen.  Aspirants  soon  discovered 
that  the  majority  of  the  people  were  more  easily  pleased  by  flattery  than  by 
reason,  by  promises  than  by  admonitions.  All  men  had  passions  and  preju 
dices,  but  all  men  did  not  have  enlightened  consciences  or  informed  judg 
ments.  Therefore,  passion  and  prejudice  formed  the  more  inviting,  because 
the  more  available,  field  for  those  wrho  sought  office.  Then  means  were 
adopted  to  combine  and  make  effective  the  efforts  of  these  office-seekers. 
Parties  wrere  formed  and  caucuses  invented.  Subjects  were  proposed  and 
issues  presented  which  could  excite  the  most  passion  and  operate  upon  the 
largest  amount  of  prejudice.  Platforms  were  built,  not  to  expound  the 
Constitution,  but  to  please  the  greatest  number.  As  sectional  prejudices 
were  the  most  powerful,  so  subjects  and  issues  that  were  most  sectional  were 
preferred.  It  was  in  this  wray  that  slavery  was  brought  into  politics,  and  it 
is,  and  always  has  been,  my  firm  conviction  that  Southern  pro-slavery  polit 
ical  agitators  were  more  efficient  in  the  destruction  of  slavery  than  the 
Northern  fanatics.  The  agitation  was  settled  and  unsettled,  and  again 
settled  and  unsettled,  just  as  often  as  manipulating  party  leaders  thought 
the  question  of  settling  or  unsettling  could  be  made  available  as  a  party 
issue  in  a  Presidential  contest. 

By  this  process,  honest  men,  who  acted  from  convictions  found 
principle,  were  gradually  excluded  from  the  public  councils,  and 
offices,  State  and  Federal,  were  filled  with  mere  party  managers,  preji 
engenderers,  and  passion-panderers.    We  have  many  men  who  are  m 
but  not  one  in  five  who  deserves  to  be  known.      Such  men  were  never 
able.     They  could  be  bought  to  any  party  with   the  chance  of 
This  is  why  most  of  our  public  men  have  belonged  to  all  parties,  have  be 
bitter  aspirants  in  all,  and  have  made  earnest  harangues  on  all 
most  all  important  questions.      They  went  with  the  current  becaus. 


774  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

desired  to  ride  on  the  current.  They  could  not  afford  to  cleave  to  principles 
in  minorities.  These  men  brought  the  country  to  revolution,  have  kept  it  in 
revolution,  and  are  unable  to  get  it  out  of  revolution. 

But  the  chief  agency  of  destruction — extreme  opinions,  all  of  which  vari 
ous  kinds  I  include  in  the  generic  term  fanaticism — has  been,  from  the  begin 
ning,  enmity  to  the  Constitution.  Mutual  concession  for  the  common  good 
is  the  soul,  the  very  being,  of  the  Constitution.  It  is  the  breath  which  was 
breathed  as  life  into  it.  By  concession  alone  it  was  formed,  and  in  that 
spirit  alone  can  it  ever  be  safely  or  peacefully  administered.  But  extreme 
minds  never  concede.  They  hate  concession  and  trample  on  compromises. 
Therefore  these  extreme  minds  at  the  North  denounced  the  Constitution  as 
"a  covenant  with  hell  and  a  league  with  the  devil";  and  extreme  men  at 
the  South  denounced  the  Union  as  the  source  of  all  evils  to  the  South. 

These  men  were  much  more  numerous  at  the  North  than  at  the  South, 
but,  left  to  themselves,  they  would  have  remained  powerless  in  both  sec 
tions.  But  they  adroitly  watched  every  opportunity  to  get  control  of  the 
great  office-seeking  parties  of  the  country.  And  the  managers  of  the  parties 
corruptly  pandered  to  the  respective  extreme  opinions  to  get  their  help  in 
securing  the  offices.  The  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  furnished  the 
long-desired  occasion  to  segregate  the  sections.  The  extreme  men  of  the 
South  took  charge  of  the  Democratic  party  to  bring  about  secession.  The 
extreme  men  of  the  North  organized  and  took  charge  of  the  Republican 
party  to  destroy  or  bring  about  a  reformation  of  the  Constitution  ;  and  the 
politicians — our  so-called  great  men — were  perfectly  willing  to  be  taken 
charge  of,  if  thereby  they  could  be  placed  in  the  offices,  and  did  not  care,  on 
either  side,  one  fig  whether  slavery  was  extended  or  not  extended,  destroyed 
or  not  destroyed,  so  they  could  keep  the  offices  !  The  majority  of  the  peo 
ple  of  the  South  were  made  perfectly  crazy  with  the  idea  of  their  great  right 
to  carry  slaves  to  Kansas,  and  the  majority  of  the  Northern  people  were  made 
equally  crazy  with  the  alleged  bad  faith  of  the  aggressive  spirit  of  slavery. 
The  minority  in  each  section,  who  declared  that  this  whole  agitation  was  a 
"pandora  box  "  opened  upon  the  country,  leaving  scarcely  hope  behind, 
were  laughed  at  as  visionary.  So  fanaticism  bought  up  demagogism  with 
the  offices,  and  the  two  together  rushed  the  country  into  civil  war.  These 
are  the  chief  men  whom  our  institutions  have  produced  !  And  what  are  the 
results  ?  Instead  of  honor,  prosperity,  and  independence,  we  have  humilia 
tion,  pauperism,  and  disfranchisement ;  instead  of  a  union  of  harmony  and 
good-will,  and  the  spirit  of  concession,  we  have  a  despotic,  fragmentary 
conclave  ruling  with  Cerberian  hate.  We  have  slain  a  million  of  whites  and 
doomed  four  millions  of  heretofore  happy,  contented  blacks  to  starvation, 
barbarism,  and  death  ;  and  to  accomplish  this  work  we  have  destroyed  prop 
erty  and  expended  money  more  than  sufficient  to  have  bought  the  whole  Af 
rican  race  in  America  three  times  over,  at  open  market  value  !  And  are 
they  statesmen,  and  philanthropists,  and  patriots,  who  are  known  by  suck 
works  ?  No,  no  ;  they  are  the  double-shaped  monsters  which  the  dema 
gogue  and  the  fanatic  have  begot  by  seduction  of  the  people,  and  by  rape 
upon  the  Constitution. 

The  art  of  deceiving  the  people  so  as  to  get  their  votes  has  been  the  chief 
means  by  which  nearly  all  the  politicians,  who  have  become  prominent  dur 
ing  the  last  twenty-five  years,  have  been  enabled  to  succeed,  and  get  the 
names  and  places  of  leading  men.  This  man  Butler,  of  Massachusetts,  be 
came  known  throughout  the  country  before  the  war  almost  entirely  because 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WHITINGS.  TT". 

of  his  success,  with  the  aid  of  one  other,  also  from  that  State,  in  building 
platforms  for  his  party,  which  could  be  construed  to  suit  every  section,  every 
opinion,  and  every  prejudice.  Yet  this  man  was  not  one  whit  more  unprin 
cipled  in  political  morals,  nor  any  farther  below  the  standard  of  a  true 
statesman,  than  were  the  many  all  through  the  land  who  availed  themselves 
of  his  deceptive  work  to  get  the  offices.  He  is  as  guilty  who  uses  a  fraud,  as 
he  who  originates  it.  As  deceptions  brought  on  the  collisions  between  the 
sections,  it  is  not  at  all  wonderful  that  deceptions  prevailed  throughout  its 
progress  and  still  continue.  The  leaders  have  professed  to  desire  what  they 
did  not  intend  should  be  accomplished.  The  people  listened  to  the  profession 
and  could  not  be  made  to  see  or  believe  the  intention.  Therefore  the  people 
of  America  have  been  made  to  do,  with  energy  and  great  sacrifice,  those 
very  things  which,  of  all  others,  they  most  hate.  They  have  been  made  to 
cut  their  own  throats  under  the  belief  it  was  the  only  way  to  save  their  own 
lives  ;  to  use  force  to  preserve  a  union  of  consent ;  to  indulge  feelings  of 
hatred  and  distrust  as  the  only  means  of  preserving  harmony ;  and  now  the 
proposition  of  these  Military  Bills  is  to  trample  on  the  Constitution  as  the 
only  way  to  peace  and  safety  ;  to  disfranchise  and  humiliate  the  white  man 
as  the  only  way  to  enfranchise  and  elevate  the  black  man  ;  to  rush  into  an 
archy  as  the  only  way  to  find  security  for  person  and  for  property,  and  to 
subvert  the  Government  as  the  only  means  of  preserving  it.  The  authors 
and  defenders  of  these  Military  Bills  are  wise  like  the  daughters  of  Pelias, 
who  insisted  that  by  cutting  their  old  father  in  pieces,  they  could  renew  his 
youth  ;  and  our  people  will  prove  to  be  as  foolish  as  was  the  old  man,  who 
consented,  when  they  consent  to  these  destructive  Military  Bills  as  the  means 
of  entering  the  Union  and  of  preserving  written  Constitutions. 

Of  all  delusions  of  the  revolution,  the  greatest  was  that  of  supposing  that 
either  party  to  the  late  conflict  was  fighting  to  preserve  the  Union  under  the 
Constitution.     This  delusion  was  embraced  by  many  in  the  North  amUiot  a 
few  in  the  South.     There  has  never  really  been  a  war  to  preserve  the  Union. 
The  masses  of  the  people  North  thought  so  because  their  leaders  professed 
so.     But  the  extreme  men  of  the  North  naturally  took  charge  of  the  conduct 
of  the  war,  and  they  never  intended  it  should  end  without  a  reformation  or 
destruction  of  the   Constitution.     They  had  long  before  declared  the  old 
Constitution  to  be  a  covenant  "  with  hell  and  a  league  with  the  devil,"  and  in 
the  debate  on  the  Civil  Rights  Bill,  old  man  Stevens  confessed  that,  from  his 
youth,  he  had  longed  for  the  occurrence  of  some  great  convulsion,  under  the 
influence  of  which  the   Constitution  could  be  changed?     Is  he,  therefore, 
laboring  to  preserve  that  Constitution  which  he  has  longed  from  his  youth 
to  change— change  violently,  under  the  influence  of  convulsion?       he  pi 
tense  to  the  people,  during  the  war,  was  to  preserve  the  Union  because 
people  loved  the  Union  ;   the  purpose  of  the  pretenders  was  to 
the    Constitution    because   they   hated   the    Constitution, 
the  preservation  of  a  territorial  Union,  but  the  utter  destruction  of 
tutional  Union.     Consent  was  the  beauty  of  the  old    Jmon  ;  fc 
power  of  the  new.     The  proof  that  the  Radical  leaders  were  not  e 
when  they  professed  to  wage  the  war  to  preserve  the  1  j  nion,  is  i 
when  the  war  has  ended  they  will  not  admit  the  Union  is  preserved, 
of  them  proclaim  that  the  war  ended  too  soon  !     V  hy  ended 
cause  they  are  afraid  the  excitement  of  the  convulsion  wi 
its  influence,  they  can  complete  the  long  desired  work   of  defl 
forming  the  Constitution.     If  the  people  of  the  North  could  only  be  mad 


*776  SENATOR  R   II.  IIILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

to  see  the  clearest  truth  of  the  revolution,  to-wit :  that  their  leaders  have 
used  them  to  destroy  the  Constitution  by  appealing  to  their  love  of  the 
Union,  all  would  be  safe. 

The  great  difficulty,  heretofore,  has  been  that  patriotic,  conserva 
tive  men  in  both  sections  have  been  unable  to  make  the  people  of 
either  section  see  that  the  extreme  men  of  the  two  sections  had  a 
common  end.  The  people  could  not  see  this,  because  these  extreme 
men  seemed  to  be  fighting  each  other,  when,  in  truth,  both  were 
fighting  the  Union.  The  extreme  men  saw  that  love  of  the  Union 
was  the  only  feeling  with  the  people  of  either  section,  which  was 
or  could  be  made  stronger  than  the  love  of  section.  Pro-slavery  was 
the  great  question  which  it  was  thought  could  concentrate  all  feeling  at  the 
South,  and,  therefore,  the  extreme  men  assumed  to  be  the  peculiar  exclusive 
friends  of  slavery,  and  all  men  at  the  North  were  declared  to  be  its  enemies, 
and  all  the  South  who  differed  with  them  were  denounced  as  traitors  to  their 
section.  Anti-slavery  was  the  great  feeling  at  the  North,  and  there  the  ex 
treme  men  assumed  to  be  the  only  true  defenders  of  the  North  from 
the  wild  aggressive  spirit  of  slavery,  which  was  represented  as  seeking,  with 
the  master's  lash,  to  control  the  whole  country.  The  people  of  both  sec 
tions  listened  until  they  believed,  and  sent  the  extreme  men  in  stronger  and 
stronger  force  to  Washington,  who  made  the  national  capital  but  a  theater 
for  sectional  bullies  ;  who  reduced  all  eloquence  to  sectional  billingsgate,  and 
whose  only  statesmanship  consisted  in  engendering  sectional  hate.  The  nat 
ural  result  was  war,  but  a  sectional  war,  and  a  war  in  which  the  triumph 
of  either  party  was  the  triumph  of  an  enemy  to  the  Union  under  the  Con 
stitution.  And  this  is  the  only  war  which  has  been  waged,  and  this  is  the 
only  final  triumph  which  will  be  achieved  if  the  people  do  not  open  their  eyes 
in  both  sections  and  make  a  united  war  against  their  common  enemy — these 
extreme  men.  It  was  with  these  views  that  I  so  earnestly  begged  the  South 
in  1860  not  to  secede,  because  she  would  thereby  be  only  furthering  the  pur 
pose  of  the  common  enemy  of  the  South  and  the  Constitution — would  thereby 
throw  all  the  power  of  the  Union  into  the  hands  of  that  common  enemy, 
which  power  would  be  used,  first  to  crush  the  South,  and  then  to  destroy  the 
Constitution.  It  was  because  of  these  convictions  I  went  with  my  section, 
and  never  felt  I  made  war  on  the  Union,  although  I  saw  the  Union  was 
being  crushed  between  two  antagonistic  forces.  And  it  was  because  of  these 
convictions  I  was  willing  every  hour  of  the  struggle  to  stop  the  fight  and  ne 
gotiate,  feeling  that,  if  either  party  yielded  to  arms,  common  equal  confeder 
ation  would  be  impossible.  But  we  never  could  negotiate,  for  the  plain 
reason  that  in  that  way  the  Union  might  be  preserved,  and  this  the  leaders 
of  the  North  never  intended  to  permit.  They  determined  to  continue  the 
convulsion  to  enable  them  to  destroy  all  hope  of  Constitutional  Union,  and 
now  they  fear  the  war  has  ended  too  soon  to  enable  them  fully  to  accomplish 
their  work.  It  was  therefor  I  urged  the  South  never  to  yield,  but  to  fight 
to  extermination  rather  than  be  subjugated,  for  subjugation  of  either  section 
was  the  greatest  possible  obstacle  to  future  peace  and  Union,  as  well  as  to 
honor  and  independence,  for  either  section.  But  slavery  has  been  destroyed, 
and  divisions  between  the  extreme  men  of  the  North  and  South  are  no 
longer  promotive  of  the  common  end.  The  common  end  was,  not  to  pre 
serve  or  destroy  slavery,  but  the  common  end  was  to  destroy  a  Constitution 
founded  in  mutual  concession  for  the  common  good,  and  to  which  extreme 
opinion  is  and  must  be  enmity.  Slavery  was  only  used  as  an  exciting  sectional 


SIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  777 

means  to  accomplish  the  work.  The  pretense  for  difference  between  the  ex- 
,remes  has  been  removed,  but  the  common  purpose  remains.  And  what  is 
the  result?  hese  extremes  are  getting  together.  I  believed  and  declared 
in  advance  they  would  unite.  It  is  natural  and  logical  that  they  should 
unite.  When  division  promoted  a  common  end,  it  was  natural  to  divide  •  but 
when  union  can  promote  that  same  common  end,  it  is  natural  consistent  to 
unite  Stunner  and  Stevens,  and  Brown  and  Holden,  are  not  accidents  nor 
are  they  original  characters.  They  have  figured  in  all  mad  revolutions  from 
the  fall  of  Greece  and  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  to  the  present  day 
Such  men  have  ever  been  treacherous  to  principle,  faithless  to  trusts,  and  de 
ceived  in  profession,  but  always  consistent— perfectly  consistent— in  the 
common  end  of  destruction  to  government.  And,  as  these  Military  Bills  have 
no  character  but  opposition  to  all  the  provisions  and  principles  of  the  'Con 
stitution,  and  can  have  no  end  but  its  utter  and  final  destruction,  such  men, 
and  all  their  ilk  in  both  sections,  will  unite  in  their  support. 

The  unscrupulous  portion  of  the  secession  leaders— those  who  never 
acted  from  conviction  of  right— and  the  Northern  Radicals  are  making 
friends  and  shaking  hands,  like  Pilot  and  Herod,  for  the  final  crucifixion  of 
the  Constitution.  Can  it  be,  can  it  possibly  be,  that  the  American  people, 
like  an  inflamed  foolish  rabble,  will  still  cry,  crucify  him,  crucify  him  ;  give 
us  Barabbas  ;  give  us  Barabbas — give  us  anarchy,  give  us  anarchy  ! 

Now,  then,  the  duty  of  all  patriots  is  plain.  The  enemies  of  the  country 
are  united.  ^  Their  platform  is  these  Military  Bills.  Let  the  friends  of  the 
country  unite.  Let  our  platform  be  the  Constitution.  There  is  no  longer 
any  excuse  to  be  deceived.  If  we  want  peace,  if  we  want  safety,  if  we  want 
liberty,  if  we  want  prosperity,  if  we  want  hope  for  our  children,  if  we  want 
Union,  if  we  want  written  Constitutions,  we  must  unite — all  patriots,  every 
where,  must  unite.  We  must  crush  out  these  real  authors  of  all  our  sorrows  ; 
we  must  declare  that  the  will  of  two-thirds  of  a  fragmentary  conclave  of 
Congressional  members  is  not,  and  shall  not  be  the  supreme  law  of  the  land, 
but  that  the  Constitution  and  the  laws  passed  in  pursuance  thereof  are,  and 
shall  be,  the  only  supreme  law  for  the  freemen  of  America. 

For  the  present,  at  least,  these  Notes  will  end.  It  was  my  original  purpose 
to  apply  the  reasoning  I  have  employed  to  the  history  of  former  revolutions, 
for  the  purpose  of  showing  that  the  monsters  of  revolution  in  all  ages  have 
acted  in  like  spirit,  with  like  purposes,  and  with  like  treachery  as  those  who 
dominate  in  this  country  and  seek  to  overturn  our  institutions ;  and  also  the 
impossibility,  according  to  unbroken  human  experience,  of  forcing,  by  statute, 
the  black  race  and  the  white  race  to  equality  in  government.  And  to  show 
that  all  the  consequences  which  I  have  declared  will  result  from  the 
efforts  now  being  made  to  subvert  the  government  by  force  and  fraud,  have 
resulted — invariably  resulted — from  similar  causes  in  all  the  past. 

But  those  who  can  believe  that  good,  and  not  evil,  will  come  of  violating 
our  Constitution,  of  trampling  upon  our  laws,  of  disregarding  plighted  faith, 
of  degrading  the  white  race,  of  fomenting  hatreds  between  different  races, 
and  of  keeping  up  continual  sectional  strife,  would  not  hear  reason  from  the 
living  or  the  dead  !  All  such  will  take  an  oath  to  support  the  Constitution 
when  they  register,  and  then  violate  the  Constitution  and  that  oath  by  voting 
"  for  a  convention,"  and  feel  no  compunctions.  But  all  who  love  the  law 
and  its  safety,  the  truth  and  its  rewards,  the  country  and  its  peace,  our 
children  and  their  prosperity,  and  liberty  and  its  guarantees,  wi  register 
and  vote  against  a  convention,  and  never  cease  to  resist,  in  all  forms  and  on 


778  SENATOR  P.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

all  occasions,  this  sum  of  American  oppression,  this  embodiment  of  American 
treason,  this  aggregate  of  American  dangers,  these  Military  Bills  enacted  to 
keep  their  authors  in  power. 

I  beg  to  express,  in  this  manner,  my  grateful  acknowledgment  of  the 
many  warm  and  earnest  expressions  of  appreciative  approval  which  I  am 
daily  receiving  of  my  humble  efforts  to  wake  my  countrymen  to  their 
dangers  and  their  duty.  I  cannot  write  a  personal  answer  to  each  one,  but 
I  feel  none  the  less  thankful  for  such  comforting  encouragement. 

I  have  sought  only  to  write  the  truth,  only  to  discharge  a  duty,  only  to 
serve  the  country,  but  I  love,  and  hope  I  shall  ever  love,  the  approval  of  the 
wise  and  the  applause  of  the  good. 

NUMBER    FIFTEEN. 

Since  the  publication  of  the  last  Note,  two  events  have  occurred  which 
may  be  properly  noticed  :  1.  The  so-called  Congress  has  assembled  and 
passed,  by  the  usual  process,  another  Supplementary  Military  Bill.  2.  Ex- 
Governor  Joseph  E.  Brown  has  published  what  he  calls  a  review  of  the 
"  Notes  on  the  Situation." 

I  propose,  first,  to  notice  Governor  Brown's  articles,  and,  then,  to  pass  to 
the  Bill  of  the  fragmentary  Congress,  a  proper  analysis  of  which  is,  in  my 
judgment,  exceedingly  important. 

The  plan  of  argument  adopted  by  Governor  Brown  is  wholly  unknown 
to  any  established  method  of  ascertaining  truth,  and  has  never  been  practiced 
by  any  respectable  debater  who  desired  to  promote  the  right.  It  is  a  favor 
ite  plan,  however,  in  all  times  of  unhealthy  political  excitement  with  those 
who  seek  to  obtain  place  or  favor  by  pandering  to  the  passions  and  mislead 
ing  the  judgment  of  the  ignorant  multitude. 

The  points  which  I  sought  by  the  "Notes  "to  establish  were,  among 
others  : 

1.  That  the  Military  Bills  were^contrary  to  the  Constitution,  and  destruc 
tive  of  all  the  principles  and  guarantees  of  free  government  in  America. 

2.  That  they  were  contrary  to  every  code  of  civilized  nations,  and  infa 
mous  bad  faith  to  the  terms  of  the  fight  and  the  conditions  of  surrender. 

3.  That  the  reasons  urged  to  justify  these  measures — such  as  a  desire  to 
restore  the  Union,  elevate  the  black  race,  secure  guarantees  of  future  peace, 
etc.,  etc.,  were  utterly  untrue,  inconsistent,  and  insidious — mere  pretexts  to 
cover  the  only  real  purpose,  which  was  to  perpetuate  the  power  of  the  Radi 
cal  part}^. 

4.  That  the  acceptance  of  the  plan  proposed  by  these  bills  could  only 
result  in  a  permanent  subversion  of  the  Government,  in  the  degradation  of 
the   people,  in  a  long  and  bloody  reign  of  anarchy,  with  social,  civil,  and 
agrarian  wars,  resulting,  after  unparalleled  horrors,  in   despotism  for  the 
whites  in  the  whole  United  States,  and  in  the  extermination,  exclusion,  or 
political  re-enslavement  of  the  African  race. 

5.  That  the  only  remedy  for  these  evils,  both  threatened  and  existing, 
was  a  speedy  return,  by  the  people  of  all  sections,  to  the  Constitution,  and  a 
vigorous  enforcement  of  its  remedies  against  all  its  violators. 

These  are  the  great,  all-absorbing,  leading  questions  that  I  discussed, 
and  sought  to  establish  by  argument,  by  precedents,  by  authorities,  and  by 
history,  and  sought  to  enforce  by  appeals  to  the  good  and  by  denunciation 
of  the  wicked. 


JIIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  779 

And  how  wonderfully  important  are  these  great  questions  to  every  crea 
ture  of  every  race  on  the  continent,  either  living  Or  yet  to  live  !  And  how 
imperative  is  the  duty  of  every  man  who  enters  the  discussion  to  see  to  it 
that  his  whole  powers  be  employed  to  promote  their  correct  and  proper 
solution  And  how  does  this  ex-Governor-so  proud  of  having  been  so  of  ten 
chosen  by  the  people— come  to  the  review  of  these  questions?  Reader 
anxious  reader,  how  ? 

1.  By  writing  my  biography  !     Well,  suppose  I  am  as  unimportant  and 
li?^012ry  aS       6  Governor  desires  me  to  be,  does  that  make  the  Militaru 
Mills  Constitutional?     Would  it  negative  a  single  position  urged  in  the 
argument  ? 

2.  Next  he  devotes  three-fourths  of  the  balance  of  his  review  to  show 
that  I  have  often  been  inconsistent  in  my  life,  and  am  inconsistent  in  the 
argument  presented  in  the  "  Notes  "  and  in  the  Atlanta  speech. 

Well,  suppose  he  is  right ;  suppose  I  have  contradicted  myself  in 
every  line,  and  turned  a  somersault  every  hour  in  my  life,  would  all  that 
prove  a  right  in  Congress  to  violate  the  pledged  faith  of  the  nation,  to  sub 
vert  the  Federal  Government,  to  abrogate  States,  and  deny  to  freemen  trial 
by  jury  and  all  the  other  glorious  provisions  of  the  Bill  of  Rights  incorpo 
rated  in  the  Constitution  ? 

3.  Then  he  attacks  my  motives,  and  says  my  only  desire  is  to  get  office, 
and  my  only  real  objection  to  the  plan  of  reconstruction  is  that  I  am  disfran 
chised  by  it.     Well,  suppose  this  is  all  true  ;  will  that  justify  the  Radical 
party  in  desecrating  the  Constitution  to  perpetuate  a  new  party  in  power? 
Will  that  lessen  the  horrors  of  anarchy,  or  soften  the  fetters  of  despotism 
to  us  and  our  children  ? 

Some,  doubtless,  would  excuse  me  if  I  were  to  write,  in  turn,  the  Gov 
ernor's  biography.  Some,  indeed,  may  expect  it  and  desire  to  relish  the  pro 
duction.  But  I  cannot  consent,  in  a  crisis  like  this,  so  to  lose  my  sense  of 
self-respect  nor  to  soil  white  paper.  I  can  neither  retaliate,  however  tempt 
ing  the  materials  under  proper  circumstances  ;  nor  can  I,  under  any  circum 
stances,  imitate  the  plan  and  style  of  his  so-called  argument.  I  will  not 
myself  be  diverted,  nor,  if  I  can  prevent  it,  will  I  permit  the  public  mind  to  be 
diverted,  from  the  vital  and  momentous  issues  now  pressing  us  for  solution. 

If  our  liberties  are  to  perish  ;  if  our  Constitution  is  to  be  abandoned  ;  if 
a  corrupt  Radical  will  is  to  be  our  only  law,  and  a  proscribing  Radical  oli 
garchy  our  only  government :  what  can  honest  men  care  for  office,  or  decent 
men  for  place,  or  sensible  men  for  biographies  !  Who  cares  to  boast  of  the 
number  of  times  he  has  been  the  chosen  leader  of  the  people,  if  he  lead  them 
to  ruin  ?  Who  should  desire  to  be  known  to  posterity  as  being  among  those 
who  destroy 
nothing  but 
far  better,  t 
were  hanged  to  our  necks  and  we  be  cast  into  the  sea  ! 

The  man  who  can  care  for  himself  while  his  country  is  perishing  ;  who 
hunts  an  office  while  liberty  is  dying  ;  who  advises  his  people  to  accept  dis 
honor  because  reckless  power  demands  it  ;  who  joins,  with  intent  to  aid  a 
party  seeking  to  perpetuate  its  power  by  disfranchising  intelligence  and 
enfranchising  ignorance,  in  violation  of  the  written  Constitution  ;  who  would 
accept  an  office  by  the  votes  of  the  negro  race,  with  threats  to  oppres 
rob  the  white  race  ;  who  praises  the  bayonet  that  pierces  the  Constitution, 
and  approves  the  arbitrary  will  which  strikes  down  the  supremacy  of 


780  SENATOR  B.  If.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA 

law  ;  such  a  man  would  have  administered  the  hemlock  to  Socrates  because 
the  mob  desired  it  ;  would  have  executed  Sidney  because  power  decreed  it ; 
and  esteemed  Barabbas  honored  above  the  Saviour  because  the  rabble,  by 
overwhelming  majority,  elected  him  !  Such  a  man  could  stand  on  the  bleed 
ing  corpse  of  the  Constitution  and,  amid  its  death-throes,  flatter  its  mur 
derers  for  favor  ! 

For  myself,  my  resolution  is  taken,  my  course  is  fixed.  I  feel  that  my 
views  are  correct.  I  trust  I  may  be  mistaken.  I  believe  unparalleled  evils 
impend,  and  will  come  upon  us — all  of  us — unless  the  people  awake.  I  am 
willing  to  be  decreed  a  fool,  if  thereby  the  evils  can  be  averted.  I  am  will 
ing  that  my  worst  enemy  shall  be  covered  with  glory — shall  have  an  imper 
ishable  monument  lifting  its  summit  till  it  catch  perpetual  sunlight,  if  his 
counsel  shall  avert  the  evils.  I  deplore  now,  as  never  before,  the  feebleness 
of  my  powers.  But  with  an  absolute  consciousness  in  my  heart,  that  I  have 
no  purpose  but  to  aid  in  rescuing,  if  they  can  be  rescued,  the  Constitution 
from  further  desecration,  the  Government  from  subversion,  the  country 
from  anarchy,  and  all  sections,  races,  and  colors  from  ruin,  I  cannot  be 
alarmed  by  the  threats  of  power,  nor  tempted  by  the  offices  of  usurpers,  nor 
disturbed  by  the  slanders  of  the  mean,  the  designing  or  the  jealous.  .  My 
humble  letters  and  speeches,  however  feeble,  are  too  many,  too  plain,  and 
too  earnest  to  be  perverted  by  mutilated  quotations.  Always  I  besought 
our  people  not  to  provoke  war,  not  to  abandon  the  Constitution,  but  if  war 
must  come,  let  it  find  them  battling  for  their  rights  in  the  Union  and  under 
the  Flag.  But  when  extreme  men  in  both  sections  forced  a  sectional  war, 
and  it  was  section  against  section,  as  I  believe,  every  impulse  of  my  heart, 
and  every  act  of  my  life  was  with  and  for  my  own  people  ;  and  I  despise 
the  man  who,  looking  from  my  standpoint,  could  condemn  me.  But  the 
sectional  war  is  over,  and  yet  extreme  men  are  still  refusing  to  let  the  Union 
be  preserved,  and  still  insist  on  keeping  alive  hatred  and  strife  and  distrust. 
Their  conduct  will  breed  a  hundred  wars.  I  earnestly  desire  to  aid  in  avert 
ing  wars,  by  exposing  and  defeating  their  wicked  schemes  against  the  Con 
stitution  ;  but  if  war  must  come,  I  beg,  now  as  in  the  beginning,  that  our 
people  will  find  and  keep  their  only  true  place  in  the  fight  in  the  Union, 
under  the  Flag  and  for  the  Constitution.  And  I  plead  for  this  the  more 
earnestly  for  the  future,  since  our  people  are  able  to  see  the  evils  which  be 
fell  them  by  pursuing  the  contrary  course  in  the  past.  From  this  great 
purpose  I  can  neither  be  driven  nor  seduced.  And  while  I  scorn  the  men 
who,  in  face  of  the  fact  that  their  counsels  have  always  misled  the  people 
heretofore,  still  thrust  themselves  forward  as  the  only  worthy  advisers,  and 
not  ashamed  of  having  guided  the  people  to  ruin,  still  insist  upon  urging 
them  to  dishonor  ;  yet  I  have  no  time  or  spirit  to  enter  into  mere  personal 
controversies.  Whatever  may  have  been  a  man's  errors  or  mistakes  in  the 
past,  I  am  willing  to  forget  them  and  love  him  as  a  brother,  if  he  only 
will  now  help  to  save  the  manhood  of  our  people  and  the  Constitution  of 
our  country.  If  our  country  can  be  saved,  in  that  fact  alone  I  shall  find  re 
ward  enough.  If  the  country  must  be  lost,  I  pray  that  I  and  mine  may  be 
crushed  by  its  fall,  and  may  sleep,  forgotten,  beneath  its  wreck  rather  than 
live  to  prey  on  its  carcass  and  be  honored  by  its  destroyers. 

Some  learned  critics  tell  us  that  a  writer's  heart  can  always  be  discovered 
in  his  writings  in  spite  even  of  any  effort  at  concealment.  I  believe  this  is 
true,  and  I  care  not  what  enemies  may  say,  or  troubled  apostles  may  write, 
I  know  my  heart  is  in  what  I  write,  and  I  know  every  sensible  man  will 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WHITINGS.  781 

see  it,  and  every  honest  man  will  admit  it,  and  every  true  man  will  ap 
prove  it. 

There  are  many  who  know  I  was  drawn  into  politics  in  1855,  contrary  to 
all  the  plans  of  my  life,  only  to  aid  in  averting  evils  which  I  sincerely  be 
lieved  would  result  from  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise.  I  had 
again  made  up  my  mind  to  ignore  politics.  But  I  desired  to  have  peace 
myself  and  see  the  country  have  peace.  When  these  Military  Bills  passed 
I  desired  fully  to  comprehend  thorn — in  meaning,  purpose,  and  tendency.  I 
saw — have  no  doubt  I  saw — as  I  have  announced,  that  every  interest*  and 
all  hope  was  destroyed  and  blighted,  if  these  Bills  succeeded.  Yet  I  saw 
many  honest,  good  men  accepting  them.  I  saw  they  were  accepting  them 
from  the  most  laudable  notions.  They  were  tired,  despondent,  and  anxious 
for  peace.  They  were  told  these  measures  would  bring  peace.  I  believe 
they  were  deceived — fearfulh-  deceived.  I  believe  they  were  leaping  into 
the  fire  to  escape  the  burning;  sailing  into  anarchy  to  find  safety;  com 
mitting  suicide  to  end  trouble.  I  became  painfully  convinced  that  the 
Military  Bills  were  in  violation  of  the  Constitution  ;  of  the  laws  of  nations  ; 
of  the  terms  of  surrender  ;  and  of  every  hope  of  peace  and  union. 

With  such  views  silence  would  have  been  a  crime.  My  purpose  was  to 
show  these  conclusions  by  argument,  and  to  accompany  the  argument  with 
strong  but  logical  warnings  to  the  mistaken,  and  with  denunciations  of  the 
designing.  I  neither  felt  nor  intend  mere  personal  unkindness  to  any  living 
thing.  So  far  from  deprecating  replies  I  coveted  them.  I  earnestly  desired 
to  see  if  I  could  be  wrong, — determined,  if  convinced,  frankly  to  admit  it.  I 
would  love  the  man  who  could  show  the  argument  unsound.  The  Radical 
press — anonymous  scribblers,  and  the  many  wounded,  have  let  loose  all 
their  wrath  upon  me,  but  have  not  touched  the  argument.  Lastly  the  ex- 
Governor  entered  the  lists  with  a  formal  review.  But  he  has  scarcely  said 
anything  but  rehash  editorials.  I  have  not  seen  his  sixth  article,  but  in  all 
the  others  I  have  been  unable  to  find  that  he  has  even  taken  issue  on  the 
very  first  point  in  the  discussion.  He  has  not  even  said  whether,  in  his 
opinion,  the  Military  Bills  are  Constitutional.  Has  he  ever  said  it?  Will 
he  ever  say  it  ?  Dare  he  put  himself  on  record  as  saying  either  that  the 
bills  are  Constitutional  or  un-Constitutional  ?  They  must  be  one  or  the 
other.  Stupid  followers  of  this  political  Rabbi,  anxious  inquirers  for  peace 
and  safety,  will  you  make  him  tell  you  his  opinion  on  this  point  ? 

Instead   of  argument    I  find   my   insignificant   self  most  untruthfully 
assailed  ;  quotations  made  from  utterances  I  have  never  spoken  ;  sentiments 
ascribed  to  me  at  war  with  my  whole  life  and  nature  ;  my  sentences  cut  in 
twain  ;  different  sentences  taken  from  their  contexts  ;  and  words  changed 
and  added  so  as  to  reverse  my  meaning.     For  the  sake  of  truth  I  am  mort 
fied,  but  for  myself  not  at  all  disturbed  by  such  work.     Will  not  editors, 
scribblers,  and  reviewers  all  see  that  in  such  writings  they  are  only  reveal 
ing  their  hearts,  their  purposes  ?     Do  they  not  perceive  that  in  every 
they  justify  my  denunciations  and  are  making  startling  confessions 
kind  that  they* are  deliberately  stabbing  the  vitah  of  liberty  in  the  name 
equality  ;  are  subverting  the  Government  under  hypocritical  preter 
loyalty,  and  are  destroying  the  Constitution  under  cover  of 
port  it  ? 

I  desire  only  to  warn-not  to  threaten  ;  with  the  kindest  motives  ea 
estly  to  arouse  and  not  simply  to  denounce.     And  in  this  spirit  1 
what  I  believe,  what  I  am  prepared  to  demonstrate  with  the  most 


782  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

argument,  that  these  bills  are  not  only  unconstitutional  and  illegal,  but  they 
embody  crimes — high  crimes — against  "  the  good  order,  peace,  and  dignity 
of  the  State,"  and  all  of  the  States — crimes  against  the  dead,  against  the 
living,  and  against  coming  millions  ;  crimes  compared  with  which  the  con 
spiracy  of  Catiline  was  respectable,  and  the  treason  of  Arnold  was  insignifi 
cant  and  harmless  ! 

How,  with  such  conviction,  can  I  turn  aside  for  a  mere  personal  contro 
versy  ?  I  scorn  such  work. 

But  Governor  Brown  has  made  some  statements  and  disclosures  which 
I  think  will  enable  the  people  still  more  clearly  to  see  the  truth  of  all  I  have 
said  touching  these  Military  Bills  and  the  purposes  of  the  Radical  party, 
and  these  I  shall  deem  it  my  duty  briefly  to  notice. 

NUMBER    SIXTEEN. 

So  far  from  feeling  any  desire  to  do  injustice  to  Governor  Brown,  I  have 
examined  anxiously  for  something  by  which  to  explain  his  singular  reason 
ing,  and  still  more  singular  conduct.  He  advocates  doctrines  and  announces 
views  which  are  denounced  by  the  most  respectable  writers  as  "  infamous," 
and  "  inhuman,"  and  "  contrary  to  all  reason  and  justice."  Yet  he  announces 
such  views  with  frequent  readiness  and  against  his  own  people.  His  writ 
ings  exhibit  no  familiarity  with  history,  or  standard  authors,  or  great  princi 
ples,  and  he  may  not  know  the  ground  he  is  treading  on.  Yet  he  has  a  natu 
ral  vigor  of  intellect  which  alone  ought  to  protect  him.  So  he  resorts  to  ar 
guments  which  even  ignorance  ought  to  see  are  unsound.  To  illustrate  my 
meaning  with  a  few  examples  : 

1.  He  twits  us  for  opposing  the  Convention  called  by  Congress  because, 
as  is  admitted  by  its  authors,  it  is  unconstitutional,  after  submitting  to  a  Con 
vention  called  by  the  President,  which  he  alleges  was  equally  unconstitutional. 
The  answer  is  so  plain  as  to  render  the  position  ridiculous.     Even  supposing 
our  people  did  submit  to  one  unconstitutional  exaction,  is  that  a  reason  why 
they  should  submit  to  another?     But  the  plans  are  wholly   unlike.     The 
President  did  not  qualify  or  disqualify  voters  contrary  to  the  laws  of  the 
State.     He  called  on  the  voters  qualified  by  the  State  to  adopt  a  Constitu 
tion  for  themselves  through  their  own  delegates.     He  told  them  what,  in  his 
opinion,  were  the  issues  settled  by  the  war  and  terms  of  the  fight,  and  ad 
vised  them  to  conform  to  them.     He  says  he  intended  this  only  as  advisory. 
Any  power — even  Russia  or  India — might  propose  to  the  qualified  voters  of 
any  State,  through  their  proper  officers,  the  propriety  of  holiding  a  convention. 
If  the  qualified  voters  in  the  forms  prescribed  by  their  existing  fundamental 
law  adopt  the   proposition,  it  becomes  their  own.     Is  this  the  plan  of  Con 
gress  ?     Existing  governments  are  set  aside,  old  electors  are  disfranchised, 
new  voters  are  qualified  and  ordered  to  form  Constitutions  to  suit  a  set  of 
men  who  are  never  to  live   under  them.     And  force  and  fraud  are  actually 
employed,  and  confiscation  and  further  oppression  threatened,  to  compel 
compliance.     Could  a  fair  mind  find  resemblance  in  these  plans  ?     Other 
differences  are  equally  striking,  but  I  will  not  notice  them. 

2.  So  Governor  Brown  says  we,   as  I  wrote,  "promptly  and  cheerfully 
yielded  slavery,"  and,   therefore,   why  object  to  yielding  our  franchises  ? 
Well,  I  answer,  suppose  we  did  give  up  property,  is  that  a  reason  why  we 
should  yield  honor  also?     Would  a  magnanimous  people  demand  it?     Do 
they  offer  us  back  the  property    which  they  say  we   illegally  yielded  to 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  783 

them,  and,  in  lieu  thereof,  demand  our  franchise  ?  No  ;  they  keep  the  first 
and  demand  that  we  yield  also  the  second  !— a  meanness  of  which  no 
highway  robber  was  ever  guilty  !  But  Governor  Brown  thinks  as  we 
yielded  property,  we  ought  readily  to  yield,  what  he  seems  to  cons'ider  all 
lesser  things.  In  my  opinion,  it  was  better  to  yield  property  than  honor  • 
and  better  to  give  up  slavery  than  permit  to  be  governed  by  the  negro  race* 
Of  a  people,  who  promptly  and  cheerfully  yielded  so  much  to  show  good 
faith  in  submitting  to  Union,  no  honorable  people  would  exact  more.  What 
a  singular  argument— because  we  yielded  one  right,  therefore  we  are  bound 
to  yield  all !  True,  the  spirit  of  yielding  generally  begets  a  spirit  of  exact 
ing.  Let  our  people  remember  this. 

3.  So  he  argues  it  is  inconsistent  to  charge  perjury  in  supporting  the  Mil 
itary  Bills,  after  having  supported  the  conscript  bill  and  divers  other  mc:i>- 
ures  which  he  and  others  said  were  unconstitutional?     But  did  I  not  draw 
broadly  the  distinction  between  supporting  measures  of  merely  doubtful  con 
struction  and  measures  of  admitted  unconstitutionality.     The  authors  of  the 
Military  Bills  admit  they  are  not  authorized  by  the  Constitution,  and  even 
Governor  Brown  will  not  say  they  are  Constitutional.     Yet  he  and  they  ad 
vise  our  people  to  carry  out  these  unconstitutional  bills  under  oath  to  support 
the  Constitution. 

4.  But  it  is  Governor  Brown's  doctrine  (as  it  is  certainly  his  argument), 
that  if  a  man  swears  falsely  once  he  ought  to  do  so  again.     It  is  upon  this 
theory  that  he  feels  justified,  after  having  helped  to  pull  down  the  Union,  and 
then  the  Confederacy,  now  insist  upon  pulling  down  our  State  governments 
and  the  white  race. 

He  says  I  advise  the  people  to  renew  the  fight !  Renew !  Did  I  use 
that  word  ?  That  could  only  mean  the  secession  fight.  "What  a  dark  motive 
is  here  revealed  !  Yet  all  I  have  written  is  directly  to  the  contrary  ;  and 
the  very  sentence  which  he  cuts  in  two  to  get  his  idea  says,  "  Do  not  talk  or 
think  of  secession  or  disunion,  but  come  up  to  the  good  old  platform  of  our 
fathers — the  Constitution."  Is  Governor  Brown  opposed  to  fighting  for  the 
Constitution  "if  need  be?"  I  suppose  he  is — he  always  has  been :  his  record 
is  against  the  Constitution  and  that  is  precisely  why  he  is  helping  the  Radi 
cals.  He  knoics  they  are  destroying  the  Constitution. 

5.  Governor  Brown  warns  the  poor  people  that  I  am  not  only  opposed 
to  extending  suffrage  to  the  negro,  but  am  in  favor  of  taking  it  from  the 
poor  whites  !    And  is  it  not  the  very  purpose  of  every  note  I  have  written  to 
preserve  our  existing  State  Constitution?     And  will  preserving  that  take  suf 
frage  from  the  poor  whites  ?  Poor  man  !  Poor  thing  !   Yet  not  so  poor,  either ! 

6.  He  next  seeks  to  impair  the  effect  of  my  humble  efforts  with  the 
Northern  people  by  telling  them  I  advocated  a  war  to  burn  their  cities  and 
take  them  in  the  Confederacy  as  "hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  watt-r, 

'etc."    He  pretends  to  quote  from  some  Savannah  speech.    I  made  no  speed 
in  Savannah  at  the  time  referred  to  except  to  a  serenading  party  the 
night  I  was  in  the  city— a  few  minutes  before  leaving.     I  never 
word  of  the  speech— never  saw  a  report  of  it.     I  do  not  know  what  I  said 
or  what  was  reported,  but  I  do  know  I  never  spoke  or  cutiM-taim-d  Mich  id< 
as  Governor  Brown  has  represented  with  the  meaning  he  has  given  the 
I  do  not  remember  my  sentiments  at  that  period  of  our  history, 
anxious  to  avert  war."   I  was  especially  anxious  that  our  people  shoulc 
begin  it,  nor  provoke  it  ;  and  one  of  the  chief  obstacles  in  the  way  of  keepi 

was  this  very  man  Brown  who,  Governor,  was  at  that  time  seizing 


the 


peace  was  tnis  very 


784  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

Northern  vessels  in  the  port  of  Savannah,  issuing  inflammatory  appeals,  and 
doing  all  he  could  with  the  executive  power  of  the  State  to  provoke  war. 
The  proof  that  I  was  earnestly  opposed  even  to  fire  on  Sumter  is  of  the 
highest  character.  But  if  war  was  forced  on  us  by  the  North  I  desired  our 
people  to  meet  it  like  men  conscious  of  right  motives,  and  I  frequently,  at 
that  day,  gave  the  opinion  that  slavery  would  not  be  an  elternent  of  weak 
ness  but  of  strength  in  the  war,  and  that  a  slave-holding  people  were  always 
powerful  in  a  war. 

While  I  have  always  endeavored  to  be  true  to  our  people,  in  what  I 
believed  their  rights  at  the  time,  it  is  a  singular  phase  of  evolution  that 
this  man  Brown  should  be  a  witness  against  me  with  any  portion  of  the 
Northern  people  who  really  love  the  Union  under  the  Constitution.  True, 
"a  fellow  feeling  makes  us  wondrous  kind,"  and,  therefore,  he  may  be 
esteemed  far  above  me  by  the  Northern  Radicals ;  for  he,  like  them,  has 
been  always  against  the  Constitutional  Union  of  the  States,  and  I  have  no 
faith  whatever  in  him  or  them.  The  people  (I  pray  before  it  is  too  late) 
will  one  day  discover  very  plainly  why  these  men,  who,  so  late,  were  so 
fierce  against  each  other,  have  now  linked  themselves  so  lovingly  together. 
Like  Sin  and  Satan,  they  have  discovered  their  affinity  for  each  other  in  their 
common  hatred  to  the  Constitution,  and  at  once  they  sink  "  in  melting  mood 
Avith  honeyed  phrase"  into  each  other's  arms  to  beget  its  death! 

But  the  Governor  knows  that  his  arguments  are  unsound,  and  he  seems 
to  think  that  all  articles  written  for  political  effect  are,  of  course,  "  intended 
to  mislead  and  deceive."  Applying  his  own  rule  to  himself,  he  may  feel 
justified.  This  idea  of  political  morals  was  but  too  common  in  party  days — 
in  the  very  worst  of  which  days  the  Governor  rose  and  flourished,  and  by 
using  with  effect  this  very  rule.  Many  have  so  become  prominent  in  the 
corrupt  days  of  party  availability,  like  sores  which  swell  from  the  surface  of 
the  human  body  where  the  blood  is  impure.  I  fear  too  many  have  become 
running  sores  which  can  never  be  healed  until  the  life  of  the  nation  is  ex 
hausted,  and  sores  and  liberty  disappear  together. 

Pardon  me,  kind  reader ;  but  I  thought  it  best,  as  illustrative  of  their 
character,  to  notice  thus  much  which  may  be  called  the  Governor's  argu 
ment,  in  contradistinction  to  his  personal  allusions,  which  I  have  declined 
to  notice.  I  will  next  notice  some  disclosures  which  he  made,  which,  if  not 
authoritative  for  his  party,  are,  at  least,  very  significant. 

NUMBER    SEVENTEEN. 

No  nation  or  people  ever  realized,  during  the  descent,  how  rapidly  they 
were  rushing  to  destruction.  If  people  could  only  be  made  to  see  whither 
they  were  hurrying  they  would  not  go.  Those  who  do  see  and  raise  a  voice 
of  earnest  warning,  are  generally  considered  as  excited — sometimes  as  mad. 
People  will  not  believe  their  own  leaders  will  sell  them  or  betray  them  until 
the  bond  is  executed  or  the  treachery  is  complete.  Here  is  the  trouble  with 
our  Northern  friends.  The  masses  love  the  Union  and  the  Constitution. 
They  have  shown  that  love.  But  they  will  not  see  that  the  very  men  they 
send  to  Congress  are  trampling  on  the  Constitution  and  forever  destroying 
the  Union.  Those  who  undertake  to  lay  bare  to  a  people  the  corruptions  of 
their  own  leaders  assume  a  task  as  difficult  as  it  is  dangerous.  The  wicked 
become  their  enemies  and  use  every  means  to  destroy  their  power,  and  the 
good  will  not  believe  their  revelations  or  heed  their  warnings.  Yet  no  man 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WR1TIKU8.  785 

who  ever  undertook  such  a  task  was  ever  able  to  tell  all  the  real  truth      The 
realities  of  national  misfortune  and  downfalls  are  always  far  greater  than 
the  descriptions  of  those  who,  by  warnings,  sought  to  prevent  them.     So  th 
measures  which  produce  national  ruin  are  never  fully  understood  until 

rnin    ic    hoTrnnH    *Aw»4w4«v         T^~  Ai.  • 


now  delay  to  do  so. 

The  Military  Bills  will  furnish  one  of  the  most  striking  proofs,  in  the 
future,  of  the  truths  I  have  uttered.  I  am  denounced  as  a  calumniator  be 
cause  of  what  I  have  said  of  these  measures  and  their  authors  and  support 
ers,  lime  wi  prove  my  language  to  be  tame  and  feeble.  Every  day 
something  is  developed  which  gives  them  a  more  infamous  character  than 
was  even  suspected  before.  I  have  denounced  these  measures  as  being 
contrary  to  the  Constitution  ;  as  abrogating  State  government  ;  as  degrad 
ing  the  white  race  ;  as  calculated  inevitably  to  beget  a  war  of  races  ;  as  de 
structive  of  all  Constitutional  liberty  ;  as  being  enacted  in  fraud,  executed 
by  force,  and  consummated  by  perjury. 

Can  anything  be  worse  ?  you  will  ask.  I  reply,  yes,  these  very  bills  are 
infinitely  worse.  I  find  I  have  never  fully— indeed,  but  vaguely— compre 
hended  their  turpitude.  I  have  all  along  supposed  that,  odious  as  they 
were,  the  people — a  people — were,  at  least,  allowed  a  semblance  of  right  to 
reject  them  ;  and,  of  course,  by  rejecting  them  escape  the  purposes  and  ob 
jects  of  the  measures.  I  had  frequently  called  attention  to  the  fact  that 
Congress  had  devised  a  scheme  of  relieving  themselves  of  the  odium  of 
these  measures  by  at  least  seeming  to  submit  to  some  people  the  privilege  of 
accepting  or  rejecting  them.  This,  I  supposed,  also  exhibited  a  lingering, 
though  farcical  respect  for  the  once  pure  and  great  idea  that  the  people — at 
least  some  people — should  have  a  government  founded  in  their  consent.- 
And  this  I  supposed  was  the  reason  for  permitting  the  voters  to  express 
their  approval  or  disapproval  of  the  scheme  by  indorsing  on  their  tickets 
"for  a  convention  "  or  "against  a  convention."  But  in  this  I  have  been 
greatly  mistaken.  The  whole  country  has  been  mistaken.  What  I  have 
been  laboring  so  earnestly  to  prove  was  a  cheat  turns  out  to  be  a  trap — a 
snare — a  downright  pitfall  !  This  is  one  of  the  remarkable  disclosures 
made  in  Governor  Brown's  last  article  reviewing  the  "  Notes."  Hear  him  : 

If  we  reject  and  vote  down  the  Convention,  when  Congress  again  meets  in  December, 
it  will  pass  an  act  extending  the  disf  ranchisement  to  every  man  wlw  wtes  against  the  OH* 
mention,  whether  white  or  black,  and  probably  to  all  others  who  voluntarily  aided  in  the 
rebellion. 

If  Congress  never  intended  to  abide  the  decision  of  its  own  selected 
qualified  voters  why,  ask  for  a  decision  ?  But  let  us  hear  the  Governor 
fully.  I  will  not  imitate  his  example  by  cutting  sentences  in  two  and 
changing  words  to  represent  him  as  saying  just  the  reverse  of  what  he  does  say. 

But,  it  may  be  asked,  why  disfranchise  a  man  because  he  rotes  against  the  Conven 
tion  ?    The  reply  is,  Congress,  representing  the  conqueror,  has  submitted 
construction  and  restoration  of  the  Union,  and  the  vote  of  each  man,  whit*  or 
be  looked  to  as  a  test  ofMsloyalty  and  willingness  to  see  the  Union  restored  and  peace  or 
more  established      the  tickets  of  all,  black  and  white,  will  no  doubt  be  numb 
it  will  be  an  easy  matter  for  the  Government  to  see  how  each  voted       The  ques 
whether  we  will  allow  the  freedmen  to  vote.    Tliat  is  already  established  beyo; 


786  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

A^ain  he  says  : 

Mark  it — be  not  deceived.  If  you  vote  down  the  Convention,  in  less  than  two  years 
Georgia  will  be  reconstructed  with  a  representation  in  Congress  ;  the  great  mass  of  white 
men,  including  all  who  vote  against  the  Convention,  will  be  disfranchised,  and  there  will 
be  a  very  general  confiscation  of  property  to  pay  the  war  debt  and  pension  the  Union  sol 
diers  who  were  disabled  in  the  war. 

Now,  let  every  man  in  Georgia  and  in  the  United  States  fairly  analyze 
the  above  disclosures. 

In  the  first  place  the  object  of  submitting  the  plan  of  Reconstruction  to 
the  vote  of  the  people  is  not  to  ascertain  the  will  of  the  people  with  a  view 
of  respecting  that  will.  Georgia  is  to  be  reconstructed  anyhow  in  two 
years,  even  though  the  people  vote  against  it.  The  people  are  to  vote,  but 
the  vote  is  not  to  decide  the  question  voted  on  ! 

In  the  next  place,  we  are  not  called  on  to  decide  "  whether  we  will  allow 
the  freedman  to  vote."  "  That"  we  are  distinctly  told,  is  "already  estab 
lished,"  and  established  "  beyond  revocation."  If  we  were  not  all  ciphers 
we  might  ask,  when,  where,  how,  and  by  whom  was  this  established  ? 

But  what  is  the  object  ?  If  you  did  not  intend  to  abide  the  decision, 
why  ask  it  ?  The  vote  is  asked  as  a  means  of  ascertaining  who  is  loyal. 
"  The  vote  of  each  man  will  be  looked  to  as  a  test  of  his  loyalty"  Loyalty, 
then,  is  not  to  depend  upon  support  or  adherence  to  the  Constitution.  It  is 
not  to  depend  upon  connection  with  the  rebellion  !  A  man  may  have  come 
from  the  North  ;  he  may  have  fought  four  full  years  in  the  Union  army, 
still  if  he  has  settled  in  Georgia  and  votes  against  Convention  he  is  dis 
loyal!  It  does  not  depend  on  color.  "  Whether  black  or  white"  if  he 
votes  against  Convention,  he  is  disloyal.  The  tickets  of  all,  black  and  white, 
will  be  numbered!  So,  a  man  may  be  a  Northern  man — a  Northern  black 
man — a  Northern  black  Union  soldier — but  if  he  votes  "  against  Conven 
tion,"  he  is  disloyal!  And  so  a  man  may  be  a  Southern  man — an  original 
secessionist — and  a  real  white  man — a  Southern  white  Confederate  soldier 
who  fought  four  years  for  the  Confederacy — but  if  he  only  votes  for  a  Con 
vention  he  is  to  be  considered  loyal!  But  why  is  a  vote  for  or  against  a 
Convention  to  be  taken  as  the  test  of  loyalty  or  disloyalty?  Because  it  is 
a  vote  for  or  against  the  plan  "  submitted  by  Congress" — which  plan  is  to 
secure  ten  States  to  the  Radical  party.  Here  is  plainly  confessed  what  I 
have  labored  to  prove  :  whoever  is  a  Radical  is  loyal.  The  Radical  party 
is  thus  substituted  for  the  Constitution,  for  the  laws,  for  the  Union,  and  for 
the  Government !  People  of  the  United  States,  was  it  for  this  you  fought  ? 
Did  the  South,  sure  enough,  fight  for  the  Constitution,  and  the  North  for 
the  Radical  party  ? 

But  this  is  not  all  ?  Why  so  anxious  to  ascertain  who  is  loyal  or  rather 
J  disloyal  ?  Because  all  who,  by  this  test,  are  ascertained  to  be  disloyal,  are  to 
be  disfranchised  and  their  property  is  to  be  confiscated  ! 

Thus,  it  turns  out,  that  the  only  feature  in  this  Congressional  reconstruc 
tion  plan,  which  had  even  a  farcical  resemblance  to  anything  virtuous,  is 
shown  to  be  a  snare,  a  trap,  a  disgraceful,  deceitful,  iniquitous  inquisition. 
I  affirm  there  is  nothing  in  the  dark,  cruel,  and  bloody  history  of  the  inquisi 
tion  of  the  Jesuits  surpassing  this  scheme  in  the  iniquity  of  its  conception, 
in  the  hypocrisy  of  its  plan  of  execution,  or  in  the  villainy  of  its  purpose. 
And  dark,  cruel,  and  bloody,  beyond  any  precedent  in  the  past,  will  be  many 
years  of  American  history  if  this  plan  be  consummated.  I  have  said,  and  I 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS. 


against  Convention  are  to  be  disfranchised,  only  negroes  and  a  fe\v  Afri 
canized  whites  will  be  left  to  rule  the  country.  'Does  any  sane  man  believe 
such  a  rule  possible  ?  Under  pretense  of  restoring  the  Union,  ten  negro 
States  are  to  be  formed  !  Under  pretense  of  allowing  the  people  to  vote,  a 
hunt  is  devised  to  find  victims  for  disfranchisement  and  robbery  !  And  all 
these  things  done  under  oaths  to  support  the  Constitution  ! 

If  this  be  only  a  threat  originating  with  Governor  Brown,  what  shall  be 
said  of  a  Southern  man  who  would  manufacture  such  a  threat  against  his 
own  people  ?  If  it  be  the  real  purpose  of  the  so-called  Congressional  plan, 
what  American  citizen,  after  understanding  it,  can  be  so  lost  to  every  sense 
of  justice,  of  decency,  of  manhood,  of  honesty,  and  of  honor,  as  to  support 
either  the  plan  or  the  party  which  could  desire  or  adopt  it,  or  whose  exist 
ence  could  depend  on  its  success. 

If  it  be  a  desperate  threat,  how  cowardly  are  they  who  will  be  alarmed 
by  it  ?  If  it  be  the  real  purpose,  how  base  is  he  who  could  possibly  support 
it  f 

So  in  any  view  it  is  absolutely  necessary  for  every  man  who  would  pre 
serve  moral,  political,  or  social  respect,  or  any  sense  of  manhood,  either  not 
to  vote  at  all,  or  vote,  like  a  man,  "  against  a  Convention." 

Governor  Brown  makes  another  very  remarkable  statement.     He  tells  us 
that  almost  all  the  entire  property  of  Georgia  is  "already  confiscated!' 
And,  reader,  how?     He  says  by  the  Act  of  July,  1862.     And  this  singular 
statement  is  made  by  one  who  has  been  Governor  of  our  State — who  tells  us 
he  is  a  lawyer,  and  has  a  good  profession. 

In  reply  to  this  I  say  : 

1.  That  this  act  was  unconstitutional  and  void,  even  as  a  war  measure, 
and  has  been  declared  so  even  by  some  of  the  courts  of  the  Northern  States. 

2.  That,  if  Constitutional  as  a  war  measure,  then,  by  its  very  nature,  it 
could  only  be  of  force  during  the  war,  operating  on  property  seized  during 
the  war,  and  necessarily  ceased  to  have  any  force  as  soon  as  the  war  ended  ; 
and  such  has  been  declared  to  be  the  law  by  the  courts  of  even  Massachu 
setts. 

3.  That  the  Act  on  its  very  face  makes  itself  only  a  war  measure,  and  de 
clares  its  only  purpose  to  be  "to  insure  the  speedy  termination  of  the  pres 
ent  rebellion." 

Thus  over  the  nature  of  the  subject — over  the  nature  of  the  act— over 
decisions  of  Northern  courts — over  the  declared  purpose  of  the  act- -and,  I 
will  add,  over  the  express  authority  of  every  respectable  international  law- 
writer  in  existence — Governor  Brown  tells  the  people  of  Georgia  this  act  is 
still  in  force  and  by  it  their  property  is  already  confiscated. 

Why  don't  the  President  execute  it  ?  He  seems  to  feel  bound  to  execute 
all  acts  of  Congress.  Governor  Brown  tells  us  that  '  Thaddeus  Stevens  ar 
raigns  the  President  for  having  failed  to  execute  it."  Well,  I  do  not  know 
what  Stevens  has  done.  Heaven  forbid  I  should  keep  posted  in  his  opinions, 
or  quote  his  acts  or  threats  as  authority  for  any  people.  But  I  believe  GOT- 
ernor  Brown  has  slandered  even  poor  old  Thad  Stevens.  He  and 
have  both  been  trying  to  induce  Congress  to  pass  bills  to  confiscate  partially 
our  property. 

Why  ask  such  bills  if  they  already  have  one  by  which  the  prop* 


788  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

already  been  confiscated?  Not  long  since  it  was  stated  Mr.  Stevens  was 
perfecting  a  bill  for  mild  confiscation,  which  he  hoped  to  get  through  Con 
gress  if  he  could  live  five  years  longer.  Why  pray  for  five  years  to  perfect 
a  partial  measure  of  confiscation  when  one  more  extensive  is  already  on  the 
statute  book  unrepealed  !  Why  send  even  the  resolution  ?  Has  not  Con 
gress  been  anxious  to  find  a  reason  to  impeach  the  President  ?  Why  not 
impeach  for  refusing  to  execute  a  law  which  was  passed  by  Congress  and 
approved  by  the  Executive  ? 

I  have  desired  to  find  some  excuse  for  Governor  Brown's  advocacy  of  the 
Military  Bills.  But  I  am  utterly  unable  to  palliate  his  conduct.  He  rushed 
out  in  support  of  the  Sherman  Bill  before  the  President  had  acted  on  it,  and 
before  Congress  had  passed  it  over  his  veto — thus  weakening  the  President 
and  encouraging  the  Congress.  He  was  then  declaiming  against  the  case 
pending  in  the  Court,  before  the  Court  had  decided  it.  And  now,  what 
Stevens  and  Surnner  have  been  vainly  trying  to  induce  Congress  to  do 
against  the  Southern  people,  this  man  finds  out  is  "already  done."  No 
need  for  poor  old  man  Stevens  to  live  five  years  more.  Do  let  him  be 
informed  of  this  great  discovery  of  the  "  often  honored "  Southern  states 
man,  that  he  may  die  in  peace  ! 

Every  decent  radical  paper  in  the  North  has  denounced  the  idea  of 
confiscation — even  Mr.  Stevens's  mild  confiscation — as  disgraceful  robbery, 
which  would  make  the  nation  stink  with  infamy ;  and  yet,  Governor 
Brown — so  willing  to  sacrifice  himself  for  the  dear  poor  people — has  contin 
ued  to  threaten  us  with  confiscation — "the  sleeping  lion  on  the  speaker's 
desk':  -and  now,  at  last,  proclaims  our  property  already  confiscated.  The 
terrible  lion  has  waked  up — crawled  off  the  speaker's  desk,  and  actually  en 
tered  the  "  statute  book  "  ! 

Man,  alas  !  is  a  more  dangerous  animal  than  the  lion.  And  better  that 
all  the  lions  of  the  earth  were  turned  loose  upon  the  American  people  than 
that  this  Radical  party  should  be  allowed  longer  to  tear  the  American 
Constitution  and  prey  upon  American  liberty. 

Poor  man  !  I  knew  he  would  not  be  a  wolf, 
But  that  he  sees  the  Romans  are  but  sheep  ; 
He  were  no  lion,  were  not  Romans'  hinds. 

NUMBER    EIGHTEEN. 

The  late  short  session  of  the  fragmentaiy  Congressional  conclave  has  an 
importance  which  the  people  do  not  now  seem  to  comprehend.  The  future 
historian  will  pronounce  it  one  of  the  most  marked  events  in  the  decadence 
of  American  governments  under  written  Constitutions.  It  is  difficult  to 
realize  the  unique  distinctness,  and  rapid,  bold,  straightforwardness  of  its 
diabolical  treachery  to  the  Constitution.  It  carried  the  banner  of  destruc 
tive  progress,  with  a  quick,  bounding,  fearless  stride,  far  beyond  the  timid 
boundaries  reached  by  any  previous  Congress  or  conclave.  Satan  was  not 
more  fearless  in  his  flight  through  chaos,  nor  more  grandly  wicked  in  the 
hellish  mission  which  hurried  him  on. 

The  exclusion  of  the  delegates  from  a  State  always  conceded  to  be  in 
the  Union — who  abandoned,  yea,  fought  her  sister  Southern  States,  in  order 
to  remain  in  and  preserve  the  Union — was  a  new  step  forward — a  measure 
less  stride  forward. 

Then  the   formal   taking  into  consideration   the  question,  whether  the 


I  JUS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND   WRITINGS.  789 

government  of  three  States,  always  in  the  Union,  was  Republican  in  form 
was  another  new  and  measureless  step  of  descending  progress  Govern 
ments  under  which  these  States  had  always  lived,  and  two  of  which  States 
were  of  the  original  framers  of  the  Federal  Constitution.  What  a  consum 
ing  blaze  of  indignation  either  of  these  acts  would  have  produced  in  the 
virtuous  days  of  the  Republic  !  How  the  glorious  Webster  would  have 
shaken  the  continent  with  his  grand  periods  of  rebuke,  and  how  burning 
coals  of  speaking  fire  would  have  come  rushing  and  withering  from  the  liii" 
of  the  immortal  Clay !  But  who  is  startled  now?  We  must  be  dead,  else 
the  very  indifference  would  alarm.  Oh  Kentucky,  Kentucky  !  the  troubled 
spirit  of  him  who  made  your  name,  through  all  the  world,  the  very  synonym 
for  manhood,  beseeches  you  to  remove  his  ashes  from  your  bosom  or  this 
stain  from  your  honor  ! 

Age,  thou  art  shamed  ! 
Rome,  thou  hast  lost  the  breed  of  noble  blood  ! 

But,  startling  as  are  these  two  acts,  they  are  of  much  less  importance  than 
others  committed  by  this  remarkable  conclave.  I  shall  not  refer  now  to 
anything  done  toward  what  are  called  the  Rebel  States.  This  word,  Rtbel, 
lias  been  the  flippant  and  long  accepted  excuse  for  many  ruthless  violations 
of  the  Constitution,  when  those  violations  affected  the  Rebel  States.  But 
my  earnest  desire  is  to  call  the  attention  of  the  Northern  people  to  the  great 
alarming  fact,  that  this  conclave  at  Washington,  while  directing  the  atten 
tion  of  the  people  to  the  Rebel  States,  is  destroying  the  Constitution  for  all 
the  States  ;  that,  under  cover  of  oaths  to  support  the  Constitution,  and  while 
diverting  the  Northern  people  with  pretenses  of  punishing  the  rebellion,  and 
exacting  guarantees  against  future  rebellion,  this  conclave  is  itself  only 
a  hideous,  organized,  bold,  and  dangerous  rebellion  against  the  Constitution, 
against  the  Union,  and  against  liberty  ! 

In  addition  to  the  two  crimes  above  specified  against^these  States  always 
in  the  Union,  this  conclave  passed  another  Supplemental  Military  Bill,  ex 
plaining  their  meaning  in  the  former  Military  Bills,  directing  how  all  shall 
be  executed.  , 

Now  the  Constitution  expressly  vests  all  "  executive  power  in  the  Presi 
dent."  But  this  conclave,  in  this  Supplemental  Bill,  ignores  the  President  as 
the  Executive  power,  and  expressly  vests  the  executive  power  for  these 
measures  in  the  General  of  the  Army  !  Thus  the  Executive  Department  of 
the  Federal  Government'is  destroyed  as  to  these  bills,  and  if  Congress  can 
destroy  its  power  in  one  case  it  can  destroy  it  in  all. 

Again  :  the   Constitution  expressly  vests  all  judicial  powers  in  certain 
courts — but  this  bill  expressly  provides  that  the  military  officers,  in  execu 
ting  these  bills,  shall  not  be  bound  by  the  opinion  of  any  civil  officer  of  the 
United  States!     Mark  the  words,  not  civil  officers  of  the  State,  but  of  the 
United  States.     Thus,  as  to  these  bills,  the  Judicial  Department  of  t  lit 
eral  Government  is  destroyed,  and,  of  course,  if  Congress  can  destroy 
department  as  to  one  bill,  "it  can  as  to  all.     So,  one  of  the  three  departme 
of  the  Government  has  destroyed  the  other  two  departments  as  to  t 
and,  by  the  same  process  can  destroy  them  as  to  all  measures  ;  and 
department  of  the  Government  by  its  own  act  makes  itsel 

eminent. 

Now,  then,  suppose  you  of  the  North  are  willing  to  forget  the  promi* 
you  made,  to  receive  back  these  ten  States  if  they  would  lay  down  their 


790  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

arms  ;  suppose  you  are  willing  to  permit  Congress  to  abolish  the  Constitu 
tion  as  to  these  ten  States,  and  to  subject  the  white  race  to  the  rule  of  the 
black  race  ;  suppose  you  are  willing  to  make  of  these  ten  States  a  tributary 
of  hell ;  are  you  also  willing  to  see  that  same  Congress  destroy  two  depart 
ments  of  your  own  Federal  Government  ?  How  is  it  that  you,  who  rallied 
three  millions  of  men  to  prevent  us  from  separating  from  the  Federal  Gov 
ernment,  have  become  willing  to  see  less  than  two  hundred  men  in  Wash 
ington  destroy  that  very  Government  ?  Why  did  you  prevent  us  from 
going  if  you  are  bent  on  destroying?  Why  will  you  not  believe  us  who 
laid  down  our  arms,  and  gave  up  ou:  property,  and  submitted  to  every  suf 
fering  and  humiliation  as  evidence  of  our  good  faith  in  returning  to  the 
Union,  and  yet  will  trust  a  set  of  men  who  daily  deceive  you,  who  daily 
keep  the  Union  dissolved,  and  who  daily  violate  their  oaths  and  trample  on 
the  Constitution  ?  Are  you  mad  that  you  may  be  destroyed  ?  Return,  en 
raged  but  deluded  people  of  the  North,  return  at  once  to  a  sense  of  reason 
and  justice,  if  not  for  us,  at  least  for  yourselves  ;  and  let  us  all  learn,  by  the 
horrors  of  the  past,  that  the  only  way  to  peace  and  prosperity  in  the  future 
is  through  the  universal  supremacy  of  the  Constitution,  and  by  its  glorious 
old  spirit  of  mutual  concession  and  harmony.  By  the  memories  of  Bunker 
Hill  and  Yorktown,  I  beseech  you,  let  us  forget  Manassas  and  Gettysburg, 
and  drop  tears  of  mutual  f orgiveness  on  Anderson ville,  Rock  Island,  and  Fort 
Delaware.  Then  may  our  children  be  as  were  our  fathers,  and,  taught  by 
our  errors,  escape  our  misfortunes  forever. 

In  the  history  of  every  nation — especially  of  every  Republic — periods 
occur  which  furnish  what  may  be  called  opportunities  for  the  development 
of  great  men.  The  greatest  of  these  opportunities  do  not  often  occur,  and 
sometimes  pass  by  unperceived.  At  times  circumstances  conspire  to  make  the 
smallest,  most  legitimate  act  turn  these  opportunities  to  the  greatest  account. 
Regulus  has  been  loved  and  honored  for  two  thousand  years  because  he 
valued  his  country's  welfare  and  his  personal  honor  above  his  life.  Wash 
ington  was  great  in  that  he  won  liberty,  but  greater  when  he  refused  a 
crown,  and  greatest  of  all  when  he  surrendered  his  sword  as  a  symbol  of 
the  submission  of  military  power  to  the  supremacy  of  civil  law. 

No  period  in  the  history  of  this  or  any  other  country  ever  furnished  a 
more  glorious  opportunity  to  win  imperishable  renown  than  is  now  furnished 
to  a  few  men  in  America. 

If  the  President  would  refuse  to  permit  the  execution  of  a  law  which  seeks 
his  own  official  demolition  and  dishonor,  and  boldly  enforce  the  Constitution 
and  the  rights  of  alt  the  States,  no  character  in  Republican  annals  would 
go  down  through  all  republican  generations  more  honored  and  loved.  And 
Congress,  in  the  effort  .to  destroy  and  disgrace  him,  has  furnished  him 
the  occasion  for  immortality.  He  has  but  to  defend  the  integrity  of  his 
office.  He  may  remember,  too,  that  the  Southern  people  surrendered  slavery, 
and  in  all  things  submissively  complied  with  all  the  terms  of  the  fight  and 
the  conditions  of  the  surrender,  and,  far  more,  because  of  his  assurance  that 
they  would  then  be  received  in  the  Union,  or  rather  continued  in  the  Union, 
and  secured  in  all  their  rights.  The  very  State  governments  Congress  is 
destroying  by  overthrowing  his  power  wrere  formed  by  the  confidence  re 
posed  in  him.  If  they  now  go  down,  he  too,  must  fall — fall  forever.  He 
can  save  them,  save  the  Federal  Constitution,  save  the  whole  country,  save 
Constitutional  liberty,  and  prevent  a  war  of  races,  by  simply  defending  the 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AXD  WRITINGS.  791 

integrity  of  his  own  office,  and  suppressing  a  treasonable  attempt  to  usurp 
its  functions. 

But  General  Grant  has  the  opportunity  of  winning,  if  possible  greater 
renown  and  with  more  ease  than  the  President.  His  word  can  win  the  vic 
tory.  He  has  been  selected  by  Congress  as  the  man  through  whom  they 
will  execute  their  abolition  of  the  executive  and  judicial  powers.  ThV 
leader  of  the  Union  armies  is  chosen  to  execute  the  demolition  of  the 
Constitution  ! 

The  simple  question  is,  will  he  consent  to  be  so  used  ?  If  so,  his  reputation 
will  inevitably  be  lost.  There  are  many  now  who  insist  that  General  Grant 
is  not  really  a  great  man.  They  say  he  took  command  of  the  Union  armies 
at  a  fortunate  time,  and  was  only  a  child  of  luck  from  Corinth  to  Peters 
burg.  The  question  of  his  greatness  will  soon  be  settled,  and  settled  for  all 
time.  If  he  has  the  wisdom  to  perceive,  and  the  courage  to  appreciate  and 
perform  his  duty  now,  neither  Cassar,  nor  Wellington,  nor  Washington  can 
be  remembered  longer,  nor  honored  more.  And  how  simple  is  that  duty 
and  easily  performed. 

If  General  Grant  will  say  to  Congress,  "  The  Constitution  vests  all  the 
executive  power  in  the  President,  and  I  will  not  be  made  the  instrument 
for  usurping  it  ;  the  Constitution  makes  the  President  the  Commander-in- 
Chief  ;  I  will  obey  his  orders,  and  not  consent  to  be  legislated  into  insub 
ordination  ;  peace  has  been  proclaimed  and  civil  law  restored,  and  I  will 
not  execute  a  bill  which  seeks  to  subordinate  civil  authority  to  military 
power,"  a  thrill  of  joy  would  electrify  the  nation.  Radical  power  would 
disappear  in  a  twinkling.  The  Constitution  and  the  Union  would  be  re 
stored  ;  prosperity  and  good  feeling  would  revive,  and  the  name  of  Grant 
would  be  loved  and  cherished  in  every  section  and  by  every  class,  as  no 
name  ever  has  been  loved  and  cherished  in  America  or  Europe.  If  we  fail, 
it  will  be  a  melancholy  proof  that  he  did  perceive  the  opportunity  of  rescu 
ing  his  country  from  ruin,  and  was  unequal  to  the  great  crisis.  Silence  will 
not  do.  Neutrality  will  not  do.  Negative  acquiescence  will  not  do.  He 
must  speak  plainly.  He  must  act  decisively.  He  must  protect  the  Con 
stitution  and  save  the  Union,  and  thereby,  also,  relieve  and  protect  from 
this  harsh,  unconstitutional  domination,  the  people  of  the  South,  who  laid 
down  their  arms  to  him  under  promise  that  they  should  remain  in  the 
Union  and  receive  its  benefits  by  obeying  its  laws.  He  ought  to  remember, 
too,  that  without  him  the  Radicals  are  powerless,  and  it  is  through  him  they 
propose  to  carry  out  their  schemes  of  ruin.  He  must  refuse  to  be  a  tool  of 
usurpation,  and  declare  he  will  be  the  defender  of  the  Constitution,  and, 
under  it,  the  protector  of  the  people. 

I  have  been  amazed  that  among  all  the  military  commanders  not  one 
has  appeared  to  discover  the  opportunity  in  his  hands  of  doing  more  good 
and  winning  more  honor  by  one  simple  act  than  a  lifetime  could  achieve  01 
a  hundred  victories  secure.     If  any  of  the  military  commanders  would  s< 
the  example  of  obeying  the  Constitution  rather  than  Radical  will,  and 
feit  his  commission  than  execute  unconstitutional  oppression  upon    in  un 
resisting  people,  such  a  man  would  soon  have  a  name 
any  on  the  continent.  ,  0 

And  what  possible  good  can  come  of  the  course  now  being  pursuei 
Can  honor  be  won  by  oppressing  a  helpless  people  ?      Can  greatness  be  se 
cured    by  executing  usurpations  upon   the   Constitution  ? 
achieved  by  removing  civil  officers,  by  filling  the  land  with  spies  in  time 


792  SENATOR  B.  H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

peace,  by  insulting  an  unoffending  people,  and  by  breeding  perpetual  hatred 
between  the  sections? 

The  issue  is  a  grand  one.  Glory  is  to  be  achieved  or  infamy  is  inevi 
table.  If  those  who  hold  the  power  and  could  end  all  these  troubles  now,  by 
simply  obeying  the  Constitution  instead  of  the  Radical  party,  fail  to  do  so, 
until  the  people  shall  themselves  wake  up  and  with  indignation  hurl  these 
Radicals  from  power,  then,  these  men,  who  are  now  consenting  to  be  made 
the  tools  to  execute  unconstitutional  measures,  will  find  themselves  sued  and 
arraigned  as  criminals  before  every  court  in  the  land,  and  they  will  become 
a  by-word  and  a  scoffing  among  the  living,  and  held  up  as  mere  illustra 
tions  of  weakness  and  corruption  in  demoralized  times,  through  all  genera 
tions. 

NUMBER    NINETEEN. 

In  all  times  of  public  excitement  and  demoralization,  people  are  unusu 
ally  liable  to  run  into  error.  For  this  reason,  dangers  to  the  Republic  are 
greatly  increased.  Therefore,  whoever,  in  such  times,  undertakes  the  task 
of  advising  the  people  with  a  view  of  avoiding  errors,  ought  to  observe  with 
great  care  certain  rules. 

1.  In  the  first  place  he  should  see  to  it  that  his  motives  are  unselfish,  and 
his  opinions  correct. 

2.  Next  he  should  be  charitable  and  forbearing  to  those  who  are  unin 
tentionally  erring ;  for  in  such  times  many  good  people  are  exceedingly 
prone  to  err. 

3.  In  the  last  place  he  should  denounce  most  unsparingly  those  who  con 
sciously  and  deliberately   advocate    dangerous  wrongs,   and   seek    (as  all 
such   do)   for  some   selfish   end    to   mislead   the   people.      Language    can 
never  be  too  severe  when  applied  to  men  who  take  advantage  of  times  of 
danger   to  the  public    to  promote  their  private  ends,  nor  who  persist  in 
falsely  advising  the  people.     Warnings  to  the  erring  and  denunciations  of 
the  designing  can  never  be  too  distinct,  too  positive,  or  too  severe.     Such 
was  the  course  of  Demosthenes  toward  Philip's  emissaries  and  the  credu 
lous  Athenians  who  were  inclined  to  believe  them  ;  and  such  was  the  course 
of  Cicero  toward  the  popular  Catiline  and  the  Roman  Senate  and  people, 
who  were  slow  to  believe  he  was  a  conspirator.     Two  thousand  years  of  re 
flection  and  experience  has  rendered  an  unbroken  verdict  of  approval  for 
both  the  Athenian  and  the  Roman  orators. 

I  have  deemed  it  my  duty  to  warn  our  people  that  they  were,  many  of 
them,  about  to  commit  perjury,  or  false  swearing.  Well,  this  is  a  very 
grave  and  responsible  position.  I  knew  it  when  I  took  the  position,  and 
took  it  deliberately.  If  the  position  be  wrong,  I  owe  it  to  myself  and  the 
country  to  retract  it.  I  could  not  expect  to  be  regarded  as  an  honorable 
man,  if,  satisfied  it  is  wrong,  I  did  not  retract  it.  So,  on  the  other  hand,  if 
the  position  be  right,  the  people  owe  it  to  themselves  and  their  children  to 
avoid  the  crime,  and  look  with  suspicion  upon  all  who-  still  insist  that  the 
crime  be  committed  ;  for  no  man  can  be  either  patriotic  or  honorable,  who 
would  knowingly  commit,  or  advise  others  to  commit,  such  a  crime. 

With  these  solemn  convictions,  and  at  the  instance  of  friends  and  foes, 
I  have  re-examined  the  position.  I  have  earnestly  endeavored  to  make  the 
examination  carefully,  and  I  know  I  have  made  it  conscientiously. 

The  result  is,  I  reaffirm,  the  position  taken  on  this  subject  in  Note  No.  10, 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  793 

and  in  the  speech  delivered  at  Atlanta  ;  and  I  earnestly  beg  every  man  to 
lay  aside  all  passion  and  come  to  an  honest  and  candid  examination  of  the 


question 

In  Note  No.  10,  I  sa 


Are  you  willing  to  violate  the  Constitution  ?    Are  you  willing  to  swear  to  support  it 
with  the  intent,  at  the  time  of  swearing  to  violate  it  ?    Then,  f  proclaim,  all  posterm'- 


,  , 

will  proclaim,  your  hell  mortgaged  conscience  will  never  cease  to  proclaim    voi 
perjured. 

In  the  Atlanta  speech,  the  language  as  reported,  is  as  follows  : 

Some  of  you  will  favor  the  acceptance  of  the  Military  Bills,  take  an  oath  to  this  effect 
(to  support  the  Constitution),  and  still  intend  to  vote  for  a  Convention  which  you  admit  to 
be  ordered  contrary  to  the  Constitution.  How  is  this  ?  If  you  have  a  conscience  I  have 
said  enough.  If  you  vote  for  the  Convention  you  are  perjured. 

These  announcements  have  excited  much  apparent  indignation  with  the 
Radicals,  and  they  have  charged  me  with  dealing  in  abuse  and  calumny. 
Now,  reader,  look  carefully  at  my  language.  If  a  man  is  willing  to  violate 
the  Constitution,  if  he  is  willing  to  swear  to  support  with  the  intent  to  vio 
late  it  ;  is  this  not  itself  an  admission  of  false  swearing?  He  swears  to 
support  the  Constitution  with  intent  not  to  support  it  !  So,  if  a  man  swears 
to  support  the  Constitution,  and  intends  to  vote  for  a  Convention  which  he 
admits  is  ordered  contrary  to  the  Constitution,  is  he  not  guilty  ?  True,  the 
crime  is  not  perfected  until  the  act  is  done  —  until  the  vote  is  given  ;  and  it 
is,  therefore  I  warn  him  not  to  give  the  vote!  And  why  do  propositions 
whicli  are  so  self-evident  awaken  such  indignation  ?  If  a  man  honestly  be 
lieves  the  Military  Bills  constitutional  he  can  vote  for  them.  I  may  think 
his  brain  is  either  weak  or  very  falsely  taught,  but  I  make  no  charge  against 
his  heart  or  purpose.  So,  thousands  have  intended  to  accept  these  bills 
without  having  thought  of  this  difficulty.  They  were  and  are  simply  not 
informed.  When  informed  they  will  reject  the  crime  with  as  much  horror 
as  I  do.  Against  all  these  I  bring  no  charge.  My  position  is  based  on 
knowledge  and  intent.  Then,  I  repeat,  why  this  indignation?  The  answer 
is  as  plain  as  the  truth  of  my  position.  Thero  are  many,  alas  !  too  many, 
who  know  the  Military  Bills  are  unconstitutional,  and  who  yet  have  deter 
mined,  on  some  pretext,  to  take  the  advice  of  that  sensuous  infidel,  Thad- 
deus  Stevens,  vote  for  the  bills,  "and  let  conscience  go  to  the  devil.  ,'' 

They  feel  guilty.  They  have,  many  of  them,  but  recently  consented  to 
be  guilty,  and  their  consciences  are  still  bleeding  from  the  stab,  and  are 
very  sore.  Inform  a  good  man  of  his  error  and  he  will  love  you  ;  but  in 
form  a  guilty  man  and  lie  will  hate  you.  The  guilty  are  always  suspicious, 
generally  excitable,  and  very  rarely  dangerous.  There  are  some,  also,  who 
are  troubled.  They  do  not*  positively  know  and  admit  that  these  bills  are 
unconstitutional,  and  various  pretexts  or  excuses  are  resorted  to  to  satisfy 
their  consciences,  which  are  generally  easily  satisfied  when  willing  to  be 
satisfied.  With  such,  excuses  become  reasons,  and  pretexts  are  accepted  as 
arguments. 

Of  course,  all  reflecting  men  must  admit  there  can  be  no  justifiable 
cuse  for  willful  perjury  ;  but  all  men  are  not  reflecting,  and  it  is  important 
to  notice  some  of  the  excuses  offered  as  justifiable  reasons  for  supporting 
these  Military  Bills  under  an  oath  to  support  the  Constitution. 

1.  The  first  great  excuse  offered  as  a  reason  is,  that  the  bills  have  no 
been  declared  unconstitutional  by  the  courts.     This  excuse  is  wel 
to  mislead.     There  are  cases  in  which  certain  ministerial  and  executive  ott 


794  SENATOR  P.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

cers  are  bound  to  execute  orders  until  the  court  set  aside  the  authority  on 
which  the  orders  are  based.     But  this  rule  applies  only  to  officers.     Why  ? 
Because  such  officers  simply  obey  orders*     Tho  responsibility  is  with  theii* 
superiors  who  issue  the  orders.     They  are  not  to  judge  of  the  legality  of 
these  orders.     That  was  done,  or  presumed  to  have  been  done,  before  the 
orders  were  issued.     This  rule  with  the  officers  in  such  cases,  is  not  to  judge 
but  to  obey.    He  has  no  will —  no  discretion.    This  is  why  the  rule  applies  only 
to  executive  and  ministerial  officers.     All  other  officers  have  a  right  to 
judge  and  are  bound  to  judge  honestly  and  decide  conscientiously.     Some 
times  even  a  ministerial  or  executive  officer  must  judge  according  to  the 
issue  presented  or  his  situation.     When  a  bill  is  presented  to  the  President 
for  his  approval,  he  is  a  judge,  and  if  he  thinks  it  is  unconstitutional  he  is 
perjured  if  he  does  not  veto  it — if  he  approves  it.     One  of  our  Presidents 
declared  that  he  would  not  approve  a  bill  which  he  believed  was  unconstitu 
tional  "  without  surrendering  all  claim  to  the  respect  of  honorable  men — all 
confidence  on  the  part  of  the  people — all  self-respect — all  regard  for  moral 
and  religious  obligations."     Yet  if  Congress  passed  the  bill,  notwithstand 
ing  his  objections,  then  it  was  not  only  no  crime,  no  wrong,  but  his  duty  to 
execute  it.     Why  ?     Because  in  the  latter  case  he  was  only  executing  and 
not  approving  or  deciding.     But  when  the  courts  decide  such  a  bill  to  be 
unconstitutional  then  he  cannot  execute  it,  because  the  power  provided  by 
the  Constitution  has  decided  that  Congress  erred  in  overruling  the  objec 
tions  of  the  President.     But  this  rule  has  a  limit  even  in  case  of  executive 
and  ministerial  officers.     It  applies  to  cases  of  doubtful  construction  under 
the  Constitution.     Congress  can  by  no  vote  give  vitality  to  an  act  which  the 
Constitution  says  shall  not  be  passed.     And  no  President  can  be  excused  for 
executing  such  an  act.     If  every  act  of  Congress  is  binding  until  set  aside 
by  the  Court,  Congress  may  make  the  most  unconstitutional  act  the  most 
binding  by  abolishing  both  the  President  and  the  courts — which  they  have 
exactly  done  so  far  as  relates  to  these  Military  Bills  !     So  as  to  ministerial 
offices  the  rule  has  a  limit.     If  the  sheriff  execute  a  man  who  has  been  sen 
tenced  by  a  judge,  he  is  guilty  of  no  crime,  though  the  judge  mistook  the 
law  in  passing  the  sentence.     But  if  the  sheriff  execute  a  man  sentenced  by 
one  who  was  not  a  judge — legally  a  judge — the  sheriff  is  guilty  of  murder, 
though  the  man  executed  may  have  been  guilty.     If  any  officer  execute  a 
citizen  by  order  of  a  Military  Commission,  such  officer  is  guilty  of  murder. 
Why  ?     Because  the  Constitution  says  every  citizen  shall  be  presented  or 
indicted  by  a  grand  jury,  and  tried  by  an  impartial  jury,  and  no  person  on 
this  continent  can  confer  any  power  to  execute  any  citizen  who  has  not  been 
so  tried.     Otherwise  there  would  be  a  power  greater  than  the  Constitution, 
which  is  absurd.     This  is  why  the  officers  who  executed  the  writs  of  the 
Star  Chamber  Courts,  and  obeyed  the  orders  of  King  Charles  I,  were  after 
ward  sued  and  indicted  and  made  responsible  and  punished.     No  King,  or 
Court,  or  Congress,  or  President,  or  other  official  power  can  confer  authority, 
in  direct  conflict  with  the  positive  commands  of  the  Constitution.     All  who 
seek  to  confer  such  authority  are  criminals  ;  all  who  execute  such  authority 
are  criminals,  and  no  person  can  release  or  forgive  the  crime.     It  is  high 
time  this  well-established  distinction  was  understood.     So  far  from  an  officer 
being  protected  because  the   Courts  have   not  set  aside  certain  Acts,  the 
Courts  themselves  could  not  furnish  such  protection  by  positively  sustaining 
the  Acts  which  amend  the  Constitution.     And  such  has  been  expressly  de 
cided  and  repeatedly  decided  to  be  the  law  in  England,  where  the  Constitu- 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  795 

tion  is  not  written. 


time  may  prevent  the  application  of 


•  -•,         f^  .  .         ,  »  wi  tv»    n  in    iviiiMt 

that  the  Constitution  is  the  only  supreme  ruler  in  America  ;  and  that  neither 
President,  nor  Longress,  nor  Courts,  nor  bayonets  can  protect  themselves 
or  protect  others,  from  accountability  for  violations  of  the  plain,  unmistak' 
able  commands  of  the  Constitution.     Without  this  glorious  truth,  Constitu 
tions  and  rights  would  always  be  the  mere  creatures  of  bad,  designing  men 
Passion   and  the  rabble  may  crucify  now,  but  this  grand  deliverer  of  the 
oppressed  will  one  day,  yea,  at  an  early  day,  come,  and  come  with  joy  to  the 
faithful,  and  in  terrible  wrath  to  all  wicked  transgressors. 

But  the  rule  referred  to  as  binding  on  executive  and  ministerial  officers 
does  not  apply  to  citizens  or  to  voters.  A  voter  obeys  no  order— executes 
no  orders.  He  must  exercise  his  judgment  and  vote  according  to  his  own 
honest  convictions.  If  he  votes  contrary  to  his  convictions  he  violates  his 
conscience,  and  if  he  votes  under  oath  and  contrary  to  that  oath,  he  is  guilty 
of  false  swearing  or  perjury.  He  is  not  sworn  to  support  an  act  of  Congress 
until  the  Courts  set  it  aside  ;  he  is  sworn  to  support  the  Constitution,  and  if 
he  supports  an  act  which,  in  his  opinion,  is  contrary  to  the  Constitution,  his 
oath  is  broken.  He  being  his  own  judge,  his  oath  is  broken,  and  "  his  con 
science  given  to  the  devil,"  as  Stevens  advised. 

2.  But  another  pretext  offered  is,  that  these  States  are  in  an  anomalous 
condition  and  the  Constitution  does  not  apply  to  them.     Well,  if  the  Con 
stitution  does  not  apply  why  apply  the  oath  to  support  it  !      As  a  condition 
precedent  to  voting  you  require  an  oath  to  support  the  Constitution  in  vot 
ing;  and  then,  in  the  very  next  breath,  ask  that  the  vote  be  cast  for  a  meas 
ure  which  is  contrary  to  the  Constitution !     Then  you  seek   to   justify  by 
saying  that  the  Constitution  does  not  apply.     Then,  why  did  you  refuse  to 
allow  the  vote  until  the  oath  was  taken  to  support  the  Constitution?    Are 
you  wantonly  exacting  gratuitous  perjury?     If  nothing  else  did,  the  oath 
makes  the  Constitution  apply.     But  the  Constitution  does  apply.     Even  if 
we  are  conquered  by  foreign  States,  the  conqueror  is  bound  by  the  well-set 
tled  laws  of  nations  to  govern  us  either  according  to  our  laws,  or  according 
to  his  own  Constitutional  laws;  the  law  of  the  conqueror  extends  over  the 
conquered.     Nothing  is  better  settled.     In  this  day  of  civilized  law  no  peo 
ple,  conquered  or  otherwise,  are  subject  to  be  governed  by  arbitrary,  vin 
dictive  will.      Besides,  by  the  very  issue  of  the  fight  and  the  terms  of  sur 
render,  we  are  in  the  Union.     We"  are  treated  as  in  the  Union  by  this  very 
fragmentarv  conclave  for  every  purpose  of  burden  and  vengeance.     We  are 
denied  only  the  privileges  of  the  Union  by  a  dastard  perjury  to  the  Con 
stitution  and  an  infamous  treachery  to  the  National  faith. 

3.  But  we  are  told  it  is  no  use  to  talk  law  and  plead  the  Constitution  be 
fore  a  people  who  discard  both.     It  can  do  no  good;  the  Radicals  have  the 
power  and  will  do  as  they  please,  it  is  said.     Well,  suppose   that  is   true, 
does  that  justify  us  in  committing  perjury  !     Are  we  not  still  the  keepers  of 
our  own  consciences  ?     Are  we  compelled  to  violate  our  oath  ? 

the  Radicals  will  reconstruct  us  in  their  own  way  anyhow,  I  say  let  them 
do  it  their  own  way.     Let  them  commit  all  \X\tperjury.     We  gam  notl 
by  helpino-  them  destroy  us;  and  why  should  we  be  anxious  to  commit  per 
jury,  in  order  to  help  the  Radicals  degrade  our  race,  destroy  our     tates,  and 
bring  us  under  the  government  of  the  negro,  and  into  a  war  of  race 


796  SENATOR  B.   H.    HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

patient.     Don't  run  to  overtake  evil.      Our  way  will  come  soon,  and  then  let 
us  be  strong  with  clean  consciences. 

4.  But  it  is  said,  according  to  my  argument,  even   I  have  committed 
perjury  in  supporting  divers  measures  heretofore.     Suppose  it  is  so  ;  does 
that  justify  all  of  our  people  in  committing  such  a  crime  ?     But  the  charge 
is  false.     I  never  in  my  life  supported  any  measure  which  I  thought  was  un 
constitutional,  or  which   was  admitted  by  its  supporters  or  framers  to  be 
unconstitutional.     All  statements  to  the  contrary  are  false,  and  are  but  pit 
iable  attempts  of  self -convicted  criminals  to  cover  themselves  with  a  respect 
able  mantle. 

These  Military  Bills  furnish  the  very  first  instance  in  American  history 
in  which  the  framers  and  supporters  of  the  bills  admit  their  unconstitution- 
ality  ;  and  they  are  the  very  Jirst  measures  in  carrying  out  which  the  whole 
voting  people  are  required  to  take  an  oath  to  support  the  Constitution.  This 
is  a  remarkable  fact.  It  would  seem  as  if  the  Congress  sought  to  palliate 
their  own  perjury  in  passing  the  bills,  by  requiring — wantonly  requiring — 
the  whole  people  also,  to  commit  perjury  in  carrying  them  out. 

When  the  last  Military  Bill  was  under  discussion,  in  which  two  depart 
ments  of  the  Federal  Government  were  being  abolished,  Thaddeus  Stevens, 
I  believe  the  author  and  reporter  of  the  bills,  said  : 

Some  fragments  of  the  old  shattered  Constitution  had  stuck,  perhaps,  in  the  kidneys 
of  some  senators  [laughter]  and  troubled  them  at  night.  When  they  tried  to  progress 
the  ghost  of  the  past  Constitution  was  found  in  their  way  and  obstructed  them. 

People  of  the  North,  is  this  man  your  representative  ?  You  who  have 
listened  to  the  glorious  periods  of  the  "  Great  Expounder,"  is  this  the  language 
that  now  suits  you?  Think  of  it,  oh,  my  countrymen  ;  think  of  it !  In  the 
Congress  of  the  nation  where  Clay,  and  Webster,  and  Bell,  and  Berrien,  and 
Fillmore,  and  Cass  have  taught  devotion  and  reverence  for  the  Constitution, 
this  old  man  now  ridicules  it  as  a  ghost — a  shattered  thing — with  its  frag 
ments  sticking  in  the  kidneys  of  senators  !  And  this  blasphemy  is  received 
with  laughter.  This  man  had  just  taken  an  oath  to  support  the  Constitu 
tion  ;  it  was  by  virtue  of  that  oath  he  was  permitted  to  speak  ;  and  in  the 
face  of  the  nation,  from  the  seat  of  Webster,  he  ridiculed  what,  he  had.  sworn 
to  support^  and  in  every  word  he  uttered  he  syllabled  perjury.  This  old 
man,  we  are  told,  is  an  infidel  in  religion,  and  a  paramour  of  a  colored  wo 
man,  and  has  lived  three-score  years  and  ten  defiling  his  race  and  blasphem 
ing  the  laws  of  God  and  his  country. 

Is  it  strange  that  such  a  man,  and  the  hideous  crew  who  received  his 
blasphemy  so  merrily,  should  seek  to  degrade  the  white  race ;  yea,  make 
the  white  race  degrade  themselves  ;  and  make  them  commit  perjury  that 
they  might  have  the  privilege  of  degrading  themselves?  Will  the  white 
race — Southern  white  people — throw  away  conscience  and  honor  and  reap 
miscegenating  anarchy  only  that  such  a  crew,  with  such  a  leader,  should  be 
kept  in  power. 

5.  But  it  is  said,  if  it  is  perjury  to  vote  for  a  convention,  it  is  perjury  to 
register,  because  registry  is  an  act  under  the  Military  Bills.     Not  so.     If  a 
man  registered  in  order  to  defeat  the  purpose  of  the  bills,  it  must  be  very 
different  from  one  who  votes  to  carry  out  the  bills.     Directly  opposite  inten 
tions  cannot  constitute  the  same  crime.     A  man  may  not  commit  perjury 
who  even  votes  for  a  convention  as,  in  his  judgment,  the  best  means  of  de 
feating  the  object  of  the  bills.     His  intention  certainly  relieves  him  of  the 
turpitude  of  the  offense.     Still  it  is  a  hazard  I  cannot  recommend. 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  797 

It  is  said  that  Southern  people  ought  not  to  be  so  sensitive  about  violat 
ing  the  Constitution,  as  they  violated  it  in  seceding  from  the  Union  The 
reply  is  they  did  not  think  they  violated  it  by  the  act  of  secession.  Some  of 
the  framers  of  the  Constitution  taught  the  right  of  secession.  Besides  all 
the  secession  conventions  were  very  careful  not  to  require  of  their  members 
an  oath  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  They  certainly 
did  not  commit  perjury,  and  did  not  feel  that  they  committed  any  offense 
whatever. 

We  are  in  an  important  crisis.  We  should  take  our  positions  carefully 
and  write  and  speak  frankly.  I  sincerely  believe  that  every  man  who  votes 
for  a  convention,  with  a  view  or  intent  of  carrying  out  the  purposes  of  the 
Military  Bills,  tramples  on  the  Constitution  and  violates  his  oath.  The 
more  I  have  reflected  and  examined  the  subject,  the  better  I  am  satisfied  of 
this  truth.  Our  people  have  woes  and  sorrows  enough.  Let  them  not  be 
led  to  crime  also.  A  whole  nation  of  perjured  men  !  Think  of  it.  If 
there  be  danger  that  this  will  be  so,  let  us,  in  Heaven's  name,  avert  it  before 
it  is  too  late. 

I  feel  prepared  to  sustain  the  position  I  have  taken  by  authorities,  and 
by  the  best  settled  decisions  and  principles  of  the  law.  If  there  be  a  legal 
gentleman  in  the  State  or  in  the  South  or  North  willing  to  take  the  opposite 
proposition  I  am  prepared  to  enter  the  discussion  with  him  in  a  spirit  of 
earnest  desire  to  settle  the  truth  of  the  question.  I  do  not  wish  an  antago 
nist — I  will  not  notice  one — who  may  seek  only  a  little  notoriety.  But  there 
are  able  legal  gentlemen  in  the  South  who  are  said  to  be  willing,  as  thebett 
they  can  do,  to  accept  these  Military  Bills.  I  affirm  they  cannot  be  accepted 
in  the  manner,  and  on  the  terms,  and  for  the  purposes,  proposed  by  Congress 
without  false  swearing.  I  am  prepared  to  maintain  this  proposition  by 
authority  and  law,  or  admit  my  error  if  convinced  I  am  wrong. 

Gentlemen  who  have  thoughtlessly  concluded  to  accept  the  terms  need 
not  think  to  shut  their  eyes  and  escape  this  question.  It  will  not  be  hushed. 
Excitement,  and  foolish  anger,  and  flippant  threats  will  avail  nothing.  You 
shall  not  perjure  yourselves  and  the  poor  deluded  negro  race  for  selfish,  ig 
noble  purposes,  simply  to  add  strength  to  a  party  that  would  require  perjury, 
and  think  easily  to  escape  the  consequences.  If  the  Southern  States  must 
be  Africanized,  and  the  Constitution  become  aghost,  and  liberty  for  the  con 
tinent  be  destroyed,  go  back  to  your  blasphemous  conclave  of  a  Congress, 
and  tell  them  to  change  their  bills,  and  permit  you  to  do  the  hellish  work, 
at  least,  without  perjuring. 

If  you  persist  in  your  present  course  I  warn  you  your  guilt  shall  be 
made  so  plain  that  the  decent  world  shall  scorn  yourselves,  and  even  if  you 
have  nothing  better  within  you,  your  very  kidneys  shall  run  you  mad. 

NUMBER   TWENTY. 

To  General  U.  S.  Grant: 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  criticise,  or  make  a  formal  reply  to  General 
Pope's   letter.     To  all  intelligent  minds  that  letter  must  fiirm 
severest  criticism  and  its  own  most  effective  refutation.     Besides,  kn 
the  influences  which  surround  him,  and  the  characters  of  those  who  hurried, 
with  supple  grace  and  smiling  selfishness,  to  fill  his  deceived 
ears,  the  General's  situation  inspires  all  my  compassion  and 


798  SENATOR  R  II.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

anger.  But  these  characters,  through  General  Pope's  position,  are  mislead 
ing  the  government  and  people  of  the  North,  and,  to  secure  favor  to  them 
selves,  are  hurrying  the  Northern  and  Southern  people  into  common  mis 
fortunes  by  prolonging  and  increasing  mutual  distrust.  Therefore,  I  make 
General  Pope's  letter  of  the  24th  of  July  the  occasion  for  addressing  a  few 
Notes  to  yourself.  Events  have  thrust  upon  you  the  gravest  responsibility 
in  human  annals.  A  few  months  will  determine,  and  determine  beyond  re 
call,  whether  you  are  equal  or  unequal  to  the  task.  You  do  not  occupy, 
General,  the  highest  official  position  in  the  nation,  but  you  do  occupy  the 
position,  created  by  events,  from  which,  with  the  least  effort,  the  greatest 
good  can  be  accomplished  ;  and  from  which,  also,  the  greatest  evils  by  mere 
permission  may  be  inflicted.  Whoever  else  might  save  Constitutional 
liberty,  it  is  certain  you  can.  American  freedom,  protected  by  governments 
organized  under  and  secured  from  excess  by  written  Constitutions,  is  the 
grand  stake.  Save  it,  and  yours  will  rise — the  very  Teneriffe  of  human 
reputations.  Let  it  be  lost,  or  let  others  save  it  without  your  help,  or  in 
spite  of  your  opposition,  and  no  mortal  ever  fell  to  lower  deep  from  higher 
place,  only  because  so  blind  to  chance  or  unequal  to  duty. 

Now,  then,  to  this  end  I  ask  you  to  pardon  me  if  I  beg  you,  first  of  all, 
to  fully  comprehend  THE  ONE  IDEA  in  American  politics,  without  which 
every  other  idea  can  only  confuse  and  mislead  ;  that  the  written  Constitution, 
and  that  which  is  authorized  thereby,  is  the  only  legitimate  American  will,  and, 
therefore,  the  only  supreme  American  law.  Violate,  disregard,  lose  sight 
of,  or  refuse  to  see  this  one  truth,  and  no  wisdom  nor  learning  can  enlighten  ; 
nor  position,  nor  power,  nor  armies  save.  Then,  anarchy  as  the  ordeal,  and 
despotism  as  the  goal,  is  inevitably  American  destiny. 

In  the  next  place,  let  me  remind  you  that,  in  times  of  public  peril,  frank 
ness,  however  discouraging,  is  the  highest  possible  virtue,  and  deception, 
however  flattering,  is  the  highest  possible  crime.  If  you  have  the  greatness 
of  soul  required  to  appreciate  this  truth,  my  letters  will  not  be  unheeded, 
though  the  writer  be  represented  from  official  headquarters  as  "  turbulent 
and  disloyal." 

Keeping  on  this  standpoint  of  the  Constitution  and  guided  by  this  spirit 
of  frankness,  I  propose,  in  three  separate  Notes,  to  lay  bare  before  you  the 
real  facts  touching  three  separate  but  important  propositions  : 

1.  Who  they  are,  of  the  Southern  white  race,  who  will  accept  the  Mili 
tary  Bills  as  a  plan  of  reconstruction,  and  what  are  the  reasons  and  notions 
which  control  and  actuate  them  in  such  acceptance. 

2.  Who  they  are,  of  the  Southern  white  race,  who  reject  said  bills  as  a 
plan  of  reconstruction,  and  what  are  the  reasons  and  motives  which  control 
and  actuate  them  in  such  rejection. 

3.  What  plan  will  cordially  unite  all  the  Southern  people  ;  secure  per 
manent  union  ;  avoid  future  wars  ;  restore  and  increase  national  prosperity  ; 
perpetuate   Constitutional  government,   and  most   effectually   protect   the 
African  race   in  all  their  lights.     And,  finally,  what  the  government  and 
people  of  the  North  must  do  as  indispensable  to  peace,  if  they  persist  in 
forcing  upon  the  Southern  States  the  plan  of  reconstruction  proposed  in  the 
Military  Bills. 

And  on  these  three  points  I  intend  to  set  forth  the  facts,  which  neither 
General  Pope,  nor  his  amphibious  counselors,  nor  his  numerous  spies,  either 
can  or  will  dare  attempt  to  controvert. 

First,  then,  let  us  ascertain  distinctly  and  classify  carefully  the  men  in 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS. 


and  the  most  active  again,  of  these,  are  those  who  came,  or  were  sent  from 
the  Northern  States.  Among  these,  it  is  a  pleasure  to  say,  there  are  some 
gentlemen  forming  exceptions  to  the  rule  ;  but  nearly  all  of  these  excep 
tions  are  opposed  to  the  Military  Bills.  Some  few  among  them  I  know  to  be 
gentlemen,  and  who  accept  the  bills,  but  the  great  body  of  these  officers 
seem  only  intent  upon  making  themselves  and  the  government  odious  to 
our  people.  The  civil  officers  of  the  States  may  be  described  as  quiescent 
rather  than  acquiescent.  A  few  accept  what  they  are  ordered  not  to  reject. 

2.  Adventurers.     By  these  I  mean  persons  who  never  act  with  any  con 
sistency  of  principle,  nor  from  any  settled  conviction  of  right,  nor  in  any 
spirit  of  devotion  to  the  public  good.     They  are  bred  by  all  revolutions, 
and,  in  their  turn,  breed  the  chief  horrors  of  all  revolutions.     They  gather 
on  States  in  trouble  like  flies  in  the  room  of  the  sick.     They  are  always  on 
the  strong  side,  General.     They  composed  the  unprincipled  portion  of  the 
Secession  party.     These  are  they  who  committed  the  frauds  ;  deceived  the 
people  ;  stirred  the   passions  of  the  masses  ;  who  went  into   secret  socie 
ties  with  an  Indian  name,  and  pledged  themselves  to  force  the  State  out  if 
the  people  did  not  vote  out.     These  are  they  who  led  "  the  people  into  their 
present  desperate  condition,  and  who  seek  to  plunge  them  still  deeper  into 
misfortunes."     I  know  these  men  well.     They  are  among  General  Pope's 
counselors.     They  accept  the  Military  Bills.     They  are  popular  at  General 
Pope's  headquarters.     They  will  serve  out  that  full  "  term  of  six  months," 
which  the  General  prescribes,  to  be  relieved  of  their  disabilities  !  Indeed,  they 
will,  and  be  on  good  behavior,  too.     They  are  smart.     They  have  completely 
turned  poor  General  Pope  round,  and  put  his  face  where  his  back  ought  to 
be,  and  caused  him  to  put  his  coat  on  with  his  collar  down  !     They  have 
made   General  Pope   recommend,  by  name,  three  men  for  banishment,  be 
cause  they  oppose  the  Military  Bills,  whom  these  very  counselors  and  loyal 
Radicals  desired  to  banish,  or  mob,  in  1860,  because  they  opposed  secession. 
Alas  !  how  well  I  know  them,  and  how  well  they  know  poor  General  Pope  ! 
Some  of  these  abandoned  the  Confederacy  very  soon — as  soon  as  they  failed 
to  get  office  or  contracts — and  now  call  themselves  original  Union  men, 
and    a  few   of  them  have  actually  taken  the  test  oath.     Others  held  on 
to  Secession  as  long  as  it  was  safe  and  profitable.     Of  course,  now,  to  avoid 
confiscation  and  disfranchisement,  they  are  for  Reconstruction,  and  swear 
at  every  corner  "  the  Radicals  can  do  as  they  please — the  Constitution  is 
dead  and  the  President  is  nobody." 

Under  this  head  it  pains  me  to  have  to  include  some  really  original 
Union  men,  who,  failing  to  be  recognized  by  the  people  as  the  only  fit  per 
sons  to  have  office  after  the  surrender,  became  soured,  and,  with  a  desperate 
petulance,  abandoned  the  conservative  principles  of  their  lives  and  rusher 
into  Radicalism. 

3.  Timid  men 
want  peace.     So 

Some  of  our  people  so  long  for  peace  —          „ 

cries  peace,  like  hungry  sheep  after  the  man  who  shakes  a  bund 

never  thinking  p00r  creatures,  they  are  being  led  to  a  shearing  house   01 

slaughter   pen  !     So,  some    are   alarmed  with  the    idea  of  confiscation  an 

further  disfranchisement.     "  We  must  take  the  best  we  can  get,     they  say. 


n  We  have  among  us  some  good-meaning  men.  They 
>,  Heaven  knows,  do-all  of  us  !  Peace  !  It  is  a  sweet  word! 
>ple  so  Ions?  for  peace  that  they  will  run  after  anybody  who 


800  SENATOR  J3.   H.    HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

"  It  is  no  use  to  talk  about  the  Constitution.  The  Radicals  are  too  mean  to 
regard  that.  They  don't  care  for  their  oaths.  They  don't  care  for  the 
Union.  They  don't  mind  Johnson.  They  say  if  we  don't  take  these  Mill- 
tary  Bills  they  will  put  on  us  something  worse,  and  they  are  mean  enough 
to  do  it,  and  the  Northern  people  don't  seem  to  care.  They'll  take  our  lands 
and  everything  else.  We  had  better  go  with  them  to  keep  them  from  ruin 
ing  us."  Such  are  the  arguments  we  hear  everyday  in  favor  of  the  Military 
Bills. 

I  have  heard  of  many  reasons  why  different  parties  should  be  supported, 
but  the  Radical  party  can  monopolize  this  one,  urged  by  its  own  supporters. 
It  disregards  the  Constitution,  tramples  on  oaths,  robs  the  people,  and  will 
do  worse  things  if  it  is  not  kept  in  power. 

4.  Policy  men.  These  are  of  various  kinds.  Some  say  it  is  policy  to 
give  suffrage  to  the  negroes  because  the  Southern  whites  can  control  their 
votes  and  disappoint  the  Radicals.  Some  say  we  can  seem  to  go  with  the 
Radicals  until  we  get  in  the  Union  and  then  we  can  do  as  we  please.  Others 
say  by  accepting  the  Military  Bills  we  can  get  control  of  the  Convention 
with  the  right  kind  of  men  and  form  a  Constitution  to  suit  us;  or,  if  we  must 
form  one  to  suit  the  Radicals  we  can  afterward  change  it  again.  All 
these  policy  men  feel  insulted  if  you  call  them  Radicals.  They  excitedly 
swear  they  are  not  Radicals.  They  are  only  going  to  trick  the  Radicals. 
They  are  going  to  beat  the  Radicals  at  their  own  game  of  deception.  They 
also  insist  that  the  Constitution  "is  a  ghost" — the  Government  is  gone — 
that  the  Radical  party  is  the  only  existing  Government,  and  we  can  do 
more  to  destroy  it  by  feeding  it  than  by  fighting  it. 

They  frequently  whisper,  in  confidence,  "  these  Military  men — from  Grant 
down — know  nothing  about  law  or  Constitution.  As  for  Pope,  everybody 
knows  he  is  a  fool,  and  it  is  no  trouble  at  all  to  manage  him.  And  as  for 
the  Radical  party  >  they  care  nothing  for  the  negro.  All  they  want  is  to 
elect  their  President  in  1868  and  hold  the  offices.  Let  us  help  them  do  that, 
and  they  will  remove  all  our  disabilities  and  let  us  fix  our  State  Governments 
just  as  we  please." 

Mark  you,  General,  this  is  not  my  language.  It  is  the  language  of  Gen 
eral  Pope's  friends — these  loyal  men  who,  after  "six  months  of  good  con 
duct,"  like  quiet  boys,  he  is  going  to  recommend  to  Congress  as  true  patriots 
worthy  to  be  trusted  with  any  office.  I  confess  many  of  these  policy  men 
are  intelligent,  even  learned,  and  of  high  political  and  social  position  ;  they 
are  disciples  of  the  doctrine  that  "  all  is  fair  in  war,"  "  it  is  best  to  fight  the 
devil  with  fire,"  etc.  I  think  they  are  wrong  in  principle,  and  will  be  fatally 
deluded  in  fact.  The  devil  cannot  be  whipped  with  fire,  because  it  is  his 
element.  So  the  Radicals  cannot  be  defeated  by  deception,  because  decep 
tion  is  the  whole  life  of  Radicalism.  It  would  be  as  reasonable  to  play 
scratch  with  the  lion.  The  devil  must  be  fought  with  truth  and  the  Radi 
cals  with  the  Constitution  !  Then  victory,  sooner  or  later,  will  be  sure,  per 
manent,  and  glorious.  "  Get  thee  behind  me,  Satan,"  must  be  the  language 
of  every  true  patriot  to  this  modern  political  fiend,  Radicalism. 

Now,  General,  the  catalogue  is  complete.  Every  white  man  in  the  South 
who  accepts  the  Military  Bills  belongs  to  one  or  othe-r  of  the  above  classes. 
General  Pope  thinks  they  will  be  largely  in  the  majority  in  Alabama,  and 
will  have  some  majority  in  Georgia.  I  do  not  think  so  ;  the  two  first  classes 
are  stationary  and  uninfluential.  The  two  last  were,  at  one  time,  seemingly 
very  numerous,  and  embrace  many  of  our  best  citizens.  They  were  desper- 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  801 

ate,  but  the  number  has  greatly  diminished,  and  is  daily  and  rapidly  de 
creasing. 

But  suppose  every  white  man  in  the  South  were  to  accept,  and  should 

vote   with  such  convictions  and  purposes,  for  the  Military  Bills,  what  I 

resu  ts  could  follow ?     I  tell  you  frankly,  I  do  not  know  a  respeet.-ible  white 


of  his  disabilities,  put  himself  on  record  as  supporting  or  dei\-ndin«_c  these 
bills  as,  in  his  opinion,  Constitutional  or  righteous.  We  all  know  tlfat  very 
many  of  those  who  accept  the  bills  openly  declare  them  unconstitutional, 
unjust,  and  oppressive.  The  uncandid  accept— the  candid  reject— none  uj- 
prove— and  all  despise!  How  long  can  a  government  last  which  is  estab 
lished  over  a  people  who  universally  feel  that  it  is  oppressive,  know  it  is 
illegal,  and  accept  it  only  as  a  hard  temporary  policy  ?  How  much  good 
will  can  it  breed,  and  how  much  devotion  can  it  inspire?  Can  such  a  recon 
struction  furnish  a  guarantee  of  future  union  and  peace?  Will  it  restore 
confidence,  or  happiness,  or  prosperity?  Will  it  pay  the  national  debt,  or 
preserve  the  national  honor,  or  build  again  the  waste  places  !  You  may, 
with  the  help  of  the  deceived  negroes,  force  this  plan.  But  force  alone  can 
do  the  work,  for  it  has  no  man's  approval.  If  force  alone  can  establish  this 
plan  of  Reconstruction,  how  long  will  it  last  when  that  force  shall  be  with 
drawn  ?  If  force  alone  gives  it  origin,  must  not  force  alone  secure  its  con 
tinuance  ?  And  does  not  this  make  military  despotism  permanent  ?  Is  force 
the  "  great  principle  of  government "  of  which  General  Pope  speaks  ?  Is 
this  the  problem  by  which  "  to  perpetuate  Reconstruction  in  the  spirit  and 
on  the  principles  which  can  alone  assure  free  government  ?  r  Oh,  what  de 
structive  absurdity  is  this  from  the  mouth  or  a  ruler  in  a  land  of  written 
Constitutions  ! 

I  think,  as  General  Pope  says,  that  three-fourths  of  the  negro  vote  will 
be  "  for  the  Convention,"  and  to  carry  out  the  Military  Bills.     They  do  not 
know  what  the  Constitution  is,  or  what  they  are  voting  for.     But  they  are 
taught,  by  emissaries  and  low  office  seekers,  that  the  Radicals  are  their  only 
friends,  and  they  must  give  such  votes  to  keep  their  friends  in  power.     They 
are  also  taught  that  every  white  man  who  votes  against  a  Convention  is 
their  enemy.     The  negroes  alone  in  the  South  approve  these  Military  Bills, 
and  they  approve  from  false  teachings  and  in  a  spirit  of  hatred  to  the  loAito 
race.     Is  any  man,  North  or  South,  so  stupid  as  not  to  see  to  what  this  will 
lead  !     Can  even  force  prevent  a  war  of  races  under  such  a  government  ? 
Will  the  Northern  people  press  this  fate  upon  us?     Will  they  longer  w- 
tain  a  party  which  tramples  thus  upon  every  principle  of  freedom,  every 
sentiment  of  right,  and    every  guarantee  of  peace  to  perpetuate  its   OUT: 
criminal  existence  ?     Will  you,  General,  be  the  leader  of  that  party  •      \Vi 
you  be  the  nourishing  breeder  of  hatred  between  the  races,  the  willing  in 
strument  of  oppression  upon  a  people  who  laid  down  their  arms  to  you  on 
your  assurance  of  protection  so  long  as  they  obeyed  "  the  laws  <>t  lh*  Hate 
in  which  they  lived."     Will  you  be  the  grand  executioner  of    iberty  in 
continent?     For  I  tell  you  no  nation  which  forces  despotism  upon  ten  mil 
lions  of  people  can  itself  remain  free.     Despotism  for  all  or  despot  i 
none,  is  as  just  as  truth  and  as  inevitable  as  destiny.     ///  the 
liberty  for  all  and  forever.      Out  of  the  Constitution  is  bloody  anarchy 
final  despotism  without  hope.     You  won  no  victory  in  the  war 


802  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

the  Constitution  now.  Americans,  from  ocean  to  ocean,  and  from  the  ice 
bergs  to  the  orange  groves,  will  remember,  with  sorrow  and  weeping,  the 
scenes  at  Appomattox  Court-house  if  you  forget  the  Constitution  now. 
You  lead  no  armies  for  the  Union  if  you  enforce  these  Military  Bills  for  the 
Radicals.  The  Constitution  or  the  Radical  party  must  perish.  Fame  in 
vites  you  to  live  with  the  first  and  infamy  woos  you  to  lead  the  last. 

Who  saves  his  country  saves  himself,  saves  all  things,  and  all  things 
saved  do  bless  him.  Who  lets  his  country  die,  dies  himself  ignobly,  and  all 
things  dying  curse  him  I 

NUMBER   TWENTY- ONE. 

To  General  U.  S.  Grant: 

General  Pope  made  one  great  mistake,  and  out  of  this  many  other  mistakes 
have  grown.  He  supposed  he  was  sent  here  to  carry  out  the  Military  Bills. 
He  feels,  therefore,  that  if  he  does  not  carry  them  out  he  is  defeated.  He 
acts  like  a  man  in  a  battle.  He  fights.  Every  man  who  does  not  help  him 
carry  out  those  bills  he  regards  as  an  enemy — his  enemy — fighting  for  his 
defeat.  He  fails  to  comprehend  the  difference  between  the  ballot  and  the 
bullet.  He  does  not  understand  that  his  business  is  to  keep  the  peace,  and 
afford  the  people — some  people — an  opportunity  to  determine  whether  in 
their  judgment,  the  bills  ought  to  be  carried  out.  No  ;  the  "  great  princi 
ples  of  government "  are  gone,  and  every  man  is  "turbulent  and  disloyal," 
and  the  poor  negroes  are  worse  off  than  ever  before  if  General  Pope  does 
not  win  a  victory.  Constitutions,  laws,  rights,  honor — what  are  all  these  ? 
Mere  words — nothing  ;  General  Pope  must  have  a  victory.  It  being,  there 
fore,  in  his  view,  no  question  of  judgment,  he  cares  nothing  for  opinions  or 
motives.  A  man  has  no  rigid  to  think  the  bills  are  wrong.  He  is  disloyal 
if  he  does  think  so — or  rather  if  he  acts  so.  He  cares  not  what  a  man  thinks 
about  the  bills  ;  if  he  only  helps  to  carry  them  out,  he  helps  General  Pope 
win  the  fight.  This  is  exactly  why  he  esteems  all  men  as  patriots  who  help 
him,  and  all  as  disloyal  who  think  the  bills  are  wrong  and  will  not  help 
him  carry  them  out.  Therefore,  those  who  help,  however  they  violate  their 
convictions  of  right,  and  will  be  faithful  hypocrites  for  "  the  next  six 
months,"  he  is  going  to  recommend  for  promotion — disabilities  to  be  re 
moved  and  then — office  !  But  those  who  honestly  think  the  bills  are  con 
trary  to  the  Constitution,  and  will  ruin  the  country,  and  destroy  the  negro 
race,  and  cannot  conscientiously  forbear  saying  what  they  honestly  think, 
and,  acting  upon  such  honest  convictions,  such  men  are  terrible  creatures  ; 
caused  all  the  past  troubles  ;  will  cause  more  trouble  ;  will  never  let  General 
Pope  win  a  clear  victory  !  These  must  be  kept  down,  disfranchised, 
frightened,  slandered,  and  banished  ?  How  gracious  he  has  been  to  his 
enemies.  He  has  "permitted  and  encouraged  the  widest  latitude  of  speech 
and  of  the  press  ! "  Wonderful  !  He  permitted  what  the  Constitution  says 
shall  not  be  denied — shall  not  even  be  abridged!  That  old  Constitution  has 
higher  rank  and  an  older  commission  than  General  Pope,  and  quite  as  much 
wisdom.  That  Constitution  commands  the  Continent  and  protects  the 
people.  All  lesser  commanders  are  sworn  to  support  that  one.  Better  re 
member  that  oath.  But  light  breaks !  Our  military  commander  has 
stumbled  upon  one  Constitutional  idea — freedom  of  speech  and  of  the 
press — though  he  utters  it  like  it  was  original  and  hurt  him  very  much. 

In  the  previous  note,  General,  I  classified  the  white  people  who  accept  the 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND   WRITINGS. 

Military  Bills,  and  gave  their  own  reasons  for  such 

>ills.     I  > 
rejection. 


Military  Bills,  and  gave  their  own  reasons  for  sucli  acceptance      I  repeat    I 

know  of  none  who  approve  those  bills.     I  will  now  classify  thoie  who  rejeVt 
tliem,  with  their  reasons  for  such  rejection. 


taught  so  to  believe  by  some  of  those  most  active  framers  of  the  Tomtit  .it  ion 
and  by  many  of  the  wisest  men  of  each  generation  since-  in  even  «  otion  of 
the  country.  They  did  not  regard  secession  by  the  States  then-Ton-  a*  anv 
violation  of  the  Constitution,  or  of  good  faith.  These  men  also  belie  veil 
that,  owing  to  the  many  sectional  antagonisms,  the  Northern  and  Southern 
States  could  not  continue  members  of  the  same  Union  in  peace  and  as  equals, 
and  that  the  interests  of  both  sections  would  be  promoted  by  a  separation. 
They  believed,  again,  that  such  separation  would  be  peaceful.  Therefore, 
they  thought  secession  was  right,  wise,  and  would  secure  peace,  and  that 
longer  Union  was  war  and  the  ultimate  oppression  of  the  South  as  the 
weaker  party. 

It  is  well  known  I  differed  with  these  men.  I  belonged,  always,  to  a 
different  school  of  political  thinkers.  It  is  not  in  order  now  to  define  the 
difference.  But  I  can  truly  say  that,  in  my  opinion,  more  sincere  men, 
better  citizens,  and  truer  patriots  have  never  lived  in  any  country.  Their 
doctrines  were  wrong,  as  I  think,  and,  therefore,  very  dangerous  ;  but  their 
convictions  were  sincere  and  their  minds  enlightened  ;  their  purposes  pa 
triotic  and  their  actions  manly.  The  unprincipled  portion  of  their  follow 
ers  have  very  much  injured  their  good  name.  These  men  regarded  that  tin- 
right  of  secession  at  will,  as  a  Constitutional  remedy,  was  the  great  issue 
in  the  fight.  The}*-  defended  it  heroically.  But  they  failed.  Arms  decided 
the  issue  against  them.  They  accepted  the  decision.  And  now  they  agree 
that,  by  the  judgment  finally  rendered,  the  Union  has  not  been  dissolved, 
and  that  secession  at  will  by  a  State  is  not  the  true  construction  of  the 
Constitution.  But  they  still  insist  on  the  Constitution,  and  pledge  them 
selves  to  live  in  the  Union  under  that  Constitution,  without  the  right  of 
Constitutional  secession.  Being  sincere,  they  are  entitled  to  trust.  IJeiiiLC 
honest,  they  deserve  to  be  believed.  Being  brave,  they  will  prove  true  to 
trust  and  faith.  And  being  sincere,  honest,  and  brave,  they  are  compelled 
to  reject  these  Military  Bills,  as  conceded  to  be  contrary  to  the  Constitu 
tion,  and  clearly  contrary  to  the  terms  of  the  fight,  the  conditions  of  sur 
render,  the  sacred  pledge  of  the  nation,  dishonorable  to  the  government, 
degrading  to  the  white  race,  and  destructive  of  the  black  race.  The  issue 
in  the  war  was  as  to  what  the  Constitution  did  really  mean.  The  differ 
ence  was  honest,  and  neither  party  were  or  could  be  rebels.  But  the  i^uc 
made  by  the  Radical  party  in  these  Military  Bills  is,  whether  we  shall  bare 
a  Constitution  at  all  ;  whether  Constitutional  liberty  shall  continue  ; 
whether  the  nation  shall  keep  its  faith  and  preserve  its  honor  ;  whether, 
under  pretense  of  punishing  rebels,  the  government  shall  be  subverted;  wheth 
er,  in  the  name  of  loyalty,  the  Union  shall  be  forever  broken  ;  whether,  in  the 
name  of  philanthropy,  the  white  race  shall  be  dishonored  and  the  black 
race  exterminated,  and  whether  Federal  legislation  shall  promote  the 
oral  welfare,"  or  shall  promote  and  increase  hatred  between  the 
the  nation  until  the  nation  itself  shall  cease  to  exist,  or  take  n  fu^e 
anarchy  in  despotism.  Ah,  General,  that  clear-sighted,  honest-hour  d, 


804  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

« 

truth-telling  chronicle  called  History,  will  be  at  no  loss  to  determine  who 
are  the  rebels — aye,  the  traitors — and  who  the  patriots  in  this  issue.  Be 
not  deceived.  Radicalism  is  canonizing  secession  !  Press  this  Radical 
programme  through,  and  you  will  indeed,  as  Thaddeus  Stevens  says,  "create 
a  new  government,"  but  that  government  will  not  be  a  "  political  para 
dise."  No  paradise  can  be  created  by  force,  fraud,  and  perjury.  But 
weeping  mourners  from  Northern  States  will  deck  the  graves  of  the 
Confederate  fallen  ;  a  monument  to  Jefferson  Davis  will  one  day  lift  its 
sunward  summit  from  Bunker  Hill ;  Appomattox  will  be  visited  where 
liberty  surrendered  its  sword  to  power  ;  and  Fortress  Monroe  will  become 
the  political  Mecca  whither  sorrowing  patriotic  pilgrims  will  wend  their 
way  to  see  the  room  in  which  "  the  last  defender  of  Constitutional  govern 
ment  in  America  "  was  oppressed,  insulted,  and  chained. 

2.  Union  Men  up  to  Secession.     A  large  number  of  our  people  resisted 
secession  earnestly  and  faithfully  until,  in  spite  of  them,  it  was  an  accom 
plished  fact.     They  then  deemed  it  their  duty  to  go  with  their  section. 
Some  did  so  to  restrain  excesses,  and  prevent,  if  possible,  war  ;  some  to  watch 
a  favorable  moment  to  bring  about  a  reconciliation  of  the  sections  ;  some 
because  they  believed  they  owed  their  allegiance  to  their  State  and  were 
compelled  to  go  ;  and  some,  because  they  believed  that  the  Union,  once 
dissolved,  could  never  be  restored,  and  they  intended  to  live  in  the  South. 
But    all   these  loved  the   Constitution   and   the   Union   under   it.      They 
lamented  the  subjugation  of  their  section  and  the  misfortunes  of  their  peo 
ple,  but   they  accepted  the   result   of   the  fight ;    agree  to    reunion,  and 
earnestly  desire  to  restore  the  prosperity  and  harmony  of  all  the  country. 
These  necessarily  oppose  and  reject  the  Military  Bills,  because  they  regard 
them  as  more  unconstitutional  than  secession,  as  prolonging  the  bad  passions 
of  the  strife,  and  as  surely  making  disunion  permanent  and  future  good 
will  hopeless. 

3.  All  the  time  Union  Men.     These  never  believed  the  North  would  op 
press  the  South.     They  loved  the  Constitution  and  the  Union.     They  could 
see  no  good  in  secession.      They  hated  secessionists  of  all  classes.     They 
begged  our  people  to  stop  the  fight,  and  either  stood  aloof,  or  did  all  they 
could  to  end  the  strife.     All  this  they  did,  sincerely  believing  that  the  only 
object  of  the  war  on  the  part  of  the  North  was  to  preserve  the    Union. 
They  endured  all  the  obloquy  of  being  against  their  own  people,  firmly 
believing  that  results,  in  a  restored  Union,  would  vindicate  their  wisdom 
and  demonstrate  the  error  of  those  who  differed  with  them. 

Of  all  our  people  these  last  have  the  greatest  cause  to  complain  of  the 
bad  faith  of  the  Government  and  the  ungenerous  and  destructive  action  of 
the  Radicals  since  the  surrender  of  the  Southern  armies.  These  Military 
Bills  make  their  wisdom  madness,  their  promises  lies,  and  their  hopes  the 
bitterest  gall.  They  would  lose  their  own  respect  and  the  respect  of  all 
men  if  they  did  not  denounce  and  reject  these  bills  as  embodying  the  most 
infamous  treachery  to  the  National  faith  and  the  most  ungrateful  contempt 
for  Union  fidelity  in  the  South.  They  opposed  Radicalism  for  the  same  rea 
son  they  opposed  secession — because  they  loved  and  still  love  the  Constitu 
tion  and  the  Union  under  it.  But  now  they  find  the  United  States  Congress 
laughing  at  the  Constitution  as  a  "ghost,"  and  they  find  General  Pope  blindly 
loving  the  most  unprincipled  of  the  secessionists,  and  denouncing  true  Union 
men  as  "  turbulent  and  disloyal  reactionary  leaders,"  who  must  be  banished 
from  the  country  before  peace  can  be  secured  under  Radical  reconstruction, 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  805 


.  f  ,  .  ~j      — ~~    ~"v,      ix    ii   i'-n    ,    nun  »'i»-  »- 

tion  of  the  secession  wing  of  the  old  Democratic  party,  and  most  ofUw 
Jackson  and  Union  wing  ot  that  party,  and  the  great  body  of  the  oM 
-the  followers  of  Clay  and  admirers  of  Webster.     In  my  opinion 

\-J  s*\m*~\     •««Tl  I  1     ¥"•  »-» ^"1      4-  r\  f\  w»r»       I  .  !    ..  n*.n  i    ,  1    _  1  *  *(.  ^     . 


— — ^^.^. «..»... i*    tllCV 

incapable  of  being  false  to  their  pledges,  and'are  the  very  'best  ~protectors"of 
the  negroes  on  the  continent.  Every  charge  made  by  General  Pope  to  the 
contrary  is  simply  gratuitous  slander,  prompted  by  unprincipled  men  who 
have  never  been  faithful  to  any  government,  nor  true  to  any  promise,  nor 
settled  in  any  good  principle. 

Contrast  the  reasons  of  these  men  for  rejecting  these  Military  Bills  with 
the  reasons  of  those  who  accept  them. 

1.  Those  who  accept  these  bills  concede  they  are  unconstitutional,  but 
justify  them  by  saying  the  Constitution  is  dead  at  the  North  and  does  not 
apply  at  the  South,  who  are  conquered  foreign  States.      Those  who  reject 
the  bills  deny  that  the  Constitution  is  dead  anywhere.     Love  for  it  at  the 
North  seems  to  be  cold,  but  as  the  passions  of  the  war  die  out  this  love  will 
revive,  and  it  is  the  duty  of  every  man  to  aid  in  warming  it  into  life.     That 
the  Southern  States  are  not  foreign  States,  because  the  result  of  the  war  de 
cided  that  secession  was  void,  and  this  decision  was  accepted  by  the  South 
as  made  by  the  North  in  the  fight  and  according  to  the  surrender.     That, 
besides,  if  conquered  foreign  States,  it  is  a  universal  law  of  nations,  well  es 
tablished,  that  the  fundamental  law  of  the  conqueror  extends  over  the  con 
quered,  and  that  in  this  case  that  fundamental  law  is  the  Constitution. 

Now,  General,  which  party  is  right  on  this  point  ?  Is  the  Constitution 
dead  !  Has  it  no  force  in  the  South  ?  Then  why  swear  to  support  it  f 
Why  did  you  swear  to  support  it  !  Why  swear  every  man,  who  registers 
to  vote  on  these  very  bills,  to  support  it  !  When  you  pledged  protection  to 
the  gallant  men  who  took  your  paroles  on  condition  that  they  obeyed  "  the 
laws  of  the  States  in  which  they  resided,"  did  you  mean  States  out  of  the 
Union  ?  Did  you  preserve  the  Union  broken. 

2.  Those  who  accept  these  Military  Bills  concede  they  are  wrong,  un 
just,  and  oppressive  ;  but  they  say  Congress  has  no  respect  for  right,  no  re 
gard  for  justice,  and  is  guided  by  a  spirit  of  vengeance,  and  that  every 
time  we   reject  a  proposition  they  put  worse  conditions  on  us,  and  that  if 
we  reject  these  bills,  they  will  provide  a  plan  to  take  all  our  property  and 
disfranchise  nearly  every  white  man  ;  and  that  the  Northern  people,  in  this 
spirit  of  vengeance,  are  ahead  of  the  Congress  and  will  sustain  them   in 
every  measure  of  oppression.     Those  who  reject  the  bills  admit  the  North 
ern  people  have  acted  in  a  manner  we  did  not  expect,  but  insist  that  they 
have  been  misled  by  their  leaders  and  blinded  by  the  passions  of  the  war. 
That  the  masses  really  love  the  Constitution  and  the  Union,  and  that  a* 
soon  as  the  excesses  of  the  Congress  open  their  eyes  to  the  great  fact  that 
these  extreme  measures  are  putting  at  still  greater  hazard  everything  they 
thought  they  had  saved  by  the  war,  a  reaction  will  take  place  and  the  peo 
ple  will  repudiate  the  Radicals  as  they  did  the  secessionists,  and  with  more 
fierceness,  since  thev  will  discover  them  to  be  the  most  treacherous  enemy, 
not  only  to   the    Union,   but  to   Constitutional    liberty   itself.     We  have 


806  8KNATOH  £.  II.  HILL,   OF  GEORGIA. 

faith,  General,  in  the  ultimate  justice  of  the  Northern  people.     Are  we  de 
ceived? 

3.  Those  who  accept  the  bills,  say  they  do  not  approve  them,  and  are  no 
Radicals,  but  they  will  seem  to  go  with  the  Radicals  until  they  get  in  the 
Union,  and  then  will   undo  all  they  have  done  and   defy  the   Radicals. 
Those  who  reject  them  say  no  plan  of  settlement  can  be  reliable  or  peace 
ful,  or  lasting,  which  is  not  sincere  and  honestly  approved.     They  will  be 
no  party  to  a  deception.     Besides,  the  deception  will  fail.     The  Radicals 
and  negroes  will  get  the  power  and  hold  it  until  a  war  of  races  destroys  the 
negroes,  destroys  the  Government,  and  precipitates  anarchy  and  final  des 
potism  over  all  the  United  States.     If  the  white  voters  do  not  give  their 
consent  to  this  unconstitutional  usurpation,  it  can  never  have  validity,  and 
they  are  determined,  therefore,  never  to  give  that  consent.     And  they  will 
exhaust  all  legal  remedies  to  expose  its  invalidity  without  that  consent. 

4.  Those  who  accept  the  bills  say  we  can  thereby  at  least  save  our  prop 
erty,  and,  as  for  the  government,  that  is  gone  anyhow.     It  is  all  a  question 
of  power  now,  and  not  of  law  or  right.     Those  who  reject  the  bills  say  that 
no  people  are  fit  to  have  property  who  consent  to  their  own  dishonor,  and 
that  at  all  hazards  we  will  save  our  honor  as  a  people.     If  the  North  rob  us 
further  that  is  their  act.     If  we  consent  to  our  dishonor  that  is  our  shame. 
That   law  and   right  will    ultimately  be    restored,   and   then  robbers   and 
oppressors  will  be  attended  to,  and  will  receive  sympathy  from  no  side. 

I  will  not  continue  this  contrast.  In  every  respect,  I  ask  you  if  those 
who  reject  are  riot  right  ?  Who  are  the  pernicious,  disloyal,  and  danger 
ous  ;  and  who  are  the  manly,  worthy,  and  true  ? 

Will  you  lead  the  Radicals  in  further  war  upon  such  men  with  such 
principles?  Is  he  a  conqueror  who  invades  the  helpless?  Is  he  a  general 
who  leads  the  assault  on  the  unresisting  ? 

Are  these  "  the  cardinal  principles  of  our  Government  "  ? 

NUMBER   TWENTY-TWO. 

To  General  IT.  S.  Grant: 

The  American  people  have  been  destroying  each  other  because  of  dif 
ferences  of  opinion.  These  differences  exist  and  have  existed  chiefly  be 
cause  the  people  of  the  respective  sections  have  not  understood  and  do  not 
understand  each  other.  Everything  has  been  managed  by  policy  and  decep 
tion.  Our  statesmen  have  been  merely  strategic  partisans.  If  the  people  of 
the  North  could  now  be  made  to  see  the  real  desires  and  purposes  of  the  peo 
ple  of  the  South,  they  would  become  ashamed  of  that  deceptive  Radical 
catch-word  rebel,  and  all  distrust  and  bitterness  would  disappear,  and  dis 
union  would  not  continue  one  hour.  The  people  of  the  South  never  desired 
to  get  rid  of  the  Constitution.  They  were  made  to  believe  the  North  in 
tended  to  deny  their  equal  rights  under  that  Constitution,  and  to  oppress 
them.  They  seceded,  as  they  believed,  from  oppression  and  not  from  the 
Constitution.  They  may  have  been  deceived.  Were  they?  Has  the 
oppression  come  ?  Can  Union  and  oppression  live  together  and  restore  pros 
perity?  If  the  North  can  be  assured  that  Union  can  be  secured  without  the 
oppression,  will  they  not  abandon  the  oppression  and  repudiate  the  oppres 
sors  ?  I  believe  they  will.  Therefore,  I  write  most  plainly,  and  without 
any  concealment.  Bad  men  in  both  sections  keep  up  false  impressions,  and 
encourage  mutual  hatreds.  Bad  men,  like  certain  animals,  live  on  the  car- 


JTTS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS. 

casses  of  good  things.     They  fatten  on  ruin.     If  the  people  were  virtuous 
and  wise,  bad  men  would  be  ofticeless  and  powerless 

Now  then   do  the  people  of  the  North  really  desire  to  understand  ntf 

so,  do  not  let  them  be  blinded  by  epithets— as  "rebels"  "traitors"  -md 
'men  who  desired  to  break  up  the  government,"  for  these  things  are  laid 
bv  bad  men,  and  are  said  to  keep  up  passion  and  not  to  inform  the  mind 
Understand  motives  and  judge  acts  in  the  light  of  motives. 

For  this  reason,  General^  I  have  made  "known  to  you  the  men  in  the 
South  who  accept  the  Military  Bills,  and  the  motives  which  attract  them.  I 
have  also  made  known  to  you  those  who  reject  those  bills  and  the  motives 
which  actuated  them.  The  first  class  can  yield—all  but  the  desperate  ones 
would  be  glad  to  yield— because  they  accept  against  their  convictions  of 
right,  and  from  horrid  motives  of  fear  and  policy.  The  latter  never  can 
yield,  because  to  yield  they  must  violate  their  convictions  of  right  and  of 
duty  to  the  country,  to  the  Constitution  ^violate  their  oaths  ;  degrade  the 
white  race  ;  bring  a  war  of  extermination  on  the  black  race,  and  destroy 
free  Constitutional  government  in  America.  No  man  has  answered — Gen 
eral  Pope  does  not  try  to  answer — the  arguments  by  which  they  prove  the 
correctness  of  their  convictions.  If,  with  these  convictions,  they  were  to 
yield,  would  they  not  be  rebels  indeed,  and  would  not  you  despise  them,  and 
would  not  they  despise  themselves?  Would  an  honorable  man  ask  them  to 
yield  against  such  convictions,  much  less  denounce  them  as  "  turbulent  and 
disloyal  and  deceitful,"  because  they  openly,  and  in  the  most  patriotic  utter 
ances  possible,  avow  them? 

But  there  is  a  way  to  reconcile  all  these  differences ;  to  end  strife  ;  to 
restore  harmony  and  good-will  ;  to  perpetuate  the  Union ;  to  build  again, 
as  never  before,  national  prosperity  ;  and  to  secure  freedom  and  equal  pro 
tection  to  all  sections,  races,  and  colors.  Now,  then,  if  the  North  will  still 
their  passions  long  enough  to  hear  and  fully  comprehend  what  the  South  is 
willing  to  do  ;  and  will  meet  the  South  in  a  like  spirit  of  frankness  and 
honest  purpose,  Eureka  !  Eureka  !  will  burst,  in  loud  acclamations  of  joy, 
from  the  lips  of  thirty-five  millions  of  people,  rescued  from  bloody  anarchy 
and  perpetual  despotism  ;  and  bonfires  and  illuminations  will  blaze  in  a  com 
mon  light  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  and  from  the  Lakes  to  the  Gulf, 
revealing  the  grand  jubilee  of  the  nation  over  Constitutional  reunion. 

An  humble  citizen,  claiming  no  merit  save  a  life  during  which  no  man 
can  truthfully  say  I  ever  sought  or  desired  to  deceive  a  living  thing,  I  tender 
you  myself,  my  all,  for  a  hostage,  that  what  I  now  say  in  the  behalf  of  the  de 
ceived  and  unfortunate,  but  gallant,  noble,  and  ever  honorable  people  of  tin- 
South,  is  as  true  in  fact  as  it  is  fearless  in  utterance. 

1.  The  Southern  people  are  willing,  anxious,  to  obey  the  Constitution  and 
to  live  in  the  Union  under  it.     They  admit  that  the  construction  which  th.-y 
honestly  placed  upon  that  Constitution,  of  the  right  of  a  {State  to  secede 
from  the  Union  at  will,  has  been  decided  against  them  by  arms,  and  they 
accept  that  decision,  and  will  live  by  it,  and  maintain  it,  if  necessary,  with 
arms. 

2.  They  concede  and  will  maintain  the  freedom  of  the  African  race  in  the 
United  States.     To  this  end  they  will  maintain  and  defend  the  &.'/"'"'/  < 
the  State  governments,  by  which  that  freedom  was  made  a  part  of 

eral  Constitution,  and  by"  which  it  was  guaranteed  in  the  Mate 

Whatever  may  have*been  their  opinions  of  the  right  of  iUvery,  an 
benefits  to  the  African  race,  they  discovered  that  it  cost  more  to  maintau 


808  SENATOR  P.   H.  HILL,    OP  GEORGIA. 

slaves  than,  as  a  property,  it  was  worth.  Therefore,  for  peace  and  interest, 
they  yielded  it,  and  will  never,  by  their  acts,  restore  it.  Moreover,  the  negroes 
being  free,  they  concede  and  will  maintain,  shall  have  and  receive  in  the 
law,  before  tlie  law,  and  by  the  law,  equal  protection  in  all  their  rights  with 
the  white  race.  So,  also,  being* members  of  society,  and  society  being  ben 
efited  by  intelligence  and  virtue,  and  injured  by  ignorance  and  vice,  the 
Southern  white  people  will  do  all  in  their  power  to  educate,  improve,  and 
elevate  the  African  race.  And  any  statement  or  intimation,  whether  from 
"  official  headquarters  "  or  malevolent  informers,  that  those  who  oppose  the 
Military  Bills  are  wanting  in  will  to  do  justice — full,  equal  justice — to  the 
negro,  or  have  a  secret  purpose  to  discriminate  against  the  negro  in  the 
making,  or  administering,  or  executing  of  the  laws,  is  a  gratuitous  calumny 
upon  a  peaceful,  honorable,  but  unoffending,  helpless  people,  which  no  hon 
orable  man  would  originate,  which  no  brave  man  would  fail  to  recall,  and 
which  no  virtuous  white  people  will  believe.  And  not  only  will  rights  be 
secured,  but  trusts  will  be  conferred  on  the  African  race,  when  and  as, 
by  improvement  and  culture,  so  encouraged  and  fostered,  they  shall  de 
velop  a  capacity,  moral,  social,  and  intellectual,  which  will  satisfy  those 
to  be  affected  thereby,  that  such  trusts,  being  so  conferred,  will  promote  the 
good  of  society  and  the  stability  of  government,  or  will  not  damage  either 
society  or  government.  The  Southern  people  believe  that  office  and  suffrage 
are  not  rights  born  with  a  man,  but  are  trusts  conferred  by  society  and  solely 
for  the  good  of  society,  and  not  for  the  profit  of  the  individual. 

3.  But  the  Southern  people  will  never  consent  to  be  governed  by  the  col 
ored  race,  whether  with  or  without  the  aid  of  the  mischief-making  adven 
turers  from  abroad,  or  selfish  apostates  from  their  own  blood  at  home.  They 
will  not  consent  to  the  abrogation  of  their  State  government  by  Congress. 
They  will  help  in  the  elevation  of  the  black  race,  but  they  will  never  con 
sent  to  the  degradation  of  the  white  race  !  Never !  Never  !  Never  ! 
They  will  never  consent  to  abandon  the  right  of  citizens  to  trial  by  jury, 
and  will  never  fail  to  regard  as  tyrants  and  murderers  those  who  dare 
oppress  or  execute  a  single  citizen,  black  or  white,  without  such  trial. 

They  will  never  consent  to  surrender  the  glorious  heritage  of  free  gov 
ernment  under  written  Constitutions,  or  agree  to  erase  one  single  syllable 
of  the  people's  Bill  of  Rights  so  plainly  set  forth  in  those  written  Constitu 
tions. 

All  these  wrongs  and  outrages,  and  many  more,  they  see  attempted  in 
these  Military  Bills,  and,  therefore,  they  will  never  consent  to  the  plan  of 
reconstruction  so  falsely  pretended  to  be  proposed  by  these  bills. 

They  admit  that  all  these  things  may  be  forced  upon  them.  They  are 
not  able  to  resist.  They  are  tired  of  war.  They  are  helpless.  They  have 
no  arms.  They  surrendered  them  to  you,  sir,  as  to  an  honorable  foe  ! 
They  are  poor.  Little  bureau  officers  daily  insult  them.  Little  sergeants 
daily  oppress  them.  Little  assessors  and  collectors  daily  rob  them.  High- 
titled  generals  daily  slander  them.  Black  and  white  spies  daily  dog  them. 
A  mighty  nation,  which  pledged  them  protection  if  they  would  lay  down 
their  arms,  dominates  in  vengeance  over  them,  and  will  not  so  much  as  hear 
their  wrongs  or  permit  them  even  to  make  complaint  of  their  grievances. 
So,  force  on!  You  have  the  power.  But  know  this  :  The  force  which  thus 
oppresses  us,  breaks  your  own  Constitution  ;  tramples  in  the  dust  your  own 
pledged  faith  as  a  people  ;  is  accomplished  by  the  perjuring  of  all  those 
who  execute  it,  and  to  the  shame  of  all  those  who  oppose  it  or  permit  it.  If 


•  HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  809 

you  think  it  honorable  to  inflict,  we  shall  deem  it  manly  to  Buffer  •  and  in 
flict  as  you  may,  one  thing  you  can  never  force  :  You  shall  never  iecure 
our  consent  to  our  own  dishonor.  And  if  you,  too,  of  the  North,  shall  tinallv 
fa  11,  as,  persisting  m  such  sins,  fall  you  must,  you  will  feel  all  our  *O6i  and 
a  keener  sting  than  any  which  has  ever  yet  "pierced  the  Southern  prot,!,- 
the  sting  or  dishonor. 

You  will  fall,  not  contending  in  a  manly  fight  for  what  you  believe  to 
be  your  own  endangered  rights,  but  you  will  fall  in  the  work  of  dr-radin- 
your  own  race,  and  by  the  iniquity  of  oppressing  those  who  surrendered  to 
you  their  arms,  trusting  to  your  own  magnanimity  to  redeem  your  own 
pledged  faith  according  to  your  own  written  law  !  The  South  may  be  poor 
Mordecai  at  the  royal  gate  of  our  imperial  Constitution,  but  take  care  the 
North  does  not  become  the  humble  Hainan  at  the  scaffold ! 

It  is  now  quite  certain  that  if  this  Radical  programme  is  persisted  in, 
these  States  must  become  the  victims  of  negro  rule,  unless  we  shall  succeed 
in  arresting  it  with  legal  remedies,  for  we  do  not  propose  armed  resistance. 
Even  those  of  us  whom  General  Pope  denounces  as  "turbulent  and  dis 
loyal,"  urged  the  white  people  to  register!  I  confess,  for  one,  it  required 
considerable  sacrifice  to  give  this  advice.  My  judgment  and  desire  was  to 
have  no  decent  man  touch,  taste,  or  handle  the  unclean  thing.  But  I  !».- 
came  satisfied  that  registration  did  not  commit  to  the  legality  of  the  act, 
and  might  enable  us  to  defeat  the  whole  scheme  at  once,  and  without  strife 
between  the  races.  And  if  the  military  commanders  had  respected  the  will 
of  the  people,  and  not  considered  themselves  as  ordered  to  carry  out  the  bills, 
we  might  have  succeeded.  But  it  now  seems  that  the  purpose  is  to  force 
through  the  plan  without  regard  to  the  will  of  the  people,  and  to  strike  from 
the  lists  registered  until  this  can  be  done.  The  large  white  disfranchise- 
ment,  the  large  negro  vote,  and  this  fraud  on  the  election  will,  in  all  proba 
bility,  accomplish  the  call  of  a  convention. 

But  I  give  my  opinion  now  that  no  decent  white  man  can  go  to  that  con 
vention  and  retain  his  character.  There  is  an  effort  to  get  respectable  men 
to  go  to  the  convention.  Why?  Not  to  shape  its  proceedings,  for  thoc 
are  dictated  from  Washington  and  no  discretion  is  permitted.  The  purple 
is  to  make  character  for  the  wicked  movement  !  It  will  fail.  It  ought  to 
fail.  You  cannot  purify  or  polish  a  sink  by  throwing  a  diamond  into  it,  but 
you  certainly  will  cover  the  diamond  with  filth.  These  will  be  the  first 
conventions  called  for  the  express  purpose  of  disfranchising  white  men,  and 
enfranchising  negroes,  and  for  putting  the  odious  discrimination  in  the 
Constitution  of  the  nation.  Every  white  man  who  engages  in  it  will 
inevitably  lose  the  respect  of  his  race,  and  would  do  well  to  pray  God  to 
change  the  color  of  his  skin.  Let  the  negroes  go.  They  have  the  power, 
and  it  is  their  convention.  Every  white  man  who  engages  in  this  work  will 
find  black  stains  all  over  him  which  will  be  harder  to  wash  off  than  Un 
bloody  stains  on  the  hands  of  the  guilty  Macbeth.  Murder,  if  y<>"  </"/>,  >/"' 
equality  of  the  white  race!  Your  policy  for  managing  the  convention 
might  save  from  disgrace,  if  there  was  room  for  discretion,  and  a  fair  vote 
permitted.  But  the  scheme  is  now  stripped  naked,  and  it  is  nothing  but 
triple-shaped  monster  of  force,  fraud,  and  perjury.  Let  it  alone,  or  you 
will  sell  yourself  to  social  infamy.  This  course  I  press  on  some  whom 
have  always  esteemed,  and  who,  I  know,  imagined  they  could  possibly  do 
some  good  by  accepting  the  Military  Bills  and  controlling  the  convention. 

Of  the  correctness  of  one  legal  principle  there  can  be  no  doubt :  unlei 


810  SENA  Ton  R  IL  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

majority  of  the  legal  white  voters — qualified  by  existing  laws — give  their 
consent  thereto,  this  negro  Constitution  can  never  be  valid.  Let  us,  by  all 
means,  and  under  all  trials,  withhold  that  consent.  Then,  if  the  force  of 
law  is  ever  restored,  the  whole  proceeding  will  be  set  aside  as  void  from  the 
beginning,  and  every  officer  under  it  will  be  declared  a  criminal.  If  the 
lav  is  never  enforced  again,  we  cannot  possibly  lose  anything  by  refusing 
our  consent  to  usurpation.  No  white  man  can,  therefore,  ever  be  excusable 
for  giving  his  consent  to  this  Radical  scheme  of  universal  ruin. 

General  Pope  represents  to  you,  General  Grant,  as  his  official  opinion, 
that  "unless  some  measures  are  adopted  to  free  the  country  of  the  turbulent 
and  disloyal  leaders  of  the  reactionary  party,  there  can  be  no  peace."  I  feel 
it  my  duty  to  say  to  you,  and  to  the  government,  and  to  the  Northern  peo 
ple,  that  in  this  statement  General  Pope  is  correct.  His  only  mistake  is  in 
giving  so  much  importance  to  leaders,  and  calling  those  "disloyal"  who  op 
pose  the  Military  Bills  as  a  plan  of  reconstruction.  While  the  application 
he  makes  is  wrong,  the  principle  he  announces  is  correct,  and  is  of  far  more 
general  importance  than  he  represents.  Peace  under  the  Radical  programme 
is  impossible,  if  decent,  intelligent,  manly  white  people  are  permitted  to  re 
main  in  this  country.  General  Pope  says  the  wisest  provisions  of  the  Mili 
tary  Bills  are  those  which  disfranchise  men  of  ability.  If  this  scheme  is  to 
succeed  he  is  also  right  in  this  proposition.  The  scheme  will  commend  it 
self  to  nothing  but  ignorance  and  vice.  Its  very  purposes  and  effects  are  to 
degrade  virtue  and  intelligence,  and  denude  the  country  of  all  true  man 
hood.  Bad,  designing  men  are  seeking  to  get  elevation  under  these  bills. 
They  can  only  succeed  through  negro  votes.  They  are  anxious  to  get  rid  of 
the  men  of  intelligence,  truth,  and  worth,  and  are  engaged  in  teaching  the 
pooi',  ignorant  negroes  to  hate  such  men  as  their  enemies.  And  in  this 
work  they  are  protected  by  the  military,  and  it  is  the  only  protection  I 
know  of  the  military  extending  to  anybody.  Good  men  need  no  protec 
tion,  but  how  long  they  will  not  need  it  is  the  problem  to  be  solved.  They 
will  never  get  it  from  the  Radical  Military  because  they  are  already  de 
nounced  by  the  commander  as  unsafe  to  the  country  and  ought  to  be  gotten 
rid  of. 

But  the  men  to  whom  General  Pope  refers  will  never  consent  to  the 
scheme  of  destruction  in  these  Military  Bills.  They  will  never  advise  the 
people  to  consent.  The  people  will  never  consent,  whether  the  leaders  advise 
it  or  not.  They  are  not  going  to  consent  to  negro  government.  They  in 
tend  to  exhaust  all  remedies  known  to  the  law  to  defeat,  obstruct,  and  set 
aside  the  pretended  government  under  these  Military  Bills.  They  will  resist 
nothing  by  violence  ;  they  will  bear  every  oppression  ;  but  they  will  never 
consent  to  dishonor,  and  they  will  make  it  the  business  of  their  lives  to  bring 
to  just  legal  punishment,  as  criminals  and  trespassers,  all  those  who,  under 
pretended  authority  of  unconstitutional  Military  Bills,  oppress  the  people  of 
this  country,  or  seek  by  force  to  usurp  the  State  government  now  existing. 
We  see  despotism  and  a  war  of  races  if  these  bills  succeed,  and  we  see  it  all 
for  no  purpose  but  to  keep  a  mere  party  in  power,  and  we  shall  never  con 
sent  to  it,  nor  submit  to  it,  except  as  the  courts  may  compel,  and  we  have 
fauth  that  the  time  will  come  when  the  courts  will  do  their  duty,  and  the 
now  boastful  violators  of  the  rights  of  States  and  of  freemen  will  tremble. 

All  these  evils  can  be  prevented  by  simply  returning  to  the  Constitution 
— simply  obeying  the  Constitution  we  are  all  sworn  now  to  support  accord 
ing  to  its  fixed  construction.  If  the  government  and  the  people  of  the  North 


LIFE,   8PSSOHSJS,   AND  Wl!/r!\Cffi.  811 

will  not  consent  to  this,  but  will  persist  in  forcing  upon  these  State*  these 
degrading,  destructive,  and  universally  /tezfccl  hill's,  then  their  dut  \  is  plain. 
Jhuiish  or  behead  every  decent,  honorable,  intelligent  white  person.  I'.uild 
your  guillotines  and  get  ready  your  escorts,  for  the  doomed  art  million*. 
And  when  the  intelligent  and  noble  are  all  buried  or  exiled,  tin-  Al'ricani/ed 
whites  and  the  negro,  like  the  mulattoes  and  blacks  in  llayii,  will  go  to  war 
among  themselves.  So,  then,  if  you  will  have  negro  Radicalism,  and  insist 
upon  having  it  in  peace,  you  must  make  this  fairest  domain  of  God's  bounty 
to  man  a  desolated  wilderness,  or  define  peace  to  consist  in  bacchanalian 
revels,  miscegenating  orgies,  and  bloody  lawlessness  of  negroes,  adven 
turers,  and  apostates. 

The  issue  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Northern  people.  They  can  have  the 
Constitution,  union,  peace,  good-will,  prosperity,  now,  and  have  them  for 
ever.  Or,  they  can/brce  Radicalism,  discord,  devastation,  hatred,  disunion, 
blood,  and  ruin  without  hope  and  without  end  till  Caisar. 

This  number  ends  the  series  of  "Notes  on  the  Situation."  1  :ig;iiu  re 
turn  thanks  for  the  many  encouraging  letters  I  have  received  from  all  por 
tions  of  the  Union,  from  New  Hampshire  to  Arkansas,  and  from  soldier-  and 
citizens.  I  believe  passion  is  subsiding,  and  reason  is  returning  to  the  people 
everywhere.  If  so,  ability  need  not  fear  disfranchisement,  nor  candor  ban 
ishment,  nor  patriotism  war. 


LETTER    TO    HON.   ROBERT    C.   HIIMBER,   REVIEWING   THE 

HAYES  ADMINISTRATION. 

The  action  of  President  Hayes,  in  placing  in  office  every  man  and  woman  whose 
corrupt  practices  had  secured  him  the  Presidency,  was  the  inspiration  of  this  letter.  It 
is  a  most  terrific  arraignment  of  the  President  and  his  party,  and  a  vivid  exposure  of  the 
civil  service  of  the  Administration. 

ATLANTA,  GA.,  October  2,  1878. 

My  Dear  Sir':  In  this  day  of  much  printing  it  is  almost  impossible  to 
have  one's  opinions  or  motives  correctly  represented.  I  suppose  it  is  be 
cause  misrepresentation  is  so  easy. 

I  have  never  cast  any  "  slurs  on  the  President."  I  have  never  expressed 
any  "  bitterness  toward  Mr.  Hayes,"  because  I  have  never  felt  any. 

I  have  never  complained  or  indulged  in  pique  because  Mr.  Hayes  did  not 
appoint  persons  to  office  who  were  recommended  by  me.  I  have  never 
recommended  any.  I  have  indorsed  some  applicants  as  qualified,  and  have* 
greatly  desired  to  see  the  civil  service  improved — especially  in  the  South. 

I  trust  no  man  who  knows  me  needs  to  be  assured  that,  in  the  dis 
charge  of  my  public  duties,  I  am  incapable  of  being  influenced  by  personal 
piques  and  disappointments. 

With  me  all  personal  feelings  and  relations,  whether  of  friendship  or 
otherwise,  are  subordinated  to  the  public  good. 

But  I  should  be  very  uncandid  if  I  did  not  confess  that  I  have  been 
most  grievously  disappointed  in  Mr.  Hayes  and  in  his  administration.  If 
my  grievance  were  only  personal,  the  world  would  never  suspect  it  in  my 
official  conduct  and  opinions.  It  is  because  my  grievance  relates  only  to  our 
National  character  and  the  public  weal  that  I  make  known  its  existence,  and 
will  proceed  to  set  forth  briefly  the  reasons  for  it. 

I  believe  that  what  is  known  as  our  "  civil  service,"  as  it  now  exists,  and 
has  long  existed,  is  a  crime  against  popular  government  and  civilization.  I 
believe  it  has  been  the  chief  cause  of  many  troubles  and  corruptions  in  the 
past,  and,  if  not  thoroughly  reformed,  will  surely  undermine  and  destroy 
our  free  institutions.  I  will  not  stop  here  to  discuss  the  grounds  of  this 
belief.  They  have  been  long  and  well  considered,  and  have  produced  abso 
lute  conviction.  I  always  did  abhor  that  old  party  slogan,  "  To  the  victors 
belong  the  spoils."  It  was  never  suited  to  any  but  bandits  and  plunderers, 
and  was  always  disgraceful  to  men  claiming  to  be  patriots  and  statesmen. 
It  reduces  the  science  of  government  to  the  tricks  of  gamblers,  the  hypoc 
risy  of  demagogues,  and  the  blows  of  ruffians. 

I  heard  Mr.  Hayes  when,  in  his  inaugural  address,  he  announced  his  policy, 
or  rather  his  purpose  of  civil  service  reform.  To  say  I  was  pleased,  would 
feebly  express  the  truth.  In  spite  of  my  conviction  that  he  was  not  elected 
by  the  people,  but  owed  his  office  to  unmitigated  frauds  for  .which  I  believed 
hewas  not  responsible,  I  felt  willing  to  bury  this  last  and  greatest  wrong  with 
the  many  that  had  preceded  it,  and  for  which  all  sides  were  more  or  less 
responsible,  and  unite  my  humble  efforts  in  support  of  a  policy  which,  in 
my  judgment,  promised  escape  to  our  whole  country  from  all  such  wrongs 
in  the  future. 

812 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND   WRITINGS.  813 

1'  - 


Y  >          "  '  -  -g» 

cance.        nia  Southern  policy  was  a  necessity  of  the  situation.     M  ,    1  1  lv 

had  no  power  to  avoid  it.     The  end  of  carpet-bag  plundering  in  the  S  u 
and  disgrace  to  the  Nation  had  come  by  events.     iLn  GenSml  SI 
that  the  army  could  no  longer  be  used  to  settle  eontested  election,  in  ,1,, 
States,  and  maintain  robbers  in   power.     But  with   our  corrupt  and  ,v,r 

corrupting  civil  service  the  situation  was  different.  This  evil  had  its  origin 
before  the  war.  It  had  grown  up  under  the  nurture  of  the  leaden  of  part  1M 
It  had  pushed  its  brazen  supporters  and  beneficiaries  to  the  front  seat!  of 
authority.  It  had  grown  and  strengthened  with  every  year,  and  se.-m,  ,1  to 
have  intrenched  itself  irapregnably  during  General  Grant's  administration. 
\V  hen,  therefore,  m  the  very  day  of  its  insolent  power,  in  the  verv  midst  of 
its  pampered  courtiers,  and  on  the  very  field  of  its  greatest  sway,  Mr.  Haves 
announced  in  clear  and  unfaltering  voice  his  purpose  to  strangle  'this  Hvdra 
of  many  heads,  he  seemed  to  exhibit  the  courage,  manliness,  and  patriotism 
of  one  worthy  to  be  President.  This  exhibition  gave  me  high  hopes  of  tin 
man,  and  several  early  free  and  frank  interviews,  which  I  felt  encouraged  to 
seek  with  him,  greatly  strengthened  and  encouraged  these  hopes. 

Now,  my  friend,  it  is  the  utter  and  sickening  disappointment  which  these 
hopes  have  experienced,  and  nothing  else,  which  has  forced  from  me  the 
few  words  to  which  you  allude,  and  which  have  been  falsely  construed  by 
Republican  papers  to  express  personal  bitterness  and  hostility  on  my  part 
toward  Mr.  Hayes. 

In  my  opinion  Mr.  Hayes  has  utterly  failed  to  improve—  indeed,  has 
strangely  thrown  away  —  an  opportunity  to  make  for  himself  a  name  worthy 
to  be  enrolled  with  that  of  Washington,  because  that  opportunity  improved 
would  have  conferred  on  his  country  a  benefit  quite  equal  to  any  conferred 
by  Washington  himself. 

He  has  failed  because  he  has  shown  himself  utterly  unequal  to  his  oppor 
tunity.  He  has  shown  himself  unequal  in  that  he  has  utterly  failed  to  realize 
that  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  a  great  country  has  no  personal  friends,  no 
personal  enemies,  and  owes  no  personal  obligations,  but  is  under  obligations 
only  to  his  country,  and  to  that  country's  honor,  glory,  prosperity,  Constitu 
tion,  and  laws.  He  has  thrown  away  his  opportunity  to  honor  himself,  and 
even  his  country,  by  recognizing  an  obligation  to  reward  those  who,  by  frauds 
most  disgraceful  to  their  country,  gave  him  this  opportunity.  He  has  thrown 
away  the  grandest  opportunity  ever  given  to  a  man,  only  that  he  might  <jive 
offices  and  rewards  to  as  worthless  a  set  of  rapscallions  as  ever  disgraced 
humanity. 

A  man  may  become  President  by  reason  of  a  crime,  and  yet  himself  not 
be  tainted  or  even  culpable.  Twice,  in  our  history,  have  nu-n  become  Presi 
dents  by  reason  of  crime.  Andrew  Johnson  became  President  by  reason  of  a 
wicked  and  foul  assassination.  Mr.  Hayes  became  President  by  iva^m  of  a 
wicked  and  foul  conspiracy  to  change,  and  which  did  changr,  the  ballots  of 
the  people  after  those  ballots  had  been  cast.  Yet  each  became  President 
through  the  forms  of  the  Constitution  and  Laws. 

How  did  Mr.  Johnson  deal  with  those  who  committed  and  who  >\ 
charged  with  aiding  to  commit  the  crime  by^  which  he  became  President 
He  pursued  them  for  punishment  with  such  vigor  that,  as  all  the  world  n..w 
believe,  an  innocent  woman  was  hanged  ! 

How  has  Mr.  Hayes  dealt  with  those  who  committed,  and 
were  charged  with  aiding  to  commit,  the  crime  by  which  he  becamr 


814  SENATOR  B.   If.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

dent?  If  you  will  examine  the  list,  from  the  humblest  manager  of  the 
election  precincts  in  Florida  and  Louisiana,  through  the  visiting  statesmen, 
as  they  are  now  in  mockery  called,  and  up  to  and  through  the  electoral 
commission,  and  show  me  one,  black  or  white,  high  or  low,  who  is  known 
to  be  guilty,  or  who  is  suspected  of  the  guilt  of  this  crime,  who  has  not  re 
ceived  or  been  offered  an  office,  you  will  relieve  to  that  extent  the  pain  and 
mortification  I  feel  in  looking  over  these  sickening  developments.  There' 
was  a  woman  charged  to  be  among  the  conspirators  in  both  crimes. 

In  Mr.  Johnson's  case,  Mrs.  Surratt,  protesting  her  innocence  with  an 
honest  woman's  tears,  and  a  devoted  mother's  entreaties,  was  chained,  and 
mocked,  and  hung  ! 

In  Mr.  Hayes's  case,  Agnes  Jenks,  confessing  her  guilt  in  brazen  gibberish 
never  before  equaled,  receives  an  office  of  good  pay  and  little  work  in  the 
Treasury,  and  that,  too,  at  a  time  when  many  ladies  of  unquestioned  worth, 
with  hungry  children,  and  husbands  slain  in  battle,  were  rudely  turned 
away  with  the  gruff  answer  "  no  vacancies." 

If,  instead  of  fleeing  as  a  criminal,  Wilkes  Booth  had  sought  the  presence 
of  Andrew  Johnson  as  one  who  had  rendered  the  latter  good  service,  and 
Mr.  Johnson  had  entertained  him  at  the  Executive  Mansion  and  given  him. 
an  office,  what  would  the  world  have  said  ?  What  would  you  say  ? 

Letters  have  *been  produced  before  the  Potter  Committee,  written  by 
Republican  members  of  Congress,  which  were  written  to  Republican  f  riends 
and  not  intended  for  publication,  which  strikingly  exhibit  the  superior  influ 
ence  of  Kellogg,  Packard,  Wells,  and  Anderson  at  the  Executive  Mansion. 
In  other  ways  we  know  now  that  almost  every  person  connected  with  the 
fraud  has  claimed  or  exercised  special  influence  or  favor  at  the  White  House. 
But  the  contrast  may  be  stated  in  one  short  sentence  : 

In  Mr.  Johnson's  case,  all  the  criminals,  real  or  suspected,  were  specially 
marked  for  punishment. 

In  Mr.  Hayes's  case,  all  the  criminals,  real  or  suspected,  were  specially 
marked  for  reward. 

I  would  be  really  glad  if  I  could  find  some  excuse,  some  apology,  or 
some  palliation  for  the  course  Mr.  Hayes  has  pursued  in  this  matter.  But, 
after  full  consideration,  I  can  find  none.  It  is  no  palliation  to  say  that 
assassination  \vas  a  greater  crime  than  fraud.  Both  were  crimes.  If  it  is 
right  to  reward  crime  at  all,  then  the  greatest  crimes  should  receive  the 
highest  rewards.  You  cannot  produce  innocence,  much  less  merit,  by 
grading  crimes.  All  deserve  punishment  and  none  are  entitled  to  reward. 
To  reward  fraud  is  a  greater  crime  than  to  commit  it,  for  the  reward  invites 
many  commissions.  If  Andrew  Johnson  had  rewarded  Booth,  the  whole  world 
would  have  pronounced  him  a  greater  criminal  than  Booth.  It  is  difficult 
to  conceive  of  a  greater  crime  than  the  defeat  by  fraud  of  the  popular  will 
in  a  government  which  rests  on  the  popular  will.  If  there  be  a  greater  crime, 
it  is  committed  by  those  who  reward  the  authors  of  such  fraud,  for  such  re 
ward  invites  the  perpetual  defeat  of  the  popular  will,  and,  therefore,  a 
direct  subversion  of  the  government,  and  assumes  the  most  insidious  form 
of  treason. 

It  is  worse  than  no  excuse — it  is  itself  a  crime — to  say  that  Mr.  Hayes 
was  under  obligation  to  these  authors  of  fraud.  If  there  had  been  no 
assassin  Booth,  there  would  have  been  no  President  Johnson.  But,  was 
the  President,  therefore,  under  obligation  to  the  assassin  ?  If  there  had 
been  no  frauds  in  Florida  and  Louisiana,  there  would  have  been  no  Presi- 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND   WHITINGS.  815 

dent  Hayes.     Is  the  President,  therefore,  under  obligation  to  all  who  lid,,,  ,1 
commit  the  fraud  ?     It  seems  that  all  have  claimed  reward. 

It  is  no  apology  to  say  that  Mr.  Hayes  did  not  believe  these  people  were 
guilty  of  any  fraud.  It  was  his  duty  to  protect  the  character  of  the  nation 
and  the  integrity  of  the  administration.  He  can  do  neither  by  i.laein- 
great  numbers  of  men  in  office  who  are  charged  with  crimes,  and  whom 
largely  more  than  half  of  the  people  believe  are  guilty.  In  truth,  I  do  not 
believe  any  intelligent  man  doubts  their  guilt.  But  I  trust  we  have  in 
this  country  a  sufficient  number  of  men  of  unsuspected  honesty  to  fill  the 
offices,  and  both  the  public  character  and  the  public  interests  require  that 
only  such  men  should  be  appointed.  Besides,  if  these  men  were  in  truth 
innocent,  they  would  not  have  asked  or  accepted  office  from  Mr.  Hayes,  for 
they  would  not  have  been  willing  to  bring  weakness  upon  the  administra 
tion  nor  disrepute  upon  the  civil  service.  Their  universal  and  brazen 
demands  for  office  is  the  highest  proof  of  their  guilt,  for  it  shows  they  care 
nothing  for  Mr.  Hayes — nothing  for  the  honor  of  the  country — nothing  for 
the  good  repute  of  the  civil  service.  Their  every  act  in  pressing  for  office 
shows  that  reward  was  their  object,  and  reward  they  must  have.  Every 
man  of  the  guilty  gang  who  has  not  been  satisfied  with  the  office  offered 
him  has  confessed  the  frauds.  Every  man  who  has  not  confessed  the 
frauds  has  been  kept  satisfied  with  office.  Why  should  he  confess,  whote 
confession  would  defeat  his  reward  ?  How  does  it  happen  that  those  only 
are  not  entitled  to  belief  who  confess  the  frauds?  And  how  does  it  happen 
that  the  credit  of  none  was  denied  until  after  confession  was  made  ? 

It  is  no  palliation  now  to  say  that  the  larger  number  of  these  appoint 
ments  were  made  by  certain  members,  or  by  a  member  of  the  Cabinet.  If 
Mr.  Johnson  had  made  Wilkes  Booth  a  member  of  his  Cabinet,  he  could  not 
have  complained  if  Booth  had  provided  places  for  his  tools  and  subordi 
nates.  Nevertheless,  if,  when  the  revelations  on  this  subject  were  made  be 
fore  the  Potter  Committee,  Mr.  Hayes  had  promptly  ordered  a  sweeping 
purgation  from  the  civil  service  of  these  obnoxious  characters,  as  I  greatly 
hoped  he  would  do,  he  would  have  been  largely  vindicated.  Instead,  how 
ever,  of  dismissing  any  he  appointed  more,  and  some  of  the  appointments 
seemed  to  have  the  special  purpose  of  suppressing  or  affecting  testimony  be 
fore  that  Committee. 

If  anything  were  wanting  to  increase  the  wicked  heinousness  of  the  frauds 
upon  the  ballots  in  Florida  and  Louisiana,  it  would  be  found  in  the  only  .  \- 
cuse  which  the  authors  and  abettors  of  these  frauds  have  offered  for  their 
perpetration.     It  must  never  be  forgotten  that  the  great  facts  are  not  denied 
but  admitted  ;  to  wit  :  that  the  ballots  were  changed  after  they  were  <• 
and  the  verdict  of  the  people  reversed  after  it  had  been  rendered  and  was 
known.     The  excuse  for  this,  as  alleged,  is  that  there  were  intimidations  at 
the  precincts  which  prevented  a  free  expression  by  the  people, 
cuse  is  false  in  fact,  then  the  crime  stands  confessed  without  excu- 
of  us  who  have  been  familiar  with  carpet-bag  villainies,  knew  from  the 
that  the  excuse  was  false.     But  the  proof  now  revealed  abundantly 
that  the  excuse  is  not  only  false,  but  was  actually  manufactured  for  the  e> 
press  purpose  of  a  cover  for  the  fraud.     Thus  the  excuse  itself  becomes  part 
of  the  fraud,  and  the  most  infamous  part  of  it.     Not  only  was  the  exe. 
itself  manufactured,  but  the  evidence  to  make  the  excuse  deceive 
ern  people  was  also  manufactured  in  the  Custom  House  in  New 
elsewhere.     Forgeries  are  shown  to  have  been  numerous,  and  perjuries  were 


816  SENATOR  R  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

secured  under  promises  of  reward.  In  this  vile  work  men  holding  high 
positions  took  active  part,  and  every  one  who  took  such  part  has  received 
high  office  from  Mr.  Hayes,  and  has  thus  been  enabled  to  become  himself  a 
dispenser  of  rewards  to  his  subordinates. 

Take  it  all  in  all — its  origin,  its  extent,  its  wicked  adroitness,  its  delibera 
tion,  the  variety  of  characters  engaged,  its  numberless  perjuries  and  reckless 
forgeries,  its  marvelous  success  and  its  absolute  control  of  a  great  govern 
ment  of  unequaled  patronage  for  its  rewards — and  it  must  be  confessed  that 
the  Presidential  fraud  of  1876ais  withoat  a  parallel  in  any  history.  It  dwarfs 
all  other  frauds,  conspiracies,  and  robberies  into  comparative  insignificance. 
If  allowed  to  go  unpunished,  it  will  elevate  perjury  into  a  virtue,  forgery 
into  an  art,  and  will  reduce  usurpation  to  a  science ! 

The  administration  which  I  for  one  had  fondly  hoped  would  inaugurate 
a  new  era  of  elevation,  purity,  and  efficiency  in  our  civil  service,  has  persist 
ently  identified  its  life,  its  power,  and  its  character  with  the  frauds  of  its 
origin,  and  has  thus  done  more  than  all  our  previous  history  to  bring  that 
civil  service  into  disrepute,  and  the  advocates  of  its  reform  to  confusion  and 
shame.  The  keenest  pang  of  all  is  that  which  springs  from  the  fact  that 
will  not  down,  that  all  this  has  been  done  to  silence,  gratify,  and  reward 
as  vile  a  set  of  scoundrels  as  ever  robbed  without  remorse  or  lied  without 
blushing. 

It  has  given  me  no  pleasure  to  write  this  letter.  I  have  been  slow  and 
reluctant  to  give  up  the  hopes  I  had  formed  of  this  administration.  I  am 
not  willing  even  now  to  discredit  my  own  judgment  of  men  so  far  as  to  ad 
mit  that  rny  first  impressions  of  Mr.  Hayes  were  altogether  incorrect.  I  pre 
fer  to  believe,  and  do  believe,  that  he  has  fallen  under  the  control  of  men 
who  were  deeply  involved  in  the  guilt  of  this  fraud,  and  whose  power  over 
him  he  has  not  been  able  to  resist.  Even  now,  if  he  would  purge  his  ad 
ministration  of  every  person  connected  with  the  frauds,  he  might  yet  rally 
good  men  to  his  support,  and  close  his  term  of  service  with  something  of 
benefit  to  his  country  and  respect  for  himself.  But  I  fear  the  serpents  of 
fraud  have  their  coils  so  wrapped  around  him  that  he  is  unable,  and  may 
have  become  unwilling,  to  release  himself. 

There  is  but  one  more  step  between  our  free  institutions  and  destruction. 
The  government  has  become  identified  with  fraud,  and  is  administered  by 
the  authors  of  fraud.  If  the  people  shall  fail  to  repudiate  the  fraud  and  its 
authors,  abettors,  and  rewarders,  then  we  shall  have  entered  upon  that  phase 
of  our  career  when  the  offices  and  immense  patronage  of  this  richest  of 
countries  will  take  the  form  of  glittering  prizes  offered  to  induce  the  com 
mission  of  crimes  against  the  popular  will.  Assassins  will  be  made  heroes, 
and  the  greatest  criminals  will  become  most  entitled  to  enjoy  the  honors  and 
live  on  the  benefactions  of  government.  Beyond  that,  the  man  who  talks 
of  the  safety  and  purity  of  popular  governments  will  be  a  lunatic. 

Your  friend, 

BENJ.  H.  HILL. 
Hon.  Robert  C.  Humber,  Eatonton,  Ga, 


REPLY  TO  HON.  WILLIAM  H.  FELTON,  JANUARY  14,  1882. 

In  1881  there  was  formed  in  Georgia  a  coalition  between  some  Independents  and  Re 
publicans  for  the  purpose  of  breaking  up  the  solidity  of  the  South.  The  object  of  this 
coalition  was  to  be  accomplished  by  the  liberal  use  of  the  Federal  patronage.  Senator 
Hill  made  an  attack  on  this  coalition,  and  did  much  to  destroy  it.  In  one  of  his  inter 
views  with  Mr.  Grady  on  the  subject,  he  made  some  reference  to  Dr.  William  H.  Felton. 
The  allusion  was  not  unkind,  but  regretful.  He  resented  Mr.  Hill's  allusion  to  him,  and 
published  a  most  vituperative  article  against  him.  It  was  in  reply  to  this  unexpected  and 
unmerited  attack  from  a  life-long  friend  that  Mr.  Hill  wrote  the  following  letter.  I  in 
sert  the  article  in  this  collection  because  of  its  terse  and  vigorous  style,  and  because  of 
the  great  general  truths  enunciated  touching  of  our  political  condition  at  the  time. 

WASHINGTON,  January  14,  1882. 

Editors  Constitution  :  In  your  issue  of  the  10th  instant  I  have  read  the 
letter  of  the  Hon.  Wm.  H.  Felton. 

This  letter  is  certainly  the  most  bitter  and  venomous  summary  of  charges 
against  my  public  and  private  character  I  have  ever  seen.  The  vilest  pro 
duction  of  carpet-bag  slums  could  not  say  more  to  defame  me.  I  am  pic 
tured  as  having  been  all  my  life — "before  the  war,  during  the  war,  and 
since  the  war  '  — a  "  corrupt,"  "  hypocritical,"  "  malevolent,"  "  mendacious  ' 
man,  whose  counsels  have  "  blighted  the  State  of  my  birth,  and  destroyed 
the  Democratic  party,"  and  as  one  who,  "  under  professions  of  friendship," 
has  always  been  treacherous  and  vindictive. 

All  public  men  are  liable  to  abuse.  I  thought  I  had  enjoyed  my  full 
share  and  would  have  some  exemption  from  such  in  the  future.  But  this 
letter  gathers  up  nearly  all  the  worst  calumnies  of  the  past,  colors  them  with 
new  odium,  and  then  adds  new  ones  invented  by  the  author  for  the  occasion. 
This  fierce  flood  of  vituperation  comes,  too,  from  a  man  of  whom  I  never  in 
all  my  life  spoke  or  wrote  one  unkind  word,  but  in  whose  behalf  I  had  spoken 
and  written  more  kind  words  than  I  ever  did  for  any  other  man,  and  be 
cause  of  my  friendship  for  whom,  for  seven  years,  I  had  almost  imperiled 
my  own  standing  in  the  Democratic  party. 

My  self-respect  will  not  allow  me  to  retaliate  in  kind,  and  my  respect 
for  the  people  of  Georgia  will  not  allow  me  to  descend  to  a  contest  of  dirty 
epithets.  The  explosion  is  personally  harmless  from  overcharge,  but  this 
letter  from  Dr.  Felton  has  a  significance  and  meaning  of  public  importance 
at  this  moment,  and  to  show  this  meaning  and  significance  is  the  purpose  of 
this  writing. 

First,  Does  Dr.  Felton  really  believe  the  charges  he  has  rehearsed  a 
invented   with  such   sudden  virulence?     During  the  rugged  voyage  of 
stormy  period  in  which  my  social  and  political  life  has  been  passed,  J 
sometimes  heard  pleasant  voices.     Many  kind  and  partial  things  have  been 
said  and  written  about  me,  and  it  has  been  my  ambition  to  deserve 
No  man  has  been  more  earnest,  or  more  frequent,  or  more  fulsome  in 
praises  of  me  for  forty  years,  than  Dr.  Felton.     *o  man  has  repelled  wi 
more  indignation  all  slanders  upon  my  public  and  private  life,  and  espec 
some  of  the  very  slanders  he  has  now  rehearsed  to  defame  me. 

During  four' consecutive  canvasses  for  Congress  in  the  seventh 

817 


818  SENATOR  B.   H.   HILL,    OF  GEORGIA. 

he  has  warmly  eulogized  me  as  ever  a  model  public  man,  and  has  made  con 
spicuous  iny  indorsement  of  his  personal  and  political  integrity  as  proud 
evidence  to  the  people  of  his  fitness  to  be  their  representative.  All  the  peo 
ple  of  the  district  will  bear  testimony  in  support  of  this  statement. 

Does  any  man  or  child  believe  that,  when  Dr.  Felton  was  indulging  in 
these  high-wrought  eulogies  upon  me,  he  really  believed  I  was,  and  all  my 
life  had  been  a  "corrupt,"  "mendacious,"  "hypocritical,"  and  bad  man? 
If  he  did  believe  so,  while  pronouncing  such  eulogies,  he  has  certainly 
shown  himself  to  be  the  most  expert  hypocrite  ever  yet  known.  To  act  the 
part  of  such  a  hypocrite  for  a  long  series  of  years,  without  ever  exciting  the 
slightest  suspicion  of  his  sincerity,  is  a  success  in  hypocrisy  never  before 
attained,  and  would  entitle  its  author  to  the  distinction  of  being  the  hero  of 
hypocrites. 

Up  to  the  writing  of  this  letter,  I  do  not  believe  Dr.  Felton  ever  uttered 
an  unkind  word  of  me  either  in  public  or  private.  I  am  sure  I  never  did  of 
him.  It  is  impossible  to  conclude  that  Dr.  Felton  believes  the  charges  he 
has  now  made,  because  it  is  impossible  for  any  man  to  attain  to  such  per 
fection  in  hypocrisy. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  Dr.  Felton  did  not  believe  the  charges  to  be  true, 
and  yet  made  them,  and  made  them,  too,  with  such  furious  mendacity,  then 
he  has  shown  himself  to  be  the  most  perfidious  and  ungrateful  slanderer  that 
the  purlieus  of  a  degraded  form  of  politics  ever  produced.  Without  provo 
cation,  without  explanation,  and  without  the  slightest  previous  notice,  he 
has  slandered  an  admitted  friend  of  forty  years,  and  a  friend  who,  for 
seven  years,  exposed  himself  to  the  reproaches  and  criticisms  of  his  party  in 
order  to  maintain  this  one  man  in  his  political  aspirations.  And  he  has 
slandered  me,  too,  with  a  reckless  violence  and  an  abandoned  untruthfulness 
never  equaled  by  my  worst  enemy,  even  of  the  carpet-bag  regime. 

As  there  could  be  no  possible  reason  for  this  conduct,  the  next  question 
is,  What  is  the  excuse  for  it  ?  Dr.  Felton  uses  for  his  excuse  an  interview 
with  me  reported  by  Mr.  Grady,  in  which  interview  he  says  I  abused  him 
and  made  against  him  an  implied  charge  of  dishonesty.  The  reader  will 
see  the  utter  weakness  of  this  excuse  at  once.  That  an  interview,  reported 
in  the  language  of  another,  should  authorize  such  a  flood  of  calumny  against 
a  friend  of  forty  years  of  unbroken  confidence  is  too  absurd.  I  am  not  now 
explaining  or  denying  the  interview.  There  is  not  a  word  in  the  interview 
which  is  or  which  can  be  justly  construed  to  be  personally  unkind,  and  Mr. 
Grady,  or  the  Constitution,  has  so  distinctly  stated.  But  even  if  there  was 
one  word  which  might  possibly  bear  such  a  construction,  even  an  enemy 
would  have  asked  for  an  explanation  before  letting  loose  such  a  deluge  of 
billingsgate  and  calumny. 

But,  aside  from  all  this,  there  is  one  fact  w^hich  it  is  my  painful  duty 
to  state  here,  which  will  make  this  pretense  of  unkind  ness  more  damaging, 
if  possible,  to  Dr.  Felton's  good  name  than  the  slanderous  letter. 

For  years  Dr.  Felton  and  myself  have  been  in  the  habit  of  writing  frank 
and  confidential  letters  to  each  other.  One  of  the  first  things  I  did  after 
reading  his  interview  published  in  a  Chicago  paper  and  embodying  his  ne\v 
platform,  I  wrote  Dr.  Felton  just  such  a  letter.  In  the  unreserve  of  his  long 
friendship,  and  feeling  that  his  political  course  would  somewhat  involve  me, 
as  I  had  always  maintained  his  political  honesty,  and  believing  I  might  be 
better  posted  as  to  the  meaning  of  recent  political  movements  than  himself, 
J  expressed  the  pain  I  felt  on  reading  this  interview,  I  also  said,  that  if  it; 


HIS  LIFE,   SPEECHES,   AND  WRITINGS.  819 

were  true,  I  apprehended  it  would  make  him  a  Republican,  and  a  stalwart 
Republican  at  that.  I  warned  him  of  the  dangers  ahead,  and  expressed  the 
earnest  hope  that  he  would  not  allow  himself  to  be  ensnared  at  this  late  day 
into  the  Republican  party.  But  in  this  letter  I  also  said  that  I  could  never 
speak  of  him  otherwise  than  kindly.  This  letter  he  must  have  had  before 
him  when  he  made  unkindness  by  construction  his  excuse  for  abusing  me 
as  no  political  enemy  had  ever  done  !  The  letter  was  private,  but  I  do  not 
object  to  its  publication. 

Either  Dr.  Felton  believed  the  charges  made  and  invented  in  his  letter, 
or  did  not  believe  them,  and  on  this  subject  these  propositions  are  now  es 
tablished  : 

1.  If  he  believes  the  charges,  he  convicts  himself  of  being  the  worst  hyp 
ocrite  on  record. 

2.  If  he  does  not  believe  the  charges,  he  convicts  himself  of  being  the 
worst  slanderer  on  record. 

3.  The  excuse  he  offers  for  making  the  charges  was  not  only  unfounded, 
but  was  known  to  be  false  when  offered  !     I  will  not  announce  the  terrible 
conclusion  as  to  what  the  letter  and  the  pretense  together  convict  him  of 
being.   I  leave  him  with  the  facts,  and  the  simple  statement  that  a  man  who 
will  be  false  to  a  friend  will  be  true  to  nothing. 

But  every  effect  must  have  a  cause,  and  this  letter  of  Dr.  Felton  being 
an  extraordinary  effect  must  have  an  extraordinary  cause,  and  that  cause  is 
not  and  cannot  possibly  be  anything  I  have  said  or  done,  nor  is  the  cause 
in  Dr.  Felton's  belief  or  unbelief  of  the  charges  he  has  made.  To  say  he 
believes  the  charges  is  to  discredit  him  as  a  hypocrite.  To  say  he  does  not 
believe  them  is  to  discredit  him  as  a  slanderer.  And  to  say  he  made  , 
the  charges  for  the  excuse  rendered  is  to  discredit  him  both  as  a  hypocrite 
and  a  slanderer. 

The  truth  is,  the  only  cause  of  this  unprecedented  letter  exists,  and  exists 
only,  in  Dr.  Felton  himself.  After  a  hard  struggle  with  the  bitterness  of  de 
feat,  and  the  wooing  of  ambition,  Dr.  Felton  has  formed  a  new  purpose,  and  is 
to  have  new  friends  and  allies.  He  has  not  changed  any  of  his  political  con 
victions,  but  he  has  changed  his  political  purposes  and  affiliations,  and  he  is 
himself  ashamed  of  the  change. 

He  hopes  to  deceive  others  who  have  stood  by  him  in  all  his  struggles, 
and  he  hopes  by  deceiving  them  to  carry  them  to  his  new  allies.  But  he  has 
no  hope  of  deceiving  me.  He  feels  and  knows  I  understand  him,  and  that  I 
will  lose  respect  for  him.  He  cannot  stand  in  my  presence  and  remember 
the  assurances  he  has  so  often  given  me,  when  begging  me  to  stand  by  him, 
that  he  could  never  deceive  or  disappoint  me,  and  not  lose  respect  for 
himself.  There  was  but  one  desperate  resource  left,  and  that  was  to  get  rid 
of  me.  He  gathered  all  his  energies  for  the  blow.  He  called  to  his  assist 
ance  all  the  dirty  scandals  of  years,  which  he  had  so  often  denounced,  but 
which  it  now  seems  he  had  preserved  in  his  scrap  book,  and  he  adds  to  these 
sucn  as  the  advantages  of  a  long  confidential  friendship  enabled  him  to 
invent,  and  discharged  the  aggregated  mass  at  my  unsuspecting  head  ! 
my  poor  sadly  fallen  friend  can  survive  the  blow,  I  can.  I  never  wrote  any 
thing  more  in  sorrow  and  less  in  anger.  I  do  not  envy  the  man  who  can 
witness  the  perfidy  or  feel  the  ingratitude  of  a  life-long  friend  and  not 
sad.  There  is  a  manly  way  to  change  opinions  and  affiliations  which  every 
man  must  respect.  Such  changes,  great  and  good  men  have  often  made  in 
the  past  and  will  often  make  again.  There  is  an  unmanly  and  foul  way 


320  SENATOR  B.  If.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

forming  mongrel  coalitions  of  incongruous  elements  for  the  common  pur 
pose  of  winning  spoils,  which  no  man  can  respect.  These  changes  only  per 
fidious  men  ever  have  made  or  ever  can  make. 

We  have  now  arrived  at  the  point  when  we  can  fully  understand  the 
meaning  and  significance  of  Dr.  Felton's  letter  and  his  "  new  movement." 
But  before  showing  this  I  feel  I  ought  to  make  a  brief  explanation  to  the 
Democracy  of  the  State,  and  of  the  seventh  district  especially.  I  did  not 
approve  of  Dr.  Felton's  so-called  Independentism,  but  for  four  elections  I 
refused  to  go  into  the  district  to  oppose  him,  and  for  every  election  I  gave 
him  a  new  certificate  of  good  character,  personal  and  political,  which  I  was 
often  told  by  both  parties  and  by  himself,  he  used  with  great  effect.  I  often 
spoke  well  of  him  in  private  and  in  public,  and  twice,  at  his  earnest  request, 
introduced  him  in  most  complimentary  terms  to  large  audiences  in  my  own 
city  of  Atlanta. 

It  is  due  to  my  self-respect  to  say  that  all  I  said  of  Dr.  Felton  I  believed 
was  true  at  the  time,  and  vet  believe  was  true  when  said.  In  addition  to 

•/ 

the  fact  that  we  had  long  been  friends,  and  that  both  the  ladies  he  married 
were  the  daughters  of  highly  esteemed  friends,  both  of  whom  are  still 
living,  venerable  in  years  and  good  works — I  say,  in  addition  to  these  facts, 
I  had  undoubted  confidence  in  Dr.  Felton's  Democracy,  and  never  once 
suspected  he  would  disappoint  me.  His  personal  assurances  on  this  subject 
were  very  numerous  and  of  the  most  earnest  character,  and  I  would  have 
believed  his  assurances  alone.  But  his  actions  were  entirely  confirmatory 
of  these  assurances.  I  will  state  two  facts  on  this  point  : 

1.  In  Washington  Dr.  Felton  attended  the  Democratic  caucus  and  re 
spected  its  decisions  as  faithfully  as  any  Democrat  in  Congress.     We  sat 
side  by  side  during  the  forty-fourth  Congress,  and  his  votes  were  on  the 
extreme  Democratic  line.     In  contested  elections  for  seats  in  the  House  he 
voted  for   Democratic  claimants,  even  where  Democrats  of  the  most  pro 
nounced  type  doubted  their  election,  and  I  can  even  now  recall  one  case  in 
which  he  voted  for  the  Democratic  claimant  against  the  majority  report  of 
the  Democratic  committee  on  elections,  who  reported  that  the  Republican 
was  elected.     These  were  certainly  severe  tests  of  party  fealty. 

2.  In  1876  I  went  to  Georgia  in  advance  of  the  adjournment  of  Congress 
in  order  to  be  in  Cartersville  on  the  day  the  executive  committee  of  the 
Democratic  party  was  called  to  meet  there  to  issue  the  call  for  a  convention. 
I  made  this  visit  at  the  special  request  of  Dr.  Felton,  and  for  the  special 
purpose  of  ascertaining,  if  I  could,  whether  Dr.  Felton  could  probably  get 
the  nomination  if  he  would  submit  his  name  to  the  convention.     He  was 
anxious  to  avoid  the  repetition  of  the  struggle  of  1874,  and  I  was  anxious 
for  him  to  avoid  it,  and  he  was  then  not  only  willing  but  anxious  to  be 
reconciled  to  his  party  and  get  the  nomination.  '  The  result  of  my  inquiries 
were  not  encouraging,  and  I  so  advised  him.     So  again  in  1878  I  wrote  a 
letter  urging  the  Ringgold  convention  to  tender  Dr.  Felton  the  nomination, 
and  said  in  the  letter  that  if  they  would  tender  it  and  he  rejected  it,  I  would 
canvass  the  district  against  him.     I  knew  he  would  not  reject  it,  and  I  was 
anxious  to  see  the  reconciliation.     I  regret  yet  that  the  nomination  was  not 
tendered  him.     So  again  in  1880  I  made,  with  others,  and  at  Dr.  Felton's 
request,  an  earnest  effort  to  discourage  any  nomination  against  him.     He  was 
anxious  to  be  brought  into  accord  with  his  party,  but  thought  the  overture 
should  come,  or  seem  to  come,  from  the  party. 

I  deeply  regret  our  efforts  were,  not  successful.     If  they  had 


HIS  LIFE.   SPEECHES,   AND    WRITINGS.  821 

cessful  I  would  not  now  be  writing  this  very  unpleasant  letter,  and  the 
Republican  manipulators  of  the  new  coalition  to  capture  the  South  would 
have  to  find  another  leader  for  Georgia. 

I  thus  personally  knew  that  Dr.  Fulton  was  not  only  a  Democrat,  but  a 
party  Democrat,  and  that  his  apparent  hatred  of  caucuses  was  only  apparent 
for  lie  attended  the  caucus  in  Washington,  and  was  really  anxious  to  have  a 
voluntary  caucus  nomination  in  the  seventh  district  of  Georgia.  I  thought 
his  desires  were  sincere  and  honorable,  and  I  earnestly  labored  to  eratifv 
them. 

I  never  saw  defeat  affect  any  man  as  it  did  Dr.  Felton.  It  seemed  to 
arouse  all  the  evil  of  his  human  nature.  I  have  really  had  serious  appre 
hensions  about  him  in  more  respects  than  one,  but  I  never  suspected  that  he 
would  actually  abandon  all  his  convictions  and  pledges,  and  aid  in  a  coal- 
ition  to  secure  Radical  domination  in  Georgia,  and  I  firmly  denied  intima 
tion  of  that  character  here,  up  to  the  very  appearance  of  his  new  platform. 
I  knew  sadly  what  that  meant.  But  I  did  not  suspect,  even  then,  that  he 
would  fly  into  mad  rage  with  me  and  become  at  once  my  worst  calumniator. 
I  now  see  he  is  a  fallen  and  a  changed  man,  and  is  a  sad  illustration  of  the 
dangers  of  a  reckless  ambition  for  political  place.  During  the  last  six  years 
the  Democrats  of  Georgia  have  frequently  complained  of  what  they  called  mv 
encouragement  of  the  Independents.  I  did  not  encourage  them  and  I  did 
not  abuse  them.  While  the  Republican  party  in  Georgia  was  dormant,  and 
there  was  practically  but  one  party  in  the  State,  it  was  natural  that  discus 
sions  would  spring  up,  and  that  opposing  Democrats  under  various  names 
would  contend  for  the  offices.  I  was  anxious  that  this  should  not  breed 
bitterness  and  permanent  division  in  the  party.  I  was  opposed  to  denounc 
ing  all  Independents  as  Radicals  because  I  thought  the  denunciation  was 
neither  true  nor  wise.  There  are  no  truer  Democrats  to  their  convictions 
than  the  great  body  of  the  Independents.  I  did  not  doubt  that  the  time 
would  come  when  the  dormant  Republican  party  would  wake  up  and  make 
another  effort  to  radicalize  the  State.  I  believe  in  that  event  the  Independ 
ents  would  all  come  home,  and  be  as  true  and  gallant  as  any  against  the 
common  enemy.  I  believe  the  time  has  come  when  they  will  justify  my 
confidence.  I  believe  no  Independents  in  Georgia  will  go  into  the  coalition, 
except  a  few  who  have  lost  themselves  in  the  bitterness  of  disappointment, 
or  who  are  hungry  for  office  "  and  tired  of  waiting."  I  know  I  have  no 
better  friends  than  the  great  body  of  the  Independents,  and  I  do  not  and 
cannot  believe  they  will  be  led  blindly  into  the  Republican  party. 

Every  intelligent  and  patriotic  citizen  of  the  United  States  must  see  the 
great  importance  of  eliminating  from  our  politics  all  war  issues  and  race 
issues.  No  man  has  been  more  open  and  undisguised  in  the  expression  of  tin* 
opinion  than  myself.  But  the  truth  is,  we  can  never  get  rid  of  either  th<- 
war  issues  or  race  issues  until  we  get  rid  of  the  Republican  party,  and 
especially  of  the  stalwart  wing  of  that  party.  The  party  lives  by  these 
issues  and  would  pass  away  forever  without  them. 

Less  than  one  year  ago  there  was  some  hope— more  than  a  mere  SULTL" ;-- 
tion— that  a  great  and  elevated  movement  was  possible  which  would 
the  country  out  of  the  mire  of  sectional  hatreds,  and  form  our  political  part  I6fl 
on  living  'issues  adapted  to  every  section  alike.     But  this  hope 
rudely  brushed  away,  and  the  lowest  and  most  infamous  coalition  for  mer 
corrupt  party  ascendency  has  been  formed  in  its  stead.     This  coalition  1 
already  humiliated  the  noblest  old  commonwealth  of  the  Union  by  comb 


822  SENATOR  B.  H.  HILL,  OF  GEORGIA. 

ing  ignorance  and  venality  against  intelligence,  property,  and  honor.     This 
coalition  embraces  four  distinct  propositions  : 

1.  The  reopening  of  the  race  issues  by  pandering  to  the  ignorance  and 
prejudices  of  the  black  race. 

2.  By  encouraging  local  division  among  the  Democrats  of  the  South  on 
any  and  all  questions  that  are  available  for  that  purpose. 

3.  By  promising  the  Federal  offices  to  such  Democrats  as  will  agree  to 
aid  the  work,  and  this  is  called  "  cementing  the  coalition." 

4.  By  blatant  pretenses  of  reform,  and  still  more  blatant  outcries  against 
that  mystical  monster — the  Bourbon  Democracy  of  the  South. 

And  it  is  boldly  proclaimed  by  the  most  dangerous  and  efficient  man  in 
the  Republican  party  "  that  anything  which  will  build  up  this  coalition  in 
the  South  is  justifiable  in  morals  and  law." 

This  is  the  foul  coalition  into  which  the  independent  Democrats  of  the 
South  are  now  so  wooingly  invited.  Of  all  men  on  earth,  the  real,  true,  in 
dependent  Democrat  ought  to  feel  the  most  insulted  by  the  offer.  It  assumes 
that  he  will  betray  his  party,  either  as  the  victim  of  his  local  spite  or  as  the 
corrupt  subject  of  a  debauched  civil  service. 

It  is  understood  that  the  selected  leader  in  each  State  may  write  out  his 
own  platform  that  will  suit  him  and  his  State,  and  he  is  not  to  be  embar 
rassed  by  any  inconsistency  in  his  platform  with  that  of  the  national  party, 
or  that  of  any  other  State.  Anything  that  will  entice  or  buy  Democrats 
into  the  coalition  is  to  be  considered  "  justifiable  in  morals  and  in  law,"  pro 
vided,  always,  that  the  result  shall  inure  to  the  benefit  of  the  Republican 
party  and  break  down  the  Bourbon  Democrats. 

This  is  the  whole  scheme,  briefly  stated.  It  is  not  new.  It  is  precisely 
the  scheme  on  which  Catiline  formed  his  conspiracy,  and  it  is  covered 
already  with  nineteen  centuries  of  infamy  ! 

I  have  an  abiding  faith  that  even  the  colored  people  will  discard  it,  for 
to  them  it  portends  the  greatest  mischief.  I  believe  the  better  class  of  Re 
publicans  will  repudiate  the  coalition  and  adhere  to  their  party  integrity  ; 
and  the  Democrats  who  allow  themselves  to  be  ensnared  into  it  will  find 
no  life  long  enough  to  repent  sufficiently  their  folly. 

Can  anything  be  more  utterly  disgusting  than  the  proposition  to  reform 
Georgia  by  such  a  movement  as  this  ? 

In  our  State,  more  than  in  any  other,  the  people  aro  recovering  from  the 
effects  of  war  and  reconstruction.  The  race  issue  has  completely  disap 
peared  from  our  politics  in  Georgia.  Nearly  one  hundred  thousand  of  the 
colored  children  are  being  educated  by  the  taxes  of  the  white  race.  The 
State  has  endowed  a  colored  college.  Colored  people  own  six  hundred  thou 
sand  acres  of  land  in  their  own  right.  Everybody  votes  as  he  pleases  and 
his  vote  is  counted.  Factories  are  springing  up  in  all  directions.  Our 
industries  are  being  multiplied  as  never  before.  Thousands  of  the  best 
men  of  the  North  have  gone  home  from  the  exposition  enthused  with 
the  brightening  prospects  of  all  business  in  the  State.  Our  taxes  were 
scarcely  ever  so  low.  Our  credit  was  never  so  high.  Capital  and  people 
and  machinery  are  flowing  in,  and  everybody  is  brushing  away  the  tears  of 
war,  and  laughing  with  a  new  hope  in  a  new  era  !  All  this,  all  this  has  been 
accomplished  under  the  rule  of  the  men  who  are  denounced  by  trading  poli 
ticians  as  narrow-minded,  intolerant  Bourbons,  and  this  is  the  condition  of 
things  which  must  be  reformed  by  a  coalition  of  ignorance,  disappointment, 
and  venality,  cemented  by  the  public  offices,  and  all  shaped,  directedj  au4 


HIS  LIFE,  SPEECHES,  AND  WRITINGS.  823 

controlled  by  a  lot  of  audacious  machine  Republicans,  who  owe  all  their 
prominence  to  corrupt  methods  in  the  politics  of  their  own  States.  If  anv 
man  cannot  see  and  understand  the  real  meaning  and  significance  of  the  new 
movement  in  Georgia,  he  is  one  who,  "having  eyes  sees  not,  and  having  ears 
hears  not."  Must  our  peace  be  destroyed,  race  collisions  again  provoked, 
and  our  budding  prosperity  arrested  merely  to  gratify  a  few  men  who  are 
willing  to  run  with  all  parties  and  be  true  to  none? 

For  several  years  we  have  had  divisions  in  the  Democratic  party  in 
Georgia,  because,  having  no  common  enemy  to  fight,  we  have  fought  each 
pther.  I  have  studiously  labored  to  keep  out  of  these  party  wrangles.  I 
have  not  hesitated  to  condemn  what  I  believed  was  wrong  even  in  my  own 
party.  But  now  that  a  new  movement  is  made,  of  a  most  insidious  charac 
ter,  to  take  advantage  of  our  divisions  and  utilize  them  for  the  Republican 
party,  they  will  prove  themselves  the  best  Democrats  and  truest  Georgians 
who" soonest  forget  their  individual  grievances  and  labor  most  earnestly  to 
heal  all  party  wounds.  The  new  enemy  is  already  organized,  and  is  open 
ing  the  campaign  before  the  snows  of  winter  have  melted.  Let  us  not  make 
the  mistake  of  assuming  that  they  will  be  weak  because  their  coalition  is 
incongruous  and  their  purposes  are  iniquitous.  They  must  not  oifly  be  de 
feated  but  overwhelmed,  and  then  no  like  coalition  will  rise  to  fret  this 
generation.  Let  regulars  and  independents  now  forget  their  differences, 
and  when  we  see  a  common  enemy  before  us,  let  us  unite  and  organize,  and 
meet  that  enemy  with  united  strength.  If  we  will  do  this  now,  and  vigor 
ously,  and  show  that  we  cannot  be  enticed  by  prejudices  nor  bought  with 
promises  of  Federal  patronage,  the  coalition  will  die  before  any  damage  can 

be  done. 

BENJ.  H.  HILL. 


THE    END. 


VINHOJIIVO 

AWHHIl  VINHOJITVD  JO  AJ.ISHS 


COLUMBIA  :  -*AL    CLASP 

FAT.  ;. 290,083  1,593,048 

ELOPEC(  iFIELB,MA5S. 


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